SpiceJet has secured Regulated Agent Third country (RA3) and Air Cargo or Mail Carrier operating into the Union from a Third Country Airport (ACC3) certifications for easy and fast transportation of mails and cargo via its own airplanes under Air Operator Permit. They will allow the airline to handle cargo and mail of other airlines to or via the EU and the UK, stated an official release. In addition, these certifications confirm that SpiceJet meets the security needs for screening air cargo and mail entering the EU and UK under their supply chain initiative. Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet in a statement said, “The new certifications will help SpiceJet gain new business opportunities from global airlines, freight forwarders, cargo agents, international couriers as it allows us to seamlessly carry cargo both to and via the EU and UK.”

To cater to the growing demand and increasing flow of air traffic in the Saurashtra region of Rajkot, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken work for the construction of the new greenfield airport in Rajkot. According to AAI, with project cost of Rs 1,405 crores, the new airport is envisioned to be a transportation hub. Spread over 2534 acres, the new airport will have modern cargo and passenger facilities. The location of new airport is approximately 30 km from Rajkot city and on Rajkot-Ahmadabad highway. The city side area of the airport will also be developed for adequate parking. Runway length is planneed for 3040m for serving AB-321 type of aircraft which will be capable of parking 14 aircraft at a time.

SEKO Logistics selects e-commerce logistics company, MyFBAPrep, for its service partner, Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). The deal will include co-branded products and expands SEKO’s offering to include FBA fulfilment services. This partnership gives MyFBAPrep’s client roster of Amazon aggregators access to SEKO’s global fulfilment warehouses and an additional 4 million sq ft of new warehouse space globally. In addition to adding to their US footprint, SEKO brings a network that reaches into Europe, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific regions, said an official release. David Emerson, Senior Vice President of e-commerce at SEKO Logistics, said in a statement, “We are excited to partner with MyFBAPrep as they are a great fit with our overall e-commerce strategy and further our mission of being small enough to care and big enough to scale globally. Through this strategic partnership, we’ll be able to combine our extensive industry insights while leveraging MyFBAPrep’s technology-enabled platform to seamlessly service a new cohort of the largest Amazon aggregators and Amazon sellers that are driving the ecommerce market to record highs. We look forward to expanding our Amazon capabilities with MyFBAPrep.”

The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has become the first carrier to provide in-house liquid cargo solutions, directly supplying and fitting flexibags for customers worldwide. According to an official company statement, “MSC experts fit carefully selected flexibags at its depots prior to cargo pick-up, which removes the requirement for haulage to third-party fitting locations, reducing road miles, saving time and money, and helping customers to meet their sustainability needs. MSC liquid cargo solutions are already available at depot facilities in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas,” The statement added that MSC works with dedicated suppliers of high-quality flexibags and with its customers to ensure each flexibag is tailored, selecting the right size and specifications according to the cargo’s needs. The statement added, “Flexibags allow customers to fill dry containers with up to 24,000 litres of non-hazardous liquid cargo—such as edible oils, wine, petroleum products, and chemicals—offering a safe and cost-effective alternative to other liquid bulk transportation methods, with less packaging than conventional ISO tanks.”

Etihad Cargo is all set to provide additional capacity to key destinations in the coming months across Asia, Africa, and Europe. From July, Etihad Cargo will continue to operate its Boeing 777 freighter network with flights across Chicago, Dhaka, Frankfurt, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Kenya, Milan, Riyadh, Saigon, and Shanghai, the carrier said in an official statement. Martin Drew, Senior Vice President – Global Sales & Cargo, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “Etihad is operating additional flights during the busy summer period, which will introduce additional belly capacity across key routes for Etihad Cargo’s customers. “Cargo transported during the season will benefit from Etihad Cargo’s extensive road feeder service across the US, Europe, and Asia,” added Drew. The carrier will also benefit from additional passenger flights on its Boeing 787 and Airbus 350 with 35 direct flights to London Heathrow, seven direct flights to Bangkok, and five flights to Bangkok via Phuket. “Etihad will offer daily flights to Dublin, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, more weekly flights to Barcelona, Brussels, Johannesburg, Madrid, Tokyo, and Vienna have been added to the carrier’s summer schedule,” adds the statement.

