Air Cargo Tech Trends for 2025

2024 has been a year full of positives for the air cargo industry. Right from double digit growth of 13.6% to 32% expansion surge in the Middle East Europe trade lane, the industry had a lot of positives to boast upon. E-Commerce continued to be a bright spot and is already driving the volume growth for air cargo as major e-commerce players are leveraging air cargo for faster deliveries. On the other hand, uncertain economic and geopolitical factors as well as ineffective capacity management pulled the industry down.

While the countdown is on for 2025, similar trends are expected to remain along with some course corrections. Here are some of those trends:

Solving digital standardisation complexities

Digitisation is happening rapidly in airport cargo complexes across processes and functions. However, it is not reflecting as an integrated effort, and this practice is gradually creating a siloed structure within the ecosystem. Therefore, the need to create digital standardisation/digitalisation is gaining prominence. AI powered large language models to assist in generating messaging formats, improving aircraft capacity utilisation, and re-routing cargo during delays are some of the possibilities to begin with for 2025.    

Getting data collaboration right

A common opinion exists in the industry that stakeholders are reluctant to share data among each other and if they do so, all digitalization will happen more rapidly. It is believed that security and competitive concerns make stakeholders reluctant to share data among each other. However, digital frameworks for data collaboration are expected to materialize during 2025 and come into action soon. With this, digitalisation will leapfrog to the next level and create a futuristic cargo complex.

Focus on temperature sensitive cargo movement

Air cargo was chosen to be the preferred mode of transport for vaccine distribution and since then pharmaceutical and perishables are being transported through air cargo. Operators are prioritising real-time tracking and temperature monitoring to ensure compliance with stringent regulatory standards, such as the Good Distribution Practice (GDP) guidelines for pharmaceuticals. Emerging technologies, including IoT-enabled sensors and blockchain for traceability, are enhancing transparency and reducing risks of temperature excursions.

Increased focus on digital security

Cyber security has been on the rise since the pandemic. Robust cybersecurity measures including end-to-end encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems are prevalent in the industry. These are crucial to safeguarding sensitive information and operational integrity. Regular security audits, employee training, and adherence to international standards like the ISO/IEC 27001 framework further strengthen defences. And in 2025 there will be increased focus on these areas. Regulators believe collaboration between stakeholders—airlines, freight forwarders, and regulators—is vital to develop industry-wide protocols for incident response and risk management. Hence, there is a push to collaboration among stakeholders to achieve digital security standards.

Sustainability push through technology

Sustainability continues to be a major focal point for air cargo. Fuel efficiency, enhancing load efficiency to decrease fuel utility per shipment and adopting green packaging will continue in 2025 as well with a little bit more penetration. However, the need for optimising these efforts is becoming significantly important. In addition to this, electrification of ground handling equipment and 100% renewable energy consumption is becoming increasingly important. At the centre of all these, technology will be the focal point and facilitating agent.

Further penetration of e-Commerce

E-Commerce has been the bright spot for the past couple of years for air cargo and there seems to be further penetration in 2025 as well. Cross-border e-commerce is expected to become more simplified in 2025 with streamlined order management and optimised processing. The utility of multiple devices will be in place and will further reduce the delivery time.

In conclusion

In a nutshell, the future looks bright for air cargo coupled with enormous challenges to face. Technology will be a facilitator of sorts for the industry to overcome these challenges. 2025 will see the rate at which technology can help overcome uncertainties and achieve the real growth potential.