DP World welcomed the newly launched weekly Malabar Service, at its state-of-the-art International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT). The new service will be operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and will have 4 vessels of 2400 TEU capacity. “Malabar” service’s maiden vessel, M.V. MSC Krittika, reached DP World’s terminal in Cochin on 6th April 2023. The new service will provide direct and seamless connectivity between Cochin, Mundra, Karachi, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait (with Shuwaikh Port), Qatar (with Hamad Port) and Sri Lanka (Colombo). This will create a faster, stable, and reliable service for the traders across the India-Middle East corridor and leverage the strong partnerships between the two regions for boosting economic growth. Commenting on this new service, Praveen Joseph, CEO DP World Cochin said, “We are committed to expanding trade routes through more direct services and are focused on continuously improving our operations to serve our customers better. The newly launched Malabar service by our valued customer MSC, will play an integral role in strengthening the bilateral trade between India and the Middle East countries. In addition, this service will enable Indian exporters have a deeper and wider access to the markets in the Middle East region.” The Malabar Service will be the 3rd weekly service sailing for the Middle East region from DP World Cochin. The port terminal is capable of handling post panamax ships and in February 2023, the 605-metre-long terminal reached a monumental milestone of successfully handling 6 million TEUs since its inception in 2011.

Gateway Distriparks is currently in the Inland Container Depot (ICDs) and Container Freight Stations (CFSs) business and we have CTO license where we run our own freight trains pan India. Currently we have five CFSs and five ICDs. We have another ICD under construction in Jaipur,” says Samvid Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Gateway Distriparks Ltd. “With this we will have a network of eleven container locations across India. After this we have plans to come up with two more ICDs in the next two years and in the private space, then we will be the largest player in this segment.” Talking about the investment, he adds, “We have overall done 1500 crore investment since the inception of the company. This includes the investment in Snowman Logistics and buy out of a private equity Blackstone in Gateway Rail Freight Ltd. The company has now merged into Gateway Distriparks Ltd. Going forward, we have plans to invest 500 crore CAPEX which we had announced last year. Out of that 200 crore have been invested. The rest of 300 crore will come in the form of two new ICDs, up-gradation of existing facilities and there will be an increase in the fleet as well as rakes.” Talking about the expansion plans, Gupta shares, “We want to increase our rail network. Right now we are doing 95% of our business on EXIM and 5% on domestic. Going forward, we want to expand on the domestic sector. This will happen in next 2-3 years. We are looking forward to expand in UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for our next projects.”

The rise in demand for cargo movement across the country mainly fuelled by the growth of e-commerce and expansion of electronics manufacturing, has led to Boeing taking the decision to increase the fleet size of cargo aircraft in the country from the current 15 to 80 by 2041, said reports. “India experienced a surge in cargo demand during the pandemic, and we expect this to continue. Firstly, the growth in e-commerce is fuelling demand for narrow body conversions. Additionally, the expansion of Indian electronics manufacturing, particularly in higher-value manufacturing, is a significant driver of cargo demand,” said reports online. According to Airports Authority of India data, operational airports handled 3.14 million tonne of freight in 2021-22, which is 94% of freight handled in 2017-18. Carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India Express are looking at increasing their freighter fleet size. SpiceJet, in fact has hived off its cargo and logistics business SpiceXpress into a separate entity — SpiceXpress and Logistics — beginning this month. Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast 2022 has forecast doubling of cargo traffic and a 60% increase in the world’s freighter fleet by 2041.

Gati Ltd., an Allcargo Group company has launched a state-of-the-art and tech-enabled surface transhipment centre and distribution warehouse (STCDW) at Bhiwandi on the outskirts of Mumbai. Spread over an area of over 1.48 lakh sq. ft. the mega STCDW is a Grade A warehouse observing the highest level of construction quality, advanced technologies and a skilled and trained workforce to offer its customers the expertise of express cargo distribution operations, supply chain visibility, reduced dwell time and time definite deliveries. With a workforce strength of 276 people, the Mumbai mega distribution hub is a terminus for Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, to cater to short haul or regional distribution as well as consolidate-sort-dispatch of long-haul loads for the rest of the country. The Mumbai hub has been designed in compliance with the green norms and is equipped with built-to-suit technology-enabled warehouses of global standards and advanced features and material handling facilities along with integrated warehousing and distribution mechanisms and superior safety features. Battery operated hand pallet trolleys have been deployed at the facility to ensure operational efficiency. The Steel pallets instead of plastic or wooden pallets are being used at the facility keeping the environment sustainability in focus. The STCDW has also planned to have solarization facility which will generate 150 KW of power. An AI-powered round-the-clock tracking system at the facility offers real-time visibility of the cargo movements Adarsh Hegde, Managing Director, Gati Ltd. said, “The launch of super hub near Mumbai is a part of the Allcargo Group’s core vision to play an enabling role in the India growth. As India has emerged as a bright spot in the world economy, we are strengthening our end-to-end logistics delivery service …

