Investcorp Holdings BSC, the Middle East’s biggest alternative asset manager, is doubling down on warehouse investments in India, betting the nation’s manufacturing ambitions and e-commerce boom will fuel demand for logistics, said reports. Warehousing currently accounts for almost 16% of the Bahrain-based firm’s $350 million real estate portfolio in India, and it’s planning to boost that share in the coming year, according to Ritesh Vohra, the firm’s real estate head in the nation. “Warehouses could end up being our biggest strategy in Indian real estate,” he said in the reports. Investcorp joins a flood of international capital investing in a sector that’s been buoyed by the government’s plan to transform India into a manufacturing hub, and a steady rise in online shopping on platforms such as Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart and Amazon.com Inc. Institutional capital is flowing in,” said Vohra. “Warehousing is where office space was 7-8 years ago,” added reports. The company, whose Indian real estate portfolio is currently dominated by residential property, last year deployed $55 million to back Chennai-based developer NDR Warehousing Pvt. Ltd. That helped grow NDR’s stock of warehousing space to 14 million square feet from 9 million square feet.

Tokyo Narita International Airport is set for major investment with a new project to develop air cargo logistics facilities. Commercial property company Goodman Group will partner with Tako Town, in close collaboration with Narita International Airport Corporation (NAA) and Chiba Prefecture, to carry out the project on a 70-hectare site. The site in the Iizasa area of Tako Town, Chiba Prefecture is connected to a planned expansion of Tokyo Narita that will create a third runway, scheduled for completion in March 2029. The project will see the logistics space for cargo fully integrated with Narita Airport, helping bring NAA’s “New Narita” initiative to life, said Goodman Group. Goodman is targeting completion in March 2029 to coincide with the opening of Tokyo Narita’s third runway. The air logistics hub is being developed for the “International Exchange Complex” as part of Tako Town’s master plan, which was created in March 2021, added Goodman Group. The complex will be designed to seamlessly streamline cargo operations into and out of the airport. Recently, Chiba Prefecture and nine cities and towns (including Narita City and Tako Town) surrounding Tokyo Narita agreed to create a plan to develop an international industrial hub under the Regional Future Investment Promotion Act.

Lufthansa Cargo is weighing up further orders of short- and mid-haul-sized freighters but there are no further plans for orders of widebody all-cargo aircraft. The Frankfurt-hubbed airline has ordered a series of freighters over the last couple of years as it looks to modernise its freighter fleet, expand capacity, replace the MD-11F aircraft it has retired and move into the intra-European e-commerce market, said release. The carrier currently operates 11 B777Fs, while AeroLogic, its 50/50 joint venture with DHL, operates five of the aircraft for Lufthansa. The carrier also has two A321Fs, which are operated by sister airline CityLine and are used on European services for e-commerce customers. It also has a further two B777Fs on order – part of an order for three of the aircraft placed last year – which are due to be delivered in the third and fourth quarter of this year. Lufthansa Cargo chief executive Dorothea von Boxberg said that the first of these aircraft will be operated by AeroLogic, while a decision has yet to be taken on the second. Elsewhere, a further two A321Fs are due to be delivered this year and the carrier has also ordered seven new-generation B777-8F freighters. Delivery of the seven new B777-8Fs is expected between 2027 and 2030.

