The Air Cargo Advisory Body, established by BIFA in 2025, recently hosted a ULD workshop bringing together stakeholders from across the cargo community to discuss landside infrastructure and efficiency developments which support the future of cargo operations at Heathrow Airport.
The workshop focused on community collaboration, technology, operational improvements, and identified steps required to support future growth in cargo volumes while operating within existing estate constraints.
BIFA’s Andy Cooke, secretariat of the Advisory Body, opened the meeting by welcoming attendees, making introductions, and outlining the agenda, and setting out the workshop agenda and objectives. He emphasised the importance of open discussion and community collaboration across the cargo supply chain, setting the tone for a constructive and forward-looking session.
Paul Hilditch, Senior Cargo Manager at Heathrow Airport, provided an overview of the airport’s expansion and redevelopment plans, outlining how Heathrow is preparing for significant future demand, including in cargo. He highlighted that operational efficiency, and improved throughput will be critical to accommodating future growth within existing infrastructure.
Magdelena Deitsche, Senior Cargo Manager at Heathrow Airport, highlighted the importance of landside efficiency and active stakeholder involvement in driving operational improvements. She outlined the governance structure supporting the initiative and the structured process used to identify a preferred system provider. Four providers participated in a comprehensive selection process, including demonstrations and community voting, resulting in CCS‑UK’s AIS being recommended as the preferred solution.
It was further highlighted how AIS is enabling the airport’s cargo community to better manage landside traffic flows, reducing wait times, and improving the efficiency of cargo drop-offs and collections, a critical factor for time-sensitive freight.
Claudia Carley and Malcolm Fowler from BT presented on the benefits of AIS, focusing particularly on data visibility and operational transparency. They highlighted the system’s ongoing evolution in response to practical operational needs, with updates planned on a three‑month release cycle. They also introduced the “Driver App”, a web portal currently being trialed by Geodis, designed to improve communication and streamline driver interactions within the cargo process.
Lawrence Cockburn from Dnata provided operational feedback based on current AIS usage. He highlighted increasing adoption among freight forwarders and the value of enhanced data visibility in identifying trends and supporting more informed decision‑making. He also shared insights into driver experiences, comparing journeys for drivers who had pre-booked slots against those arriving without bookings. In cases where drivers arrived unbooked, information was provided for them to relay back to their planners, reinforcing the need for improved planning and communication which underpins the process across the community network.
During the session, attendees reflected on the value of recent workshops involving ground handling agents and hauliers. It was noted that process mapping sessions had been carried out for current “‘as is “) ULD exports and imports flows including all stakeholders. These sessions enabled the identification of bottlenecks and supported a clearer understanding of existing and proposed modified processes across the cargo supply chain which should be adopted to ensure the best results from AIS can be realised, and ultimately to reduce a large percentage of the existing congestion.
Speakers further highlighted the benefits of AIS, alongside plans to launch a pilot to test the process and its effectiveness in reducing congestion at the airport’s cargo estate.
Delegates were informed that an empties workshop is being developed to focus on the endemic historic issues managing the return and reallocation of ULD pallets and containers.
The workshop also included a series of interactive sessions, where attendees completed self-assessment exercises to reflect on current practices and identify improvement opportunities. This was followed by a flip chart discussion, enabling participants to share feedback and explore key challenges and opportunities across the sector, which will be factored into the rollout planning.
To conclude the workshop, Andy Cooke outlined the next steps and future actions arising from the discussions specific to the rollout process. The session closed with a Q&A, allowing attendees to raise further questions, share observations, and continue the collaborative dialogue around the future of air cargo operations and ULD management at Heathrow.
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