Chris Notter started as a Customs Officer and then went into freight forwarding, before entering the airline side of the business and spending almost 29 years with German carrier Lufthansa. Notter has held other senior industry roles including Vice President Cargo Operations at Qatar Airways and he was also previously Vice President Operations. Notter then moved onto his current role as Chief Ground Handling Officer at Saudi Airlines Cargo after joining the airline in 2014. He now currently holds various consultancy roles. 

Henrik Ambak started in freight forwarding, and then moved into ground and cargo handling, before joining Cargolux in 2001, overseeing worldwide ground and cargo operations. Ambak joined Emirates SkyCargo tasked with developing and implementing strategies securing the continued Emirates leadership in service delivery. He managed the airline’s Dubai cargo terminals at Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central, cargo handling and trucking suppliers, standards and procedures, special load engineering and load mastering and IT systems usage used to facilitate and support the SkyCargo business. From December 2023 Ambak retired from full time work.

Emma Murray is CEO and co-founder of Meantime Communications, the leading consultancy for global supply chain and logistics communications. With over 30 years’ experience in air cargo, she drives Meantime to deliver strategy, reputation management, and stakeholder engagement for the world’s top air cargo, freight, and technology organisations. Under her leadership, Meantime is pioneering the use of AI in communications for the supply chain and logistics sector, harnessing new tools to deliver smarter, faster, and more measurable results. An award-winning former journalist and editor, Emma is an accredited member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (MCIPR) and co-founder of Women in Aviation and Logistics, a global initiative tackling gender imbalance in the sector. Before moving into journalism, she worked as an archaeologist in Syria and Jordan and was once an English teacher.

Shanmugam Thangavelu (“Shane”) is the Client Account Lead for Accenture Cargo, where he focuses on expanding Accenture’s cargo market-intelligence, forecasting, and optimization offerings across the global air cargo and logistics ecosystem. He works closely with airlines, freight forwarders, airports, integrators, and logistics stakeholders on cargo strategy, network and fleet optimization, market intelligence, and data-driven transformation initiatives. His work spans areas such as trade-lane analysis, forecasting and nowcasting, capacity intelligence, cargo analytics, and commercial growth strategy. Shane has represented Accenture Cargo across multiple aviation and cargo industry forums and actively contributes to discussions around cargo market evolution, operational resilience, digital transformation, and the increasing role of data and analytics in cargo decision-making. At Accenture Cargo, he is also driving broader market visibility initiatives through industry engagement, external publications, strategic partnerships, and thought leadership-led client outreach.

Dr.-Ing. Harald Sieke is a recognised expert in aviation logistics, applied research, and innovation management, with over 20 years of experience in shaping the future of air transport. As Head of the Aviation Logistics Department at Fraunhofer IML, he leads multidisciplinary teams and projects focused on the integration of artificial intelligence, robotics, predictive analytics, and digital technologies across air cargo and passenger operations. His expertise includes air cargo hub development, airport process modelling, cost engineering, and the strategic deployment of smart and autonomous systems in aviation environments. His work is driven by the goal of building more efficient, resilient, and sustainable aviation and air transport ecosystems through the combination of logistics excellence and technological innovation.

Oversees strategy, performance and project delivery, driving centres of excellence, innovation and standardisation across cargo terminals. Focus areas include process & people optimisation, terminal design, data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement to deliver measurable business results.

Steven Polmans is Senior Vice President Cargo Global at Swissport, leading the company’s worldwide air cargo operations and strategy. With more than twenty years of experience in aviation and logistics, he has held senior roles at Abu Dhabi Airports and Brussels Airport Company, where he helped develop BRUcargo into a leading pharmaceutical logistics hub. A former chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and founding chairman of Air Cargo Belgium, he is widely recognised for transforming cargo operations, building strong industry partnerships, and driving innovation across the global air freight value chain.

