Category Archives: Aviation

A policy for long-term leasing of railway land to implement the PM Gati Shakti, has been approved by the Union Cabinet. The government said it will help set up 300 cargo terminals and generate 125,000 jobs. The policy, Union minister Anurag Thakur said, will help provide land lease for a period of up to 35 years as against five years presently. It will be implemented in the next 90-days, he told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. In a statement, the Centre stated the 300 cargo terminals have a potential to generate about 125,000 jobs, which will be developed in five years. “Liberalising the land leasing policy would open avenues for all stakeholders /service providers /operators to establish more cargo related facilities and render their participation assisting in generation of additional cargo traffic and freight revenues to the railways. The policy will help bring in more revenue to the railways,” it stated.

Cool Chain Association (CCA) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) to collaborate and research into perishables transportation via air. The pact will enable CCA and PPECB to analyse on research initiatives into perishable exports by air from South Africa. “CCA is in a unique position to act as a neutral platform for all sectors in the temperature-controlled supply chain to collaborate on tangible initiatives,” said Stavros Evangelakakis, Chairman, CCA, and Head of Global Healthcare, Cargolux Airlines. “We are proud that our members continue to do just that and are driving new ideas that will have a lasting legacy.”

As per IATA’s latest statistics, air cargo traffic in July fell by 9.7 per cent year-on-year in cargo tonne kilometres terms – the fifth month in a row to register a drop compared with a year earlier. The association said several factors should be noted when considering the figures, “new export orders, a leading indicator of cargo demand, decreased in all markets, except China which began a sharp upward trend in June. The statement read, “The Russia-Ukraine war continues to impair cargo capacity as several airlines based in Russia and Ukraine were key cargo players. However, there were some positives. IATA pointed out that cargo traffic is not that far off 2019 levels—it was 3.5 per cent down on two years ago in July—and that global goods trade continued to recover in the second quarter.

IAG Cargo is trialling the use of an electric terminal tractor at its London Heathrow facility as part of efforts to reduce its emissions output. The cargo division is trialling the electric Terberg YT203EV for 12 months, with the ambition to transition its current diesel fleet to more sustainable alternatives, including electric. By replacing an existing terminal tractor with an electric Terberg vehicle IAG Cargo expects to save approximately 30 tonnes of CO2 per year. The vehicle is also the first electric Terberg operating airside worldwide, IAG said.

Wiz is all set to organise a conference on Cold Chain Unbroken 2022 (CCUB) on 15 – 16th September 2022 at the Novotel Hyderabad Airport, India. The key highlights will be Telangana emerging as the pharma hub, new airport infra, new routes and new initiatives bolstering Pharma & perishable trade for the country and cold chain industry of the future. The event will provide a platform for the industry stakeholders to meet and discuss the issues plaguing the industry. The event will provide an excellent knowledge-sharing and networking opportunity for the stakeholders.

All the players need to introduce innovation and technology to achieve the desired efficiency in the entire supply chain. They should step forward to help players fulfil the time-bound requirements. Improved service levels to be introduced and achieved, says Sushant Nigam, Executive Director, Air Cargo Agents’ Association of India (ACAAI). He adds, “All the key stakeholders should collaborate in an effective manner and empathize with each other’s requirements: give support-get support.” Speaking on being part of ACAAI, Nigam shares associations are the voice of their members and a channel of communication with other players. The associations play a crucial role everywhere and their existence should be optimally utilised.

Kale Info Solutions (Kale), the US subsidiary of Kale Logistics Solutions, has entered a partnership with Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD), USA, to implement its Airport Cargo Community System (ACS), the pair announced at the 13th annual Air Cargo Handling & Logistics conference. Kale’s ACS implementation will reduce manual documentation and data entry time for cargo handlers at RFD, increasing process efficiency at the airport as well as reducing truck congestion and streamlining cargo flows. RFD has seen annual air cargo throughput triple over the last five years, with a 25% increase in volumes recorded in 2021, and the airport has increasingly become an important Midwest hub for e-commerce and international trade. “As the fastest growing cargo airport on the planet, we’ve partnered with Kale to provide the RFD cargo community with the most efficient, transparent cargo IT platform in the marketplace,” said Mike Dunn, Executive Director, RFD. “Kale will allow us to further streamline the digitisation and movement of cargo at RFD today and to keep up with the demands of our growing cargo operations in the future.”

LATAM Cargo has announced the arrival of another freighter aircraft as it continues its fleet expansion. The carrier said that it had taken delivery of its fifth B767-300 freighter this year, which brings its all-cargo fleet to a total of 16 B767Fs. “This aircraft will allow us to continue strengthening our value proposition through a broader and deeper network. The B767-300F’s blend of size and competitiveness enables us to offer our customers more and better routing options,” said Andrés Bianchi, chief executive, LATAM Cargo. The new aircraft will be utilised on transatlantic flights and benefit the transportation of general cargo, fresh flowers and fruits, among other products.

Bahrain Airport Company, the operator and managing body of Bahrain International Airport (BIA) has plans to open exclusive cargo facility – ‘Express Cargo Village’ at the airport, expected to be operational by 2023. Stretching over an area of 25,000 sqm, the Express Cargo Village at BIA is an advanced logistics hub, which includes buildings dedicated to serving each cargo operator in line with the highest international standards. It ensures that all operations are carried out quickly and smoothly in a single location, enabling the airport to handle larger quantities of cargo efficiently, better meet the requirements of cargo customers, and create new job opportunities. BAC earlier signed a 10-year agreement with global logistics giant, FedEx Express, allocating 9,000 sqm to it for the operation of a 5,000 sqm warehouse and a 4,000 sqm open area, which will be handed over in the third quarter of 2023. In November 2018, BAC signed an agreement with French engineering consultants Egis to supervise the design and construction of the Express Cargo Village, which consists of warehouses, aprons, and infrastructure capable of handling the expected growth in air freight and e-commerce.

A little over 3000 acres of land would have to be acquired from the seven villages in Purandar taluka for the proposed airport and multimodal  logistics hub,” said Divisional commissioner Saurav Rao on Saturday. He added that the district administration would conduct a detailed assessment of the land required in the seven villages Paragaon, Khanwadi, Munjwadi.  Ekhatpur, Kumbharvalan, Vanpuri etc. The Deputy chief Minister in a statement iterated that the proposed Greenfield international airport would  come up at the previously identified site in the seven villages because it had all the required permissions. Land for the airport project was in earmarked in the seven villages in the earlier proposal submitted to the government. Rao, said, “I shall be holding a meeting with the official of the Pune district and ministration land acquisition department , the Maharashtra airport development company, the Maharashtra  industrial development Corporation,  and representatives from Paragaon as a part of initial discussion because we need to assess how much land would be required for the airport and the logistics.”