Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India, in collaboration with OM Logistics and GSEC, Ahmedabad Airport, have commenced a dedicated bonded trucking from Ahmedabad to Celebi Terminal Delhi IGI Airport, after the successful launch at Kanpur, Ludhiana, Noida SEZ and Pithampur SEZ1 & SEZ2. The objective is to provide their customers a possibility to move air cargo in an efficient, safe, process driven and cost effective manner. Bonded trucking is relatively a new concept in India and Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal has taken a step forward to start a hub & spoke project. This bonded trucking service will open tremendous opportunities to airlines to solicit business from stations that are offline. Ramesh Mamidala, CEO, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India, stated, “Now cargo from Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, Surat, Vadodra and even Indore can be custom cleared at GSEC facility at Ahmedabad Airport and sent to Delhi Airport daily. We hand pick our logistics partners and manage every aspect of the service for commitment, on time performance and transparency to guarantee quality of service to our customers.” “After Ahmedabad, we plan to start bonded trucking from Indore, Jaipur, Durgapur, Pune, Agra, Moradabad and Rishikesh – Roorky belt in 2018. Besides starting temperature-controlled road transport to Delhi from Indore and Ahmedabad, speed, safety and security are the key words that identify our air cargo road bonded service,” added Mamidala.

The FIATA World Congress 2018 (FWC-2018), with the presence of 1200 delegates from more than 130 countries and across India, is underway at Pullman New Delhi.  Themed ‘Future Starts Here’, the inauguration ceremony was addressed by AV Vijaykumar, Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI), Neeraj Bansal, Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), who was also the Chief Guest; Robert A. Voltmann, Secretary General, FIATA, Debashis Dutta, Past Chairman, FFFAI and Chairman, FWC-2018 and Samir J Shah, Mentor, FWC-2018.  Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) has hosted this first-ever international logistics conference in India. Welcoming the delegates, Vijaykumar said, “India is privileged to host for the first time FIATA World Congress this year.” Dutta remarked on the high number of registered participants who culminated for the event. “We are excited to announce that FWC-2018 registered close to 1200 delegates from across the world.” At the FWC-2018, 20 business sessions are expected to be held with some 70 eminent speakers from international logistics industry, apart from representatives from Government of India, WCO, renowned personalities, etc. In addition, there are about 1000 scheduled B2B meetings among more than 500 delegates in the offing.

Coimbatore airport’s cargo department sent an export shipment of 2.5 tonnes of perishable cargo by bonded trucking to Kochi for the first time on September 12. N. Mahalingam, Director, Coimbatore Airport, flagged off the bonded truck with the perishable cargo to Kochi. “We had to send this shipment of perishables, including vegetables like onions and drumsticks, booked to Jeddah by bonded trucking as we have only passenger airlines flying out internationally,” said S. Subramanian, Senior Manager (Air Cargo). “Perishables, including vegetables, fruits and flowers, constitute 50 per cent of Coimbatore airport’s export volume, which is around 350 tonnes a year. There are space constraints because all international flight flying out of the city are relatively smaller and cargo space is available only after passengers are allocated their luggage space. On the other hand, Kochi has wide-bodied aircraft like the Boeing 747, which despite being a passenger flight can accommodate such a sizeable shipment,” he said.

The Bangladesh cabinet has approved a draft agreement, allowing India to use its Chittagong and Mongla ports to transport cargo to its Northeastern states. Shafiul Alam, Bangladesh Cabinet Secretary, shares, “The draft has been prepared for signing the deal with India, but Nepal and Bhutan can be added to it, if they wish to use the two ports. Customs duties and transportation costs will be charged on this freight as it makes its way through Bangladesh territory.” “Under the proposal deal titled Agreement on the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports for movement of goods to and from India, a new modern tracking system would be used to track cargoes,” he adds.

To review the overall development of JNPT and cull out solutions to the challenges and create seamless facilities for the stakeholders, Sanjay Bandopadhyay, IAS, Add. Secretary, Ministry of Shipping (MOS), visited the port arena and held discussions with the JNPT chairman and other senior officials. The ministry is keen to focus on expansion of JNPT and development of various infrastructure projects such as SEZ, dry ports, road connectivity and harnessing modern technology to create positive environment for the trade. MOS is also concentrating on digitisation which can help Indian ports to be at par with the international markets.

