Ecommerce 'saves' the air cargo industry - but what about the planet?

Some 786 delegates from upwards of 40 countries attended this year’s EU CBEC ecommerce forum in Liege to celebrate air-cargo’s “saviour”, but ignorance is bliss when it comes to ESG [Environmental, social and governance] concerns.  

Liege airport (LGG) was the perfect location for this week’s event as Europe’s fifth biggest air cargo hub in Europe, handling over 1000 tonnes of cargo last year alone, and is a favourite for ecommerce players, not least in part because of its favourable (so far) Customs regime.

And the airport is very cargo focused; just to paint a picture of how few and far between the passenger flights are in Liege, the departures board display in the event’s forum not only showed the time of the flights, but the month. 

On to the conference itself, and anyone who is familiar with air cargo conferences would likely bet a hefty wager on any agenda being centred around three main topics of discussion: safety, digitilisation and sustainability.  

However, while many discussions circled back to automation and collaboration at the forum this week, talks about sustainability were notably absent.  

One titled ‘marketplaces and sustainability’ touched upon the sizeable CO2 emissions and waste products brought about by ecommerce, with panel moderator and TIACA’s head of business development Kenneth Gibson noting that the global waste generated by online shopping is projected to grow to 900m metric tons annually by next year. 

In fact, today, The Loadstar reports on Amazon’s environmental footprint, which has seen its emissions from air transport rise 67% in five years, while its emissions from dock to door have grown at an average annual rate of 18%.

It’s no wonder that many speakers chose to either avoid the topic altogether or shift the blame to consumers – one noting that little could be done to decarbonise the ecommerce supply chain without SAF.  

The only speaker on the whole event line up with any kind of environmental stake was Atlas Air’s chief commercial officer and head of sustainability, Richard Broekman, who himself even pointed out the conflicting interests of his job titles. 

Indeed, one delegate told The Loadstar on the sidelines, “it’s impossible to remain sustainable while catering to the current ecommerce demand”. 

But with 2024 ecommerce sales likely to exceed $6.3trn worldwide according to Statista, it’s hardly suprsing that airlines, forwarders and ecommerce shippers want to continue to reap the benefits of the ecommerce ‘golden goose’ while they can, before waves of environmental and safety legislations inevitably come to rain on the profit parade.  

As well as sustainability professionals, another demographic largely absent from panel roles were women, accounting for just six out of a total 50, according to a quick Loadstar calculation. 

That depressing statistic aside, it’s clear from discussions and presentations in Liege this week that the industry has another pressing issue on its hands – capacity.  

Capacity is set to be the new industry ‘buzzword’ as we head into what will be a hectic Q4, largely driven by “unquenching ecommerce demand from Asia,” according to TIACA’s director general, Glyn Hughes.  

The general mood seemed to be that “too much demand” isn’t an entirely devastating prospect though, and spirits were high throughout the two-day event. 

LGG-based Challenge Group ensured its boozy opening night roof-top reception allowed delegates to unwind after what has been a tireless nine months for air cargo, and stakeholders seemed to be truly excited about the prospects of booming ecommerce – many dismissing upcoming challenges as “opportunities to innovate”.  

CEO cargo carrier SilkWay West, Wolfgang Meier, summed up the general atmosphere perfectly when he said: “Looking back at the beginning of 2023, the heydays were over. We had to face normal life. Who saved us? Ecommerce saved us.”