Global airlines managed the traditional summer slack season for air cargo space in July by constantly tweaking capacity levels to address flat demand during the month versus pre-Covid levels. New industry volume, loadfactor and rates data from analysts CLIVE Data Services and TAC Index also highlight airfreight rates lagging two weeks behind changes in the demand and supply ratio. As in previous months of 2021, to provide meaningful analyses of the current state of the global air cargo market, CLIVE continues to measure performance to pre-Covid 2019 levels as well as providing 2020 year-over-year comparisons. This shows chargeable weight was flat in July versus 2019 and up by 23 percent over 2020. Capacity, however, remains tightly constrained. Available capacity, up by 29 percent compared to 2020, is still down by 18 percent below the level seen in 2019 before the pandemic took hold. Consequently, CLIVE saw a fluctuating ‘dynamic loadfactor’ in July. Reduced capacity contributed to up by 5 percent pts rise in dynamic loadfactor versus 2019 – measured against both the volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available – but down 3 percent pts drop over the same month in 2020.

IAG Cargo has transported over 10 million COVID vaccines, supporting global efforts in the fight against COVID-19. This includes a 4 million dose shipment to Abuja, Nigeria in collaboration with UNICEF and its COVAX initiative and 300,000 doses to Jamaica, donated by the UK government. The Abuja shipment, completed on behalf of UNICEF, departed London Heathrow in July on two British Airways B777-200. The 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines bound for Jamaica also departed in July and were delivered in partnership with Crown Agents on a British Airways B777-200. Darren Peek, Head of Sales at IAG Cargo said, “We’re proud that with our sister airlines, British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus, we continue to support countries across the world on the fight against COVID-19. Last year we delivered over 20,000 tonnes of PPE and today we have delivered over 10 million COVID-19 vaccines working with UNICEF and partners like Crown Agents. We will continue to work with a range of partners in the global response to COVID-19, supporting the efforts to ensure equal access to vaccines for all countries across the world.”

Etihad Cargo recently announced to have recorded a 20 percent of increase in tonnage as compared to the same period in 2019. In the past month, Etihad Airways introduced flights to Malaga, Mykonos, Santorini, Phuket and Vienna, providing additional belly-hold capacity between Europe and Asia. Charter operations and a cabin loading initiative saw the carrier modify its five Boeing 777 aircraft by removing seats to provide additional capacity on key routes such as Dhaka and Ho Chi Minh City have enabled the Abu Dhabi-based carrier to service increased Asian demand. “Record loads have recently been achieved on a number of Asian flights, including more than 58,000 kg from Dhaka and 52,000 kg from Ho Chi Minh,” explained Martin Drew, senior vice president Sales and Cargo, Etihad Aviation Group. “These loads, with increased capacity enabled by cabin loading, were bound for Middle Eastern and European destinations via Etihad Cargo’s Abu Dhabi hub – a clear demonstration of the carrier’s determination to continue facilitating a global trade recovery.”

Digitisation has always been important in enhancing efficiency and increasing real time visibility in every part o the value chain. Says Ashish Asaf, MD, S.A. Consultants and Forwarders, “The pandemic has accelerated the digitisation by years. It is no more a choice but a necessity. However I would insist on building a balance between technology and human expertise. Cloud based data has become the norm. also the pandemic has changed the perception towards technology, which was earlier considered a cost is now pondered upon as investment to improve logistics operation. We need to train our people in such a way that they treat technology as an enabler rather than a burden.”

Each adversity brings us a bigger opportunity! Pandemic did the same. It was like 4-5years of digitalisation packed into one and delivered to all of us. Says Amar More, CEO, Kale Logistics solutions, “Earlier words like Artificial Intelligence, IoT’s, Blockchain etc. scared all of us. But with pandemic, these same words have become the norm. India has a drone policy now. This should have happened long time back since the world relies on India for technology. It is considered as the world’s IT back-office. Today, with pandemic many logistics companies have already adopted various technologies to remain operational. There was tremendous increase in digitisation in India.

Redefining Air in the last one-and-half-year as Agility, Innovation and Resilience. Tushar Jani, Chairman, Cargo Service Centre Group, says “The cargo industry needs a human face of technology. If our mindset is ready to adopt technology, what the primitive technology in the face of email and others have achieved, think of a situation where with integrated technology approach as whole, what transformation will it do to the Air cargo industry. I think we can be number one in showing the technology path to the world. We have the capability to do it. All three pointers, Agility, Innovation and Resilience can be achieved through technology. After digitalisation, our next step should be digitisation. If we do that, we will be increasing our cargo infrastructure by at least one hundred times!”

Cargo Talk sixth digital conclave on Digitalisation was a big success. The virtual conclave had eminent speakers from the trade. With the focus on Digitisation in the new normal world, the summit discussed at length the significant role played by digitisation. In just a few months, the COVID-19 crisis has brought about years of change in the way Logistics companies across the globe do business. The companies have accelerated the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations. Speakers included were Tushar Jani, Chairman, Cargo Service Centre Group, Amar More, CEO, Kale Logistics Solutions, Ashish Asaf, MD, S.A. Consultants & Forwarders pvt. Ltd.

CargoTalk is back with its yet another digital conclave on August 12, 2021 at 11 am. The virtual conclave will have eminent speakers from the trade. With the focus on Digitisation in the new normal world, the summit will discuss the significant role played by digitisation. In just a few months, the COVID-19 crisis has brought about years of change in the way Logistics companies across the globe do business. The companies have accelerated the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations. Speakers will include Tushar Jani, Chairman, Cargo Service Centre Group, Amar More, CEO, Kale Logistics Solutions, Ashish Asaf, MD, S.A. Consultants & Forwarders pvt. Ltd.

Volga-Dnepr delegation held a meeting with Airbus’s top management about the launch programme for A350 freighter conversion, as a wide-body cargo aircraft solution, hosted on board Airbus’s A350-1000 on July 22, 2021, during the MAKS 2021 international aviation and space salon held in Russia. There are, however, concerns emerging about the widebody aircraft as Qatar Airways grounded thirteen A350s citing fuselage degradation. The delegation, headed by the chairman of the board of directors Aleksey Ivanovich Isaikin met Airbus executive president for the European Region Wouter Van Wesche. The all-cargo carrier that specialises in large air freight shipments, along with its subsidiaries, never had any Airbus aircraft in its freighter fleet that includes Antonov, Ilyushin and Boeing aircraft. The group’s interest in the new A350 production freighter, along with their curiosity to be the launch customer for the MC-21-300 freighter version, could be a serious attempt to diversify fleets to offer customised solutions to customers around the world.

Freight handled at Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ) was higher by 9.1 percent at 133,873 tonnes in July, compared to July 2020. During the first seven months of this year, the volume increased by 18.9 percent to a figure of approx. 899,682 tonnes in comparison with the same period in the previous year. This means that the significant growth in freight is continuing in the second half of this year too. The airport handled more than 1.38 million tonnes of freight last year, setting a new record. LEJ is said to be the hub for express and e-commerce consignments, freight charter flights, large animals and medical supplies The airport is acting as a transhipment centre for medical supplies and protective equipment in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. It has therefore regularly handled freight charter flights during the past few months – in addition to regular traffic – and, among other things, they have transported millions of Covid-19 tests.