Top 3 trends in the evolution of air cargo communities

#3: The race for temperature-controlled accreditation

One of the major issues in shipping temperature-sensitive products, such as biopharmaceuticals and perishable food products, is the need to ensure and implement the standardization of shipment for these goods. Last year the Cool Chain Association (CCA) pointed to a startling statistic, that an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food – a third of all produced – is wasted along the supply chain each year. In response to this need for standardization, air cargo communities, including Amsterdam (AMS), Brussels (BRU), Frankfurt (FRA), Hong Kong (HKG), Miami (MIA), Singapore (SIN) and most recently Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), have stepped up to support their tenants in positioning themselves to capture the fast-growing biopharmaceutical and perishable markets.

At Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Air Cargo Community Frankfurt has five “competence groups” to host forums for discussion and space for initiatives to address the common needs of its members, one of which is “temperature-controlled transport.” Within this group are two specialist vertical groups on perishable and pharmaceutical products. Fraport senior vice president for cargo, Max Conrady, told Air Cargo Airports that the airport has already seen success in its efforts with Fraport AG attaining the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) CEIV-Pharma certification last year. The airport also offers its cargo community members the ability to use 18 temperature-controlled vehicles for the transportation of perishables or pharma products.

Last month, HKG also became the first CEIV Fresh-certified airport with IATA’s launch of the program at the World Cargo Symposium in Singapore. For HKG, the accreditation strengthens its positioning in East Asian cargo markets against regional competitors also preparing to capture emerging perishables trade.