Finalists of TIACA's Air Cargo Sustainability Awards Announced

The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) announced the finalists of its second Air Cargo Sustainability Awards, sponsored by CHAMP Cargosystems. This year, Awards aim at recognizing outstanding businesses driving industry’s sustainability agenda in air cargo in two categories, a Corporate category designed for established companies and a Start-up category created for new and fast-growing small businesses.

The shortlisted participants in Start-up category:

• BeOn IoT
• Drone Delivery Canada
• Nepal Flying Labs 

The shortlisted participants in Corporate category:

• skypooling (Jettainer)
• Pelican BioThermal
• VRR

TIACA received 23 applications for the Awards from a diverse group of companies advancing sustainability in air cargo industry, including areas of carbon reduction, drones, humanitarian aid, waste reduction, packaging, ULDs, process efficiencies, people and COVID-19 relief.

“More than ever before, sustainable solutions and processes are critical to ensure long-term relevance and profitability of the air cargo industry. We were pleased with the diversity of applications to this year’s Awards and impressed by their quality. I am convinced that with such a broad array of young start-ups and large businesses pushing the limits in innovation our industry’s sustainable future is bright, – said Céline Hourcade, Transition Director and Head of Sustainability Program, TIACA. “I congratulate all the finalists of the Awards and look forward to hearing more about their solutions at the Digital Air Cargo Forum this December.”

All entries were evaluated by an independent panel of five judges: Chris McDermott, CEO, CHAMP Cargosystems, Deniz Kargaci, Manager, Corporate Sustainability Management, Turkish Airlines, Eng Naif Al-Abri, CEO, TRANSOM, Steven Polmans, Director Cargo and Logistics, Brussels Airport and Susy Schoneberg, Head, Flexport. The evaluation criteria included the three aspects of sustainability – environmental, social, economic – as well as innovation and practical applicability of presented solutions.

“For the second consecutive year we, at CHAMP Cargosystems, are proud to be the exclusive sponsors of these Sustainability Awards, and to support the excellent work of our strategic partners, TIACA, in promoting the importance of sustainability in the air cargo industry. In these extraordinary times, embracing digitalization and innovative technologies is more crucial than ever to help companies create a more sustainable future for themselves and for the generations to come. We are extremely fortunate this year to have such a strong range of candidates to choose from, with great ideas from both corporations and start-ups. I would like to thank all of the companies taking part for their commitment to helping create a more sustainable air cargo industry in the future”, states Chris McDermott, CEO of CHAMP Cargosystems.

All the finalists will be invited to present their products and solutions live at the Digital Air Cargo Forum (ACF) in early December, followed by an online voting for Start-up category by the TIACA members. The winners will be announced on the last day of the Digital ACF.

About TIACA’s Air Cargo Sustainability Award

Profiles:

Start-up category

BeOn IoT – Asset tracking for zero waste logistics

BeOn IoT provides real-time tracking service for sensitive and valuable assets which are transported by air. Users access tracking services on BeOn web platform to monitor their valuable and sensitive shipments in real-time. User may trigger an intervention to save the product when an alert is received. If the product is wasted, then users may decide to cancel its transportation to the destination. BeOn tracking device monitors temperature, shocks, and global position in real-time. It is compliant with air transport standards, uses an existing low-power network (LPWAN) deployed in 65 countries and has 3 years of battery life to ensure sustainability of the solution.

About BeOn IoT

Drone Delivery Canada – Drone delivery to isolate and remote areas

Drone Delivery Canada (“DDC”) provides an electric, eco-friendly, advanced drone cargo logistics infrastructure solution, the main application of which is to serve remote communities; as well as support governments, commercial and industrial applications and export opportunities. The solution is a fully integrated turnkey logistics platform including industrial-grade electric drones, automated DroneSpotTM depots, automated Battery Management Systems, a sense and avoid radar system, and proprietary FLYTE software to integrate all components into a safe and effective solution. All flights are monitored from DDC’s Toronto Operations Control Centre. All patents and intellectual property belong to DDC.

About Drone Delivery Canada

Nepal Flying Labs – Humanitarian and medical cargo drones

Nepal Flying Labs, operating humanitarian and medical cargo drones presented the Drone Optimized Therapy System (DrOTS) which links rural health posts with high-end GeneXpert diagnostic tools via drones with the main aim to improve the accessibility of Tuberculosis diagnostic tests in Pyuthan, Western Nepal. Under this system, drones fly from the central district hospital to health care centers in remote villages and bring back sputum samples where the sputum samples are checked by healthcare personnel using a state-of-art diagnostic tool (GeneXpert Machine). The purpose of this project is to assist the Ministry of Health and Population and National Tuberculosis Center by generating the necessary data to assess the suitability of the approach for nationwide expansion. To date, over 106 drone flights have been carried out, delivering more than 742 sputum samples, with a result of 26 positive cases from eight remote health facilities.

About Nepal Flying Labs

Corporate category

skypoolin (Jettainer) – ULD asset sharing platform

Jettainer presented their project skypooling, a ULD asset sharing platform as a key driver for increased sustainability of the air cargo and baggage transport industry. Through eliminating dead-head transports currently needed for the repositioning of containers and pallets, skypooling can save up to 100’000 tons of CO2 per year – and, with proper scaling, up to half a million tons annually industrywide. Over 50 airlines and 280 airports around the world have already successfully traded, borrowed, lent and shared the ULDs.

About Jettainer and skypooling

Pelican BioThermal – reusable shipping containers CrēdoTM

Pelican BioThermal created a family of durable, reusable shipping containers made from recyclable components and began helping companies significantly impact sustainability and cost-savings goals through the cold chain. CrēdoTM reusable shippers through CrēdoTM on Demand promise an improved sustainability through manufacturing and use of durable, reusable temperature-controlled packaging made with vacuum-insulated panel (VIP) insulation and phase change material (PCM) versus single-use containers made with extruded polystyrene (EPS) or polyurethane (PUR) insulation and gel pack heat sinks.

About Pelican BioThermal

VRR – The first inflatable ULD in the world

VRR is addressing the inefficiency of bringing back empty containers by plane which is an economic problem for leasing companies and transport integrators alike and it’s also an environmental issue due to the many return flights and extra storage room normal ULDs require. VRR proposes a solution to both problems: creating a smaller, foldable container that carries the same volume of cargo. The Air7 (AKE) is the first inflatable ULD in the world.

About VRR and the Air7 (AKE)