# Cargo iQ (air cargo data)

In addition to the postal flow dataset, the LPI 2023 includes indicators on air cargo logistics. The operational framework of the air cargo industry, including cargo handling by carriers and airports, is rooted in the same EDI protocol as the postal network: the main events of the supply chain follow a similar logical ordering (Figure 2). The dataset was provided by Cargo iQ – a nonprofit and affiliated with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) created in 1997 to develop a system of shipment planning and performance monitoring for air cargo based on common business process and milestone definitions.<sup>12</sup> Cargo iQ’s focuses on the digitalization and exchange of e-AWB (electronic airway bill).

Cargo iQ includes over 60 participants including forwarders, air carriers, ground handling companies, road carriers and airports to work together to define the standards for shared processes and planning to control and to evaluate performance of cargo shipments. Most major carriers are participating in the initiative. Annually, Cargo iQ collects over 110 million data lines, of which 12 million are airportto-airport shipments. These records, covering information for about 650 airports and 184 countries and accounting for 45 percent of global air freight volume, were used to construct the aviation pillar of the LPI 2023.

_Figure 2: Cargo iQ events sequence_ <!-- Start of picture text --> NFD<br>RC<br>DEP DL<br>AR Notification of<br>Cargo<br>Shipment Shipment Received in Readiness for Cargo<br>Departure from Arrival at Warehouse at Delivery of Delivered to<br>Origin / Last Transit / Transit / Cargo to Consignee/age<br>Departure Point Destination Destination) consignee/age nt<br>nt<br><!-- End of picture text --> Cargo iQ’s reporting system captures the path of air cargo shipments defined by a master operating plan (MOP) consisting of 19 milestones.<sup>**13**</sup> These events along the supply chain capture the OriginDestination movement of cargo between and at origin airports, destination airports and transit locations. Figure 2 demonstrates the milestones at the destination airport that were available for the LPI 2023. A shipment is tracked from the point of departure of the flight (DEP) to its arrival (ARR) and checking into a warehouse at a destination airport (RCF), followed by the advisory to the consignee of the freight’s arrival (NFD) and the consignee’s final collection of the freight from the carrier at the destination airport (DLV).

As with the other shipment tracking databases, it is the carrier’s responsibility to enter the data in the system. The time differences between the milestones provide information on the reliability and performance of individual carriers, freighters, operators and on the aggregated level, i.e., individual airports and countries. To avoid leakage of sensitive information for specific carriers operating on lanes with total market share exceeding 80 percent and on those lanes where the total number of carriers is below 3, 46 countries were excluded from the final dataset, bringing the total number of countries reported in the LPI 2023 aviation pillar to 141.

> 12 https://www.cargoiq.org/value-proposition

> 13 https://www.iata.org/en/programs/cargo/cargoiq/

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