IATA WCS to kick off with wide ranging opening plenary

The IATA World Cargo Symposium will begin with the opening plenary, offering a range of sessions that also set up the debate over the coming three days.

IATA global head of cargo Brendan Sullivan will start the day of with a review of the year so far, looking at the successes and challenges whilst also addressing industry priorities for the coming year.

Next up is a keynote address from two of the UK’s air cargo giants, IAG Cargo and Heathrow Airport.

IATA will then provide an update on the prevailing economic climate and its implications for the airfreight industry, and also look back over the past 12 months and highlight and assess the key indicators and what we may expect for the upcoming year.

After the networking break, Marco Bloemen of Seabury Cargo will explore rapidly changing aspects of the air cargo market such as freighter availability, future demand, capacity shifts and how the industry is coping with these changes.

Then, ahead of tomorrow’s digitalisation stream, will be a panel discussion: Digitalisation – The air cargo tipping point.

The panel will look at Covid’s impact on the adoption of digital channels but has air cargo reached a tipping point when it comes to digitalisation.

The panel will explore some of the rapid changes over the course of the pandemic and how progress is shaping a new future.

After lunch another panel discussion will look at integrated logistics across modes.

New market entrants, consolidation and vertical integration are all having an impact on the air cargo industry. The panel session will take a deep look at these changes from various viewpoints.

Sustainability – also one of the upcoming conference streams – is next on the agenda as a panel take a look at air cargo’s sustainability mission.

“Sustainability is a critical part of business and air cargo is clearly no different with the entire supply chain looking for ways to grow their economic base and make a positive social impact with their ecological footprint,” IATA said of the session.

“This panel will touch on the various aspects of sustainability from SAF to People, what is being done and what more needs to be done.”

The final session of the day is a keynote presentation: Making Air Cargo Safer.

The session will look at the current risks such as lithium batteries and how the industry can come together to address them.