The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) has been branching out and is running new initiatives as it looks to grow its global presence and industry influence.
TIACA’s newest board member and Brussels Airport’s head of cargo, Steven Polmans (pictured below) sees the association playing a major role in future in bringing air cargo airport communities together and linking them up.
Speaking to Air Cargo Week (ACW) at air cargo europe, Polmans who was appointed to the board in September last year said: “I am a big fan of cooperation between different companies and stakeholders of an airport, which is how we developed the cargo community in Brussels.
“I am pretty sure that in the end if all these cargo communities are going to be established we will come to a kind of global organisation, which is basically TIACA.”
Polmans is confident TIACA has a lot to offer moving forward and is happy with the progress it is making, and said it is still a valuable organisation, as long as it can “deliver what it should deliver”.
“If you see the people who are now participating on the board and the ideas coming out of it, I really feel comfortable and aligned with the ideas we have.
“But we have to make sure in the next months all the ideas we have been working on in the last six months that we can start delivering them and that we can bring them to the market. We have some nice projects in the pipeline,” he explained.
His views were echoed by TIACA chairman and Delhi International Airport head of cargo, Sanjiv Edward (pictured below) who said the association is progressing on a variety of fronts.
Speaking to ACW at IATA’s WCS in Abu Dhabi, he said: “We are building on the foundations we have laid since I took over as chairman (in 2015). One of the initiatives was how do we engage more globally,“ Edward explained.
Another key area he highlighted, which is gaining traction was bringing industry associations, regulators and the TIACA team together to interact on a range of issues important nationally and locally, through events and meetings.
Working with the likes of ICAO, ACI, and other trade and aviation organizations is also a high priority of new director general, Vladimir Zubkov who took over in January.
One area TIACA is focusing on is in revamping its own events as it looks to grow their appeal, reach and presence.
This has included an overhaul of the Executive Summit (ES) and AGM, which will take place in Miami this year from 18-20 October – in partnership with Supply Chain Americas.
“We are bringing some new ideas and making it more interesting as there is a supply chain conference and good shipper presence alongside our event,” Edward explained.
The ES program will feature discussions on supply chain innovation, as well as updates from North American and European regulators on the latest Pre-Loading Advance Cargo Information (PLACI) rules and dangerous goods regulations.
TIACA’s Shippers’ Advisory Council (SAC) will lead sessions exploring the different needs of the customer and exploring new ways to better collaborate.
Sessions will also include on South America, unmanned aircraft, digitisation, lithium batteries, and there will be a focus on quality in terms of building airport communities, the launch of new shipper KPIs and the TIACA Airport Cargo Service Quality initiative.
Edward will chair the session launching the cargo service quality initiative that will create a cargo service quality tool that will initially measure service levels at gateways.
“Airports and cargo terminals form a vital link in the supply chain and these initiatives will help bring efficiency to the supply chain as well as empowering the shipper community,” said Edward.
New TIACA programs such as the ‘Young Leaders’ initiative to encourage transparency and consultancy will also feature along with a pharma track in collaboration with the Health Technologies Distribution Alliance.
The ‘Young Leaders’ project’s first event in the Netherlands earlier this year was a success and TIACA is looking to hold other events around the globe. “We are strengthening our training because it is one our three pillars – knowledge and education – such as the talent initiative, which will be rolled out to other countries,” Edward explained.
Edward said it is the right time for TIACA to invest in areas like training and events while air cargo is on the up: “There is a lot of positivity (in air cargo) and I think this is also the right time for us to invest in terms of resources and in terms of time and see how we can raise the service standards within the industry to make sure airfreight remains the preferred choice of transport.”
ES will take place every two years and TIACA’s Air Cargo Forum will be held every two years in the year ES does not take place.
TIACA is also branching out and co-hosted the ICAO Meeting on Air Cargo Development in Addis Ababa with ICAO from 27-29 June. The association is also looking into adding other regional events across the globe.
