Category Archives: Aviation

Lufthansa Cargo reported traffic revenue increase of 37 percent to €2.4 billion for nine months ended September 30, 2021, from €1.8 billion in January-September 2020. The increased capacity (available cargo tonne-kilometres) by 5 percent compared to the previous year and sales (revenue cargo tonne-kilometres) increased 11 percent to 5.2 billion. “Cargo load factor improved four percentage points to 71.8 percent and yields, adjusted for exchange rate effects, went up in all traffic regions and were 25.4 percent higher overall than the previous year,” an official statement said. Lufthansa Group’s cargo business revenue increased 37 percent to €2.8 billion for January-September 2021 on higher sales and better yields. Carsten Spohr, CEO, Lufthansa Group, told analysts, “The unprecedented strength of the air cargo market will continue”. “Cargo results remain on record levels even in the lower-volume summer months”, CFO Remco Steenbergen added.

Go First becomes the first airline to start a direct international connection from Srinagar to Sharjah. It has inked a pact with UAE-based Lulu Group and becomes the first airline to commence international cargo services from Kashmir Valley. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Go First Head (Corporate Affairs) Mohit Dwivedi and Lulu Group Director Salim M A, in the presence of Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce, and Administrative Secretary, Civil Aviation Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Ranjan Thakur. “On behalf of the Lulu, I am very thankful to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Government of India for giving us the opportunity to come to Kashmir. We are quite surprised to see the immense opportunities that we have for the exports from here. As Lulu, we will be able to take a lot of fruit, vegetables and antique and craft and a lot more items. We assure you that we will do our best to export goods from Kashmir.” said Salim M A, Director, Lulu Group “On behalf of Go First, I would like to thank the Jammu and Kashmir government, Lulu Group and the Government of India, for giving us this opportunity for taking up the cargo for gulf countries. We are happy with this agreement. The airline will start the operations from December this year.” said Mohit Dwivedi, Head (Corporate Affairs), Go First.

cargo.one announces the launch of a real-time data and analytics product called cargo.one360. This will provide cargo.one partner airlines with unique insights to maximize their sales performance in digital channels. cargo.one360 helps airlines to accelerate the airlines’ adoption of best practices in digital sales, delivers valuable customer insights, and reflects market changes and trends to facilitate better tactical and strategic commercial decision-making. As the Boston Consulting Group recently noted, data-based steering can boost net profits by up to 12 percent in the first year. While an increasing shift towards digital sales predates the pandemic, Covid-19 has supercharged this trend: volatile schedules, constrained capacity, and disrupted pricing mechanisms have sent customers seeking transparency on offers, and instantly confirmed bookings.

IAG Cargo capacity increased 24 percent compared to the previous quarter (Q22021) and 62.2 percent compared to Q32020. “The increased activity reflects growing levels of global trade as many economies experience recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. New routes during the quarter included Nairobi, Istanbul, Male, Chennai, Vienna, Denver and Phoenix whilst many other lanes saw increased frequencies,” an official statement said. IAG Cargo reported a 34 percent increase in revenue to €405 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 on increasing capacity and network. Revenue for nine months increased to €1,174 million, up 28 percent compared to the same time last year. During the nine months, 3,334 cargo-only flights were operated. David Shepherd, managing director, IAG Cargo, said: “This quarter we have seen momentum build as IAG Cargo, and the global economy, begins to take increasingly confident steps towards a more buoyant future, as recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to gain ground. The team’s resilience and commitment to put our customers first continues, and we are excited to enter into a new and ambitious phase of activity.”

