Cargo Pulse

The 2022 TIACA Sustainability Insight report indicated that 73% of responders have a sustainability strategy in place which reflects the growing importance of the topic. With growing interest from customers, employees, lending institutions, regulators and partners as to an organizations sustainability credentials it can indeed be considered as a license to operate and indeed a license to grow.

If you look at almost any IATA CASS operation around the world you will see that GSSAs account for a large portion of the carriers who participate. This tells us two very important facts about today’s air cargo distribution system.

Situation analysis at the time was pretty much – most of the world went home but expected (hoped) services would continue. Therefore some were designated essential workers, and there is now no doubt the GSA was indeed essential. Logistically the world needed to function, and if we put the shipping lines to one side, the air and trucking people behaved commendably. Airlines were pretty much grounded in terms of passengers, and those flights had previously carried a huge percentage of global air cargo.

Cargo GSA companies have traditionally provided airlines with strong local market knowledge and strong personal relationships with the freight forwarders, who provided the cargo and supervision of the cargo handlers who prepared the cargo. Furthermore, protecting the airline from credit risk in global territories far beyond their headquarters.

The global air freight industry has been rapidly changing recently, due to many factors such as, a pandemic, technological progress, the digitalization of services, and an increasing pressure to meet the customers’ needs as precisely and effectively as possible. A lot is happening within the industry, but how does it look from the outside? Is it attractive to the young generation as a workplace?

At Belgium’s Liege Airport (LGG) freighters are playing the first fiddle and are always welcome. Since the very beginning of the airport operation in the mid-1990s LGG has always focused on this traffic segment – and this has not changed since today.

Being perfectly located in the center of the European “Golden Triangle” and with its unrestricted and full flexible 24/7 operation, infrastructure and handling services Liege Airport offers the perfect framework for hassle-free and high-quality freighter operations.

Having operated an all-cargo airline with a fleet of 15 Freighter Aircrafts which operates from our hubs in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Liege and Dubai, Astral Aviation derives considerable value from its freighter fleet in transporting cargoes to and within its network.
Freighter Aircrafts offer greater control over schedules, volumes and routes, while being able to access airports which are under-served by passenger aircrafts. Freighter Aircrafts have the ability of transporting outsized cargoes which cannot be carried by a passenger aircraft.

With Father’s Day coming up, you may already be searching for that perfect gift for Dad. Whether it’s that fancy watch, sports gear or a tie, there’s an excellent chance your Father’s Day gift is traveling via air to you.
Air cargo occupies a unique place in global trade. Although less than 1% of world trade tonnage moves by air cargo, an outsized share of world trade by value – an estimated 35% (or over $6 trillion worth of goods) –

The role of GSA is one that requires an in-depth knowledge of their local market, in order to balance the expectations of their carriers with the current market demand. Since 2020 and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, that balance has become harder to maintain, with fluctuating demand and travel restrictions playing havoc on the ability to provide guaranteed capacity or reasonable transit times.