- The sector is shifting from standalone digital tools to fully connected ecosystems, requiring alignment, trust, and shared incentives among diverse airfreight stakeholders.
- Real-time collaboration and operational synchronicity are becoming central, enabling all parties to work from a single live data picture to enhance resilience and agility.
- Emerging AI and predictive analytics promise more proactive operations, but effective change management and structured onboarding remain essential to realise their full value.
The industry is still grappling with a fundamental question: how do we move from isolated digital solutions to a truly connected ecosystem? While individual tools have delivered efficiency gains, the next phase is about integration—creating shared visibility, real-time collaboration, and data-driven resilience.
In a sector long dominated by legacy systems and paper-based processes, the shift to digital is no longer a “nice-to-have”; it is fast becoming a prerequisite for doing business. Whether it is live operational dashboards, predictive analytics, or carbon reporting, the drivers of digital adoption now extend beyond efficiency—they touch compliance, sustainability, and competitiveness.
But as the airfreight community embraces this transformation, challenges remain. The biggest is not technology; it is alignment. Stakeholders operate with different incentives, regulatory constraints, and IT capabilities. Overcoming these differences is essential if digitalisation is to deliver on its promise of creating connected cargo communities rather than isolated islands of innovation.
“The air cargo industry has embraced the principles of community-based digital infrastructure, and there is less fear around data sharing than in the past,” Jean Verheyen, CEO of Nallian, said.
However, while attitudes have shifted, practical hurdles remain. “Building trust between parties is still essential. Appetite is especially strong when stakeholders can leverage their existing IT investments and simply add a connected layer on top,” Verheyen explains.
The move toward interconnected systems represents a cultural change as much as a technological one. For decades, airfreight has operated in silos, with each player optimising its own processes. Breaking that pattern requires a mindset shift toward collective value—while still ensuring individual actors see clear benefits. “In reality, actors in a cargo community don’t adopt digital tools for the greater good of the network, but because it serves their own interests. Building trust means aligning those individual benefits with the collective gain,” Verheyen stresses.
The rise of real-time collaboration
If connected ecosystems are the foundation, operational synchronicity is the outcome. “Operational synchronicity is when all cargo stakeholders—ground handlers, forwarders, trucking companies, and airlines—operate as one,” says Verheyen.
“Everyone acts on the same real-time version of the truth, so what happens at one party immediately and automatically updates the operational picture.”
Digital cargo platforms enable this by turning live updates into synchronised action across multiple players. This approach not only optimises throughput but also builds resilience—critical in an era of geopolitical instability and supply chain disruption. “Agility is key,” Verheyen emphasises. “Digital infrastructure provides the real-time visibility needed to reroute, replan, or deploy extra resources on the spot—ensuring cargo keeps flowing even when disruptions occur.”
Push toward proactivity
Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics have become buzzwords in logistics, but their practical application in airfreight is still emerging. According to Verheyen, the real value lies in moving from reactive decision-making to proactive intervention.
“Nallian’s solutions are already guiding users to make smarter, faster decisions based on historic data—for example, suggesting ideal slot lengths when scheduling,” he says. “AI and predictive analytics will take this further by improving predictability and enabling and automating faster reactions to real-time events.”
The implications are significant. By anticipating bottlenecks before they occur, predictive tools can reduce congestion, optimise resource allocation, and cut delays. But Verheyen warns that technology alone will not deliver these gains. “Change management is key. It’s about clearly explaining the ‘why,’ showing the benefits each party can expect—and just as importantly, the cost of not moving.”
This need for education and engagement also extends to onboarding, particularly for smaller forwarders and ground handlers. “The key to frictionless onboarding is information and guidance,” he says. “It’s about engaging people before, during, and after launch: making sure the mindset is right, providing the training needed to feel confident with new ways of working, and offering close follow-up once live to adjust and support where needed.”