A UPS 747 flight is now connecting India directly to Europe and connecting UPS customers to North and Latin American markets five days per week. That doubles the company’s previous capacity to and from India for small and medium-sized business customers looking to grow their revenue base. UPS’s first direct flight from India will connect Delhi to its largest international hub at Cologne, Germany. Customers have been diversifying their supply chains as they respond to pandemic disruptions. And cargo space in the belly of passenger aircraft – normally reliable and cost-effective – has been significantly reduced. Now, buoyed by market demand and with an eye on business continuity, Indian entrepreneurs are looking for reliable alternatives to import and export products. “When business demand is increasing and volumes globally are being challenged, what you need is a smart logistics network that can respond to what customers are asking for, in an altered business environment. The agility to connect major economies to India via a direct flight for exports and imports is an example of UPS’s better not bigger strategy and will provide reliability and expanded capacity to UPS’s customers,” said Rachid Fergati, Managing Director Middle East, Central Asia, and Indian subcontinent for UPS.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released September 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that demand continued to be well above pre-crisis levels and that capacity constraints persist. As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons below are to September 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. • Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 9.1% compared to September 2019 (9.4% for international operations). • Capacity remains constrained at 8.9% below pre-COVID-19 levels (September 2019) (-12% for international operations). “Air cargo demand grew 9.1% in September compared to pre-COVID levels. There is a benefit from supply chain congestion as manufacturers turn to air transport for speed. But severe capacity constraints continue to limit the ability of air cargo to absorb extra demand. If not addressed, bottlenecks in the supply chain will slow the economic recovery from COVID-19. Governments must act to relieve pressure on global supply chains and improve their overall resilience,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

The Application Programming Interface (API) solution for Air Canada Cargo customers is live now. By being directly integrated with Air Canada Cargo, customers will be able to reduce the amount of time taken to complete a booking or AWB, resulting in improved efficiency. This API solution will improve efficiency for customers by manual interactions such as quoting, booking, scheduling, and track and trace requests. It will also improve connectivity and collaboration, as well as the overall customer experience by connecting different systems and processes to offer an enhanced booking flow. “We are thrilled to implement this important technology for Air Canada Cargo and are excited about the role it will play in advancing the industry toward the digitization of processes, and indeed our business as a whole. This will be beneficial for Air Canada Cargo’s valued customers who will be able to take advantage of the many benefits this API will provide,” said Matthieu Casey, senior director, Global Sales and Revenue Optimization.

Turkish Airlines’ brand, Turkish Cargo, recently added Macau to the list, strengthening its flight network. After Hong Kong, Macau, one of the economic centers of China, will be among its destinations served with direct cargo flights. The number of direct cargo flights has reached 97 including Macau starting today on November 1, 2021. Located in the Guangdong province of China; Macau is an important center in terms of tourism and finance and hosts market leaders of sectors such as high technology, e-commerce, electronics and textiles. Turkish Cargo aims to strengthen the air cargo bridge it has established between Europe and the Far East with the reliable, fast and direct air transportation it offers to logistics service providers with Airbus A330F type wide-body cargo aircraft on ISL-ALA-MFM-ALA-ISL (Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Almaty International Airport, Macau International Airport, Almaty International Airport, Istanbul Ataturk Airport) route.

Hactl has returned to full manning and normal operations, following the reporting on October 7th of a single case of COVID-19 in the company’s ramp handling team, which led to the quarantining of his close work contacts by Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection. All quarantined staff subsequently tested negative, have now been released from the quarantine centre and have returned home. The manpower shortage resulting from the quarantine affected around 20% of flights but – despite the additional impact on all airport operations of two typhoons on October 9th and 13th – the situation was progressively brought under control through increased overtime, re-scheduling of some flights, re-deployment of other ramp-trained Hactl staff and subcontracting of some duties to other operators. Less than 5% of Hactl’s workforce were affected, and over 80% of flights were handled within normal time frames. Hactl’s terminal operations were not affected. There is no truth in some reports of two-three day delays.

There is immense congestion in cargo clearance at Airports, especially in Delhi Airport Cargo Terminals due to sudden mandate by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to follow the order of 2015 regarding rules of screening export cargo, said Pradeep Multani, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a press statement issued here today. The order regarding the change in the operational method of x-ray of cargo (Aviation Security Service (AVSEC) Order no. 11/2015) states that before delivery to air carrier, all cargo processed at the terminals shall be subject to 100% X-Ray screening at piece level. This decision of screening cargo on a piece level basis is a cumbersome task, which requires more manpower, security staff and x-ray machines, said Multani. The catastrophic effect causes high congestion at the airport due to slow cargo clearance at piece level, average time for a shipment has increased from 12 hours to 1-2 days, shippers have to pay higher demurrage, staff of the shippers has to work for a long shift to clear the order and even some export orders are getting affected, said Multani.