Logistics UK’s air cargo seminar discusses key levers for growth

Throughout the day, speakers and panellists discussed what levers need to be utilised to keep up this growth, as a challenging policy environment, restrictive regulation and high construction costs were all noted as major barriers to achieving this.

According to WPI Strategy’s Aviation Competitiveness Index, which ranked eight countries and used 22 indicators, the UK is sixth out of eight markets as labour markets and infrastructure help its performance, but tax, regulation and airports being pushed to the limit of capacity were all mentioned as contributing factors to its overall rank.

In a panel comprising One Air, IAG Cargo and Heathrow Airport, panellists discussed how air cargo can drive UK growth, with one recommendation being to utilise the UK’s attractive geographical position and improve connectivity with global markets.

Another panel involving cargo.one , Department for Business and Trade, UPS and East Midlands Airport spoke about how innovation is shaping the UK’s air cargo sector, with AI discussed as having the potential to transform digital distribution.

Attendees also got to hear an online ministerial address delivered by Keir Mather, Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation, who thanked the logistics sector for its resilience and cooperation during the ongoing Middle East conflict and shared how the government is reviewing existing regulation to see what possible changes could be made to promote growth; including the review of Traffic Distribution Rules (TDR) with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department for Transport’s review of night flight restrictions.

Logistics UK would like to thank its speakers, attendees and supporters for an insightful and thought-provoking day, with special mention to partner Airlines UK, host Marsh, and sponsors Air One, FedEx and East Midlands Airport.

Logistics UK’s Senior Policy Manager Alexandra Herdman said: “A big thank you to all of our speakers, attendees and supporters of the air cargo seminar for making it such an insightful and thought-provoking event. This event has gone from strength to strength over the past four years.

“Conversations from the day demonstrated the importance of policy and regulation in enabling further growth in air cargo, as well as building more capacity.

“Increasing freight capacity will boost the economy by making international connections for UK businesses even easier. Logistics UK continues to engage with policy makers and campaign for the changes needed to build a stronger and more resilient air freight sector to meet the needs of the UK economy.”