A rare trip to the shops and the rapidly fading glory of London’s Oxford Street throws up some shocking surprises. Sales, sales, sales. 50% off this, 70% off that. Two major clothing brands have gone bust, home store Habitat has been sold. Electronics giant Philips has issued a shock profit warnin...

And so to the annual macho posturing between the manufacturing giants, this year in Paris. It’s only day two – and Airbus is beating its chest the hardest, boasting 244 firm orders, while Boeing, currently with a more modest 52, is touting its widebody sucess. An exhibition of marketing prowess...

So the news comes in that the German government may have illegally subsidised Leipzig-Halle airport. The European Commission is investigating whether loans and capital injections used to finance new infrastructure at DHL’s hub are in line with EU state aid rules. The Commission has expressed conce...

Let’s remind you all of that figure again, lest you forget. Just 2% of the world’s goods are carried by air, 98% by other modes. OK, so there’s the happier “by value” statistic, but let’s focus on the 2% one for now.  Well, Maersk has thrown down the gauntlet to you all. CEO Eivind...

Well, the time has come. It’s official, Tony Tyler is now the man at the top. (Or rather, in the protracted way that has come to characterise IATA’s dealings, he will be from July). It won’t be a moment too soon for the airline industry, the cargo business – and IATA employees.  An e...

A weak market out of China has tinged this year, so far, with cloud. The number of complaints about overcapacity in the country (which is now spilling over into other routes in a desperate bid to improve revenues), is growing daily. And there doesn’t seem to be huge optimism over the peak season e...

“You can’t make a career in air cargo,” I was told recently. “Airlines have gradually decimated their cargo business. Apart from a handful of people, those that have remained are those that couldn’t find a job anywhere else.” From an outsider’s perspective, it does indeed look as if a ...

Dear Des, In your final speech at the World Cargo Symposium, you mentioned that one of the aims of IATA this year is to raise the profile of the industry. Not only would this help governments and authorities understand what a critical industry it is to commerce and the economy, giving it greater c...