e-commerce volumes are rising sharply, and Belgium has become a key gateway for European parcel flows. The country’s combination with the Netherlands accounts for a significant share of incoming e-commerce shipments, with Air Cargo Belgium reporting more than 1 billion e-commerce declarations in Belgium for last year and projecting 1.5 billion by the end of 2025.
“e-commerce has been a fast change. And of course, when there’s a fast change, people are sometimes reluctant to get into that change,” Nathan Goethals, Project Manager at Air Cargo Belgium, underscored.
Collaboration across air, road feeder, and airport stakeholders as well as with customs authorities is central to Belgium’s strategy. Members share operational insights, enabling a holistic view of the e-commerce supply chain from landing to last-mile delivery. “Most importantly, having those conversations meant that we could keep an overview, really, and that’s the most important thing,” Goethals expressed.
Data-driven
Air Cargo Belgium is actively embracing digitalisation to manage the surge in parcel volumes and optimise operational processes. AI and data-driven practices are increasingly central, enabling members to identify inefficiencies and “cut out the fat” in workflows, particularly for high-volume e-commerce shipments. This focus on process optimisation allows stakeholders to handle complex flows more efficiently and supports broader industry initiatives such as sustainability and , security and compliance.
Shared learning and pilot programmes are key to technological adoption. Rather than individual companies absorbing the full cost and risk of testing new automation or tracking systems, Air Cargo Belgium fosters collective experimentation. “With e-commerce, there are some markets where it’s grown massively. Where it started really fast, e-commerce is now a more maturing segment,” Goethals stated.
Data interoperability has become a priority for customs and airport operations alike. Air Cargo Belgium works closely with authorities to minimise bottlenecks and ensure regulatory compliance without impeding throughput. “Even customs authorities see that there’s no way around e-commerce. They have to effectively do their controls, whilst they’re also bound as an authority to facilitate the market,” Goethals outlined.
Adapting and collaborating
The rapid growth of e-commerce has prompted structural adjustments across Belgium’s cargo ecosystem. Ground handling agents (GHAs) and freight forwarders have adopted more integrated operating models, sharing data and aligning processes to meet global platform standards. “e-commerce has allowed our GHAs and our freight forwarders to cooperate on a different level, to share more data,” Goethals said.
Cross-sector collaboration has become a competitive differentiator. Partners who engage in open communication and adopt new data practices are outperforming less cooperative operators. Air Cargo Belgium’s open-door policy encourages members to exchange insights, discuss challenges, and implement solutions collaboratively. “Our community has become quite used to actually use that open door and to come in,” he continued.
Operational implications extend beyond efficiency to regulatory and infrastructural planning. As e-commerce matures, authorities and service providers are exploring ways to sustain growth while maintaining compliance and throughput speed. Platforms in Asia and Europe increasingly require accurate data sharing and adherence to quality standards, which influences partner operations across the supply chain.
“The Asian markets are greatly looking at destination and pushing destination partners towards a sustainable solution that really comes down to speed,” Goethals said.
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Author: Edward Hardy
