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Industry leaders highlight ONE Record innovations and future roadmaps at IATA World Cargo Symposium (WCS) 2025
In his opening plenary presentation, Brendan Sullivan, Global Head of Cargo, IATA said that safety is the standard for air cargo and digitization is its accelerator. On digitalization, he talked about seamless data exchange across the supply chain and highlighted that January 2026 was the date when the IATA ONE Record standard would become the preferred method of communication for air cargo. While ONE Record offers a single source of truth and can unlock new services, he told delegates that they need to increase their pace of adoption with their technology partners.
A panel of senior cargo executives further talked about the business benefits of digital innovation. Gabriela Hiitola, SVP, Finnair Cargo, shared that her priorities are agility, data-driven operations, and customer-centricity. Tom Owen, Director of Cathay Cargo, added that his organization was experimenting with many new technology initiatives, and that he was happy if some fail, adding that ‘you don’t know until you try’.
Charles Marrale, CEO, ExFreight, highlighted that removing documents drives speed and opens the door to new AI-driven services. Other speakers further noted that ONE Record helps extend the digital supply chain to include shippers and enables piece-level shipment management, something legacy EDI interfaces cannot support.
ONE Record spotlight panel: Industry partners share path to 2026
Introducing the ONE Record spotlight panel called ‘Industry partners share path to 2026’, Henk Mulder, Head of Digital Cargo, IATA, welcomed the progress by air cargo organizations and their solution providers for showing the way forward for the whole industry.
On the panel, Andress Lam, Head of Cargo Digital, Cathay Cargo, highlighted initiatives that deliver better visibility and enable faster responses to customer and security requirements. An example that Andress shared was how Cathay Cargo can now track and report to customers the real-time temperature and humidity information from IoT sensors.
Additionally, recent ONE Record developments provide new information on imports to Hong Kong Customs, and new insights help their ground handler, WFS, deliver better service. Pedro Garcia, EMEAA CIO at Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), picked up on how a ONE Record interface gives them real-time visibility of bookings for flights they handle for Cathay Cargo.
This visibility helps WFS better manage resources and performance. Another ONE Record development he highlighted involves the carrier Air China Cargo, forwarder Sinotrans, and multiple ground handlers in China and France. This development helps to demonstrate how ONE Record works end-to-end and paves the way for more complex integrations to be set up in the future. Garcia said that his company is actively extending enhancements to other carriers and to new use cases.
Nemil Sheriff, Senior Product Manager, CHAMP, the enterprise technology partner for Cathay Cargo and WFS, talked about the advantages of being an early mover, especially when supported by an engaged technology partner like his company. He highlighted how the use cases presented leveraged data that could not be handled by traditional interfaces. He showed the audience how CHAMP was also working on ONE Record developments with other supply chain partners like forwarders, cargo communities, software service providers, and sensor providers to transition from proof of concepts to live services.
“It was very exciting for CHAMP to share the ONE Record spotlight panel with Cathay Cargo and WFS. CHAMP has been at the forefront of ONE Record, and we showcased some of our most innovative work. We see incredible potential with ONE Record, and we are demonstrating this by delivering multiple use cases at scale. We believe the success of ONE Record depends on widespread adoption, and forums like WCS are essential in spreading the message,” said Sheriff.
Also at the World Cargo Symposium, CHAMP announced that Worldwide Flight Services and Saudia Cargo have launched a significant ONE Record integration, marking a pivotal advancement in the air cargo industry's move towards IATA's ONE Record initiative.
Although the event has passed, through the various sessions at the event, the industry highlighted the significant advancements and future roadmaps powered through digital innovation and seamless data exchange through technologies such as ONE Record.
Click here for more information on CHAMP's 1Neo-Connect service, which was designed to help air cargo businesses transition to the new ONE Record standard.