Boeing has reportedly resumed with the delivery of B767 Freighters, after a pause due to quality issues affecting commercial and military versions of the wide-body jets. The US manufacturer on April 5 confirmed its deliveries of the type have resumed. Cirium fleets data, however, shows that Boeing delivered a 767-300ER freighter to US package-delivery giant FedEx on March 24. Boeing’s 767 delivery pause became evident early last month after the company said it was working to address what it called a “quality issue” affecting its two remaining in-production 767 variants. Those include cargo-configured 767-300ER freighters and 767-based KC-46 military re-fuelling tankers. “Through Boeing’s standard process, a quality issue was identified on some 767/KC-46 Tanker components,” Boeing said in a statement recently. “We are continuing to work through our process with our supplier, regulator and customers to resolve the issue,” the statement added. Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Stan Deal said last week that the problem involved a “paint adhesion issue”, according to a Reuters report.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for February 2023 global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand rose above pre-pandemic levels. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), fell 7.5% compared to February 2022 (-8.3% for international operations). This was half the rate of annual decline seen in the previous two months (-14.9% and -15.3% respectively). February demand for air cargo was 2.9% higher than pre-pandemic levels (February 2019)—the first time it has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in eight months. Capacity (measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers, ACTK) was up 8.6% compared to February 2022. The strong uptick in ACTKs reflects the addition of belly capacity as the passenger side of the business continues to recover. International belly-capacity grew by 57.0% in February year-over-year, reaching 75.1% of the 2019 (pre-pandemic) capacity. Several factors in the operating environment should be noted: The global new export orders component of the manufacturing PMI, a leading indicator of cargo demand, continued to increase in February. China’s PMI level surpassed the critical 50-mark indicating that demand for manufactured goods from the world’s largest export economy is growing. Global goods trade decreased by 1.5% in January; this was a slower rate of decline than the previous month of -3.3%. The Consumer Price Index for G7 countries decreased from 6.7% in January to 6.4% in February. Inflation in producer (input) prices reduced by 2.2 percentage points to 9.6% in December (last available data). ”The story of air cargo in February is one of slowing declines. Year-on-year demand fell by 7.5%. That’s half the rate of decline experienced in January. This shifting of gears was sufficient to boost the overall industry into positive territory (+2.9%) compared to …

Airbus has produced the first parts that will make up what it calls “the world’s most efficient large freighter aircraft” – the Airbus A350F. The parts were made at Airbus Atlantic in Nantes, and will soon be transferred to the manufacturer’s other site at Montoir-de-Bretagne, where they will begin to be pieced together, says reports. Airbus A350F is due to enter service in 2025. The parts that Airbus has produced so far will belong to the aircraft’s center wing box. The fittings that will connect the center wing box to the outer wing boxes have also been made, as have the external foot frames that will link the center wing box to the lateral fuselage shells. When complete, the center wing box will measure 6.5 m long x 5.5 m wide x 3.9 m tall. Airbus is, of course, no stranger to making center wing boxes – the parts are similar to those found on the passenger Airbus A350, but feature reinforced floor beams to support the heaviest pallets and containers. Airbus Atlantic has modified its production line at its Nantes factory to offer simultaneous production of the parts needed for both passenger and freighter models of the Airbus A350.

Celebi Ground Services Chennai Pvt. Ltd signed the Concession Agreement with Airport Authority of India (AAI) for provision of Ground Services at Chennai International Airport. Dr. Sharad Kumar – Airport Director – Chennai Airport and Murali Ramachandran – CEO Celebi India chaired the signing ceremony. Airlines operating to Chennai will now have the option of partnering with a professional and globally recognized Ground Handler which will aid in significantly increasing operational efficiency, providing quality service delivery with a safety-first motto and a strong customer centric approach. We are now gearing up to start services within the next few weeks.

SATS Ltd. (“SATS”) today announced it has completed its acquisition of global air cargo logistics provider Worldwide Flight Services (“WFS”) for €1.3 billion (equivalent to approximately S$1.8 billion) from an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management (“Cerberus”), representing an enterprise value of €2,250 million as previously announced. The acquisition received an overwhelming support of 96.8% approval from SATS’ voting shareholders in January this year and obtained regulatory approvals in all relevant jurisdictions in February. With effect from completion, WFS becomes a fully owned subsidiary of SATS, which is headquartered in Singapore. WFS will continue to be headquartered in Paris and operate as Worldwide Flight Services. Craig Smyth, CEO of WFS, will continue to run the company and report to Kerry Mok, President & Chief Executive Officer of SATS, and an advisory board. Both SATS and WFS have a long history and deep knowledge of the aviation industry. SATS is a leading provider of food solutions and gateway services in Asia, while WFS is a leading air cargo logistics provider globally with ground handling capabilities. As a combined company, SATS and WFS create an Americas-Europe-APAC network with a global footprint of 201 cargo and ground handling stations in 23 countries, covering trade routes responsible for more than 50% of global air cargo volume. The combined group operates in five of the top 10 cargo airports in North America and Europe respectively, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Frankfurt, and Paris, and four of the top 10 cargo airports in Asia, including Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, and Beijing. Mok said, “Recent global events have highlighted the importance of supply chain resiliency and an interconnected global network of cargo handling capabilities that provides speed, traceability, …

Cathay Pacific Group has announced the release of its 2022 Sustainable Development Report, which underscores the Group’s ongoing commitments and progress in achieving its sustainability goals. Titled “Greener Together,” the report reflects Cathay Pacific’s belief that driving progress towards a sustainable future requires strong partnerships and collective action. Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam stated: “As we enter an exciting new phase of rebuilding Cathay Pacific for Hong Kong, one of our key development areas is becoming a leader in sustainability. This means working together with many different stakeholders, partners and corporate customers to reconnect Hong Kong to the world in sustainable ways. The title of this year’s report, ‘Greener Together’, reflects our determination to foster stronger partnerships to help drive the sustainable development agenda and build a more sustainable future for our customers, our people and our communities. “Despite the very difficult start we had to the year, 2022 saw a number of important milestones achieved in our sustainability journey. These involved yet more important steps towards developing the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) supply chain, reducing single-use plastics in our operations and continuing to advance the agenda of wellness and diversity for our people. Moving people forward is our business and as we look ahead to the future, we are excited to continue contributing to important projects and being a positive driving force towards making aviation more sustainable.”