CARGOCONNECT-JUNE2026 - Flipbook - Page 40
COVER STORY
AIR CARGO ASCENDS
Yet, the road ahead will depend not merely
on adding terminals or aircraft capacity, but
on how intelligently the ecosystem integrates
connectivity, digitalisation, multimodal
logistics, and operational e昀케ciency into a
future-ready cargo framework.
From Resilience to
Resurgence
Rather than relying
solely on owned
infrastructure
or rigid network
structures, carriers
are increasingly
leveraging alliances,
multimodal
integration, and
flexible corridor
planning to maintain
operational continuity
amid disruptions.
PRAVIN SINGH
HEAD OF CARGO,
RIYADH AIR
One of the clearest structural shifts underway within global air cargo is the transition
from expansion-led thinking to resilienceoriented network design. For decades, global
cargo networks were optimised around
e昀케ciency, stable corridors, and predictable
昀氀ows. Airlines built strategies around hub
consolidation, maximised aircraft utilisation,
and long-established trade lanes connecting
Asia, Europe, and North America. However,
the emergence of geopolitical fragmentation, ranging from restricted airspace and
regional con昀氀icts to sanctions and trade
realignments, has fundamentally altered
that operating environment. Today, carriers
are increasingly being forced to rethink not
just where they fly, but how they deploy
and protect capacity within a fragmented
global landscape.
Mark Sutch, Chief Commercial O昀케cer
– CarGo, IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation),
believes the future trajectory of air cargo
will depend less on raw expansion and
more on sustainable ecosystem alignment.
Highlighting opportunities that lie for India,
Sutch says that several macroeconomic
and industrial shifts are converging in
India’s favour. While India’s ambition of
handling 10 MT of cargo by 2030 re昀氀ects
strong underlying fundamentals, including
growth in electronics, pharmaceuticals,
semiconductors, and e-commerce, he notes
that the focus must remain on creating
long-term structural e昀케ciency rather than
chasing headline numbers alone.
That caution re昀氀ects broader realities
across global networks. Trade lane asymmetry continues to a昀昀ect aircraft utilisation
and freighter economics, particularly where
inbound and outbound 昀氀ows remain uneven.
Import-heavy corridors from East Asia
often fail to align with export demand in
Western markets, creating ine昀케ciencies that
directly a昀昀ect pro昀椀tability and scheduling
discipline. Against this backdrop, airlines
are increasingly adopting resilience-led
operating models.
Pravin Singh, Head of Cargo at Riyadh
Air, observes that geopolitical volatility has
accelerated the need for diversi昀椀ed routing
frameworks, partnership-led flows, and
more agile network deployment.
Rather than relying solely on owned
infrastructure or rigid network structures,
Singh mentions how carriers are increasingly
leveraging alliances, multimodal integration,
and 昀氀exible corridor planning to maintain
operational continuity amid disruptions.
This shift is particularly visible across the
Middle East, where hubs are steadily evolving from traditional transit gateways into
globally connected logistics ecosystems
capable of linking fragmented markets
with greater agility.
Riyadh Air’s positioning within this
emerging structure re昀氀ects a broader industry transition towards adaptive, digitally
integrated cargo environments where
operational resilience becomes a competitive
advantage in itself. As global trade routes
continue to shift, the region’s ability to
absorb volatility while sustaining throughput
is steadily strengthening its importance
within the global cargo landscape. This
shift is also becoming increasingly visible
in how airlines are rethinking their cargo
network strategy itself amid growing geopolitical fragmentation. The traditional cargo
model, built around stable trade corridors,
predictable routings, and centralised hubs,
is steadily giving way to far more adaptive
operating frameworks designed to absorb
disruption while maintaining continuity
across increasingly volatile supply chains.
Brendan Sullivan, Global Head of Cargo
at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), however, believes the evolving
landscape should not be viewed as a trade-o昀昀
between resilience and e昀케ciency. According
to Sullivan, in today’s operating environment,
true resilience is increasingly being built
through smarter and more intelligent forms
of e昀케ciency itself. While geopolitical volatility,
tari昀昀 shifts, e-commerce unpredictability,
regulatory changes, and dynamic capacity
pressures have intensi昀椀ed the perception of
“permanent disruption” across global cargo
ecosystems, he emphasises that the industry’s
response is not to move away from e昀케ciency,
but rather to embed resilience directly into
how the system operates.
Sullivan points out that digitalisation,
common data standards, interoperable
Global air cargo is shifting from
volume expansion toward resilience, agility,
and operational continuity.
40 | CARGOCONNECT JUNE 2026
