Two international speakers, IATA’s Sidy Gueye and maritime lawyer, Lewis Pugh, will present at the annual SAAFF Congress, which begins this week.

Gueye will address delegates on cargo modernisation and provide an update on the air freight industry, listing his expectations for the next 10 years. He’ll talk about the supply chain and customer evolutions and describe the vulnerabilities in emerging markets.

Current inventory overhang in the US and a drop in semi-conductor shipments point to weakness in key air freight demand drivers. Reduced freighter aircraft utilisation and plunging load factors further indicate the underlying demand weakness currently plaguing the industry.

Maritime lawyer, ocean advocate and celebrated swimmer, Lewis Pugh, will address delegates on “Achieving the Impossible”. In 2006, he became the first to person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world, and in 2007 was the first person to undertake a swim across the icy waters of the North Pole among other noteworthy achievements.

“We are excited to host this high calibre of speakers at our event. We are certain they will entertain and inspire as well as deliver key insights to manage some of the challenges the industry faces,” comments SAAFF CEO Dave Logan.