Interview Roos Bakker – member TIACA
New board member for TIACA, Roos Bakker, Cargo Partnerships Director at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
For almost 17 years Roos Bakker has been working for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The past four years and currently Roos works as Cargo Partnerships Director. She is responsible for Cargo airline route and network development in the key markets Asia and Africa at Schiphol and is one of the key strategists within the Holland Flower Alliance, set up by Schiphol, KLM and Royal Flora Holland. We are proud to announce that Roos has become a board member for TIACA. The International Air Cargo Association who supports the air cargo industry.
Roos Bakker: ‘I think I can add value with my Schiphol Cargo background in various current discussions, and I can take back a lot of knowledge to Schiphol to make the world of airfreight more sustainable, to optimize the chain and to further digitize the sector. As our goal is to be a frontrunner when it comes to innovative and sustainable initiatives within our Cargo hub, it is very important to be part of one of the biggest industrial platforms. In that way we can assure that we are aware of relevant topics and that we know what is top of mind within the air cargo community.
Schiphol is able to broaden its network at a strategic level. Roos Bakker says: ‘The collaboration with TIACA allows us to gain more partners with whom we can work on a global level on industrial developments that will serve the entire sector’. Besides that we can learn from TIACA, Schiphol also brings a lot to the table. The past few years we have shown to be very flexible and that we can easily upscale our operation. Thereby Schiphol is a huge cargo hub in Europe. TIACA is based in the United States. We can learn from both our regions.
The air cargo sector has to cope with several challenges. Roos Bakker believes that with good collaboration we can face those challenges and come up with solutions. Topics like sustainability, digitization, economic strength and building a strong community are top of mind. Therefore Schiphol is also contributing to the Smart Cargo Mainport Program. This program is an example of how cargo flows are advanced by cooperation with our Cargo Community. SCMP projects revolve around smart landside logistics, data sharing, and innovations. Together, Schiphol and its chain partners are shaping Europe's smartest cargo hub. Right now we are right in the middle of the project Automated Nomination, where import shipments will automatically assigned to the correct forwarder before they physically arrive at Schiphol. Automating this process decreases throughput times and increases accuracy, as manual errors are substantially reduced. To co-create better processes and to strengthen the sector is our ambition. On that part we can handshake with TIACA.
"I look forward to see this collaboration ignite synergies and innovations, but also welcoming in the future more women and younger generations. That is the only way to keep up with the world” says Roos.