Category Archives: Aviation

After a gap of two years, Air Cargo Agents’ Association of India (ACAAI) is back with its 46th Annual Convention to be held in Bangkok, Thailand at Hotel Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park from 24 to 27 November 2022. The convention will provide a great platform to the experts of international air cargo industry to meet and discuss issues and concerns troubling the industry as well as key megatrends.

FedEx Express is planning to build a new express centre at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport as part of its long-term expansion plans. The company has signed an agreement with Guangdong Airport Authority Logistics Company to build a 41,000 sq. m facility that will more than double the size of its current gateway at the airport, said a statement. The facility is due to become operational in 2027 and will connect outbound shipments from customers in southern China with FedEx’s international network through the Asia Pacific Hub. “It will be able to sort up to 25,000 packages and documents per hour, three times the sorting efficiency of the current facility,” the company said. FedEx Express president of the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa Kawal Preet said, “We continue to expand our network and service offerings to cater to the growing needs of our customers in the AMEA region and enhance their connections to global markets.”

Blue Dart is all set for expansion with the addition of bigger aircraft than it has ever had in its fleet, increasing charter operations to China and Vietnam, and building gateways in smaller towns in India. According to the reports, it will add two B737-800F priced at Rs 360 crore by the end of this year. The company, which has operational bases or gateways in seven cities in India, is for the first time looking to set up such facilities in smaller cities like Guwahati, Coimbatore, and Kochi to operate scheduled air cargo services there. The express logistics company currently has a fleet of eight freighter planes — six Boeing 757s, which will be phased out in a few years, and two Boeing 737-800s. It is also looking at Boeing 767s which will increase the tonnage per aircraft by 60 per cent, the reports added.

Emirates has announced plans to begin second daily flight between Dubai and Tel Aviv, which will also provide additional 20 tonnes of cargo belly-hold capacity for businesses, further opening global trade lanes through enhanced import and export opportunities, said an official statement. The second daily flight will be served by Emirates Boeing 777-300ER in a three-class configuration. “The new schedule will operate as follows: EK 933 departs Dubai at 0815 hrs arriving in Tel Aviv at 0950 hrs. EK 934 leaves Tel Aviv at 1150 hrs, arriving in Dubai at 1650 hrs.” The new flight also unlocks enhanced connectivity within Emirates’ global network such as Auckland, Brisbane, Perth, Bali, Seoul, and Singapore as well as points across India, among others.

Rhenus Logistics has introduced carbon-neutral airfreight service between as the first step in its sustainability efforts for air cargo. The programme will offer global customers a carbon-neutral consolidation service from Frankfurt (FRA) to São Paulo (SAO). Rhenus will offset the total emissions from the trade lane through the third party to achieve carbon neutrality via projects which are verified and audited according to internationally accepted standards such as Gold Standards (GS) or verified carbon standard (VCS). The emission data of the shipment’s main haul is calculated with a methodology that complies with IATA, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) frameworks.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad is all set to get a new ‘semi-automated’ cargo terminal in 2023. According to the reports, the construction work on the upcoming terminal has begun and according to the airport operator, the first phase of work is expected to be completed by June 2023. The new terminal will come up right opposite the India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s office on the airport campus. According to data available, 1.15 lakh tonnes of cargo were processed at SVPI airport in 2019. The new facility, with a total built-up area of 33,000 sq m, will be capable of accommodating future cargo volume growth. Of this, the first phase will cover a built-up area of 21,000 sq m. “The upcoming one is a greenfield project. The terminal will be capable of handling domestic cargo, international cargo, express courier, cold-chain pharma, and other perishable cargo,” said reports.

According to Mobility Foresights, the global air freight market size is $197 Billion in 2022 growing at a CAGR of 1.3% over the forecast period 2022 to 2027. In 2021, available cargo tons – kilometers (ACTKs) fell by ~11% compared to 2019. Capacity did not come back slowly during the year due to improvements in international passenger traffic.The tight air cargo market in 2021 has been affected by high air cargo rates. Despite starting the year at elevated levels, the cargo rate moved upwards in H2- 2021, reaching new records in December, at almost 150% above December 2019 levels, contributing to the significant increase in air cargo revenues for airlines active in the sector. According to the reports, in 2021, rates were compounded by supply chain issues, which made air cargo relatively attractive compared to maritime shipping. There was a marked reduction in container shipping schedule reliability in 2021, and the relative cost of container shipping rose, though air remains overall more expensive for businesses. Supply chain issue in container shipping is expected to stabilize by 2022-23, which will soften the air freight demand and rates.Global air freight market is dominated by large scale operators like – DHL, FedEx, UPS, DB Schenker, Kuehne + Nagel and DSV Panalpina occupied 71% of the market in 2021.

The defence ministry has given over 1.76 acres to the Pune airport authority on which the current cargo facility is expected to shift in the next four months.  The land on BSO yard (barrack store office) is adjacent to the  apron area in front of multi-level car parking (MLCP) facility. “The decided land was handed over to the Pune airport three days ago. The cargo area will be shifted from airport premises as it is coming between the old terminal and a new terminal and affecting the work of new terminal building,” said Santosh Dhoke, director, Pune international airport in a statement. “We have started shifting cargo facilities to the new loaction. In the next four months, civil electrical-related work will be completed. We are expecting  to start operation from the new location in December,”he added. The airport authority will be getting 13 acres from the defence ministry. “The airport authority already had 0.74-acre land and now are given 1.76 acres more. Hence, the total land parcel is 2.5 acres,” said sources.

DRONAMICS has announced its very first strategic manufacturing partnership with Quickstep Holdings Limited, a tier one manufacturer and the largest independent aerospace composites business in Australia. This turnkey solution partnership will help DRONAMICS accelerate the production of the Black Swan cargo drones. With the first units landing in 2023, long-term plans target the ramp-up of production of hundreds of Black Swan cargo drones annually in the next four years. The agreement comes at a key time as it recently became the first cargo drone company to obtain a European drone airline license. The manufacturing will take place in Quickstep’s Australian facilities, globally recognised for their innovative engineering and premium manufacturing capabilities and trusted by the world’s most advanced aerospace players. Konstantin Rangelov, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of DRONAMICS said: “The first strategic manufacturing partnership is a key milestone in our mission to enable same day delivery for everyone, everywhere. As an innovator who is challenging the status quo in cargo mobility, we are thrilled to have the support of an experienced partner like Quickstep to help us realize the full potential of our solution.”

Emirates SkyCargo took delivery of its latest Boeing 777-F to boost its fleet capacity and cater to the growth in the industry. The carrier has seen significant increase in cargo loads across its products, including pharma and fresh produce. In 2021-22, annual tonnage carried crossed 2.1 million, an increase of 15%, with transport of perishables crossing 260,000 tonnes, and both pharma and valuable goods each growing by 17%. Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President Emirates SkyCargo said, “The new freighter will help increase our capacity and boost our ability to deliver vital goods and facilitate trade globally. Despite the challenging headwinds this year, the air cargo industry is booming, and we’ve been flat out since the pandemic began. Emirates SkyCargo will continue its journey as one of the world’s largest and best air cargo airlines by investing in our fleet, our global network, technology, and world-class logistics infrastructure at our Dubai hub and beyond.”