The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) has announced the results of the seventh iteration of its Air Cargo Sustainability Awards.
The awards recognise outstanding businesses and industry initiatives seeking to make the air cargo business more sustainable.
They cover two categories: one for Start-Up/Small Business and the second for Corporate and established businesses.
A panel/jury, made up of six industry leaders and ‘sustainability champions’, evaluated the various submissions against several criteria, including impact on society and industry, ease of implementation, innovation and the ‘wow factor’.
The winner in the Corporate category was Belgium’s Ostend-Bruges Airport, which was chosen for it’s a biodiversity programme – a project that promotes broad community engagement by partnering with local governments, farmers and even beekeepers, while directly benefiting those stakeholders and raising environmental awareness across the region.
The initiative showcases how wildlife conservation and airport operations can harmoniously coexist, while strengthening local pride in biodiversity.
The awards are run in partnership with logistics IT solutions provider CHAMP Cargosystems, and its chief executive, Chris McDermott, noted: “The Ostend-Bruges Airport biodiversity program[me] is a truly remarkable initiative that demonstrates the power of collaboration and community engagement in achieving environmental goals.”
He continued: “Their success is a testament to what can be accomplished in air cargo when innovation meets a deep commitment to our planet.”
Innovation meets commitment
The efforts of Ostend-Bruges Airport to make air cargo more sustainable represent “a shining example of what is possible when innovation meets commitment”, said Glyn Hughes, TIACA’s director general.
The official awards ceremony is to be held during TIACA’s Executive Summit 2025 in Hong Kong between June 24 and 26.
A worrying development
In March this year, the latest TIACA Sustainability Insights Report revealed that the pressure on air cargo to be sustainable declined last year in what the association described as a “shock” industry survey result.
The report included a survey of 274 industry professionals and this year 61% of respondents said they felt pressure to be sustainable compared with 67% in 2024 and 64% in 2023.
It was the first time since 2022 that the results had shown that the pressure to be sustainable had decreased.
