The development of Maharaja Agrasen airport in Hisar is being planned by the Prime Minister and the Government of Haryana. A meeting with private stakeholders was conducted to discuss logistics. “The Government of Haryana is concentrating on air cargo. This will benefit Haryana’s economy, particularly in the western districts. The meeting was attended by experienced representatives from cargo associations who pointed out shortcomings they had witnessed in the past at various airports. Involving them in the planning stage and incorporating their suggestions will help in the airport’s successful operation,” says Pradeep Kumar, Chief Advisor for Civil Aviation, Haryana.

In the first nine months of the year, at 95.8 million tonnes the Port of Hamburg achieved a 2.9 per cent increase in seaborne cargo throughput. Bulk cargo throughput advanced especially strongly, being 6.1 per cent ahead at 29.7 million tonnes. Totalling 66.1 million tonnes, in the first three-quarters general cargo throughput was a modest 1.6 per cent ahead. The upward trend was also maintained on container handling. A total of 6.5 million TEU – 20-ft standard containers – were hoisted across the quay walls of Hamburg’s container terminals, a 2.4 per cent gain. Despite this positive throughput trend, the Port of Hamburg was not yet able to fully overhaul last year’s downturn caused by Corona. Axel Mattern and Ingo Egloff, HHM – Port of Hamburg Marketing’s Joint CEOs, are, therefore, pleased that pre- and post-voyage rail-borne container transport set a new record at 2.1 million TEU. “That represents an 8.3 per cent advance,” stresses Egloff. “At 709,000 TEU, the Port of Hamburg posted the highest quarterly total in its history for containers transported,” added Mattern. The Port of Hamburg has further strengthened its position as Europe’s one of the largest rail ports. Seaborne cargo throughput in the first nine months of 2021 Throughput of containerised general cargo in the first three quarters of 2021 totalled 65.2 million tonnes, representing a gain of 1.5 per cent. At 908,000 tonnes, the conventional general cargo was up by an emphatic 5.2 per cent. In the container throughput sector, exports, 2.9 per cent up at 3.2 million TEU, outperformed imports, just 1.9 per cent higher at 3.3 million TEU. At 5.8 million TEU, the throughput of loaded containers, contributing more to the port’s …

Etihad Engineering has been awarded a heavy maintenance contract by Virgin Australia for its Boeing 737 fleet. The scope of the contract covers heavy maintenance and modifications on more than 30 nose-to-tail aircraft for the largest airline by fleet size under the Virgin brand. The contract was announced during the Dubai Airshow. Etihad Engineering is showcasing its comprehensive range of aircraft maintenance and engineering solutions at Stand 1110 at the show, taking place from November 14 to 18, 2021. Abdul Khaliq Saeed, Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Engineering, says, “We are pleased to welcome another valued customer from Australia to our facility in Abu Dhabi. With Australian borders reopening and international flights resuming, we are all geared up to support the Virgin Australia team ensuring its Boeing 737 fleet continue to take to the skies in top shape as they meet the projected increase in passenger demand.” Stuart Aggs, Chief Operations Officer, Virgin Australia, says, “As domestic and international flying ramps up from an Australian perspective, Virgin Australia is as focussed as ever on safety and on ensuring our aircraft operate at, and are maintained to, the highest possible standard.” Etihad Engineering has been consistently adding to its comprehensive capabilities on major commercial Boeing and Airbus platforms, including the A350 and the A320neo, and partnering with industry leaders regionally and globally to strengthen its global customer footprint beyond the Middle East across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Latin America. Etihad Engineering’s state-of-the-art facility is located in Abu Dhabi, adjacent to Abu Dhabi International Airport, over an area of 500,000 sq. m., with 140,000 sq. m., dedicated to aircraft parking and preservation. Aircraft hangars at the facility cover approximately 66,000 sq. m., …

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has poached two container shipping services from Centre-owned Chennai Port to its Kattupalli Port located nearby as competition for cargo intensifies in the Chennai cluster. “We are in the process of shifting two services out from Chennai and we expect growth to happen in Kattupalli,” Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer, APSEZ, told analysts during the second-quarter earnings call. “We expect more market share to be taken especially in Kattupalli Port from Chennai Port,” he added. The Far East service run by COSCO is understood to be one of the two services shifting to Kattupalli Port, industry sources said. One of the container terminals operating at Chennai Port is facing congestion, a source said, pointing to the reason for the shift. During the first half of FY22, cargo handled by Kattupalli Port declined 11.2 per cent to 3.33 million mt from 3.75 mt in H1FY21. Of this, containers accounted for 2.8 mt, while dry and liquid cargoes were 0.3 mt and 0.2 mt, respectively. Liquid cargo handled at Kattupalli Port posted a growth of over 200 per cent in H1FY22 from zero compared to last year on the back of the addition of LPG and LNG cargo to its portfolio. In the dry cargo basket, Kattupalli Port added dolomite to its business. In contrast, Chennai Port handled 23.091 mt of cargo in H1FY22 from 18.381 mt a year earlier, posting a growth of 25.62 per cent. The two container terminals operating at Chennai Port handled a combined 787,000 20-ft equivalent units (TEUs) between April and September from 561,000 TEUs in the corresponding period a year ago. Kamarajar Port Ltd, a subsidiary of Chennai …

Freightwalla has launched a free supply chain automation platform, an intelligent shipment tracking service for MSME businesses. An advanced predictive analytics system will help exporters/importers to combat risk associated with shipment delays and improve supply chain efficiency free of cost. The intelligent cargo navigation service backed by the latest ML algorithm will be available to all shippers, including local and global exporters and allied parties. Businesses can avail of the service at zero cost for tracking up to 20 containers per month. According to the Maritime Executive, on average, “Four out of every ten containers (39 per cent) missed their scheduled sailing. At the same time, some significant carriers and ports reported rollover rates of over 50 per cent.” Whereas according to Sea-Intelligence’s Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, “Global shipping line schedule reliability has dropped to 34.9% in January 2021, the lowest in history.”

