The International Air Cargo Association has appointed Vladimir Zubkov as its new secretary general after Doug Brittin retired at the end of the year.

Zubkov will assume the new role in January 2017, while Brittin will remain in an advisory capacity during the transition.

According to TIACA, Zubkov has been a member of the association’s board since 2011 and is the chairman of the Industry Affairs Secretary. He is also a member of the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group and the International Air Transport Association’s Industry Affairs Committee.

“I am honoured to be leading the only organization that represents all parts of the air cargo supply chain,” said Zubkov. “Building on Doug’s successes with the regulators and key international organizations, we will continue to work closely together with ICAO, IATA, the World Customs Organization, freight forwarder organizations, Airports Council International, and all other partners, to ensure that the new regulations are implemented in a uniform way across the industry.

He added that TIACA needs to grow its engagement in territories where it is under-represented and will focus on recruiting more members from the Far and Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

“We must also continue to push for the modernization of the industry, championing e-commerce and e-freight penetration and talking convincingly to the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, regional development banks and relevant regional organizations to form new alliances in order to drive faster and more complete adoption of e-freight,” Zubkov said.

Zubkov has more than 40 years of experience in the air transport industry. He was most recently vice president of Volga-Dnepr Group. He was also director of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Air Transport Bureau and later director of planning and global coordination. He has also worked at Aeroflot for 10 years and began his career at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport.

“Vladimir’s wealth of experience in both the private and regulatory sectors will prove invaluable to TIACA, whose mission is to bring the entire global air cargo community together,” said Sanjiv Edward, chairman of TIACA. “We are fortunate to welcome an individual with so much knowledge and passion for the industry to our leadership, and look forward to working with him.”