According to a latest report by Trade And Transport Group titled, India Air Cargo Outlook 2023, “The Indian air cargo market generated 2.2 million tonnes of traffic-1/5th the size of China’s and about 1/10th the size of the U.S. air cargo market – with about 30 per cent of the traffic generated on the domestic and the remainder on the international sectors. “Around 90 per cent of international traffic is carried by non-Indian carriers with Gulf-based carriers as well as Aerologic (operating for Lufthansa Cargo and DHL), Cathay and Turkish being the most important.” Cargo handled across Indian airports may touch 2.4-2.5 million tonnes in 2023 even as passenger/belly capacity comes back, says Frederic Horst, Managing Director, Trade and Transport Group. “With 5-6 Indian conglomerates investing abroad, the India link is always going to be strong. So, India is in a good position as far as trade is concerned.” International cargo traffic has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels but domestic traffic has, driven by express, e-commerce as well as general freight traffic, the report said. Five Indian carriers now operate freighters. “Three of these – IndiGo, Quikjet and Pradhaan Air Express – commenced operations in the last 12 months using narrow body freighters.” Five carriers are in various stages of start-up “but the Indian air cargo landscape is littered with just as many failed airlines.” The largest carrier in the Indian market is currently Aerologic (14 percent) followed by Qatar Airways (12 percent), Emirates (12 percent), Air India/Air India Express (8 percent) and Cathay Pacific (7 percent). Turkish Airlines has increased its share to about 5 percent of the market. (In the case of Aerologic, there has been a …

LATAM Cargo has received its 17th freighter to strengthen its cargo offering. The Boeing B767-300F has been converted from LATAM’s passenger fleet, said the carrier. Another six B767Fs are due next year. LATAM has also expanded its belly capacity in South America. LATAM Airlines Brazil will begin operating a Sao Paulo/Guarulhos-Passo Fundo route with daily flights from March 28. Plus, LATAM Airlines Colombia will begin daily Bogota-Riohacha flights from March 28. LATAM Cargo also recently added a new freighter service between North and South America to target flower volumes in the region. This freighter service will operate between Ecuador, Brazil and the US, calling: Quito, Los Angeles, Houston, Manaus and Viracopos. The service will initially operate twice weekly, but will increase to four rotations later this year when new freighters are added. At the end of October, LATAM Cargo and partner DSV increased freighter flights from Huntsville International Airport in Alabama to Viracopos in Brazil from one to three weekly frequencies. The partners are utilising a B767-300F as they look to capitalise on demand to South America. This came shortly after the carrier had taken delivery of its 16th freighter.

Global Crossing Airlines Group (GlobalX) has reached an agreement to lease an additional A321 Passenger to Freighter (P2F) aircraft for delivery in December this year. The carrier received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration for cargo operations in February and commenced flights with its first A321P2F aircraft in the same month, said release. “We are pleased to be able to add an additional A321F to our delivery schedule for 2023. We expect now to take delivery of a total of six A321Fs this year, including the first freighter (N410GX) which entered revenue service in February,” said Ed Wegel, chair and chief executive of GlobalX. Previously a passenger ACMI and charter airline, Miami-based GlobalX said in February it expected its second A321P2F to arrive by mid-March and its third A321P2F to be delivered in May. However, the company now expects its second A321P2F to arrive in April. “We expect delivery of our second A321F in mid April, and that aircraft has been completely booked by our cargo clients for the next 12 months,” said Wegel. The company plans on acquiring 25 freighters in total, which will equal the number of passenger charter aircraft in the fleet. Wegel added: “We continue work on the certification of GlobalX Colombia which will operate the A321F and expect to enter phase 3 of that certification by May, 2023.” The first A321P2F aircraft was converted by ST Engineering and delivered to Miami International Airport (MIA) in December. The A321P2F has a capacity of 14 upper deck and 10 lower deck containers, which is 55% more containerised volume than the Boeing B737-800 freighter and 14% more containerised volume than the B757-200F, said GlobalX. GlobalX serves the …

