Keku Bomi Gazder, CEO of AAI Cargo Logistics & Allied Services Co. Ltd., has almost three decades of experience in the Middle East and India in the aviation sector, holding key roles in firms such as Air France-KLM Cargo, Martinair Cargo, and Saudi Arabian Airlines, among others. He has been with AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited since June 2017, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Airports Authority of India, which is part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. He oversees cargo and logistics operations at over 90 AAI airports, identifying business opportunities across the company’s many verticals for future growth and developing business strategies to stay ahead of the competition in the cargo market. AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited has begun managing the In-line Hold Baggage Screening System at AAI-managed airports. He works closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation on a variety of initiatives. Gazder is a part of the following initiatives and committees: the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Krishi Udaan initiative; the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Defence Convergence Committee; the Governing Council of the Logistics Skill Council (LSC), established under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Investment Clearance Cell; the Air Cargo Forum of India (ACFI); and the Confederation of Indian Industries’ National Committee on Civil Aviation.

Shailender Anand, Managing Director (India) & Director (Dubai) of Pronk Multiservice India Pvt. Ltd., began his career in sales after graduating with honours from Punjab University, Chandigarh. Anand’s career in the forwarding sector began with Airfreight Ltd, and he then relocated to Dubai to work in the same industry. After 10 amazing years in Dubai, visiting about 60 countries and learning about the global industry, he chose to return to India to pursue better future opportunities. After nearly two decades in the forwarding industry, Anand joined Logistics & Supply Chain in 2011 to work in value-added services, specifically industrial packaging. In 2011, he joined Pronk as a partner and launched Pronk in India. Anand’s adventure at Pronk has spanned over 11 years, and it continues in the industrial packaging and solutions market. Pronk India was approached by Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bengaluru, to develop a solution and boxes to pack 30,000 ventilators for COVID-19 patients in 2020. When India was trying to deal with the pandemic, the Pronk India team, led by Shailender Anand, was working full-time at all of Pronk’s plants across the country, with special clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs to operate from all of their locations in India.

Softlink Global was founded by Amit Maheshwari, who also serves as its CEO. Having begun his career as a freight forwarder and customs broker, the logistics technology guru, Maheshwari, founded Softlink Global with the objective of providing a single platform software to integrate and automate the entire logistics operation of the company. An engineer by education, he is a technology evangelist well-known in the logistics business for his thought leadership and game-changing ideas. His attention to detail, technical and creative skills and commercial awareness enabled Softlink to achieve success with each software product created. Maheshwari’s knowledge and experience include strategic planning, information management, financial resource management, product development, and marketing. He is in charge of Softlink’s worldwide operations, which comprise all regional business operations as well as corporate activities including marketing, product development, quality, and technology.

Viraj Vohra is the Director of Continental Group, a global supply chain management company. He has consistently maintained an innovative approach to the company’s growth, being persistent, devoted, and meticulous, as well as a dedicated and enthusiastic leader. He has directed the group’s expansion into numerous areas by taking an innovative approach to business and people. Vohra, an international business leader, has been instrumental in forging significant alliances with partners from over 60 countries and increasing the group’s global reach. He has extensive experience collaborating with global leaders of supply chain organisations from around the world. Vohra completed the Port of Antwerp’s Certified PA3 Experiential Training Programme for Breakbulk Handling and Port Operations, which assisted the group’s diversification initiatives.

The India Cargo Awards will commence tonight. The event will be commemorated by celebrating true leaders and recognising their hard work, passion, and dedication to the cargo industry. The event will be attended by Amrit Lal Meena, Special Secretary (Logistics), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Department of Commerce, Government of India, as the Chief Guest, and Piyush Shrivastava, IES, Sr. Economic Advisor for the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, as the Guest of Honour.

Ecom Express Limited announced that it has been certified as a Great Place to Work from March 2022 to March 2023. The company has been recognised for its efforts in building a high-trust, high-performance culture. The certification is a validation of all the varied efforts of Ecom Express that are channeled in the right direction to create an exceptional working environment and promote a culture that supports employee well-being, safety, and learning. Over the last nine years, Ecom Express has built its diverse and inclusive, talent-focused culture with care and trust for its employees. They are valued and nurtured, making them highly productive and result-oriented. As an organisation with 60,000+ employees (on roll and off roll), Ecom Express truly believes in the voice of its people getting heard, acknowledged, and actioned upon to enhance employee experiences and empower them to achieve their business goals.

