Category Archives: International

Qatar Airways Cargo has announced to launch three times weekly Boeing 777-300 passenger freighters to Harstad-Narvik Airport (EVE) located in the Evenes Municipality of Northern Norway, starting December 14. The airport serves the towns of Harstad and Narvik in Nordland County. The freighter will depart on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, providing over 150 tonnes of cargo capacity for exporters from Northern Norway each week. Seafood and salmon will account for the majority of exports on these flights. There will also be 50 tonnes available every week for imports from the airline’s network into Harstad-Narvik Airport. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo, Qatar Airways, said, “In cooperation with NordicGSA, we are pleased to introduce cargo capacity and support Northern Norway’s seafood and salmon exporters who will benefit from direct connection to African, Asian and Middle East markets via Doha. Our state-of-the-art Climate Control Centre has dedicated storage areas for perishables transiting the hub while the use of reefer trucks ensures a seamless cool chain for all perishable shipments.” Stig Winther, CEO, Perishable Center Nord AS, said, “Perishable Center Nord AS is very pleased to cooperate with Qatar Airways Cargo. Operating more direct routes to and from the market will mean a lot for fresh seafood businesses from the North and quality, freshness and competitiveness will definitely improve. We are looking forward to start up, develop and together with Qatar Airways Cargo make seafood from Northern Norway more available globally.” Martin Langaas, Director Traffic Development and Cargo at Avinor, said, “Our partnership with Qatar Airways Cargo has been a true success story for Avinor and the Norwegian seafood industry. With the opening of a second gateway for seafood exports, the connectivity for Norway …

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has announced the launch of SamrtAir! for the real-time tracking of air cargo shipment. Together with the Bonn-based start-up BlueBox Systems, Hellmann developed a web-based platform, which aims to provide customers with information about their air freight shipments, regardless of airline, route or type of shipment. Based on GPS coordinates, SmartAir! will be providing information on all stopovers and loading times for live tracking of shipments. The system offers numerous analysis options for the performance of individual airlines, routes and airports, aiming towards the optimisation of supply chain management. The company also offers tracking for sea freight and the generally applicable smart visibility tracker. These can record, in addition to tracking data, information on humidity, temperature, incidence of light, vibration and door opening, thus enabling detailed transport control of shipments. “SmartAir! is a real game-changer in the tracking of airfreight shipments, which has not been available in the market in this way before. In times of digitalisation and ever smaller time windows for decisions, quickly available real-time data within global supply chains are becoming increasingly important. This will also be of particular relevance in the upcoming distribution of COVID-19 vaccines,” says Henning Pottharst, Product Manager – Smart Visibility, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics.

In line with the company’s vision, OM Logistics has expanded its warehousing facility with the inauguration of a novel project at Chakan, Pune. The upcoming and actively unfolding industrial hub of Chakan will serve as an ideal location through which the company hopes to serve all industries with logistics solutions. With an investment totaling Rs 125 crore, the new warehousing facility sprawls across 23 acres and is situated near the main highway with proposed warehousing capacity of 3,50,000 square feet. During Phase 1 of construction, 1,50,000 square feet of the warehousing park has already been built, while Phase 2, aiming for another 2,00,000 square feet, is proposed to be completed soon. Raghav Singhal, Director, Om Logistics, said, “We are happy and excited to launch the new, state-of-the-art warehouse facility at Chakan, Pune. With the new facility and investment, we will have an enhanced capability to fulfill logistics and warehousing solution for any business. Our strategy always aims to provide the best-in-class services that reach every corner.” “We are already equipped with advanced warehouse technology system & latest software that spans across 20 million square feet pan India. With the growing facilities, we are currently servicing over 19,000 Pin Codes and more than 1500 locations throughout the country. As the need for logistics and supply chain management grows, we want to enable companies to grow to their full potential, for which, we are looking forward to expanding our base to many more locations in the near future,” he added. Akash Bansal, Marketing Head, OM Logistics, said, “For more than two decades we have been aiming for and have constantly been offering world-class service to our clients with the best facilities and …

GEODIS has structured its internal network of women and its mission is to give GEODIS employees opportunities to express themselves, to propose, initiate or relay actions that positively contribute to gender parity and to the assumption of responsibilities of women. The network also intends to act on the reputation of the logistics and transport industry, a traditionally male sector, in order to change its image and attract more women. The company has held its annual summit of the ‘GEODIS Women Network’ (GWN). “We want to continue the action taken and give women the means to access key positions. Our goal is to increase the number of women in managerial positions”, indicates, Mario Ceccon, Human Resources Director of the GEODIS group. “13% in 2017, they are now 18% women in management positions. We have set ourselves the objective of reaching 25% by 2023.” The GWN works for inclusion, reduction of professional disparities between men and women, improved work-life balance and equal career prospects. “With a President at its head, GEODIS is already sending a strong signal showing the access by women to positions of responsibility” indicates Mario Ceccon. Over the next 3 years, the GWN will focus its actions on the following various objectives: • Study and harmonization of possible pay gaps, • The establishment of a leadership program aimed at empowering women, • The development of the recruitment and representation of women in the transport and logistics industry. Attract more women to the Logistics & Transport sector The other objective of the network is to deconstruct the image of the sector by acting in favour of actions aimed at encouraging women to join the logistics and transport professions. “We encourage …

