Understanding Air Cargo's Top Priorities & High Expectations on Sustainability and Pandemic Preparedness at #ICAOA41

Welcome back! With updates from the World Cargo Symposium and the start of the 41st ICAO Assembly there's lots of news to catch you up on. Let's get to it.

High Expectations on Sustainability and Pandemic Preparedness at 41st ICAO Assembly

IATA is urging the 41st Assembly of the The International Civil Aviation Organization to address top industry issues, including agreeing on a Long-Term Aspirational Goal (LTAG), strengthening CORSIA as the single economic measure used by governments to manage aviation’s carbon footprint and implementing lessons learned from COVID-19.

The industry’s expectations for the 41st ICAO Assembly are ambitious but realistic given the challenges that we face.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General

IATA has submitted or sponsored over 20 papers on the Assembly’s agenda covering key policy and regulatory areas. The right decisions by governments can accelerate the recovery from COVID-19 and strengthen the foundations for aviation’s decarbonization.

Read more about the industry’s expectations for the 41st ICAO Assembly.

Identifying Air Cargo Priorities at the World Cargo Symposium

At the 15th World Cargo Symposium (WCS) currently taking place in London, Brendan Sullivan, IATA’s Global Head of Cargo, spoke in-depth about the current state of air cargo:

"Air cargo showed its value during the COVID crisis. It was clear for all that it was a social and commercial lifeline—the backbone of global supply chains, the enabler of e-commerce and best way to distribute high value and critical shipments of medical equipment and vaccines the world knows so well.

As we in the industry have also come to know, air cargo revenue was a financial lifeline. In 2021, air cargo revenues were $204 billion. That’s over 40% of total industry revenues—well up from the pre-crisis levels of 12-15%."

He also highlighted four priorities to build resilience and strengthen air cargo’s post-pandemic prospects:

1. Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050
2. Continuing to modernize processes
3. Finding better solutions to safely carry lithium batteries
4. Making air cargo attractive to new talent

Learn more about the sustainability, modernization, safety and people priorities.

Not at #IATAWCS? Read Brendan Sullivan's full speech.

Deal of the Week: Get Essential Operational Risk Information Without Investing Significant Time or Resources

IATA understands that collecting operational risk information in real time can be challenging and time consuming. Therefore, IATA has developed AVSEC Insight, an online solution that automatically gathers open-source information (OSI) relevant to your operations.

AVSEC Insight collects data from a variety of sources—including niche and local-language news media—and sends alerts based on your operational needs and risk profile.

This new security solution can help identify risks, including:

• Geopolitical instability, irregular governance, militarized hostilities
• Terrorism and counterterrorism
• International organized crime
• Pandemics
• Cybersecurity 
• Civil protest/demonstration/disobedience
• Natural disasters  
• Supply chain disruptions

Special Offer: Sign up before 1 December 2022 and benefit from 50% savings on your first year's subscription to AVSEC Insight. Manage and identify business risks at an early stage and continue to generate trust in your operations.

News In Brief

✈ IATA to trial CO2 emission calculator for Air Cargo with Etihad

✈ Canada announces removal of COVID-19 travel restrictions effective October 1

✈ Happy World Tourism Day!

✈ ICAO 41st Assembly: Live broadcasts and recorded meetings 

Chart of the Week: High Inflation Rates & RPKs

Historical data in China shows a negative correlation between year-on-year changes in the quarterly Consumer Price Index and domestic RPKs over the period of 2005 to 2019.

A negative correlation implies that air travel in the domestic Chinese market tends to be dampened by rising inflation rates.

This historical negative correlation between inflation and domestic RPKs in China implies additional headwinds to the air travel demand recovery in this country which is still encumbered by COVID-related travel restrictions.

Read more about the #WeeklyChart, inflation and RPKs.

Jet Fuel Price (as of 23 September 2022)

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