E-commerce is ‘saving’ the air travel industry – but what about the planet?

Some 786 delegates from over 40 countries attended this year’s EU CBEC e-commerce forum in Liège to celebrate the “savior” of air transport, but ignorance is bliss when it comes to ESG (Environment, Society and Corporate Governance) worries.

Liège Airport (LGG) was the perfect location for this year’s event, as it is the fifth largest European cargo hub, handling over 1,000 tonnes of cargo last year. It is a favourite with e-commerce players, partly due to its (so far) favourable customs regulations.

And the airport is very freight-oriented; to give you an idea of ​​how few and how frequent passenger flights there are at Liège, the departures board on the event forum shows not only the flight time but also the month in which the flight takes place.

Moving on to the conference itself, anyone familiar with air transport conferences would probably assume that the conference program would revolve around three main themes: safety, digitalization, and sustainability.

While much of the discussion at this week’s forum came back to the issues of automation and collaboration, the issue of sustainability was notably absent.

The discussion, titled “Markets and Sustainability,” touched on the significant CO2 emissions and waste generated by e-commerce, with panel moderator and TIACA Business Development Head Kenneth Gibson noting that By next year, the amount of waste generated globally due to online shopping is expected to rise to 900 million metric tons per year.

Actually today, Charging Star Amazon’s carbon footprint reports that its air freight emissions have increased by 67% over five years, with dock-to-door air freight emissions increasing by an average of 18% per year.

Not surprisingly, many speakers preferred to avoid the topic altogether or shift the blame to consumers – one of them noted that without SAF, little can be done to decarbonize the e-commerce supply chain.

The only speaker at the entire event whose interests touched on environmental issues in any way was Atlas Air’s Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Sustainability, Richard Broekman, who himself drew attention to the competing interests inherent in his positions.

Indeed, one delegate said Charging Star on the side note: “you can’t be sustainable while meeting current e-commerce demand.”

But with global e-commerce sales expected to top $6.3 trillion in 2024, according to Statista, it’s no surprise that airlines, freight forwarders, and e-commerce shippers want to continue to capitalize on the e-commerce “chicken rush” while they can, before the inevitable waves of environmental and safety regulations come to derail profit plans.

In addition to sustainability professionals, another demographic group that largely missed out on panels was women, who made up just six of the 50, according to the rapid survey Loadstar calculation.

These depressing statistics aside, it is clear from discussions and presentations in Liège this week that the industry is grappling with another pressing issue – capacity.

Efficiency is set to become the new industry “keyword” ahead of a hectic fourth quarter that will be largely driven by “unmet e-commerce demand in Asia,” according to TIACA CEO Glyn Hughes.

The overall mood seemed to indicate that “too much demand” was not an entirely damaging prospect, however, and spirits were high throughout the two-day event.

LGG’s Challenge Group ensured its boozy rooftop party helped delegates unwind after nine months of non-stop air travel, and stakeholders seemed genuinely excited about the prospects of e-commerce booming – many dismissing the upcoming challenges as “opportunities to innovate”.

CEO of shipping company SilkWay West, Wolfgang Meier, summed up the general atmosphere perfectly when he said: “Looking back to early 2023, the glory days are over. We had to face normal life. Who saved us? E-commerce saved us.”