Freight forwarder cargo-partner has commenced the rollout of the CargoWise platform, owned by WiseTech Global, across the global network in 40 countries. CargoWise will enable cargo-partner’s logistics providers to carry out transactions for freight forwarding, customs clearance, warehousing, shipping, tracking, land transport, e-commerce and cross-border compliance, using a single platform. The software is being rolled out in stages across Asia, Oceania, Europe and the US and is expected to be completed by March 2023. Stefan Krauter, CEO, cargo-partner, sees great potential in the new software solution. He says, “CargoWise will be a revolutionary step in our next stage of growth. The ability to manage our global freight forwarding operations from a single platform that provides real-time visibility across our supply chain will enable cargo-partner to increase operational efficiency and focus on driving customer experience. We also expect to significantly improve cost efficiencies and productivity across our teams. The implementation of CargoWise is perfectly in line with our high-tech approach and commitment to providing end-to-end solutions that help us stay ahead of our competitors. Complementing our own visibility and collaboration platform SPOT, CargoWise was the clear leader in being able to provide us with the extensive functionality, configurability and flexibility that will support and drive our future growth initiatives.” He adds, “We see our future role in the digitalization of the global supply chain not in developing own standard software, but in developing individual client solutions, deep integration and ultimately in building clusters of artificial intelligence together with our customers. Of course many of these clusters will be connected and communicating with each other.” Richard White, Founder and CEO, WiseTech Global, says, “This is a fantastic result for cargo-partner and WiseTech …

ECS Group has announced the launch of a unique entity, GSA Mail Solutions, for airlines and postal operators. The structure is entirely dedicated to outsourcing airlines mail and e-commerce activities, as well as offering multiple transport solutions to postal operators by bridging the gap using the world largest GSA Network and proven technical expertise. With GSA Mail Solutions, ECS Group reacts efficiently to the rise in postal flows, particularly linked to the growth of E-commerce boosted by BtoC & CtoC online platforms. ‘Helping airlines to tap into this postal traffic on their destinations and accompanying them on new routes, offers them new sources of revenue. Our expertise in managing these flows along with the digital solutions we offer (customised EDI solutions in particular) also makes it possible to maximise capacities and guarantee parcel traceability’, says Adrien Thominet, CEO, ECS Group. This high-potential market should experience very considerable growth in the coming months and years, with an increased need for air freight solutions for postal operators. ‘We speak the airlines’ and postal operators’ language, so we are the perfect intermediary. With GSA Mail Solutions, postal operators have access to our entire network of airlines without having to go through endless steps. We therefore offer them an unprecedented increase in efficiency, because via a single point of contact – GSA Mail Solutions – they have access to a multitude of air freight solutions to route their postal flows wherever they need them’, says Adrien Thominet. Regulation, technicalities, and business intelligence are key success factors within this sector. Managing postal and E-commerce flows requires cutting edge expertise. GSA Mail Solutions will pair with ECS Group network (140 airlines represented, 155 offices in 50 …

DRONAMICS, the middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator, has unveiled the first five airports in its European network of cargo droneports. The DRONAMICS European Droneport Network is the world’s first cargo droneport network and includes private airports and airport groups operating more than 35 airports in 11 European countries, connecting 300 million people with a low-cost same-day cargo service. The company will operate same-day flights within the network using its proprietary Black Swan large cargo drones, each with a capacity of 350 kilo and range of up to 2,500 km, reducing time, cost and emissions by up to 80 per cent compared to traditional air cargo. The first five airports unveiled are in Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Italy, and Sweden. They include regional leaders in air cargo such as Liège Airport (Belgium), which serves as Alibaba’s European Hub, and Brescia Airport (Italy), the national hub for the Italian postal system, as well as a select number of airports at strategic locations throughout the continent that are on a path to becoming regional air cargo logistics hubs through ambitious investment programs, like Skövde (Sweden), Seinäjoki (Finland) and Osijek (Croatia). “The power of logistics to unlock economic value and opportunity is second to none. This is why especially in a post-2020 world, it is increasingly important to ensure same-day shipping is available not just in big cities, but in every community, no matter how small or remote. Now, more than ever before, it’s vital for countries to ensure uninterrupted trade and supply lines with their neighbours no matter what, and our international droneport network will allow just that. We are starting with Europe not just because our 2,500 km range allows us to …

