Pradhaan Air Express, India’s youngest all-cargo airline, which commenced operations in October has named its first aircraft ‘Pehalwan’ – which is all set to transport cargo. ‘Pehalwan’ arrived in India in July 2022 and a second aircraft is expected by the end of the year. With a payload of around 21 tons, the A320 Freighter has an ideal range to cover Indian sub-continent, Middle East and Far East destinations, said reports. The airline operated its first domestic flight on 1 October to Mumbai and returned the same day. This was followed by its maiden international operation with a flight to Hanoi on 9 October. The airline received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Ministry of Civil Aviation in September.

According to the Boeing Commercial Market Outlook (CMO) 2022-2041, there will be robust demand for dedicated freighters to support global supply chains and growing express networks. According to reports, “Carriers will need 2,800 additional freighters overall including 940 new widebody models in addition to converted narrow-body and widebody freighters over the forecast period.” The report added, “Boeing CMO is expecting 1,855 passenger-to-freighter conversions over the period. Following a 10 per cent decline in 2020, air cargo traffic bounced back strongly from the initial impact of the pandemic, posting an annual growth rate of 21 percent in 2021. Boeing forecasts air cargo will increase at an average compound rate of 4.1 percent per year over two decades. This is an increase over our 2021 forecast of 4 percent,” says the update. Robust growth in East Asia, acceleration of global e-commerce and evolution of supply chains will be key drivers over the next 20 years.”

Indian Railways is planning to launch the semi-high-speed freight train Vande Bharat on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. According to the reports, Indian Railways, with an objective of capturing additional high-value time-sensitive cargo, which is presently being transported through other modes of transport, is planning to introduce super-fast parcel services. “These services are being planned via new ‘Freight EMU rolling stock built on the Vande-Bharat platform, the first rake of which is likely to be introduced in service very soon. Some of the salient features of the freight EMU rakes include an operational speed potential of 160 kmph and the rakes are being designed for palletized container transportation with a distributed powering with 50% powering,” said reports.

V-Trans (India) Ltd, a preferred single window logistics solution provider accelerates its growth as it expands its footprint in North India with the opening of eight offices, with a deeper penetration in business verticals. The eight new offices are in Varanasi, Sitapur, Noida, Sikandrabad (UP), Delhi, Gurgaon, Ajmer, and Ratangarh. The new branches are launched considering the influx in demand for logistics solutions and our best offerings in this region. V-Trans is enabled with best-in-the-business infrastructure and has presence across the nation having more than 850 branches, fleet strength of over 1500 advanced trucks with track and trace facility. Mahendra Shah, Chairman and Managing Director, V-Trans (India) Ltd, said, “We are proud to announce our robust growth in the North Zone of our country with 8 new branches. One of the key accomplishments for every logistics organization is the strength of the infrastructure and expanding network, and we want to continue reaching such milestones in the future. The North region is one of the most significant markets for us. We have expanded our network rapidly for past few years in this region and aim to continue the same. There are various clients looking for logistics solutions and our offerings are apt to fit the gap.” Further he added, “Our IT-enabled infrastructure helps us to provide the best services to our customers. We have established a widespread network of branches across India that caters to delivering the needs of growing industries. Our effectiveness and experience in handling and delivering various industry products make us a viable choice for all industries.”

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (“APSEZ”), India’s largest ports and logistics company and part of Adani Group, has received approvals from NCLT Ahmedabad and NCLT Hyderabad for acquiring the remaining 58.1% stake in Gangavaram Port Limited (GPL) through the composite scheme of arrangement. With this stake purchase, GPL will become a 100% subsidiary of APSEZ. Commenting on it, Karan Adani, CEO and Whole-time Director, APSEZ said, “Acquisition of GPL is a key milestone in consolidating our position as India’s largest transport utility and in achieving East Coast & West Coast parity. Gangavaram Port has excellent rail & road network connectivity and is the business gateway to the hinterland spread over eight states. The recent addition of a container handling terminal will enable us to accelerate our growth of cargo volumes”. APSEZ also brings world-class logistics synergies to the table, which will propel Gangavaram Port to a potential cargo volume of 250 MMT. This will boost the pace of industrialization of Andhra Pradesh, added Mr Adani.

