Category Archives: Aviation

Ethiopian Airlines has added a freighter service between China and Belgium as it looks to capitalise on growing e-commerce demand. The new service will initially operate twice a week flying between Shenzhen and Liege utilising B777F aircraft.  The carrier said that the service was its first scheduled cargo service from the Chinese airport. The service will mainly carry cross-border e-commerce and other special industrial products. The number of flights will be increased in the future according to cargo demand. The airport now has airlines offering freighter services to 57 destinations. In 2022, the cargo and mail throughput of Shenzhen Airport ranked third in China and in the top 20 globally. The airport processed a total of 1.5m tons of cargo in 2022, a dip of 3.9% on 2021 levels. However, Shenzhen handled 776,000 tons of international airfreight in 2022, a nearly 20% increase for the third year running. Meanwhile, the volume of cross-border e-commerce cargo carried by air from the airport increased by 38.2% year on year.

Baku-based freighter operator Silk Way West Airlines has expanded its scheduled network in the Middle East and Central Asia as it looks to capitalise on rising demand. The expansion sees the carrier operating two scheduled freighter flights a week between Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport and Dammam King Fahd International Airport and Tashkent International Airport. The carrier said that the two locations were “among the most important international air cargo gateways in their respective regions”. Over the past decade, Silk Way West Airlines has served both destinations through charter services, shipping general cargo including textiles, cars, perishables and other goods. “These new routes will also enable Silk Way West Airlines to meet its strategic goals of serving increased international demand and significantly expanding its global network,” the carrier said. Silk Way West Airlines vice president CIS and Central Asia Vugar Mammadov said: “The demand for transportation to the Middle East and on the Middle Corridor route continues to rise. As a result, Azerbaijan is gaining increasing importance as a central logistics hub. “We are pleased that now we can offer our customers regular flights from Baku to Dammam and Tashkent. We will continue to increase the number of flights we operate, as well as the destinations we serve, as Silk Way West Airlines continues to expand opportunities for its customers around the world.”

Cathay Pacific Cargo has been rebranded as Cathay Cargo as part of the Cathay group’s overall brand redesign. The launch of the new name follows several ‘refreshed’ solutions, said the carrier, including Cathay Priority and Cathay Pharma. Cathay Mail. Group chief executive Ronald Lam said, “This is an opportune moment to align our cargo business with the master brand as we continue our cargo investments in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area for a promising future. This rebrand reflects our Cargo business’ commitment to the same ‘Move Beyond’ ambition as the Group, while building on a strength that the Cathay brand has long been known for – offering leading-edge services to our customers.” A statement said, “These services cater to the respective burgeoning demands by customers for effective temperature-sensitive solutions, and efficient and reliable delivery solutions with new digital technology that better meets the requirements for shipment visibility, reliability and speed.” The rebranding will be done officially in March.

Suid Cargo Airlines, South Africa’s newest Cargo Airline, will begin non-scheduled flights from its hub at OR Tambo International Airport in the second quarter of 2023 utilising a leased Boeing 727-200F from Kenya’s Astral Aviation, in addition to Astral’s Boeing 747-400F, Boeing 767 and Boeing 757F on charter basis. Making the announcement at the air cargo Africa 2023 event in Johannesburg, Thomas Honiball, Accountable Manager and CEO, stated that it plans to acquire additional freighters in 2024 which will comprise of narrow body freighters such as the Airbus 320F or Boeing 737-800F in addition to the Embraer 190 Freighters in 2025. “We are honoured to support South Africa’s newest Cargo Airline, Suid Cargo Airlines, initially with our Boeing 727-200F and to offer our fleet of B747-400F, B767F and B757F on charter basis, which will enable the start up Cargo airline to scale its operations to cover Southern, West and East Africa including Asia, Middle East and Europe,” Astral Aviation’s CEO Sanjeev Gadhia said. Kevin Moodley, Commercial Director of Suid Cargo Airlines, explained that the new airline will promote exports from South Africa in addition to transit shipments to over 20 African destinations, and will have a unique Sea-Air Cargo product from the Ports of Durban and Cape Town thus reducing transit time to the land locked regions in Africa. Suid Cargo will enter into long term partnership with freight forwarders, consolidators, integrators, e-commerce retailers and shipping lines in addition to interlining with African and Foreign Airlines to promote the Johannesburg Hub with plans to transition to scheduled services in 2024 which will include operating a domestic network.

Qatar Airways Cargo has partnered with iNOMAD, a Korea-based cutting-edge air cargo platform, to enable better connectivity for one of the airline’s major customers in South Korea, Woojung Air and also help the airline increase its footprint in South Korea as SMEs operating with Woojung Air will be able to compare Qatar Airways Cargo’s offerings on the iNOMAD portal. Woojung Air is a prominent consolidator in South Korea and one of the top customers of Qatar Airways Cargo. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways said, “Digital transformation is high on our agenda as part of our VISION 2027 and Next Generation Strategy. The integration and partnership with iNOMAD brings multiple benefits to our customers in South Korea such as enhanced visibility of our capacity, rates as well as real time confirmation of their shipments. Customers can benefit from instant access to these features at their fingertips and that is the huge advantage digitalisation brings in.” Joon-suk Yim, the CEO of iNOMAD, said, “Its strength is to promote the accessibility of air cargo service by optimizing extensive logistics data for clients and provide boundless service and information to both IATA/CASS members and non-members in real-time. Developing this business, we are grateful and proud to start a new partnership with Qatar Airways, a top-tier airline, that can provide us with vital information in expanding our logistics service.” He also added, “We aim to become a search engine for the air logistics field in which clients can check the information they need in real-time, regardless of time and place. We thus plan to do our best to nourish our customized services to build a stronger partnership, cherishing the meaningful opportunity to …

