IATA CEIV Celebrates a Decade of Enhancing Air Cargo Efficiency
The program measures a company’s air cargo supply chain efforts when it comes to quality, safety, and compliance.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is celebrating 10 years of its Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) program, which evaluates a company’s the air cargo supply chain efforts when it comes to quality, safety, and compliance.1
CEIV was officially launched in 2014 alongside CEIV Pharma in order to assist with the management of specialized cargo; it offers certification programs spanning the entire industry, including the aforementioned pharmaceuticals (CEIV Pharma). Each program is powered by global standards and independent validation, allowing for transparency.
Over the past 10 years, CEIV’s various accomplishments include:
- Establishing 25 airport communities of airlines, ground handlers, freight forwarders, and regulators
- Creating a worldwide footprint of 699 companies—including 85 airlines—that account for 250,000 trade lanes
- Training 10,000 professionals and providing them with over 100,000 IATA manuals that assist with compliance and operations
- A 99% renewal rate
“CEIV has redefined the handling of special cargo shipments. Over the past decade, it has established a foundation of trust, transparency, and technical excellence across the supply chain—delivering tangible industry benefits, including improved compliance, a stronger culture of quality, enhanced cross-industry collaboration, and increased customer confidence,” said Brendan Sullivan, IATA’s global head of cargo. “As the program continues to grow, it will remain a vital tool in helping the industry meet evolving challenges and expectations.”
In other IATA news, recently release data2 for February 2025 global air cargo markets showed that:
- Total demand, which measured in cargo tonne-kilometers, fell by 0.1% compared to February 2024 (+0.4% for international operations), representing the first decrease since mid-2023.
- Capacity, which is measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers, decreased by 0.4% compared to February 2024 (+1.1% for international operations).
Other factors to note include that jet fuel prices averaged $94.6/barrel in February, representing a 2.1% drop from the previous month. Also in February, the purchasing managers index for global manufacturing output was above the 50-mark (51.5), indicating a sign of growth.
“February saw a small contraction in air cargo demand, the first year-on-year decline since mid-2023,” noted Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. “Much of this is explained by February 2024 being extraordinary—a leap year that was also boosted by Chinese New Year traffic, sea lane closures and a boom in e-commerce. Rising trade tensions are, of course, a concern for air cargo. With equity markets already showing their discomfort, we urge governments to focus on dialogue over tariffs.”
References
1. IATA CEIV Marks 10 Years of Improving Air Cargo Supply Chain Performance. IATA. April 17, 2025. Accessed April 23, 2025. https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2025-releases/2025-04-17-01/
2. Air Cargo Demand Declines Slightly in February. IATA. March 31, 2025. Accessed April 23, 2025. https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2025-releases/2025-03-31-01/
