Category Archives: Aviation

Global air cargo flown tonnages continue to remain stable in the last two weeks compared to the preceding two weeks, while the previously reported softening trend of the worldwide average rates seems to have halted last week, the latest figures from WorldACD Market Data show. Looking at week 31 (August 1-7), worldwide chargeable weight decreased -3% compared with the previous week, and the average worldwide rate increased slightly, based on the more than 350,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data and analysis of the main international air cargo lanes. Comparing the last two weeks with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), average worldwide rates decreased -1% while chargeable weight increased +1% and overall capacity remained stable. Chargeable weight from Central & South America remain on a particularly negative trend, with a decrease of resp. -7% to Europe and -6% to North America compared with the preceding two weeks. Middle East & South Asia outbound volumes show a strong continued increase at +11%, with the first half of July being impacted by the Eid Al-Adha holiday. For the overall global market, the last two weeks showed a worldwide rate increase of +10% compared with last year, despite a chargeable weight decline of -9% and a capacity increase of +7%. Higher fuel surcharges continue to influence overall air cargo prices relative to their levels last year.

New business from airlines investing in digitalisation has helped global freight booking and payment platform Freightos achieve strong growth in the SQ of 2022. Freightos recorded 1.5 lakh platform transactions, resulting in growth of 163% y-o-y in the second quarter. Gross Booking Value was US$155m—up 137 per cent y-o-y, while revenue was US$5.2 million—up 30 per cent y-o-y. Freightos Chief Executive Zvi Schreiber, said, “Freightos continues to demonstrate strong, predictable growth that exceeded targets, despite macroeconomic volatility that impacted consumer buying patterns, supply chains, and global freight. We are seeing excellent momentum, with the number of transactions growing 163 per cent y-o-y, as well as 137 per cent growth in GBV. Growth in transactions was fuelled on the supply side by major airline rollouts such as American Airlines Cargo, LATAM Cargo, and Air Canada Cargo, as well as increased bookings with existing carriers.”

Atlas Air is planning to extend its long-standing partnership with Australian airfreight carrier Qantas Freight to support Australia, Asia, and USA supply chains. The partnership between Atlas Air and Qantas Freight began in 2004. Under this extended agreement with Qantas Freight, Atlas Air will provide long-haul, widebody main deck capacity with two Boeing 747-400Fs operating its existing network linking Australia, Asia, and the USA. An additional 747-400F deal has also been extended to service the one-way USA-Australia-Hong Kong routing, boosting capacity to meet customer demand. “This important extension with Qantas Freight comes at a time of significant growth in the air freight industry. We look forward to supporting Qantas Freight, as it continues to expand its global freighter network,” said John Dietrich, Atlas Air Worldwide President, and Chief Executive.

Jet Freight Logistics Ltd. has announced that it is gearing up to expand its operations in the US market as well. Jet Freight believes that the US Market has got that potential, where one can explore and exploit innumerable fruitful opportunities. “Recently, the Chairman and Managing Director of Jet Freight, Richard F. Theknath made several trips to the US and visited renowned and business-friendly places like Washington, New York, Indiana, St. Louis, and Rhode Island and found them to be very prominent and worth exploring. Richard’s plan is to improve the trade lane between India and the US, considering the Government’s initiatives to increase exports,” an official statement said.

Vietnam Airlines plans to send used passenger planes to Air Transport Services Group for conversion into cargo jets as it prepares to create a freighter division and capture more intra-Asia freight growth, said a statement. The small deal is noteworthy on two levels. It is another example of passenger airlines moving more aggressively to take advantage of cargo opportunities triggered by the pandemic. And it reinforces how ATSG, the largest lessor of freighter aircraft, is rapidly expanding its customer base beyond U.S. shores due to demand from express delivery providers with strong e-commerce business. Vietnam Airlines will remove two Airbus A321 narrowbody jets from its passenger fleet and sell them to Air Transport Services Group (NASDAQ: ATSG), which will send them to a specialty facility for conversion into pure freighters capable of carrying large containers on the main deck. Once modifications are completed, ATSG will lease the planes back to Vietnam Airlines, CEO Rich Corrado said on the company’s earnings call with analysts.