Qatar Airways Cargo is stepping up its digitalisation efforts with a revamped cargo customer portal called Digital Lounge. The Digital Lounge platform offers customers several features such as booking, shipment tracking, account management, reporting, and other services online. It offers instant confirmation for general cargo bookings subject to availability and required validations. Qatar Airways Cargo customers can book free sale and allotments with dimensions (excluding BUP). In future, customers will be able to book any product available in the portfolio of Qatar Airways Cargo through the Digital Lounge. The Digital Lounge portal is built on the Salesforce platform and uses Salesforce Customer 360 features integrated with its native experience and analytics platform. The airline said it hoped the new platform will enable customers to retrieve information more quickly, and will no longer have to resort to phone or email communication as in the past. Guillaume Halleux, chief officer cargo at Qatar Airways, said: “Through the Digital Lounge, Qatar Airways Cargo has opted for an omni-channel digital strategy whereby the customers are given a wide variety of choices in how they wish to interact with us.”

Akasa Air, which was launched two months ago is all set to transport domesticated dogs and cats in cabin as well as cargo from November. The carrier will also be starting new routes in the coming weeks, said reports. The airline, which is “well capitalised”, plans to start international services in the second half of 2023 once it has a fleet of 20 planes. Currently, the carrier has 6 aircraft and will have a total of 18 planes by the end of March next year, added media reports. Vinay Dube, Akasa Air Founder and CEO said, “Currently, the carrier has 30 daily flights, will start services from Delhi on Friday. It started operations on August 7. Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer said, “The airline is progressively expanding its network and connecting more cities. From November, domesticated dogs and cats can travel. The bookings in this regard will start from October 15,,” he said in media reports.

According to an official statement released by the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI), internationally, there is no levy of GST on export air freight and export sea freight. International transportation including local transportation and handling services ancillary to international transportation is zero-rated in Singapore. Similarly, in Australia, international transport of goods including arranging of such services is GST free from the place of export in Australia to a destination outside Australia. When GST was introduced from July 2017, both air freight export and sea freight export segment were taxed. However, after various rounds of representations, the GST Council saw the wisdom in the request for exemption and issued exemptions in respect of services by way of transportation of goods by an aircraft from customs station of clearance in India to a place outside India as well as transportation of goods by a vessel from customs station of clearance in India to a place outside India. This exemption has been extended from time to time and unfortunately, it has expired on September 30, 2022 and has not been further extended causing huge impact on freight forwarders as well as exporters who are already going through serious challenges on account of various developments across the world; increased freight cost; and impending recession. It is also likely to have disastrous consequences on account of cash flow pressure for both freight forwarders and exporters. India is going through a tough period with reports of possible recission in other countries which will affect our exports; energy crisis in other countries which is likely to stop production and affect demand of India’s goods; high international freight rates due to oil pricing. When internationally, most …

To expand partnership, Lessor ACIA Aero Leasing has signed a four freighter conversions deal with DHL Express. DHL Express has agreed with ACIA to acquire and convert a fleet of four ATR 72-500 aircraft into Large Cargo Door (LCD) freighters, said release. South Africa-based Solenta Aviation, which runs the entire West Africa regional fleet on behalf of DHL Express, will operate these aircraft. The first of the four upgraded freighters was converted by Ontario, Canada-based Springer Aerospace, bringing the total number of ACIA aircraft in operation by DHL Express to nine. These aircraft are currently based in DHL hubs in Gabon, Togo, and the Ivory Coast and operated in the Latin American and African markets. The remaining three aircraft are scheduled for delivery between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.

Urging the government to end the GST exemption notification, Jaideep Raha, Managing Committee Member, ACAAI and Managing Director at Jetex Ocean Air said, “One word very – disappointing. There should be a permanent exemption to make it economical. The GoI must understand India is still not Germany, Japan, or South Korea. We still export low value products and perishables items. This 18 per cent on air freight and 5 per cent on ocean freight impact will be an impediment to our exports and will greatly upset Balance of Trade. Since US$ and € is all time high thus restricting our Imports.”