A year ago, the IATA air cargo world was enjoying Dragon Dances and a visit to HACTL’s SuperTerminal1 over in Hong Kong. Now, the 2025 World Cargo Symposium (WCS) returns to Dubai for the second time in 8 years, where its attendees can look forward to Arabian nights and conference days at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The well-established International Air Transport Association (IATA) event, hosted this time by Emirates SkyCargo and dnata, will run from 15-17APR25. And CargoForwarder Global will be right there, listening to the thousand-and-one air cargo stories, ready to report the highlights.
When IATA’s press release went out, earlier last month, it carried the title ‘World Cargo Symposium 2025: Navigating Geopolitical Shifts with Technology & Innovation.’ It will be highly interesting to see what technological solutions will help the air cargo logistics world cope with this week’s incredulous US tariff announcements. Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General’s included quote read: “Air cargo demonstrated its resilience in adapting to the post-pandemic world. In 2024, more cargo was transported by air than ever before. But the world is moving at an even faster pace with technological advancements, geopolitical shifts, evolving risks, and changing customer needs. At WCS in Dubai, we’ll collectively take stock of what’s next for air cargo, focusing on digitalization, sustainability, safety/security, and e-commerce. The growing demand for air cargo underscores its critical role.”
This year’s themes
True – the air cargo industry always finds a way forward in the face of evolving risks and uncertainty, and the WCS is an excellent breeding ground for ideas and partnerships, so we can expect good discussions. As in previous years, these will take place during the opening and closing plenary sessions, the specialized tracks focusing on the four main themes of the conference, and specific workshops such as one regarding the Future Air Cargo Executives Summit (FACES) aimed at fostering new talent in the industry.
So, what are the four main themes? They are familiar staples of most cargo conferences these past few years. First off, is Digitalization which will look, in particular, at the role AI and automation play in shaping the future of air cargo operations. Next up, Sustainability (which is little conflicting to AI: while AI can help to save energy resources, did you know that it is also a huge source of energy consumption? And that, for example, training a single AI model can produce carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 300 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco? Or that a single ChatGPT query already uses 500mls of water? These negative points are rarely talked about.) Anyway, the Sustainability stream will discuss strategies for decarbonization, reducing single-use plastics, and improving ESG reporting, amongst other points.
Safety and e-commerce
The third stream tackles Safety and Security. This is where today’s geopolitical uncertainties, regulatory shifts, and supply chain disruptions will be discussed. And finally, the latest evergreen: e-Commerce with a particular focus on enhancing collaboration between e-retailers and cargo operators to improve efficiency. Again, there will no doubt also be a loop back to Safety on this topic, given the risks certain e-commerce commodities pose. A ULD Forum as well as a ONE Record Forum round the agenda off for the majority of attendees. A select audience also participate in workshops on, for example, IATA’s CEIV programs for compliance and safety, on 14APR25, the day prior to the official WCS start.
See you there?
Almost 2,000 people attended last year’s event. The turnout this year looks to be a more moderate 1,400 ‘industry leaders and decision-makers’ from the industry’s many different business sectors: airlines, airports, freight forwarders, ground handlers, solution providers, and government regulators. As always, the three days which include a Gala Dinner on the Wednesday evening, and exclusive side events, will offer excellent networking opportunities with the industry’s top management and leading experts. It will bring everyone up to date on how the industry is progressing, what the trends are in digitalization and sustainability, and what best-demonstrated-practises are out there.
And all that, in the location that will soon see the world’s largest airport opening within the next decade. With that in mind, perhaps the number of attendees will be higher in the end. CargoForwarder Global will let you know. And if you’d like to share your cargo story with us, be sure to message Brigitte Gledhill on LinkedIn, this week.
