In just one decade, Air Cargo Belgium (ACB) has transformed Brussels Airport’s freight footprint from analog to digital. An anniversary that was celebrated with a big party on 22OCT26. The organization says that its force is in the chain, which reinforces the individual pearls.
According to ACB’s Director, Freek De Witte, “each company works on its own pearl, with ACB producing the chain between the pearls.” Chairman Geert Aerts pointed out that this community approach guarantees that both the role played by the cargo activities for the Belgian economy and the position of each individual company within the community are reinforced.
ACB was not the first attempt to get the different actors within the Brussels Air Cargo community on the same page. In 2008, the so-called ‘Stakeholders Committee for Airport Logistics & Economy’ (SCALE) was set up, but it was unable to deliver the intended common approach.
“Everyone kept on pursuing their own goals, separate from the rest,” said De Witte. “Now we set the goals together within a sense of community and spirit to make Brussels Airport stronger.”
An achievement to be proud of
Steven Polmans, Head of Cargo at the time ACB was founded and a key driver of the project, names the creation of ACB one of the achievements he remains most proud of. “Together with many stakeholders across the cargo community, we managed to build a strong organization around a bold vision and an ambitious plan. It took vision, trust and courage from many people to look beyond the walls of their own company or organization and believe that, by working together, we could create something that would benefit the entire community.”
Steven went on to say: “Seeing where Air Cargo Belgium stands today, how it has continued to grow, evolve and strengthen the Brussels cargo community, makes me immensely proud. I deliberately will not mention the names of those who were there at the beginning or along the road playing a crucial role. They know who they are. And they remain close to my heart for their trust, support, enthusiasm and contribution in making this happen.”
Milestones
Among the main milestones achieved over the last decade, ACB names the ‘Animal Care & Inspection Center’ (ACIC), which brought together the industry and the handlers to centralize and improve animal welfare in air transport.
The common approach provided by ACB, allowed the airport to act swiftly on the global dispatch of Covid-19 vaccines, of which over three billion were handled and distributed. Together with operator Brussels Airport Company, ACB has made itself a name in digitalization. With a Digital Green Lane in BRUCloud, ACB has digitized the landside operation.
Through the Precision Therapy Gateway project, ACB responds actively to the need for personalized healthcare, so as to entrench the logistics chain of the future. For the years to come, ACB wishes to transform the operational processes from a ‘black box’ to a transparent ‘glass box’, via further digitization and paperless processing.
Finding the right people
ACB has also played a key role in the reinforcement of the ties with government departments such as Customs & Excise, the Aviation Authority, and the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC). Alongside Brussels Airport, the organization has set up collaboration agreements with major hubs such as Changi, Washington, Hyderabad, and Shanghai.
Most ACB members are young professionals. CFG asked Freek De Witte if the community is still capable of attracting the right talent. “We closely work together with the Thomas More University College in [nearby] Mechelen [which offers a BA in Transport Logistics, focusing on air cargo, CFG]. By organizing more non-management dedicated events, like sports competitions, we manage to attract people who did not know that this industry exists and what it stands for.”
Happy anniversary, ACB!
