The Who’s Who in Air Cargo descended upon Dubai last week, for IATA’s 18th World Cargo Symposium. A total of 1,864 people from 88 different countries arrived to network, discuss and exhibit at Dubai’s World Trade Centre, and a good majority (c. 1,300) also attended the Gala Dinner on the evening of 16APR25, at the famous Atlantis The Palm. With a core focus on the usual three streams: Safety, Digitalization, and Sustainability, the question is: were there any new insights?
Not many air cargo events begin with Royalty. The impressive and promising lightshow opening plenary on Day 1, was held in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum who is also Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group. Emirates SkyCargo and dnata were the main sponsors of this WCS edition. His Highness remained for the key notes in the opening plenary by Badr Abbas, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates SkyCargo, H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, UAE Government, and Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, who all emphasized Dubai’s place as a significant global hub, hosting more than 100 airlines, (“air cargo powers economies”, the Minister of Economy reminded the audience), mentioned the world’s largest airport due to open within the next decade, and spoke of Dubai Airport’s focus on sustainability initiatives such as its SAF Roadmap and Digitalization efforts. Where money and focus goes, implementation flows. Or does it?
Recycling goes beyond Sustainability
While the stories used to illustrate the three key conference streams were well-chosen and aptly localised, and many of the panel candidates spoke well and to a full house, the overall sentiment in the Digitalization stream, at least, was still that of cycling on the spot. As one consultant put it, when CFG asked for opinions: “I feel that I could have pulled out a presentation on digitalization from 2010, and I wouldn’t really have had to change anything.” Similarly, buzzwords such as Collaboration or Labor Shortages, Change Management, Adaptability, Flexibility, continued to pepper people’s presentations as they have done over the years. Accelya’s Chief Revenue Officer, Andrew Wilcock, told the audience what has long been known: “Digitalization is not an option. It is essential [and] legacy systems are holding back innovation”.
From old records to ONE Record
And yet one way around legacy systems could be the shift to IATA’s ONE Record, since what CFG had not understood until that point was that it is not one single server, but an ecosystem of ONE Record-capable servers that can make this happen. ONE Record, which featured heavily in the agenda this time, has the potential to truly change the industry, if only that message and the growing number of convincing use case results were made public and brought to those smaller and medium-sized stakeholders that are needed in order to really make this work. Currently, not even all air cargo IT software providers appear to be clued up. There were blank faces on one stand in the exhibition hall right next door, when CFG walked around and asked if they supported ONE Record.
Managing Director Cargo Operations & Transformation Air Canada, Janet Wallce, pointed out in the Fireside Chat on the topic, that there was still a lot of work to be done to encourage data sharing among the stakeholders, and also revealed that “The biggest thing that ONE Record can do is for ecommerce”, since it offers a quicker, standardized fashion for data transfer. Surely a single convincing use-case in itself? Alongside others that mention customs, and truly granular shipment tracking in more real-time. LATAM Cargo’s CEO, Andres Bianchi, summed it up: “Adoption is underwhelming. ONE Record allows us to connect better and position the industry better as a solution provider to world, without losing competitiveness. One reason we are failing to gain traction, is too much focus on the tool rather than the problems it solves.” It could be a real driver of efficiencies for the industry as a whole. The ONE Record workshop, offered in the morning of the final day, saw around 100 attendees, all engaged and interested in the topic. The question remains, however: how can IATA reach and get all the smaller and medium-sized companies on board in time for IATA’s 01JAN26 implementation deadline?
Elephants and tariffs
“Why is no one talking about the elephant in the room?!” was the WCS feedback often heard by CFG. It was felt that no true focus had been put on the hot tariff topic, though Maja Marciniak, Senior Economist at IATA had addressed the impact on the first day, dedicating a slide titled ‘Tariffs will undoubtedly affect aviation – both through direct and indirect impacts’. Her opinion was that despite the recent dynamics, so far, the global economy has been performing well, with an ever-rising average distance of goods transported (now almost at 5000 km now). Interregional trade has decreased by around 50%. “A trade war is unfolding in front of our eyes,” she said, pointing to the uncertainty it was causing. “If you are a business trying to produce, invest in infrastructure, ship… this landscape is very unpredictable. Perhaps companies will sit back and wait, so this may slow down business.” On the other hand, she felt that it could be a driver for better efficiencies within the industry as a whole. The panel on Air Cargo Market Factors later that same day concluded that the tariffs were dampening growth in ecommerce, but that it was still growing, that deglobalization was happening as a result, which was creating shockwaves, and that some of these changes would be permanent, and that shifts were happening, “but not as quickly as news reels would have us believe,” according to Mattieu Casey, Managing Director, Commercial – Cargo at Air Canada. Alina Fetisova, Project Manager and International Trade Professional/International Trade Centre at United Nations, said: “The system is stretched but not broken. It is still functioning.” Her opinion was that countries that are agile and open to free trade agreements such as China, South Korea, Japan, or UAE, will benefit most. De minimis might be the bigger problem, was one angle.
The highlights and requests for next time
Regarding the ‘elephant in the room’, tariffs were mentioned in the one or other panel over the course of the event, yet WCS attendees felt that the fact that the audience could not ask questions during the panels and thus create a larger discussion, was limiting and gave the feel of a “scripted” event. Perhaps that flexibility is something to take on for the next WCS – though the current set-up did mean that schedule was well adhered to.
Highlights of the event were the fact that “Cargo is in good shape”, as Willie Walsh declared at the World Cargo Symposium press conference on 15APR25, and indeed, the atmosphere at the event was a positive one, with the general feedback that it remains one of the best networking possibilities in the industry. Most stands reported good footfall, even though it is more an information gathering rather than signing any large deals on the whole. CFG’s biggest learning was in the presentations on Waste Management, which were unfortunately only attended by a very small group and suffered from being scheduled just before the transfers to the Gala Dinner that evening. These offered very tangible and inspiring best demonstrated practices and deserved a greater audience, room, and placing. Given the layout of the event area, the Sustainability stream was hidden away in a corner to the left of the main hall.
Another absolute highlight and hopefully a more permanent one for next time, was Unilode’s special guest cameo: “The Airport Guy” or Mohammad Taher as he is really known. With ‘Attracting Talent’ being an ongoing problem in the industry, he, too, should be given a keynote of his own on the larger stage, next time.
Where to next?
From geopolitical challenges to regulatory complications through to sustainability limitations and a whole host of other topics, the general conclusion was that – particularly over the past 5 years – the industry has become more agile and resilient, with faster, more determined responses to crises. Stay calm, be prepared with flexible plans, and maintain a clear, courageous approach to keeping goods and the world moving, was the closing message. And as for the question where the WCS is moving to next year? The answer is that it will be held in South America for the first time ever. From 10-12MAR26, the WCS in Lima, Peru, will highlight South America’s growing role in global logistics, and in particular, Peru’s strategic position as a regional trade hub. So, save the dates!
Interesting comments on the ‘panels’. In the safety and security stream, Q&A was a big part of each panel with excellent interaction from the audience.
WCS 2026 in Lima, Peru will be held from the 10-12 March (Tuesday-Thursday).
Perhaps because it was in a smaller hall? Thanks for the updated dates – I did wonder why it went through to Saturday on IATA’s events page, but it has also been corrected there, now.