Glyn has been involved in Air Cargo for over 42 years having started his career with British Caledonian in the UK.  He joined IATA in 1991 and become IATA's Global Head of Cargo in June 2014.  In February 2021, Glyn joined TIACA as its first Director general where he works with the Board to deliver the organization's vision for a safe, profitable and united air cargo industry that embraces modern technologies and practices, to sustainably serve trade and social development worldwide.  Priority areas include safety, security, sustainability, digitalization and innovation.  He is dedicated to developing collaborative relationships and is a firm believer in supporting the next generation of industry leaders and innovators.

Anna-Maria Kirchner is an accomplished global commercial leader with 18 years of experience in the aviation industry. Since 2023, she has served as Head of Global Sales, Marketing, Product & Sustainability at Finnair Cargo, where she drives the company’s commercial strategy, customer engagement, product innovation, and sustainability initiatives worldwide. She is also a regular speaker at key international industry events. Prior to joining Finnair Cargo, Anna-Maria held senior commercial management roles at Emirates, Etihad Airways, airberlin, and Lufthansa AirPlus, working and living across key global markets including the Nordics, Germany, and the Middle East. With a strong background in both passenger and cargo management, she brings a holistic view of the airline business, deep industry expertise, and a passion for developing future-forward commercial strategies. Anna-Maria holds multiple academic degrees, including an MBA in International Marketing and Aviation Management from the University of Lapland, and has completed further certifications from Northumbria University and the University of Mannheim. She is trilingual and experienced in navigating complex international business environments. She is widely recognized for her strategic mindset, ability to lead high-performing international teams, and commitment to driving commercial excellence with a human touch. A passionate advocate for innovation and sustainability, Anna-Maria combines vision with execution in the evolving world of air cargo.

Guillaume Crozier leads dnata's cargo business in the U.A.E. as well as global one dnata cargo product initiatives. He holds his current role since 2021 and is also a board member of Dubai Express/Freightworks, Wallenborn Middle East Logistics and Dubz. Crozier started his career with the Emirates Group in 2011. His previous positions include DVP Operational Performances and Product development for International Airport Operations (IAO), VP Operational Performance IAO and COO in Switzerland. Before joining the Emirates Group his aviation career covered various leadership positions across the cargo industry, mainly in the Cargo GSS segment.

Active in air cargo for over 25 years, David Smorenburg has built a well-rounded career across operations, customer service, and sales. Starting on the ground with various airlines and a background in logistics management, David moved from flying as a loadmaster into managing customer service teams, eventually stepping into sales roles within airlines and ground handling companies. For the past six years, David has led airfreight sales at Jan de Rijk Logistics, combining hands-on experience with a strong focus on customer needs.

Sebastiaan Scholte was born in 1970 in Groningen, the Netherlands. After studying Economics and Business Administration at the Rotterdam College, he started his cargo aviation career in 1997, working in Mexico City for Aeromexpress, the cargo division of Aeromexico and Mexicana. From 1998 he was based in Madrid as VP Europe. Based in Mexico City from 2000, he was promoted to VP Sales, Mexico and Central America. In 2002 Sebastiaan joined Cargolux Airlines in Sao Paulo as Regional Manager, Latin America. After successfully restructuring the department, he became Cargolux’ Regional Business Development Manager, Spain and Portugal in 2004. He initiated Cargolux’ Portugal operations, while at the same time completing a Global Executive MBA at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. Between 2006 and 2010 Sebastiaan was Head of Marketing & Special Projects, based at Cargolux’ headquarters in Luxembourg. In April 2010 he was appointed CEO of Jan de Rijk Logistics, based in Roosendaal the Netherlands and in May 2012 was appointed Chairman of the Cool Chain Association. In 2013 he joined the board of TIACA, where he was elected Vice Chairman in April 2015 and Chairman in 2017 until 2019. He currently is the CEO of Kales Group since 2020 and a senior advisor for Boston Consulting Group since October 2020.              

Jason is looking forward to showcasing the collaboration, creativity and innovation that drive a vital link in supply chains. Our diverse panellists will demonstrate how RFS adds value and generates opportunities for air-cargo users, presenting best practises and challenging all stakeholders to engage with us. Our panels will focus on Digital Integration; Sustainability and alliance with Governance Standards; Attracting and Retaining Talent; Enhancing Workflow Efficiency; and Future Air Hubs and RFS Connectivity.

