Editor’s Note: Weathering another storm

After a winter of weather disruptions in airfreight operations that exacerbated ongoing pandemic pains in global logistics, the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere has brought another kind of storm: the war in Ukraine.

The long-expected invasion of Ukraine by Russia that began in late February has already had serious fallout for both countries, with consequences rippling across the globe. European, U.S. and Canadian sanctions on Russia have been met with retaliatory sanctions and airspace closures, and logistics providers are scrambling anew to keep crucial cargo moving around the globe.

Ukraine and Russia are home to the aviation groups Antonov Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Group, respectively, and global cargo operations already are missing the loss of their large freighters. Air Cargo World’s March feature “Go big or go home: Outsized and heavy airfreight in the absence of Antonov aircraft” considers the landscape for heavy and oversize cargo shipments by air, as well as the long-term implications for Antonov Airlines, whose one-of-a-kind AN-225 freighter was destroyed in the early days of the invasion. And in this month’s Forwarders’ Forum column, Airforwarders Association Executive Director Brandon Fried provides his own guidance to freight forwarders called once again to guide shippers through a new wave of disruption.

Alongside the new challenges of 2022 and those that persisted from earlier years, the industry continues to work toward achieving its long-term goals. Among those that gained momentum despite the difficulties of pandemic operations is the push to make air transportation more sustainable. This month’s lead feature from Associate Editor Kelly Stroh, “Seeing the forest for the trees: Carbon offsets and their place in airfreight logistics,” examines the value of carbon offsets in the logistics sustainability strategy, and how some operators are utilizing offsets on their path to net-zero emissions.

Sustainability is also one of several discussion topics on the agenda for Air Cargo World’s new live event, the Air Cargo Tech Summit. The inaugural event will take place from June 6-7 at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami, with an agenda of panel discussions and presentations covering the most important technological improvements across air cargo logistics. For more information or to register, visit the event’s home page here.

We hope to see our readers in Miami in June!

Caryn Livingston

Editor, Air Cargo World