IBS Software has partnered with CargoAi, to extend their presence in new and existing markets by leveraging on digital sales and distribution services. IBS Software is offering its iCargo customers the opportunity to increase their reach to the market and thereby scale their cargo revenues through a new partnership with CargoAi. IBS Software has been working with CargoAi since July 2020 to build a rich integration between iCargo and CargoAi using a scalable, API-based architecture. “Through this partnership, CargoAi and IBS Software have invested in creating platform-level integration to give our customers more choices on channels to digitally connect with their clients, faster time-to-market for such capabilities, and to do so with very little effort,” said Ashok Rajan, SVP & Head of Cargo & Logistics, IBS Software. “We believe that innovation can be fast-tracked by partnering with companies like CargoAi bringing in new and improved ways of doing business like in sales and distribution, which is still very antiquated and legacy-based in the air cargo industry,” he adds. Keen to offer a ‘digital ecosystem’ to its customers, IBS Software is making its motto of ‘Partnering for Innovation” a reality. With this API-based integration between platforms, airlines only have to turn on the switch for e-bookings from all over the world to reach their system. The process could not be easier for airlines – only a few days of tests are required between the platforms to get on board with CargoAi and no expensive bespoke IT development or complex system integration projects is required to deliver this capability. All the work has been done ahead of time by the two partners. “The integration currently covers real-time e-booking and e-quoting, flight availability …

TIFFA EDI Services and Kale Logistics Solutions have joined hands to promote paperless trade in the maritime sector of Thailand through their integrated and comprehensive Port Community System (PCS). The integrated platform empowers the SME players in the value chain to automate their internal business processes in an end-to-end manner. Kerry Siam Seaport, SITC Container Lines and Kline Logistics, have signed up this platform for e-DO services and many more are in the process of signing up. Talking about the development, Vineet Malhotra, Director, Kale Logistics Solutions, says, “Our relationship with Thailand and TIFFA is more than 7 years. We have empowered the air cargo sector with digitisation of air waybills and now we look at digitising the maritime sector. Our domain expertise and experience of working in 27 countries and executing global IT projects in maritime and air cargo space will add value to our PCS platform in Thailand. He further adds, “We are hopeful that this digital platform will play a key role in improving Thailand’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking with World Bank and Trade Facilitation Agreement initiatives with World Trade Organization (WTO)”. Expressing their delight over the development, Suwit Ratanachinda, Chairman, TIFFA EDI Services says, “We are offering this solution to ease all stakeholders with this challenging situation of risk from the COVID-19. The old-style Delivery Orders (DO) process which takes time and paper-intensive operations are prone to errors and increased the spread of virus through document exchange. The initiative of e-DO service is to facilitate ease of doing business to freight forwarders, shipping lines, transporters, terminal operators and Port authorities. This solution offers an open integrated platform connecting all cargo stakeholders on single platform for …

AirBridgeCargo Airlines has accomplished its first COVID-19 vaccine transportation from Beijing (China). The delivery of COVID-19 vaccine has been orchestrated in partnership with UPS/Marken onboard one of the carrier’s Boeing 747 freighter. A total of 6,000 doses of vaccines, weighing almost 400 kg, were safely packed into CRĒDO™ XTREME passive temperature-controlled shipping container, stacked and loaded into standard AKE container and delivered under 2-8C temperature regime. As expected, the vaccines will be part of the clinical trials the manufacturer conducts in various countries across the globe. Casper Pan, Head of healthcare APAC (ABC) and a dedicated Vaccine Task Force within Volga-Dnepr Group, highlights: “After months of preparations, we are actually stepping into the COVID-19 vaccine transportation phase to deliver these sophisticated pharmaceutical products the whole world relies on as a source which will help all of us to get back to normal. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of our APAC and Global Healthcare Team the first transportation went smoothly and we are ready to leverage the stable flows”. Yulia Celetaria, Healthcare Director, Volga-Dnepr Group comments, “We would like to thank our customer, UPS, who has been masterminding the transportation with us, going step by step to guarantee that the vaccine efficacy is 100% maintained. We hope for further cooperation through our joint shipments, workshops and follow-up online meetings”. Together with other carriers within Volga-Dnepr Group ABC, which has successfully reconfirmed its CEIV IATA certification last year, has been strengthening its capabilities in the healthcare sector and vaccine transportations, including through regular shipments of other vaccines, as well as vaccine-related shipments (equipment, vials, injections, etc) which are essential for vaccine production. The company has also aligned regular communications with all …