For an industry that delivers speed, air cargo sure takes its time when it comes to digitalisation. At the TIACA Executive Summit 2025 in Hong Kong, a panel of insiders didn’t hold back. Instead of celebrating high-tech milestones, they tackled the uncomfortable truth: air cargo is still stuck in outdated habits, fragmented systems, and a fear of change.
Moderated by Kai Domscheit, CEO at CHI Deutschland Cargo Handling GmbH, the panel brought together Andress Lam, Head of Cargo Digital at Cathay Cargo; Moritz Claussen, Co-Founder and Managing Director at cargo.one; David Linford, VP Sales & Account Management at CHAMP Cargosystems; and Simon Ng, CEO of Global Logistics System (HK) Co., Ltd. Across the discussion, what emerged was not a celebration of digital success, but a frank diagnosis of stagnation, friction, and deep structural reluctance to change.
The promise of digital, the reality of manual
Despite decades of calls for reform, air cargo is still marred by archaic processes. David Linford did not sugar-coat the reality. “We’re still very document-driven. There are too many hands touching everything. There’s duplication,” he said, underscoring that “digitisation is not just about putting a digital wrapper on a paper process.”
Moritz Claussen echoed this frustration. “Digitalisation has often been confused with digital tools,” he said. “Just because you have a PDF or Excel file, doesn’t mean you’re digital.”
For Andress Lam, the challenge is not a lack of tools, but integration. “Every airline has its own digitalisation journey. There is no one-size-fits-all,” he noted. “But what we need is to make systems talk to each other.”
Simon Ng was more direct in his critique of the industry’s fragmentation. “We need to unify processes. Otherwise, every partner is just building their own silo.” A recurring theme was that resistance to change is more cultural than technological.
Claussen put it plainly: “Air cargo is not suffering from a technology problem. It’s suffering from a decision-making problem.” He added: “Most companies are not digitally ready, because their organisations are not aligned. Digitalisation is not an IT project. It’s a business model rethink.”
Lam spoke of inertia within organisations. “Sometimes, people just don’t want to change. They fear disruption or failure,” he said. “But not changing is a bigger risk.”
Simon Ng agreed that internal misalignment is a hidden killer of progress. “We always say we want to be digital, but then we ask people to send Excel files,” he said with a dry chuckle.
Linford highlighted that even well-meaning efforts can backfire without governance. “You need standards, you need commitment. Otherwise, you just end up with five platforms doing the same thing badly.”
Interoperability or irrelevance?
When the conversation turned to solutions, interoperability came to the fore. Claussen issued a clear warning: “If we don’t make systems interoperable, we will be left behind.”
He challenged the audience to think beyond platforms and APIs: “True interoperability means commercial alignment. It means shared value. Right now, the incentives are broken.”
Lam added that while Cathay is pushing for open standards, industry-wide collaboration is essential. “If we don’t move together, we won’t move far.”
Ng proposed a stronger role for regulators and associations. “Sometimes, we need a push. Voluntary collaboration only goes so far.”
Underpinning many of the challenges is a deeper issue: control over data. Linford raised concerns about data ownership and misuse. “People are scared that once they share their data, they lose control,” he said.
Claussen criticised this mindset. “Data hoarding is self-defeating. The value of data comes from use, not ownership,” he argued. “If everyone guards their data, we all lose.”
Lam noted that transparency must come with trust. “We need digital trust frameworks. It’s not just about technology, but also governance.”
Ng agreed but pointed to industry immaturity. “In many places, data quality is still too poor to build trust on. First, we must fix the basics.”
In the end, the panel sent a clear message: digitalisation is not a tech challenge, but a leadership one. It is not about apps, APIs, or platforms, but about alignment, cooperation, and courage.
As Claussen summed up: “If we want to succeed, we have to stop pretending we are digital just because we have software. We need to rethink the way we work, not just the tools we use.”
