ICAO Urges Global Policy Reform to Unclog Bottlenecks in Air Transport

By Maria Kalamatas – The Logistic News 

At the International Conference on Air Transport held this week in Doha, Qatar, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made a pointed call for more effective global policies to support the smooth functioning of air transport systems worldwide.

The organization, a specialized UN agency tasked with ensuring global aviation safety and efficiency, warned that outdated, fragmented regulations are constraining the recovery and future resilience of international air cargo and passenger flows.

A Wake-Up Call for Aviation Policymakers

The ICAO highlighted how policy mismatches across borders, inconsistent security frameworks, and a lack of harmonized digital processes are leading to unnecessary congestion, delays, and increased costs across the aviation value chain.

In her address, ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar emphasized, “Sovereign policy must align with a common operational vision. The future of aviation depends not just on investment, but on coordination.”

Key Areas of Focus

The conference identified several core areas requiring urgent attention:

• Streamlined customs and border clearance for both cargo and passengers

• Data interoperability between aviation authorities and logistics stakeholders

• Sustainable infrastructure planning, especially in high-growth regions

• Better crisis management protocols, after lessons learned during COVID-19 and geopolitical disruptions

ICAO stressed that while digital technologies offer great potential, they cannot function without a policy environment that supports integration and real-time collaboration.

Freight First: Air Cargo in the Spotlight

Particularly pressing, according to ICAO, is the need for air cargo reforms. With e-commerce demand rising and supply chains shifting due to nearshoring trends, airfreight needs faster customs processing, smarter security screening, and clearer green lanes for essential goods.

“Cargo is still treated as secondary in many regulatory frameworks,” said Ammar Khaled, logistics legal advisor at the World Transport Forum. “The ICAO’s position makes it clear—that’s no longer acceptable.”

A Call to Action, Not a Consultation

Rather than issue a new framework or advisory, the ICAO opted for a clear political signal: States must now move from dialogue to implementation. The Doha conference was not about proposals—it was about accountability.

The final communiqué urged governments to collaborate more directly with airlines, freight forwarders, airport operators, and digital innovators to remove friction from cross-border aviation systems.

What Comes Next?

ICAO is expected to follow up with a technical task force report later this year, providing detailed recommendations on harmonized policy implementation. The agency also announced it would launch regional roundtables beginning in June, with the first sessions scheduled in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

For now, the message is clear: no amount of runway expansion or aircraft modernization will matter if the policies on the ground can’t keep pace.

Maria Kalamatas is a senior correspondent for The Logistic News, covering aviation policy, multilateral trade frameworks, and global transport regulation.

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