IATA: 80% of H1 2025 Air Cargo Hazmat Incidents Were Undeclared

For logistics and supply chain operators, the air cargo safety debate is shifting from airport screening to the entire upstream chain. IATA's finding that 80% of dangerous goods incidents in the first half of 2025 stemmed from undeclared or hidden shipments is a direct warning: if a single rogue shipper slips lithium batteries into a consolidated airfreight consignment, the resulting fire risk affects the aircraft, the cargo handler, the forwarder and the shipper's own supply chain. The white paper frames safety as a shared operational responsibility, not an airline screening problem.

The International Air Transport Association is pressing for stronger controls across the air cargo supply chain after reporting that roughly 80 per cent of dangerous goods incidents in the first half of 2025 involved undeclared or hidden hazardous materials, including lithium batteries, e-cigarettes and aerosols. The call, outlined in the association's white paper Safety and Security in the Cargo Supply Chain, is a direct warning to shippers, freight forwarders, ground handlers and airlines that current security screening is being asked to do a job it was never designed to perform. IATA argues that aviation security screening was built primarily to detect explosives and other terrorism-related threats, not the full spectrum of dangerous goods that move through global air freight networks every day.

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E-cigarettes and aerosols, while less commonly discussed, carry their own pressurisation and flammability hazards.

The significance of the 80 per cent figure is that it shifts the safety conversation from the airport checkpoint to the beginning of the supply chain. Brendan Sullivan, IATA's Global Head of Cargo, said dangerous goods are transported safely by air every day, but the risk enters the system when they are undeclared or incorrectly declared. He stressed that security screening is only one layer of protection against rogue shippers and is not a complete solution. A comprehensive multi-layer approach, beginning as far upstream as possible, is essential. This is a notable change in emphasis: instead of relying on airlines and security screeners to catch problems at the last moment, IATA wants manufacturers, exporters, consolidators and freight forwarders to take earlier responsibility for identifying and halting misdeclared cargo.

For supply chain and logistics professionals, the operational implications are significant. Undeclared lithium batteries are particularly dangerous because they can enter thermal runaway and cause fires that are extremely difficult to suppress in an aircraft cargo hold. E-cigarettes and aerosols, while less commonly discussed, carry their own pressurisation and flammability hazards. IATA already maintains a detailed Dangerous Goods Regulations framework, and the association notes that the rules are well established. The core problem is compliance, not a lack of standards. If enforcement tightens, forwarders may face additional checks on shipper documentation, greater scrutiny of consolidated shipments, and new demands for data sharing across booking platforms. Some of those changes could slow the movement of air freight, but the alternative—leaving screening as the primary safeguard—exposes the entire network to a catastrophic event.