The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) 12th World Cargo Symposium (WCS) takes place in cowboy country in Dallas, Texas from today.
More than 1,000 air cargo decision-makers and over 40 exhibitors will attend the show from 12-15 March taking place at the Hilton Anatole, which is set to be as big, if not better than last year’s in Abu Dhabi.
This year’s airline host is American Airlines Cargo and the event will open with a welcome reception tonight (12 March) before the plenary session take place tomorrow (13 March).
Then from Wednesday (14 March) a raft of tracks on everything from perishables, to ULDs, live animals, e-commerce, dangerous goods, innovation security and pharmaceuticals will be held before the closing plenary on Thursday afternoon (15 March).
2017 was a strong year for the industry, and 2018 has started in a similar vein, but there remains challenges, such as capacity constraints, congestion at airports, the increasing amount of red-tape and an urgent need for investment in infrastructure and IT systems.
This year’s Gala Dinner taking place on Wednesday is themed ‘Denims & Diamonds’ and is set to see delegates dance into the night.
After the closing plenary on Thursday, the FACE UP! contest and three finalist presentations will take place, presented by IATA’s global head of cargo, Glyn Hughes.
The competition was aimed at attracting and identifying future leaders in the air cargo industry and delegates will hear from the three finalists.
Once this has finished, the Innovation Awards 2019; Connect, Collaborate, Modernise will be launched before the winner of FACE UP! 2018 is announced.
Hughes will then let delegates know where WCS 2019 will take place.
Visit http://www.iata.org/events/wcs/Pages/index.aspx for more information and visit our website for any news from the event.
