Category Archives: Aviation

According to The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) September data for global air freight markets, the speed of recovery in air cargo has increased slightly, however, remains depressed compared to 2019 levels. Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for international air cargo fall 14.6% in September 2020 compared to the same month a year earlier. This was an improvement from the 16.4% fall in August 2020. Demand on routes between Asia–North America and Asia–Africa were strongest. International capacity remained constrained in the region, down 32%, despite airlines adding more capacity on many routes. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was 8% below previous-year levels in September (-9.9% for international operations). That is an improvement from the 12.1% year-on-year drop recorded in August. Month-on-month demand grew by 3.7% in September. Global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), shrank by 25.2% in September (28% for international operations) compared to the previous year. That is nearly three times larger than the contraction in demand, indicating a severe lack of capacity in the market. Strong regional variations are emerging with North American and African carriers reporting year-on-year gains in demand (+1.5% and +9.7% respectively), while all other regions remained in negative territory compared to a year earlier. Improving performance is aligned with improvements in key economic indicators; • The new export orders component of the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose above the 50-mark, indicating growth, for the first time since mid-2018; • The World Trade Organization revised their 2020 trade growth forecast from -12.9% to -9.2%; “Air cargo volumes are down on 2019, but they are a world apart from the extreme difficulties in the passenger business. For air cargo, 92% of the business …

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has achieved Envirotainer’s Qualified Envirotainer Provider Training and Quality Program (QEP) accreditation. QEP recognises carrier’s proficiency and capability in managing Envirotainer’s temperature-controlled container shipments in accordance with industry standards. SIA is the first airline to be accredited in South East Asia, and selected stations in the Airline’s network received their accreditation in the third quarter of this year. Envirotainer’s QEP accreditation provides additional reassurance to customers of SIA’s reliable and safe handling of pharmaceutical products. It also helps to position SIA to better serve the pharmaceutical sector, especially in the current Covid-19 climate. As of today, Europe and Asia-Pacific stations of SIA have received QEP accreditation: • Europe: Zurich (ZRH), Basel (BSL), Amsterdam (AMS), Brussels (BRU) • Asia-Pacific: Singapore (SIN), Melbourne (MEL), Sydney (SYD), Auckland (AKL), Osaka (KIX), Bangalore (BLR), Bombay (BOM) “The QEP program and its participants serve to ensure the quality of life of the patient”, said Chris Fore, Senior Cold Chain Advisor at Envirotainer, in adding, “QEP is both a benchmark and a means by which we engage our partners to provide consistent service and fulfill Good Distribution Practice requirements from pharmaceutical companies.” Chin Yau Seng, Senior Vice President – Cargo, SIA, says, “SIA is committed to continuous improvement of our capabilities in transporting pharmaceutical products. Getting Envirotainer’s QEP accreditation is an important validation of our capabilities, especially given the importance of getting pharmaceuticals, and eventually Covid-19 vaccines, safely and swiftly to customers during this pandemic. We will continue to ensure the quality and reliability of handling pharmaceutical cargo shipments across our network, while also looking for new ways to further enhance our THRUCOOL service.” Launched in September 2018, SIA’s THRUCOOL cold chain service …

Nippon Express has launched its ‘NEX-SPEED Super-Fast! Atlanta’ high-speed consolidated service for air cargo being shipped out of Haneda Airport in Japan to the southeastern US via Atlanta Airport. It is a direct service that transports airfreight on direct flights from Japan to the US — and cargo destined for delivery within 300km of Atlanta is delivered on the same day.‘NEX-SPEED Super-Fast! Atlanta’ achieves the fastest shipping time available by loading cargo conveyed to Haneda Airport in the morning onto a direct flight bound for Atlanta that same day; once the cargo arrives at Atlanta Airport, the Atlanta Branch of Nippon Express USA, Inc., promptly takes receipt of the cargo from the airline’s terminal. Nippon Express is the only forwarder with a work facility handling both domestic and international cargo inside Haneda Airport, allowing it to sort cargo arriving on domestic flights within the airport and then load the cargo aboard international flights. The company has its own facility（CFS） in close proximity to Atlanta Airport, and this, combined with the (optional) emergency delivery service offered by the Atlanta Branch, enables same-day delivery. With operations at both the departure and arrival points being handled in-house, lead time is about a day and a half less than that of Nippon Express’s conventional services. Cargo arriving at Atlanta Airport can be delivered that same day within a radius of approximately 300km from Atlanta, an area that covers most of Georgia and Alabama as well as portions of other neighboring states. Nippon Express will be continuing to develop services that meet emergency transport needs and endeavoring to optimize customers’ supply chains.

In a bid to include its new Pegasus passive container, AirBridgeCargo (ABC) Airlines has expanded its Master Lease Agreement with Sonoco ThermoSafe. The new ULD offers tracking and data capturing, recording everything from temperature to tilt, and can carry pharma shipments up to 998 kg. It maintains the temperature range from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. The airline said that because of a two-fold surge in healthcare shipments, which tipped over 40,000 tonnes, for the first eight months of 2020 and the industry prep for COVID-19 vaccines transportation, it has been strengthening its relations with container lease providers, expanding the number of passive and active container options for its customers across the globe. Yulia Celetaria, Global Pharma Director, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, says, “Sonoco ThermoSafe has been able to quickly adjust to the market demands and engineer the new Pegasus ULD, which will be highly appreciated by the Life Science and Healthcare community, especially for large volumes of pharmaceutical shipments.”

