The Air Cargo Community Advisory Body, which was launched in April 2025 by the British International Freight Association (BIFA), along with other stakeholders, is now fully operational, writes Andy Cooke, BIFA external affairs consultant.
This marks an important milestone for collaboration and development across the UK air cargo community.
With the advisory body established, the CCS UK user group has now formally been discontinued, and its role absorbed into this broader and more strategic forum.
The advisory body has a new dedicated logo, which is now being used in communications, and a new landing page has also been launched on the BIFA website, providing a clear overview of the advisory body’s purpose, remit, and the value it offers to members. All members are strongly encouraged to review this page to understand how the advisory body will support industry-wide progress.
In addition, an online form has been introduced to allow members to propose ideas, initiatives, or developments for consideration and potential funding by the advisory body. This is designed to ensure that member priorities remain central to the work programme.
The advisory body’s governance framework is now established, with representation from both BIFA and British Telecom (BT), ensuring robust oversight and accountability. Lawrence Cockburn, business systems and transformation manager at dnata has been confirmed as chairman of the Advisory Body, and the secretariat role is being undertaken by BIFA.
A meeting with the advisory body directors is scheduled for early 2026, where priorities and focus areas for the year will be confirmed. Discussions have already taken place with relevant service providers and suppliers to help shape the proposed areas of focus for the year ahead. Once agreed, these priorities, along with a full meeting schedule for 2026, will be communicated to the wider advisory body and to members.
The advisory body has also met with HMRC and the UK Border Force (UKBF), and continues to build stronger and more constructive working relationships with both organisations to support future improvements across air cargo processes.
Work continues to represent members’ interests through active participation in the Heathrow landside efficiency project, at both working group and steering committee levels. This engagement ensures that member feedback and concerns are effectively communicated as the project develops.
Updates on the advisory body’s work have been shared with BIFA members through a number of BIFA policy and regional meetings, and this outreach will continue.
During the past quarter, the advisory body also participated in a Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) working group, which successfully finalised the project scope, deliverables, and success criteria, while also agreeing preliminary rollout and milestone timelines. HAL has since met with Ground Handling Agents (GHAs) as part of this project, and BT continues the AIS rollout, with a target for completion by the end of 2026.
Meeting schedules for both HAL steering committees and working groups throughout 2026 are now in place and included in the calendar.
Further updates will be provided regularly to members during the first quarter of 2026, alongside communications issued directly by HAL. Members are encouraged to stay engaged, review the new BIFA website resources, and submit proposals to help shape the future direction of the Air Cargo Community Advisory Body.
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Author: Edward Hardy