Qatar Airways Cargo and WiseTech Global launched a direct e-booking solution between their global operating systems. The e-booking connection between WiseTech’s flagship CargoWise platform and Qatar Airways Cargo management system, CROAMIS, enables freight forwarders using CargoWise to choose their flights and confirm a booking with Qatar Airways Cargo in real-time, without having to leave the platform. Similarly, existing bookings made via the solution can be modified. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer of Cargo at Qatar Airways Cargo commented, “Our continued collaboration with WiseTech Global is focused on providing our mutual customers with an enhanced experience, and supporting them with improved visibility, efficiency, and value. With our operational data exchange with CargoWise seeing positive results, this was a natural next step in the partnership. Our digitalisation strategy remains centred on moving to robust systems, automatic quotations, real-time integrations, and improved reporting. These have become critical in an industry that is moving rapidly towards digital solutions.”

After a gap of two years, the air cargo fraternity got a chance to gather and meet and greet at an event organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Delhi yesterday, focusing on the government’s visionary Gati Shakti Master Plan and the importance of air cargo sustainability for future growth. The event began with a welcome remark by Vipin Vohra, Chair, PHD Civil Aviation Committee, followed by highly visionary and impactful speeches by Sudhendu J Sinha, Adviser Infrastructure, Connectivity, Transport, and Electric Mobility, Niti Aayog; Pradeep Multani, President PHDCCI; and a special address by Guest of Honours Amrit Lal Meena, IAS, Special Secretary, Logistics Division, DPIIT; and Piyush Srivastava, Sr. Economic Advisor, MoCA. The event was a success as it saw great participation from industry leaders – freight forwarders, customs brokers, airlines, and airports from across the country – discussing extensively future growth, emerging trends, sustainability initiatives, growth strategies, innovation, and digitalisation. The event ended on a good note with an hour-long networking session and lunch. 

Logistics startup Bigblue, has announced a $15 million Series A round, Tech Funding. Founded in 2018, the Paris-based company’s services include giving retailers full control over packaging, branding and customer communications, as per the reports. With the new funding, it plans to hire more people for its sales; marketing and operations staff, along with tripling its engineering staff. According to the reports, co-founder, Tim Dumain said the company has “a lot of new customers in France, but now we’re expanding in Europe.” “We opened our services to Spain a few weeks ago and will soon open the U.K. in a couple of months for customers shipping products there,” he continued. “We plan to expand in five big countries in the European e-commerce market, including Germany and Italy.” Dumain added that Bigblue’s main goal is to “make it easy for brands to grow online.” “With this new round, we will support scaling service offerings for Bigblue’s growing base of online merchants, fuel hiring efforts, and continue to position the company as the leader in the D2C direct-to-consumer fulfilment space,” he added. The round was led by Runa Capital and LPV was the second lead investor.

Ascent Concorde Air Cargo Services, a division of Group Concorde in the UAE, has signed a Strategic Co-ordination Agreement with Ras Al Khaimah International Airport to expand the vision for cargo development within the region. Ascent Concorde Air Cargo Services will act as the Strategic Partner and Commercial Arm of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport to promote cargo throughput to, from, and through RAK International Airport. Generating value proposition for airlines, shippers, and freight forwarders by making RAK Intl Airport the preferred logistics hub in the UAE. With this cooperation, Ascent Concorde Air Cargo Services will: Manage export sales and administrative activities for walk-in customers at RAK Intl Airport Cargo Terminal. Offer GSA and CSA services to operating airlines at RAK Airport. Sales and marketing activities for partner airlines. Promote outbound and inbound business from the UAE for operating carriers using RAK Airport as a gateway. End-to-end logistic solutions for shippers and consignees in the UAE Speaking on the partnership, Prithviraj Singh Chug, Director – Group Concorde, said, “We are pleased to form this partnership with Ras Al Khaimah International Airport. We will increase the potential of having outbound traffic from RAK Intl Airport, making it more viable for airline operators and customers to use RAK Intl Airport as an option and preferred gateway in the country and region. We aim to invest our resources for this operation to be a success, as we look forward to promoting this across our network. The new collaboration will bring added benefits to customers and industry partners in the UAE.”