Air cargo demand fell for the fifth month in a row in July as the industry continues to face a ‘multitude of disruptions’, according to CLIVE Data Services. The Xeneta-owned data provider said that during July air cargo demand dropped by 9% year on year and the dynamic load factor – taking into account both weight and space – slipped 8 percentage points on last year to 58%.In July rates were up 11% on a year ago – and 121% of July 2019 – but CLIVE pointed out that the gap between pre-covid levels has continued to narrow. Xeneta chief airfreight officer Niall van de Wouw said that the demand declines come as the industry is hit by a multitude of disruptions outside of its control, such as the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis which is increasingly affecting household budgets. Meanwhile, airlines and airports continue to suffer “severe operational challenges due to significant shortages of ground staff.”“There are many dark clouds hanging over the air cargo industry given the state of the world right now,” said van de Wouw. “Volumes are subdued, and while air cargo rates are still elevated, they are slowly but surely easing back towards pre-Covid levels. From a rates point of view, indicators suggest the market has yet to bottom out. It’s clear that airlines are following the market very closely to ensure they are deploying their assets in the best possible way because the market is moving quickly. We have already seen freighters moving away from transatlantic routes. On the Atlantic, the decline in general airfreight rates we reported for the previous three months of 2022 continued in July,” he added. …

Lufthansa Cargo is adding new flights to its all-cargo network as it continues to take delivery of freighter aircraft. The Frankfurt-hubbed carrier will add another B777 freighter into service at the end of the month, while a second A321F will begin flying in October. Lufthansa Cargo said delivery of the aircraft will allow it to expand its network and add additional flights to existing calls for its winter schedule, which comes into effect on October 30. New to the schedule is Hanoi (HAN), which will be served twice a week from Frankfurt via Mumbai (BOM) from the beginning of November. The carrier already flies twice per week to Bangkok. In addition, the carrier’s service from Frankfurt via Kansai (KIX) to Seoul (ICN) will increase from three to four weekly flights. The frequency to Hong Kong (HKG) will also be increased from four to five weekly flights.

Kuehne+Nagel has secured the equivalent volumes of a waste-based next generation biofuel to save CO2 emissions of 40,000 TEUs. “In line with the company’s zero emissions targets, customers can participate to neutralise the CO2 emissions from their own shipments on any trade or service worldwide,” says an official announcement. The Kuehne+Nagel biofuel concept is based on next generation biofuels according to RED II (EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) defines a set of sustainability and greenhouse gas emission criteria that biofluids used in transport must meet) and allocates fully traceable contingents of biofuel to the customers’ cargo. “In contrast to fossil fuels, which are an exhaustible resource and release additional CO2 emissions, next generation biofuels are produced from renewable feedstocks only and have a circular carbon lifecycle aimed at re-using waste or biomass.” Kuehne+Nagel guarantees customers 100 per cent avoidance of greenhouse gases (CO2) in sea transport as the biofuel’s production emissions and lower density compared to conventional fuels are overcompensated, the announcement added.

LATAM Group has added its fourth passenger aircraft converted to all-cargo service as part of its growth plan announced in 2021. With this aircraft, the company has a fleet of 15 freighters, says an official release. “With addition of aircraft N564LA operated by LATAM Cargo Colombia, LATAM will increase its cargo capacity between Europe and the Americas.” Andrés Bianchi, CEO, LATAM Cargo, says: “This freighter will allow us to strengthen our transatlantic offering with more capacity from Europe to the USA, and to further connect cargo to multiple destinations in South America through strategic points like our Miami hub. We plan to continue expanding service to and from markets that are relevant for our customers as the remaining freighters included in our growth plan are incorporated into our fleet.” LATAM expects to end the year with a fleet of 16 cargo aircraft after the delivery of the fifth freighter due in September, the release said.

Blue Dart has strengthened its presence by introducing 15 new retail stores across the country. The stores will be launched on 15 August 2022 and will be in Odisha, Assam, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The new stores will widen Blue Dart’s presence in tier I and II markets in India. The expansion will act as an advantage for customers enabling Blue Dart to cater to 55,000 plus locations. With around 700 retail stores (with DHL) across India, Blue Dart offers the most reliable, resilient and responsive service providing a quick turnaround time and an enhanced direct reach to pin-codes in the country. Ketan Kulkarni, CCO, Blue Dart says, “As pioneers in Express Logistics and the nation’s trade facilitator we understand the growing logistic needs. The retail expansion will widen our network and improve accessibility to our customers. We will continue to identify new locations and will further expand our reach in order to improve last mile logistics to the remotest parts of the country.”