This year’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) World Cargo Symposium (WCS) is to focus on building resilience to further strengthen air cargo’s post-Covid prospects, according to the organisers.

The event is taking place in London, UK, from 27 to 29 September.

Offering background to the discussions and presentations that will take place at the WCS, IATA noted the challenges the Covid crisis had presented to the air cargo industry, which was able to deliver medical supplies and vaccines across the globe and kept international supply chains open.

IATA also noted that for many airlines, as passenger numbers plummeted, air cargo was a crucial source of revenue. In 2021, air cargo revenues reached a record US$204 billion, which IATA said was more than double as compared to 2019 and accounted for some 40 per cent of total airline revenues in 2021.

“Air cargo proved its resilience during the pandemic, and it is emerging stronger,” said IATA’s global head of cargo Brendan Sullivan (pictured above). “The challenge now is to retain the momentum achieved in digitalisation and other customer-centric efficiency gains. There is good reason to be optimistic. Air cargo is maintaining its strength even as economic and geo-political uncertainty grows. And this year’s WCS will focus on how the industry can capitalise on this resilience to build an even more promising and sustainable future for global air cargo.”

Sullivan will be one of the speakers at the event, along with IAG Cargo’s managing director David Shepherd; IATA’s chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen; Lufthansa Cargo’s CEO Dorothea Von Boxberg; and Turkish Cargo’s chief cargo officer Turhan Ozen.

Session tracks will cover topics including: digitalisation; sustainability; air cargo safety; attracting and retaining talent; e-commerce; air cargo market dynamics; digital distribution and booking; and digital cargo and ONE record. A series of workshops will also be held.

More information on the IATA WCS can be found here.