Marie is an Air Transportation Professional, with over 20 years’ experience in delivering process and digitalization improvements in global air freight. She combines an analytical, data-driven mindset with a hands-on attitude to drive impactful continuous improvement initiatives. Marie has been recognized repeatedly for leading successful integration initiatives across multiple industry players.  (2001) Marie started her career in cargo flight operations in Panalpina’s gateway in Luxembourg. Benefiting from her strong requirements engineering background, she soon (2002) moved Basel, to work at the interface of business and IT to implement the forwarder’s gateway software. (2014) As Global Air Freight Process Digitalization Manager at Panalpina’s Basel head office, Marie drove automation and technology upgrades with airlines, boosted data quality, and enabled performance management through the implementation of a global shipment visibility platform. As a co-founder of Swiss boutique consultancy, Im3pact AG, Marie delivered project work for with Freight Forwarders, Ground Handling Agents, Airlines, and software providers to strengthen market-relevant capabilities. Marie took over the role of Executive Director Cargo iQ in May, 2024 after having served as the Chair of the Cargo iQ MOP Working group since 2020. Marie studied Business Administration & Management in Belgium and holds a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Customer and Value-oriented Product Management from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. She also holds a CAS in Holistic Continuous Improvement Management from the Swiss Association for Quality. A blend of Dutch and French culture, with a shot of Belgian upbringing, Marie has worked in Switzerland since 2004, and speaks English and German fluently, alongside her two mother tongues. In her free time, loves hiking, skiing, dancing, organizing dinners and parties or being around family and friends, discovering artists during concerts and creative arts as drawing and pottery.

Raoul started his career at the Royal Dutch Customs in 1993 after finishing his accountancy education. In 1997 a step was made into the air cargo industry when he joined a ground handling company at Amsterdam. Over the past 25 years, Raoul gained expertise in customs compliance, risk & quality management, cargo claims & loss prevention. His interest in business process optimisation and IT resulted in the finding of CargoHub in 2013 and a cargo innovation award by IATA for its first cargo claims community solution in 2015. Raoul is currently actively consulting airports, airlines, ground handlers, road feeders and forwarders in cargo community digital transformation processes to increase transparency, visibility and plannability efficiency on air cargo shipments and truck movements.

Hendrik Leyssens is Vice President Process, Planning and Project Delivery at Emirates SkyCargo. In this role, Hendrik is responsible for operations process design, special products service delivery, Cargo systems, digitisation, project management, facility management and business support functions including manpower planning and training within SkyCargo. He is also responsible for the design and construction of SkyCargo’s global cargo hub at the new Al Maktoum International Airport. Hendrik has a proven track record of strategic planning and execution, project management, driving a digital strategy, business turnaround and restructuring, global operational standardization and delivering financial value. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for Cargo iQ, the multi-stakeholder taskforce driving the continuous improvement of the air cargo experience. Hendrik has over 15 years of experience in the aviation industry, starting his career in passenger services before stepping into the air cargo industry. Before joining Emirates SkyCargo in September 2023, he was with Swissport for 11 years in several roles, as Vice President Global Operations – Cargo and Regional Vice President USA Mid & West. As a Belgian national, he has lived and worked in Belgium, Switzerland and the USA.

Results-driven professional with 15+ years of experience delivering mission-critical software, automation, and cargo terminal solutions across logistics, warehouse management, and material handling environments. Extensive background in Air Cargo Control Systems, High-Level Control (HLC) applications, Cargo Warehouse Information Systems, and operational software deployments for international airports and logistics hubs. Proven track record leading cross-functional teams, managing full project lifecycles, driving Agile product development, and delivering large-scale operational systems with high availability requirements and zero major production incidents. Strong combination of technical expertise, stakeholder management, business analysis, and operational leadership within highly regulated environments.