2012-03-16
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) advocated strong partnerships across the air cargo value chain to address an industry agenda to enhance safety, security, sustainability and competitiveness.
“Air cargo is critical to the global economy. By value, over 35% of goods traded internationally are handled by air. But this accounts for just 0.5% of global volumes traded. Air cargo provides the connectivity that is at the core of modern businesses serving global markets. The growth potential is enormous. The challenge is to propel that growth sustainably, with quality products, efficiently delivered by a well-coordinated value chain,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO in a keynote address to the World Cargo Symposium which is meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Safety: The 2011 hull loss rate for western-built jet aircraft stood at the historic low of 0.37 hull losses per million flights (one hull loss for every 2.7 million flights). However,managing shipments of dangerous goods is an increasingly complex challenge for air cargo as the number of shippers proliferates, particularly with the growth of e-commerce opportunities for individual entrepreneurs, who lack awareness of dangerous goods regulations. “The concern over shipping lithium batteries is a good example of where the supply chain needs to cooperate to raise awareness levels,” said Tyler.
Security:Tyler urged the industry to work together and in cooperation with governments on industry solutions for cargo security, or risk the imposition of regulatory solutions that may not fully understand the operational realities of global air cargo. “The challenge is two-fold. We must continuously improve security to meet evolving threats. And we need to achieve this while maintaining the speed necessary to support global commerce,” said Tyler. He highlighted three areas for a particular focus:
Competitiveness: “Alongside a license to grow based on safety, security and environmental responsibility, to be successful the air cargo value chain must meet customer expectations with efficient and quality products and processes,” said Tyler, highlighting e-freight and the industry’s need to adopt Cargo 2000 as a global standard.
Industry Cooperation: Air transport is a team effort. And that is particularly true of air cargo. I am also making it a priority for IATA to work even more closely with our industry partners. For example we are working to modernize the cargo agency program in close collaboration with the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA). I am also fully supportive of the GACAG. This group is unique in the air cargo industry and we must all support the efforts of this coalition. All its members won’t always have the same view of the world. But our fates are linked as we are in the same business. By focusing on our common interests, I am confident that much can be achieved,” said Tyler.
Outlook
In its latest forecast (issued December 2011), IATA expects air cargo to generate about 11% of total revenues or $66 billion. This is only slightly behind the average 14% contribution of business class to industry revenues. Growth in both volumes and yields is expected to be flat in 2012 as a result of economic uncertainty primarily centered on Europe. IATA will issue a revised forecast on 20 March.
Source IATA
2012-03-15
The magazine SEA has been published since 1935
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been published since 1999
The first magazine in Eurasia in the four languages: English, Chinese, Russian and Lithuanian
|
|