The National Rail Plan envisages that the share of freight traffic by rail should go up from current share of 28% to 44% by 2051. The construction of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) on the important high density route is an important policy measure by Indian Railways to arrest the trend of falling market share of railways in the country and also will shift the advantage in favour of rail transport. DFC operation will bring-in efficiency in freight operation and enable rail tariff being more competitive because of its following operational/design features: Higher throughput per wagon and per train: Run Heavy Haul trains. Lower Energy Consumption: Reduce Operation and Maintenances Costs Reduction in Transit time: Reduce logistic cost of transportation and better utilization of Rolling stock Moreover Indian Railway has taken number of multi-pronged strategy to increase its modal share in freight segment which includes tariff rationalization and Tariff/freight incentive schemes which includes; diversification of freight basket, Liberalised Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme in Traditional Empty Flow Directions, Rationalization of Station to station rates policy, Rationalization of Merry-Go- Round, Concession in short Lead Traffic, Discount in freight to fly ash traffic booked in Open/flat Stock & covered wagons, Round trip charging for ultra short lead (upto 50Kms) container traffic, Round Trip Traffic (RTT) Policy, Automobile Freight Train Operator Scheme (AFTO), Introduction of Cube Container for two wheeler traffic. A New ‘Gati Shakti Multi- Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)’ policy has also been launched to facilitate development of cargo terminals on non Railway land, as well as on Railway land (partially or fully) etc. In addition, various other schemes have also been introduced to attract private investment in General Purpose Wagons, Special Purpose / …

Prozo, a full-stack supply chain company, announced the opening of its new fulfillment center in Village Khasarwara, Lucknow. The facility is a built-to-suite (BTS) warehouse with an area of ~23,000 sq. ft and within 5 KMs of the nearest highway, NH27. It has 900 LSS positions which can support 16,200 bin positions, and the facility also has the space for 435 ground pallet positions, providing storage space for around 3 lakh units of apparel, accessories, small electronics, etc. The PEB structure offers a clear height of 12 Meters and has FM2 flooring with a load-bearing capacity of 5MT, said release. The PEB structure offers a clear height of 12 Meters and has FM2 flooring with a load-bearing capacity of 5MT. The facility is fully compliant with all necessary approvals in place, and has 24X7 CCTV monitoring, patrol guards, and fire extinguishers, making it a safe and reliable storage location.

DP World and Grupo Puntacana have partnered to develop a new air cargo logistics hub in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, boosting the country’s position as the largest trade and logistics centre in the Caribbean. “The new facility is being created through an agreement between DP World and the Punta Cana Free Trade Zone (PCFTZ), a company of Grupo Puntacana,” says a release from DP World. “It will include a new logistics centre and infrastructure platforms capable of supporting multimodal air, land and sea cargo. Operations are expected to commence in late second quarter 2023.” The logistics centre will harness DP World’s extensive Dominican Republic multimodal cargo management experience and world-class standards for handling logistics operations globally as well as the high connectivity of the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) to global distribution centres, the release added. DP World began operations in the Dominican Republic in 2003 at its port facility at the Punta Caucedo peninsula, a strategic place for the redistribution of cargo to the Caribbean, the United States, Central America and South America.

Geodis has signed a 10-year lease agreement with PRD Group for a 20,000 square-meter multi-user facility in Minhang district, Shanghai. The facility is set to bolster GEODIS’ contract logistics capabilities for retail partners, providing improved storage and inventory processing to support the fast-growing e-commerce industry that is expected to be worth USD 2 trillion in Asia Pacific by 2025. The new facility is slated to officially open to GEODIS’ customers in July 2023 and will include a state-of-the-art storage system, consisting of mezzanine flooring, Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) pallet racks, and racking served by Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV). The facility will provide the space needed to support large merchandise inventory as well as inbound and outbound procedures. At peak capacity, the site will be able to manage an inventory of close to 20,000 Stock-Keeping Units (SKU). This will include having the space to process up to 300,000 lines per day for GEODIS’ Business-to-Consumer (B2C) customers, in addition to approximately 15,000 lines per day for its Business-to-Business (B2B) clientele. “Retailers today are facing a dynamic environment, where the rise of e-commerce and omnichannel platforms are changing consumer demands for goods and services. Our goal as a logistics provider is to support our customers – and theirs – by meeting these demands. With this strategic partnership with PRD Group, GEODIS will be tapping into the developed multi-user facility in Shanghai to optimize retail supply chains and provide innovative solutions that not only match but exceed the standards of service required by our retail partners to better serve their customers,” said Onno Boots, Regional President & CEO, GEODIS Asia Pacific and Middle East. “We are excited to work closely with our partners to …