Steven Polmans will take over as chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) next month, joined Sanjeev Gadhia as vice chairman.
Polmans, the director of cargo and logistics at Brussels Airport Company joined the TIACA board in 2016, and served as vice chairman for two years.
He will replace Sebastiaan Scholte, CEO of Jan de Rijk Logistics who is stepping down on 1 July.
Scholte and Polmans kicked off a fresh vision for TIACA 18 months ago, growing the association’s global footprint and launching an online airport ratings system, the Cargo Service Quality tool.
Working with TIACA secretary general Vladimir Zubkov, Polmans and Gadhia have pledged to build on the new framework, putting sustainability and diversity issues at the forefront.
Polmans says: “We have some exciting new ideas for the direction TIACA can take to the benefit of our members and for the industry at large, which include a strong focus on sustainability, where we intend to take the lead.”
Welcoming Gadhia as vice chairman, Polmans says: “He is not only a great guy, he brings a wealth of knowledge and contacts to TIACA and is respected by many, if not all, in our industry. Representing an airline based in a different region in the world also strengthens again our global footprint as an organisation.”
Gadhia brings over two decades of airfreight experience to the role, and become the first African member of the TIACA board in 2017. He is also vice chairman of the African Airline Association’s Cargo Committee.
He founded Nairobi, Kenya-based Astral Aviation in 2000, and commercial drone operator Astral Aerial Solutions in 2017, offering humanitarian aid relief and remote monitoring to combat poaching, amongst other solutions.
Gadhia says his aim is to make TIACA more inclusive, and has a sustainable and diverse business model.
He says: “I want to consider how we can better promote diversity so that we can grow the Association so that every member of the air-cargo supply-chain regardless of size, nationality, geography, or gender, can be a part of TIACA.”
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