Shippers rally to protect freighter slots

The Global Shippers’ Alliance (GSA) will put pressure on IATA to end its “detrimental to freighters” airport slots policy, one of a series of initiatives to speed up the airfreight supply chain, address growing e-commerce volumes and promote a “positive image” for air cargo.

The GSA wants to “further strengthen” global cooperation among shippers and will start an open dialogue” with the Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) in order to agree on a common agenda.

Asked for its view on the GSA agenda, the GSF declined to comment. 

The GSA announcement was signed by the  Hong Kong Shippers’ Council, the Indonesian National Shippers’ Council, the Shippers’ Council of Banagladesh, the Macau Shippers’ Association, the Korean Shippers’ Council, the Thai National Shippers’ Council and the European Shippers’ Council (ESC).

The GSA agenda also includes those for the maritime sector. For the air cargo sector specifically, the GSA wants to:

• Alleviate reduction in capacity (such as slots restrictions) by using their influence to amend IATA’s slots policy, detrimental to freighters, and by informing about air space constraints caused by geopolitical situation;
• Optimise the mobility of air cargo through a better supply chain collaboration, digitalisation, and increased efficiency of land operations and services;
• Advocate the implementation of single windows and the connectivity between their platforms;
• Build up a positive image of air cargo among policy makers and society at large.

On e-commerce, the GSA said that it will:

• Support the American Association of Exporters & Importers’ (AAEI) work in the World Customs Organisation to facilitate trade taking into account such challenges as safety and security, harmonisation of import procedures, data sets, including levying import taxes and VAT.

On the environment, the GSA will support the promotion and implementation of the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) Framework for Logistics Emissions Accounting and Reporting in collaboration with Smart Freight Centre in order to improve the efficiency and to reduce the carbon footprint of logistics worldwide.

ESC president Denis Choumert said: “GSF has in hand a proposal for a full collaboration approach between GSA and GSF leaning on and going beyond the coordination going on between ESC and GSF/FTA on topics like the response to the maritime BER consultation.”