DP World flagged off a first-of-its-kind dedicated rail freight service, ‘SARAL’ from Hazira in Surat, Gujarat, to the North Capital Region (NCR). True to its name, ‘SARAL’ which stands for Sustainable, Assured, Reliable, and Agile Logistics, will provide door-to-door sustainable cargo solutions for businesses based in South Gujarat and connect them to markets in and around NCR region and vice versa. The new SARAL rail freight service will link important markets in South Gujarat such as Surat, Vapi, Valsad, Vadodara, Bharuch, and Ankleshwar to markets in and around the NCR such as Western Uttar Pradesh, Eastern Rajasthan, Haryana, and South Punjab. Commenting on the launch of the SARAL service, Adhendru Jain, Vice President, Rail and Inland Terminals, DP World Subcontinent, said, “Ensuring resilient infrastructure and streamlined logistics is essential for enhancing economic growth and facilitating seamless domestic trade. Currently, the businesses in South Gujarat are primarily using roadways for cargo movement. SARAL, our new rail freight service, offers them a more sustainable way to move cargo with enhanced connectivity between Gujarat and NCR. In addition, our track and trace technology will provide complete visibility of the cargo to customers. We are deeply committed to create innovative solutions for our customers that are sustainable as well as efficient for the supply chain.” The SARAL service along with DP World’s multimodal network which provides the last and first mile connectivity facilitated by container trailer trucks, ensures secure delivery from the factory to the desired drop location within 72 hours. This multimodal play of truck and rail will lead to reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. DP World will also provide cargo owners with a sustainability certificate that highlights the reduction of CO2 …

Dronamics and Qatar Airways Cargo announced an interline agreement. The partnership marks the first interline agreement between an international airline and a cargo drone airline. The interline agreement allows the extension of the delivery networks of both partners, significantly increasing their reach as well as providing access to areas previously hard to reach by traditional air freight. Through the agreement, Dronamics can offer cargo services from any of its droneports, initially in Greece, to the wider Qatar Airways Cargo network – including destinations such as Singapore, China, including Hong Kong, and the United States (JFK). Qatar Airways Cargo is able to access remote locations that Dronamics serves, such as the Greek islands, on the Dronamics cargo drone network. Through this network expansion, Dronamics customers can make a single booking to transport goods from a Dronamics droneport to any destination that the interline joint network covers, and vice versa. The potential for the flow of goods, from pharma to food, from e-commerce, mail and parcels to spare parts, is significant, enabling rapid and reliable shipments to and from locations not sufficiently covered by air freight. ‘’We’re very excited to have the world’s largest air cargo carrier as our partner for the first-of-its-kind interline agreement with our category-defining cargo drone airline. While currently less than 1% of global trade moves by air, the vast global reach of Qatar Airways Cargo and their world-leading capacity and service give us the perfect platform to massively expand air cargo accessibility to countless more communities worldwide, enabling same-day delivery for everyone, everywhere,’’ said Svilen Rangelov, Co-Founder and CEO of Dronamics. “As a part of our VISION 2027 5-year strategy, we are committed to remaining at the …

Qatar Airways Cargo and IATA proudly concluded the first ever One Record Hackathon in the Middle East, in Doha, Qatar. 17 teams from around the world came together for a thrilling 28 hour competition to submit highly sophisticated and innovative solutions surrounding the IATA ONE Record data sharing standard to showcase use cases that will help shape air cargo. Six core challenges were given to developers to deep dive into the aviation environment and find solutions for the cargo industry including AI-powered tools, enhancing safety and compliance measures in operations, and pre-validation on documentation to expediate processes. These solutions were presented to a jury and after much deliberation the following projects were announced as winners: Qatar Airways Cargo Prize for team CheckSync by Swissport, Lufthansa Cargo, and Lufthansa Industry Solutions, improves cargo check processes with AI, utilizing ONE Record for accuracy and efficiency. ONE Record Prize for team NE:ONE automate by Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Industry Solutions and Fraunhofer automates ONE Record digital cargo ‘Change Requests’, enhancing efficiency and customer experience with AI and a user-friendly interface. Cargo iQ prize for team OnePiece by Turkish Cargo, inspired by Turkey’s 2023 earthquake, focuses on efficient, individual piece level cargo management for better response and communication. Developer Prize for team OneAI by Unisys, leverages Generative AI for air cargo booking compliance, streamlining pet shipment processes with AI and IATA regulations. AWS Prize for team QPay by Awery, a quick book and pay tool, integrates various payment methods with ONE Record, using Qatar Airways API to enhance airline revenue, customer experience, and transparency.

