As 2024 draws to a close, we celebrate another year of being “Trusted to Deliver” at IAG Cargo. From expanding our global network and advancing our sustainability efforts to investing in leading infrastructure improvements across our major hubs, join us as we reflect on the key ways IAG Cargo has remained dedicated to delivering for our customers while driving the global economy forward.
Expanding our global network
Thanks to the power of our five partner airlines – British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and LEVEL – we experienced significant network expansion in 2024. Our latest schedule updates include the resumption of services to Asia, such as Tokyo Narita from Madrid. We also strengthened our presence in the Middle East with the return of services from London to Jeddah, operating six times per week.
We bolstered capacity on key transatlantic routes, a crucial corridor for global trade. In 2024, Miami saw a new service from Barcelona, a doubling of flights from London Heathrow, and the resumption of services from Dublin. We also launched a new route between Dublin and Denver for the first time in May, providing a vital service for the movement of pharmaceutical products with our Constant Climate solution.
In November, we reinforced our commitment to Latin America and the Caribbean by adding three more weekly flights to São Paulo from London Heathrow and an additional three services per week from Madrid. This was supplemented by six more services each week to Buenos Aires from Madrid and Barcelona, building on a 9% increase in services to the region introduced in April.
Investing in industry-leading infrastructure
In April, we completed the €1.5 million expansion of our specialised perishables facility at our Madrid hub. This expansion increased the total capacity of the facility by 45%, offering an additional 1,340 square metres of dedicated temperature-controlled space for perishable goods and the largest cooling chambers at Madrid airport. This has been particularly beneficial for customers importing fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish with our Constant Fresh service from Latin America, who can leverage Iberia’s 400 daily flights between Madrid and destinations such as Brazil, Chile, and Guatemala.
More recently, IAG Cargo opened a state-of-the-art Operations Control Centre at London Heathrow. Equipped with the latest audio-visual and data visualisation technology, the new centre enables real-time decision-making and proactive risk mitigation for over 2,000 freight movements per day. The centre features a digital wall at its core, providing teams with instant access to real-time positioning of all freight and equipment across the Heathrow hub, along with key operational system data.
Doubling down on digital transformation
At the heart of IAG Cargo’s digital transformation is its Destination Digital programme. This long-term initiative aims to drive our digitalisation journey, working closely with customers and partners to adopt digital processes that support sustainability while offering an improved customer proposition. For example, one of our recent initiatives introduced the launch the our new Paper to Electronic conversion service (P2E), enabling customers to scan and convert a traditional paper Air Waybill (AWB) to an Electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB). To support our digital efforts, we announced plans in March to double the size of our IT team, adding over 60 roles as we migrate towards a cloud-first strategy that will improve data accessibility, scalability, and flexibility.
More recently, we were excited to appoint Daniel Rodriguez as our first Head of Digital Sales, a role that has been created to help us accelerate online growth and enhance our digital tools, ensuring we continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers. This marks another step in our journey to strengthen IAG Cargo’s digital offering and future-proof our strategy in an ever-changing logistics landscape.
Advancing our sustainability initiatives
Sustainability has been central to IAG Cargo’s operations in 2024. Collaborating with our customers on the procurement and delivery of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has remained one of our key priorities. In October, we signed one of the largest SAF deals between an airline and customer to date, agreeing to supply 60 million litres of SAF for DHL’s operations. This collaboration is set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 165,000 metric tons by the end of 2025 and follows another partnership with Kintetsu World Express for the purchase of 640,000 litres of SAF in June.
On the ground, IAG Cargo transitioned its 160-truck fleet at London Heathrow from diesel to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), a renewable fuel made from plant waste. This switch is expected to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% and halve our Scope 1 emissions. The transition, completed in March 2024, is part of a broader strategy to enhance the sustainability of IAG Cargo’s global fleet, which includes incorporating electric vehicles and optimising fleet operations.
Leading the way as a top employer
IAG Cargo started the year on a high when it was named one of the UK’s Top Employers for 2024 by the Top Employers Institute. The accolade underscores our commitment to employee development and well-being through a ‘people-first’ approach. Throughout 2024, our global workforce participated in our ‘Leading the Way’ programme, designed to energise our teams around IAG Cargo’s vision, mission, values, and customer essentials.
In May, we released our latest Gender Pay Gap report, revealing a decrease in the mean pay gap from 8% in 2022 to 5%. This improvement was accompanied by an increase in the number of women in our upper hourly pay quartile, with females now comprising 37.9% of our entire workforce. Whilst this is significantly higher than the industry average of 20%, we remain committed to supporting more women in forging careers in logistics by modernising our policies to promote a healthy work-life balance.
Looking to the future
As we look ahead to 2025, our vision is clear: to adapt, innovate, and shape the future of our industry. We will continue driving digital advancements to streamline and enhance the customer experience, making it easier than ever to book and manage shipments with us online. We will also continue to enhance our customer proposition, offering a diverse range of tailored products while continuously improving our operations to better meet your needs.
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