IAG Cargo has reported commercial revenues of €302 million  over the period from July 1 to September 30, 2020, an increase of  14.1  per cent on the same period in 2019 at constant currency. The carrier has announced its Q3 2020 results. Overall yields for the quarter  were up 113.4 per cent on the same time last year at constant currency, reflecting the extra costs of a flying programme that continues to retain a substantial cargo-only schedule. Lynne Embleton, CEO at IAG Cargo, commented, “The stark impact of COVID-19 on aviation continued throughout Q3. The overall market was weaker than pre-pandemic levels, but the continued squeeze on available air cargo capacity across the global market was the key dynamic in the quarter as carriers continued to ground aircraft. “The IAG Cargo team have been absolutely focused on creating solutions for customers so they can continue to move goods around the world. Q3 saw a significant ramp up in our network, with routes and frequencies added across the Atlantic, to Africa, Asia and the Middle East. By the end of Q3, we were operating more than 3,000 cargo flights per week and we will further develop our network into Q4. “This scheduled capacity continues to be supplemented by bespoke charter operations. Whilst the demand for dedicated charters peaked in Q2 – coinciding with the urgent movement of PPE – customers have continued to make use of our charter offering over the last three months.

Blue Dart Express Limited has posted ₹414 million profit after tax (previous year ₹140 Million) for the quarter ended September 30, 2020. The company declared its financial results for the quarter July – September 2020; revenue from operations for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 stood at ₹8,644 million. Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart said, “Macroeconomic indicators and the opening up of the economy, signals a greener future for the nation. We see our customers’ businesses coming back on track with an exciting festive season around the corner for which we are fully prepared. We are cautiously optimistic for what the future holds for the economy as a second wave of pandemic is expected to hit the country in the winter season. We have also consolidated our position over this quarter for our key products. As pharmaceutical organisations and the Government of India work in tandem to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine, Blue Dart is gearing up to provide logistics support when a prospective vaccine candidate does arrive. Our network continues to be the reason we remain the government’s as well as every citizen’s trusted express logistics provider.” “The company has navigated through the crisis well; performance during the quarter has been supported by better revenue realization and cost efficiencies initiatives,” he adds.

The Bolloré Logistics team in India handled and transported oil well equipment including the wellhead and the x-mass tree running tools on behalf of the oil & gas exploration and production company Hindustan Oil Exploration (HOEC). The project involved ensuring the door-to-door delivery from HOEC’s yard in Mumbai Via port of Nhava Sheva to the port of Singapore. The development of the solution included a shipment survey, proposing and implementation of a waterproof packaging solution, safe transport to the container stuffing station, re-export customs formalities, sea freight and final delivery to contractor’s yard in Singapore. The team was confronted with challenges on coordination and safe execution of operations amid the Covid-19 pandemic and also overcome the weather conditions with Cyclone “Nisarga” and heavy rains associated with the monsoon period for successful execution of the shipment. HOEC thus expressed satisfaction for the realization of this end-to-end project while underlining our professionalism in terms of QHSE.

In an executive summary of mid-year outlook for Indian aviation in FY2021 released by CAPA India, “Cargo volumes are expected to reach pre-COVID levels much earlier than passenger traffic. In September 2020, international cargo was down just 13.6 per cent year-on-year (compared with -87.8 per cent for passengers), while domestic volumes were down 20.0 per cent (compared with -65.1 per cent for passenger traffic). Recent economic indicators also suggest that exports are showing a significant recovery. As passenger services resume and belly capacity increases, it is expected that the demand for cargo charters will soften, as has been observed in recent weeks. Airline networks will remain extremely dynamic during COVID with carriers likely to operate to an evolving set of destinations, including those which it may not have served prior to the pandemic. There may be some permanent shifts in networks even once the market stabilises. CAPA India has regularly urged the Indian aviation industry to push for structural change. Policy and regulations must be based on global best practices, costs must be rationalised, and corporate governance must be transformed to ensure that operators demonstrate the highest level of accountability to shareholders, banks and their staff.

In reaction to the growing demand from various customers, the logistics provider has now extended its scheduled weekly charter services until the end of the year. The airfreight peak season is in full swing and industrial production is picking up again, especially in the automotive, high tech and retail industries. To help maintain customers’ supply chains, cargo-partner has been offering multiple weekly air charters from China and Hong Kong to Europe since March 2020. Stefan Krauter, CEO, cargo-partner, anticipates that the demand for charter services will remain high. He says, “Since the beginning of the year, we have received numerous requests for full- and part-charter transports of urgently needed goods, the majority of which came from the pharmaceutical, healthcare and PPE sectors. In recent months, we have also noticed a growing demand from the high tech and automotive industries. In view of the expected peaks in the coming months, we advise our customers to start planning early to secure their supply chains.”

Aramex has officially gone live with their rollout of WiseTech Global’s integrated logistics execution platform, CargoWise, across its global network. The CargoWise rollout represents an integral milestone in Aramex’s digital transformation journey that strategically leverages innovative solutions to satisfy evolving customer needs and allows the company to swiftly adapt to changing market conditions. The scope of the implementation will cover the freight forwarding product across Aramex’s global network. Aramex’s unique approach sees CargoWise implemented simultaneously across its worldwide network of 1,200 freight forwarding specialists, spanning Asia, Europe and the Middle East. CargoWise will support Aramex’s freight forwarding and customs operations and enhance the overall user experience for their employees and customers. “Through a single platform, CargoWise provides configurability, automation and real-time visibility across our global freight operations. The results will be a high ramp up of business benefits that will be felt across all the freight community of Aramex,” noted Mohammed Sleeq, Chief Digital Officer, Aramex. “The CargoWise rollout marks an exciting period of digital transformation for Aramex, and it supports their commitment to technological innovation enabling more efficient movement of goods globally,” observed Richard White, Founder & CEO, WiseTech Global.