Oleg Sergeev: Will Middle East air cargo carriers start using cloud platform?

For the aviation industry, one of the ways out of the crisis caused by the coronavirus may be the introduction of cloud platforms for air cargo transportation.

The aviation industry is among the hardest hit by the effects of the coronavirus, which negatively affected air travel in the first place. The current reality is forcing airlines to restructure, change approaches to transportation and increasingly use electronic services.

A number of airlines in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Norway have already reported significant increases in freight revenues by delivering e-commerce products on passenger aircraft using the SmartKargo cloud platform. Following the introduction of new technology solutions, airlines are seeing a sharp increase in traffic volumes and higher profitability in line with the demand for speed and capacity in e-commerce.

Recently, an investment company has invested in the development of a cloud platform for air cargo transportation. The details of the deal were not disclosed, but it is noted that the money will be used to implement an integrated delivery technology for an e-commerce platform for global airlines.

Time will show how relevant the introduction of cloud technologies will be for airlines in the Middle East region. Probably, first of all, they will be of interest to those who specialize in passenger transportation. However, ZetAvia does not exclude the possibility of using such modern achievements in the future. During the pandemic, ZetAvia continues to transport cargo on specialized IL-76 cargo planes to the countries of the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Each IL-76 ZetAvia is capable of carrying up to 50 tons of cargo.

I note that according to forecasts of international analysts, e-commerce sales will grow from about $ 5 trillion this year to $ 6.4 trillion in 2024.