The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released a study identifying a quantitative link between a country’s air cargo connectivity and its participation in global trade. 
“A 1% increase in air cargo connectivity was associated with a 6.3% increase in a country’s total trade,” IATA highlighted in a report released on the sidelines of a global media event in Geneva yesterday.  IATA chief economist Brian Pearce said air cargo was key to supporting the current global trading system.  In 2015, airlines transported 52.2mn metric tonnes of goods, representing about 35% of global trade by value. 
“That is equivalent to $5.6tn worth of goods annually, or $15.3bn worth of goods every day. We now have quantitative evidence of the important link between air cargo connectivity and trade competitiveness. It’s is in the economic interest for governments to promote and implement policies for the efficient facilitation of air cargo movements,” said Pearce.
Key policy level and practical industry modernisation priorities to improve countries’ air cargo connectivity identified in the study encompasses legislative priorities including the ratification and implementation of 1999 Montreal Convention to enable countries to adopt e-freight, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement and World Customs Organisation’s (WCO’s) revised Kyoto Convention to implement smart border solutions that reduce complexity and costs.
The practical industry modernisation prioritiesw include facilitation of electronic processing (through electronic Air Waybills (e-AWB) and e-freight), implementation by governments of “single window” processing — ultimately enabling submission of all regulatory documents for trade via one channel, coordinated border agency procedures to reduce duplicative controls, implementation of risk management controls (at borders) to combat illicit activities and facilitating compliant traders and implementation of processes to approve release of shipments in advance of their actual arrival.
IATA Global Head (Cargo) Glyn Hughes said: “Facilitating trade with efficient air cargo processes requires a strong partnership between governments and industry. Governments have the important role of implementing global standards and agreements to facilitate trade and making it possible for airlines to modernise processes. In turn, the industry needs to embrace these opportunities to improve competitiveness and provide customers with enhanced shipping quality, service and better predictability.”