
Picture credit: Menzies Aviation
The manuals contains changes and revisions needed to align with evolving industry standards and state and operator variations.
There are changes to Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), Battery Shipping Regulations (BSR), Live Animal Regulations (LAR), Airport Handling Manual (AHM) and the Compassionate Transportation Manual (CTM).
DGR has been updated with 10 additional new dangerous goods such as sodium-ion batteries and fire suppressant dispersing devices, three new entries for battery powered vehicles, and additional safety mitigation with the State of Charge at which batteries are shipped.
Lithium battery shipping regulations have been changed to BSR, reflecting the inclusion of other battery types including sodium-ion batteries with organic electrolyte, wet spillable batteries filled with acid or alkali, and non-spillable and other lightly regulated batteries.
LAR has updated specifications for animal transport containers and the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) species database references have been included.
The AHM has updated contactless travel, policy changes for unruly passengers and travel document checks have been incorporated, IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) reference has been included for environmental management, and the IATA Training Passport for skill recognition has been updated.
The CTM has new best practices, up-to-date guidance and a checklist for repatriation of human and animal remains, and references added for Cargo iQ and ONE Record.
IATA has made further information about the updated manuals available here and released reports for developments related to dangerous goods, special cargo, cargo operations and ground operations.
Frederic Leger, Senior Vice President of Commercial Products and Services at IATA, says, “This year’s IATA manual offering includes over 350 changes, many of which reflect the constantly modernising technology, regulations and evolving customer needs, along with the industry’s priorities of digitalisation and sustainability.”
IATA’s ONE Source platform supplements information contained in the manuals with free industry access to validate aviation capabilities and infrastructure to further improve the handling of special cargo shipments.