FIATA World Congress 2018, hosted by the Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India (FFFAI,) scheduled to be held from September 26-29 at Pullman-Novotel Hotel in Aerocity, New Delhi, is expecting a fruitful footfall with more than 1000 delegates from across the world. The first-ever international logistics conference in India will be inaugurated on September 26 by Union Minister for Shipping & Road Transport, Nitin Gadkari, along with 45 expert speakers. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation will address the gathering at main forum of FWC 2018.  S. Ramesh, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC,) would deliver the keynote address at the leading global logistics meet. In view of the recent initiatives from the Ministry of Commerce pertaining to facilitating ex-im trade and logistics capacity building by creating a separate wing for logistics industry, the Commerce Minister shall apprise the participants on the development of this industry for India. Samir Shah, Past Chairman, FFFAI and Mentor, FWC 2018, who is heading the Business Session Committee, said, “At this edition of FWC our prime focus is to make all business sessions very innovative with world’s top class speakers providing insights and excitements about logistics business.”

The Chennai airport made way for the giant Antonov AN-124 aircraft, operated by a Russian freight company Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which landed in the city with 53.46 tonne of machinery from Xi’an Xianyang in China. The whole freight was unloaded and had to be carried on 13 trucks. This is first time an An-124 aircraft landed at Chennai airport with considerable amount of payload. Since the airport is a major gateway to south India, such hauls are expected to be a regular occurrence in future . AN-124 aircraft is designed for long-range delivery and air dropping of heavy and large-size cargo, including machines, equipment and troops and has got a payload capacity of up to 150 tonnes. AN-124 is 69.1-metre-long and has an extensive wingspan of 73.3 metre.

SpiceJet has unveiled dedicated air cargo services and inducted first freighter aircraft in its fleet, making it the first scheduled domestic airline in the country to diversify into the airfreight market. The airline has also created a separate division called ‘SpiceXpress’. Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, shares, “We are very confident that there is a significant space for dedicated air freighter in the Indian market. The economy is growing at eight per cent and we are having an e-commerce boom in this country.” “The airline will initially start operations on the Delhi-Bengaluru route but will also look at Guwahati, Hong Kong, Amritsar and Kabul. The airline plans to induct four Boeing freighters this year, which will see the airline offering haulage of 27,000 tonnes per month from the current 15,000 tonnes. The new venture will be a division of SpiceJet. Initially, we will operate two Boeing 737-700s and two Boeing 737-800s,” Singh added. Currently, SpiceJet has a cargo capacity of 500 tonnes a day which is mostly as a result of the cargo carried in the belly of the 58-passenger aircraft it operates.

Maersk Line has announced the deployment of Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) to enable paperless trade between India and Nepal. Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk Line (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives), said, “This is a continuation of Maersk line’s focus on digitisation to enable paperless trade across the globe. Addressing our customer needs is paramount and this system will tremendously aid in this process. We will continue to focus on creating a climate of ease of doing business to ensure seamless trade in the region through our integrated logistical offerings.” ML is the first liner to adopt this paperless mode of trade facilitated by Asian Development Bank and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) against the conventional one-time bottle seal. This is also the first time it has been at done at Indian port transshipping to other countries such as Nepal thus getting rid of documentation hurdles.

Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS) has launched a new shipment tracking platform that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for its cargo handling operations at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. The company will be the first air cargo terminal operator in India to initiate real-time and improved cargo tracking. This technological initiative is a collaboration between AISATS and its Singapore-listed joint venture stakeholder, SATS Ltd., which operates an unrivalled network of gateway services and food solutions in over 60 cities across Asia. With AISATS being the biggest ground handler at Kempegowda International Airport and managing two dedicated cargo handling centers, namely the AISATS Air Freight Terminal and the AISATS COOLPORT, the introduction of RFID technology will enable AISATS to undertake real-time cargo tracking for end-to-end visibility and faster turnaround. The RFID tracking system, capable of processing large quantities of cargo, will further bolster speed and accuracy, thereby making the cargo handling process more secure.