Editor’s Note: Future vision

Considering the upheaval of the past two years, we understand that many industry leaders have grown tired of being repeatedly asked to dust off their crystal balls and discern through the fog the challenges ahead for airfreight, and when our fortunes may turn to sunnier skies.

The staff of Air Cargo World has, unfortunately, had no greater success in perceiving the future, but with our feature stories for January, we hope to shed some light on the trends expected to dominate 2022.

Our lead story for the month, from contributor Joshua Aelick, surveys several of the world’s leading freight forwarders who were kindly willing to share their own predictions for the year ahead. In “Fog warning ahead: Forwarders struggle to map industry trajectory in 2022,” forecasts as to when the capacity market will see a full recovery remain cloudy, but current trends and new capacity coming online grant unexpected insights into major markets and effective strategies for coping in the meantime.

Forecasts aside, the logistics industry has seized the opportunities presented by the current upheaval and is striving toward a more technological and sustainable future. Our second feature this month, “Flying forward: The integration of cargo drones beyond health care shipments,” from Associate Editor Kelly Stroh, considers the niche being carved out of the airfreight space by cargo drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles have established their value in providing targeted deliveries of medical shipments, especially in remote communities, but the industry has struggled to establish a broader application for drones. The year ahead is expected to bring the launch of several drone projects in other areas of airfreight, giving drones the chance to prove their worth in airfreight logistics. Our editors look forward to seeing the outcome of these projects, which have in many cases been years in the making.

The year ahead will also bring the return of more live events, hosted by Air Cargo World’s publisher Royal Media as well as third-party events our editors look forward to each year. For those readers attending AirCargo 2022 in New Orleans from Jan. 17-19, we look forward to connecting with you in person soon. We also look forward to the return of our sister publication’s Cargo Facts EMEA event, last held in person in early 2020 and returning live to Dubai from May 9-11. Finally, stay on the lookout for the launch of a live Air Cargo World event to be held later this year.

We look forward to reconnecting with you in the new year!

Caryn Livingston
Editor, Air Cargo World