Global air cargo demand in the fourth quarter (Q4) period so far has been stronger than tonnages in the equivalent period last year, and average rates have continued their gradual post-summer rise, according to the latest weekly figures from WorldACD Market Data. “Nevertheless, more than halfway through the market’s traditionally buoyant final quarter, there are few signs of a strong peak season with demand patterns so far broadly mirroring last year’s disappointing Q4 and only moderately ahead in overall tonnage terms.” The improvement compared with last year is more a reflection of the unusually soft demand in Q4 last year while it has held up slightly better this year. “One big difference compared with last year is a recovery of tonnages ex-Asia Pacific compared with last winter’s soft ex-Asia volumes while tonnages ex-North America and ex-Europe remain down year on year.”

WestJet Cargo has expanded its cargo services for the winter schedule 2023 and has introduced new destinations to its network. “With a commitment to meeting growing demand and enhancing connectivity, WestJet Cargo marked its debut in Havana, Cuba while relaunching services to Puerto Plata, Bridgetown and Kingston,” says an official release. The Toronto Pearson Airport-José Martí International Airport route offers a capacity of 20 tonnes per flight. “Havana is currently the sole destination served by WestJet Cargo in Cuba.” WestJet Cargo relaunched services to Puerto Plata last month. “The carrier offers multiple weekly flights with a reliable two-tonne cargo capacity on each flight. The route rotation for this service is Toronto – Puerto Plata – Toronto. In addition to this service, WestJet Cargo currently provides cargo capacity on its passenger services to Punta Cana from Calgary and Toronto.” Services restarted to Kingston, Jamaica with WestJet Cargo operating three weekly flights, each with two-tonne cargo capacity. The route rotation for this service is Toronto – Kingston – Toronto. WestJet Cargo currently provides cargo capacity on its passenger services to Montego Bay from various Canadian cities, the release added.

The air freight market has been on a rollercoaster ride of late but 2024 could see a return of “classic seasonality,” according to Oslo-based Xeneta, an ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and intelligence platform. “2024 could be an opportunity for shippers to catch their breath after the volatility of the past few years,” says Niall van de Wouw, Chief Airfreight Officer, Xeneta. “The rapid rate decline which started earlier this year has calmed down in recent months. It seems to be the market has a new baseline, from which I expect classic seasonality patterns to emerge.” The industry saw the cost of transporting goods by air skyrocket during Covid-19 before plummeting again during 2023 but they are still 32 percent above pre-pandemic levels, the update added. The Xeneta Air Freight Outlook 2024 highlights muted consumer spending as a key factor for the year ahead. “Demand for air freight in 2023 remains down by eight percent compared to pre-pandemic and is only predicted to grow by 1-2 percent in 2024. At the same time, supply is expected to grow by 2-4 percent in 2024.” Van de Wouw says: “The key indicators are not great from a demand point of view. It’s muted and there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world. People and companies are a bit more conscious of how they are spending their money and we will likely not see demand pick up in any meaningful way in 2024. Yes, we will see a return of classic seasonality but it will be muted seasonality.”