At the Dubai Air Show, Boeing signed a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopian Airlines that will help the airline to bring cost savings to its maintenance operations with Boeing’s 787 landing gear exchange program. “As the fastest growing airline in Africa, much of our success depends on our ability to seek out new ways to drive operational efficiency in our processes,” said Tewolde GebreMariam, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines. “As the commercial airline market continues to recover, we believe these services offered by Boeing provide a reliable way to realize more stability and predictability in managing our overall maintenance operations and costs across our fleet.” With the landing gear exchange program, Boeing will guarantee availability of 29 landing gear shipsets wherever and whenever they are needed to support the Ethiopian 787 fleet, enabling more efficient and cost-effective maintenance operations. The Boeing 787 landing gear exchange program greatly simplifies the contracting, scheduling and management of the landing gear overhaul process. Through this program, air carriers can quickly exchange landing gears that need to be repaired or overhauled with a replacement set of certified landing gear from a dedicated resource pool maintained by Boeing. By managing all parts, engineering and technical aspects of the program, Ethiopian Airlines will have the flexible exchange solution they need to repair and replace landing gear while lowering inventory costs. Boeing will also provide access to loaner Landing Gear shipsets and parts during unexpected AOG situations.

Locus announced its strategic partnership with NextBillion.ai. This collaboration combines Locus’ expertise in automating complex supply chain decisions with NextBillion.ai’s industry-leading location tech offerings — map data management service, map APIs, SDKs and tools. The companies will accelerate global supply chain solutions and drive sustainable impact through their technological capabilities. “Together with Locus, we’re working to enable use cases for businesses with location at their core. Our goal is to offer hyper-localized solutions that address gaps in the mapping and geospatial data industry. We’re grateful to Locus for their partnership and support,” asserted Ajay Bulusu, co-founder of NextBillion.ai. “Our shared vision of providing full stack solutions and scalable enterprise tech solutions in logistics is a key driver of our partnership with NextBillion.ai. We are confident that with NextBillion’s data layer and Locus’ AI & ML application capabilities we will unlock new supply chain solutions and empower enterprises in this space”, said Nishith Rastogi, Founder and CEO of Locus.

Sanad, the global aerospace engineering and leasing solutions leader wholly-owned by Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (Mubadala), has secured a new US$ 100 million evergreen revolving credit facility with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions. The new financing deal, signed during this week’s Dubai Airshow 2021, extends Sanad and FAB’s 10-year relationship which has now seen the two UAE-based companies close over US$ 950 million worth of combined agreements. The various financings are extended in support of Sanad’s global spare engine leasing and component access portfolios. Troy Lambeth, Group Chief Executive Officer of Sanad, said: “Our longstanding banking relationship with FAB, the oldest and largest within Sanad, has played a key role in our growth as a reliable financial solutions provider within the industry. Working closely with each of our banking partners, we have been well positioned to provide attractive long-term financing solutions to our customers since our launch. We are delighted to see our relationship with FAB expand to this new facility as we now look to extend our product and service offerings further across the industrial services sector.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the commitments towards strengthening climate action made at COP26, and called on the global efforts to decarbonize aviation to be supported with practical, effective government policies. Management of international aviation’s climate commitments sits outside of the COP process and is the responsibility of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Nevertheless, airlines at the 77th IATA AGM in Boston, October, agreed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the stretch Paris agreement target to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. “Airlines are on the pathway to net-zero carbon emissions, in line with the Paris agreement. We all want the freedom to fly sustainably. Reaching net-zero emissions will be a huge task requiring the collective effort of industry and support from governments. The pledges made at COP26 show that many governments understand the key to rapid progress is to incentivize technological change and fund innovative solutions. This is particularly true of sustainable aviation fuels, which will play a major role in addressing aviation’s environmental impact—they need the right incentives from governments to ramp-up production,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

APM Terminals Pipavav (Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd) announced the financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The company reported a net profit of INR 453 million for Q2FY22 as against INR 520 million in Q2FY21. Revenue from operations for the quarter under consideration stood at INR 1,947 million as against INR 1,827 million in Q2FY21. EBIDTA for the quarter was at INR 1,090 million as against INR 1,029 million during the same quarter last year. EBIDTA margin stood at 56% in Q2FY22 as against 56% in Q2FY21. The container cargo business for the quarter stood at 157,048 TEUs, bulk business was at 1.39 MT and liquid business was 0.19 MT. 7,814 cars were handled under RoRo category for the quarter under review. During the quarter, APM Terminals Pipavav became the first Port to be connected to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) with the completion of high-rise overhead electrification of the port rail yard. By switching to electrical loco, the Port will also be able to offer environment-friendly, long-haul, high-volume freight rail transport that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Port also loaded 100th LPG rake in less than a year of installation. The port is one of the few ports in India which can accommodate a full train.