With the focus to improve multimodal infrastructure in India, the Ministry of Railways will soon build 100 cargo terminals with easy connectivity with roads and ports, said an official release. A senior official from the Rail Ministry said details related to identification, timelines, and mapping for the plan are already underway. At the Network Planning Group’s (NPG) 20th meeting, he also said that details will soon be shared across with all ministries and departments for in-depth coordination. The NPG meeting held recently was chaired by Amrit Lal Meena, special secretary in DPIIT’s logistics division, and saw participation from member ministries and departments including the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, amongst others.

To reduce its carbon footprint and progress towards a sustainable future and Greener India, global logistics giant, Kuehne+Nagel has launched electric vehicle services at the Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL). The Indian-made electric vehicle ‘Mahindra Treo Zor’ will shuttle air cargo between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and Kuehne+Nagel’s Mumbai Airport warehouse. The use of the EVs is expected to result in a reduction of 24.7 tonnes vehicular CO2 emissions each year, thus reducing the company’s overall carbon footprint. Marcel Fujike, SVP, Global Head Products & Services Air Logistics at Kuehne+Nagel, said in an official statement, “As an environmentally and socially responsible organisation, Kuehne+Nagel is proud to use EVs in India for its airport transfers to offer green logistics solutions and reduce carbon emissions. Our customers have benefited from the global availability of SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) since last year, and we continue to develop sustainable solutions for a fully carbon neutral transport journey. The introduction of EV airport transfer is the next phase in our transition to low-carbon, door-to-door air transportation, with more sustainable services to follow.”

DHL Supply Chain is all set to start a new, highly automated fulfilment centre for its customer IKEA in Bergkamen, Germany. According to reports, the multi customer site in Bergkamen has a total of 40,000 m2 of storage space and is part of the neighbouring DHL Supply Chain Campus Unna, which is less than 10 km away. Almost 20,000 m2 of storage space will be available for IKEA alone in the coming years. Around 350 employees at the Bergkamen site will work for the customer in three shifts, six days a week. “With this state-of-the-art location, DHL is supporting the furnishing group in handling its rapidly growing B2C online business in Germany. The overall growth of the e-commerce business was significantly boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, so IKEA saw an urgent need to expand the B2C fulfilment capabilities it needed,” said company statement. By the end of June, the operational process for IKEA will be fully operational.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its latest reports suggested that the air cargo market will begin to improve in the coming months ahead, despite the current market challenges. In its latest market update, IATA said that air cargo demand dropped by 11.2% year on year in April, while cargo load factors slipped by 5.2 percentage points on a year ago to 51.6%, and capacity was down by 2%. The fall in demand is the largest since August 2020 and load factors are at their lowest level since February 2020, although still above pre-Covid levels. The airline association said in the reports that the drop in demand was fuelled by the war in Ukraine leading to a fall in cargo capacity used to serve Europe as several airlines based in Russia and Ukraine were key cargo players. “Global goods trade has continued to decline in 2022, with China’s economy growing more slowly because of Covid-19 related lockdowns (among other factors). The lockdowns have brought much of the world’s largest port, Shanghai, to a standstill. Supply chain disruptions due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict are also adding to the downward pressure on trade,” th reports added.

Transworld Group and Bengal Airlift have formed a strategic partnership with the goal of combining their wide-ranging expertise in sea and air shipments, 3PL; consolidation, project logistics, contract logistics, cross-border trade, and customised solutions. K B Balmurali, COO – Transworld group, Mr. Maruf Hossainn Khan, COO – Bengal Airlift, and their senior team members signed the strategic MOU in the presence of the management teams of Transworld and Bengal Airlift. Ramesh S Ramakrishnan, Chairman, Transworld group said, “We are delighted with the strategic association with Bengal Airlift. Bangladesh has been a strong emerging economy and we see a lot of growth opportunities in the growing market. With this partnership, we look forward leveraging the strengths of both the group’s and it’s legacy to enable high scalability and growth.”