In the cover story of this issue we take a look at the health of the industry after listening to the debates at two key, nearly back-to-back, industry events which included the annual World Cargo Symposium. Perhaps not so much a temperature reading, as everyone in the industry knows the ‘health’ of the patient, as it is a possible recovery regimen. In actual fact the patient not only seems to be stabilised, but showing some signs of recovery, according to the latest IATA statistics for February. In actual fact what is new are really developments of existing issues, but important ones at that – modernising the industry and bringing it into the digital age, AKA e-Freight was starting to look a bit like the proverbial flogging of the dead horse – at least up until now.
A new agreement, which turned what was looking like a lame-duck e-AWB into something truly useful, giving it wings so-to-speak, came into being after one year of labour in the form of the Multilateral e-AWB. This will certainly pave the way for greater e-Freight take up which the industry desperately needs. The other step forward is still a work in progress – a much needed modernisation of the Cargo Agency Program – which will see the relationship between freight forwarders and carriers updated to reflect the true reality of that relationship.
But what was perhaps most interesting were the perspectives of the thoughtleaders of the industry on what the industry needed to do and where the competitive threats are emanating from. Of particular significance was not just the modal shift to ocean cargo, but the ‘internal’ modal shift that was evidenced over 2012 from general air cargo to the integrators. It seems that the fears of nearly 40 years ago that the integrators would wipe out the general cargo carriers have actually found a very small grain of truth after so many years.
In the final analysis, the industry has no choice but to act and act now to become more efficient, more modern and more adaptable to what could be the ‘new norm’ in the global economy as Emirates’ Ram Menen describes it. Also making a very interesting read is the economic progress that the Philippines is making under President Aquino’s leadership and the stresses and opportunities that this progress means for the logistics sector.
And finally, we have the latest look at the ground handling sector with an update on Cathay Pacific’s new Hong Kong air cargo terminal which dramatically changes the face of cargo handling at the world’s busiest cargo hub, along with an update on the confusing state of the Indian ground handling environment. We hope you enjoy the read.