IBS Software has announced the completion of a transaction to acquire Accenture Freight and Logistics Software, which provides technology platforms to help airline and ocean transportation companies manage freight operations and grow through digital transformation. The acquisition will strengthen IBS Software’s leadership as a technology provider to the airfreight industry by bringing together complementary solutions and a shared vision for innovating and transforming the air cargo businesses, a company spokesperson announced. VK Mathews, Executive Chairman of IBS Software, said the acquisition is an important milestone for the company’s cargo and logistics business in its bid to broaden its global footprint, with ocean transportation being a natural adjacent industry to expand into. “It is also a synergistic opportunity to bring decades of our experience and expertise to the ocean cargo business, as well as strengthen our own capabilities to provide greater value to the air cargo customers.”

Kenya Airways Cargo is looking to expand its freighter fleet following the success of its cargo-only flights during the Covid pandemic. Speaking at an event, Kenya Airways’ cargo director Dick Murianki said the carrier would initially look to add to its existing short-haul freighter fleet, which currently consists of two B737-300Fs. Murianki said that the carrier was hoping to add two B373-800Fs, which have better range and can reach further afield than the existing freighters. “They can go from Nairobi to the Middle East and India and even have the range to reach Istanbul and southern Europe carrying around 20 tonnes,” he explained. He said that once the two B737-800Fs are in place, the carrier would then examine long-haul freighters. On the reasoning behind the freighter investments, Murianki said that during the Covid crisis the airline had expanded its cargo operations using its passenger aircraft. “We developed a customer base during the Covid time that is yearning for more, especially to the Middle East and India,” he said. Kenya Airways chief executive Allan Kilavuka also added that two B787-9 Dreamliners had been used on cargo-only flights to long-haul destinations in China and Europe during the pandemic, with each aircraft able to carry around 50 tonnes per flight.

Southeast Asian air cargo charter services provider Asia Cargo Network (ACN) has teamed up with Bahraini aviation services provider MENA Aerospace to begin operations out of Bahrain. The partnership is operating under the MENA Cargo brand (the cargo subsidiary of MAE Aircraft Management, itself the aircraft and management division of MENA Aerospace), with flights managed by ACN on its Bahraini air operator’s certificate, said the Bahrain Economic Development Board. ACN invested $135m to acquire a 49% stake in MAE Aircraft Management in 2022. The joint venture (JV) started with two Boeing 737-300 freighters and there are plans to add five more aircraft (B737-800Fs and B767-300Fs) by the end of 2023. Additionally, the JV plans to develop an extensive network of cargo flights across the region. On delivering the first aircraft to MENA Cargo Airlines in late 2022, ACN said: “Cargo routes will extend to Dubai, Iraq, Kuwait and Sudan from Bahrain International Airport five times per week and [are] expected to carry an average of 16 tons per flight.” MAE Aircraft Management managing director Iman Marco said that the Kingdom of Bahrain’s advanced infrastructure, and its strategic location at the crossroads between Asia, Africa, and Europe, will play a vital role in ACN’s growth plans to expand and serve its customers in the MENA region and beyond. Ahmed Sultan, executive director for business development of manufacturing, transport and logistics at the Bahrain Economic Development Board, highlighted the Kingdom’s competitive advantages such as its free trade agreements with 22 countries, attractive operating costs for logistics businesses, “superb” infrastructure, and connectivity by air, land and sea.

Jeena & Company has expanded business operations in Australia, and have further plans to grow business in New Zealand and US. The company has also invested in warehouse space at Bhiwandi. Ayesha Katgara, Head – Corporate Strategy, Jeena & Company shared, “We hope to contribute to the larger goal of the interim Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed between India and Australia and make a significant difference to the Indo-Australian trade. Furthermore, we have invested in a state-of-the-art warehouse space at Bhiwandi which has a built- up area of 1.10 lakhs sq. ft. As far as future expansion plans are concerned, pharma logistics is one of our primary focus areas. We also have plans to increase our warehousing footprint across India and make ourselves accessible to our customers. We are planning to amplify our presence in Australia and then venture into New Zealand and the US in days to come.” She added, “In an endeavour to make our systems and processes more efficient and streamlined, Jeena & Company has adopted the best-in-class technology and has cut down on the usage of paper within the organization. We have channelized our customers and people towards adopting digital options by leveraging which, we are aiming to make our business more sustainable.”

Passenger airline Oman Air has announced plans to invest in its first freighter. The Muscat International Airport-based carrier said in a press release that it would introduce its “first freighter by the end of 2023”, though it did not specify what type of aircraft it would invest in or whether the cargo plane would be brought or leased. Oman Air chief executive Abdulaziz Al Raisi said the airline will also launch new cargo destinations this year. Speaking at the airline’s annual cargo workshop, he said: “In 2023, we are keeping up the momentum. In the coming months, we look forward to introducing our first ever freighter and we will also be launching several new markets. This will offer exciting new opportunities for our guests and cargo alike, while continuing to unlock Oman’s potential as a global logistics hub in line with Oman’s 2040 Vision.” Last year, the cargo business of Oman Air increased cargo volumes by 36% and revenue by 44% compared to 2021. Additionally in 2022, Oman Air Cargo added several new destinations and introduced its ‘Cargo-in-Cabin’ service to Europe, the Far East and Indian Subcontinent. It also modified its A330-300 passenger aircraft by removing the seats, allowing it to raise capacity to 40 tonnes per aircraft.