Kenya Airways is introducing a pair of Boeing 737-800 converted freighters in order to expand its cargo capacity. The flag-carrier says the freighters will contribute to its “diversification strategy” and address a “growing demand” for cargo carriage in the region. Kenya Airways currently operates a pair of older 737-300 freighters. It indicated that it was launching 737-800F operations during a logistics event in Nairobi this week, and said a second aircraft is due to enter service in February next year. “With the addition of this [new] freighter, Kenya Airways will now offer increased cargo capacity to existing routes as well as new cargo destinations,” said chief executive Allan Kilavuka. He said there is a need for African entities to invest in sustainable freight operations – including air cargo – to advance socio-economic development.

Blue Dart Express celebrated its 40 years of of excellence and nationwide expansion plans. Strategically positioned in key cities such as Kolkata, Asansol, Delhi, Agra, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Katni, Nainpur, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Bhiwandi, and Indore, this expansion indicates a significant step towards strengthening Blue Dart’s connectivity across the nation. With this expansion, the company has rapidly increased its footprint with over 100+ new stores this year, enabling customers to ship to more than 56,000 locations across the country. Collaborating with DHL, Blue Dart boasts a network of over 700+ retail stores throughout India, providing a reliable, resilient, and responsive service that ensures swift delivery and expanded direct access to all pin codes nationwide. Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart, states, “Blue Dart is strategically expanding its footprint by adding new stores. This move aims not only to enhance customer convenience but also to fortify last-mile logistics in remote corners of the country.” As Blue Dart celebrates 40 years of excellence, the company looks forward to continuing its legacy of ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives.’ This milestone underscores Blue Dart’s commitment to being the nation’s trade facilitator.

DTDC Express Ltd. joins ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) to revolutionize e-commerce logistics in India and empower sellers on the network by leveraging emerging technologies. The move underlines DTDC’s commitment towards local businesses and small e-commerce sellers by ensuring access to the required tools and support in the largely evolving digital landscape. As DTDC Express Ltd. onboards the ONDC Network, it aims to further enhance its positioning as a leader in providing cutting-edge logistics services. In a first-of-its-kind ONDC ecosystem, DTDC plans to leverage its expertise in Express and standard B2C deliveries on the back of a stable and reliable network connecting different parts of the country. Through robust engagement with ONDC’s Network of 1.5 L sellers and small- entrepreneurs, DTDC Express Ltd., with its massive physical network of ~15,000 Channel Partners serving ~96% of the Indian population, aspires to achieve 1500 – 2000 shipments per day by the end of this year and continue to scale further.

Kale Logistics (Kale) and its partner, Dagang Net Technologies have been awarded the Malaysia Maritime Single Window (MMSW) contract by Port Klang Authority and its nine subsidiary ports in Malaysia. Under the contract, both parties will jointly develop and implement the MMSW platform, connecting Malaysia’s ports to create the largest network of tech-enabled ports in a single country. Malaysia is at the forefront of global efforts to implement the Maritime Single Window (MSW) ahead of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s mandatory deadline of January 1, 2024. “Kale is helping Malaysia to set new standards of innovation in the Asia Pacific region and establish benchmarks for other countries to follow with the implementation of MMSW,” said Vineet Malhotra, Co-Founder and Director, Kale. “By interconnecting nine ports, set to support 40,000 vessel calls annually alongside Port Klang, the country is poised to optimise its maritime industry and enhance port efficiency to unprecedented levels.” MMSW is a national digital platform that streamlines trade and shipping services by creating a central database to facilitate end-to-end information flow, simplifying maritime regulatory and port service transactions through a single sign-on and submission. Kale’s ready-to-use MSW platform is compliant with IMO standards and enables information and documentation to be transferred electronically between maritime and port stakeholders, which will become a compulsory requirement from the start of 2024. According to The Dagang Net Group, the acceptance of the MMSW project will complement the existing National Single Window system of Dagang NeXchange Berhad (DNeX), the parent company of wholly-owned subsidiary Dagang Net, and positively impact the group’s earnings and net assets per share from the 2023 financial year onward. “Dagang Net’s strategic partnership with Kale strengthens its capability to …