Block your dates for The International Air Cargo Association’s (TIACA) upcoming regional summit in Nairobi, Kenya from June 19-June 21, 2023. The three day event will focus on drones, digital innovation, perishables, freighter capacity, global outlook and lot more. The event in Africa aims to bring together members, partners and business houses to identify and discuss specific issues that affect the industry at the regional level.

Stellar Value Chain Solutions has added 1.5 million sq. ft. warehousing space (Distribution Centres) at Bhiwandi and 0.5 million sq ft. at Banur, Punjab thus scaling up its warehousing capacity by an additional 2 million sq ft in May this year, said release. After this latest operational expansion, the total warehousing capacity of Stellar Value Chain Solutions has risen to 16 million sq. ft. The capacity addition is primarily aimed at efficiently managing pan India supply chain operations for a consumer durable giant. Stellar has taken over the pan India Central Distribution Centre Operations and two regional Distribution Centres. The company has plans to roll out 5 million sq. ft. of warehousing operations every year and is in the process of raising funds (primary capital) of upto Rs.400 crore for further growth and expansion. Stellar has also released a new RFQ of 10 million sq. ft. of total Logistics space to be developed either through the BTS (Built to Suit) route or the RTM (Ready to Move) route as the need may be over the next two years. The BTS facilities are being explored across Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, Patna, Guwahati and some other cities. The RTM options are being explored across the 21 major cities in the country where Stellar has already established a considerable presence. Strategically located at Bhiwandi and Banur, these mega Distribution Centres are spread across 2 million sq. ft. and are well-connected through major highways, thus offering quick transportation to the rest of the country.

With the opening of its first Asia-based Squair Service Center, ECS Group is increasing its capabilities related to the AWB Verification service offering (known as “Verify”). As demand for AWB verification outsourcing is increasing, the new team in Mumbai, India, will perform the AWB data capture activity for existing Squair customers and allow for future growth opportunities, especially in Asia. The new team in Mumbai, India, complements the existing Squair team based in Sofia, Bulgaria that has been providing both AWB verification and customs reporting services to international airlines across 12 countries since 2019. “There is a growing interest amongst airlines to maximise efficiency in their processes. AWB verification is a necessary, resource-intensive, yet non-revenue-generating activity,” says Adrien Thominet, Executive Chairman of ECS Group. “ECS Group recognised this opportunity for a new service offering early on and is the first and only GSSA to offer AWB verification as a full quality “ability” since 2019. India is the perfect location for our Verify service expansion as it offers an abundant and skilled workforce with competitive unit costs and increases our time zone coverage”. “Our Squair team in India underwent two months of intensive training from December 2022, using ECS Group’s internal training platform, Discovery, as well as through a thorough cross-training by their Squair colleagues based in Bulgaria” Ian-Alexandre McMartin, General Manager of Squair, explains. “Squair India officially started operating on 01 February 2023, carrying out AWB verification on behalf of a leading airline operating from Spain.” The team since then took over the AWB verification activity from that same airline in the Netherlands and is preparing to extend the geographical coverage in more European countries as the year progresses. “We …

Suraj Agrawal, Secretary, Domestic Air Cargo Agents Association of India (DACAAI), “The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has formed the rules without understanding the impact it will have on the trade. Trade should have been consulted before taking decision. Prior to Container Terminal Operators (CTOs), airlines were involved in doing cargo x-ray screenings and handling on their own at the terminals, airlines were forced to stop this work later, and now again, they want airlines to operate. It is difficult to shift business from one mode to another. If something was operational from years, what was the urgency to stop it? Trade should have been consulted, solution should have been taken out, businesses cant stop like this.”

BCAS decision to stop cargo movement has affected the whole air freight ecosystem drastically, says C K Govil, Vice President, ACAAI. This decision is due to airports non-compliance with BCAS RA3 Regulations. Transhipment cargo and domestic cargo both suffering hugely, International as well as domestic freighters are going back empty, air freight rates have gone up, dwell time has been increased, sensitive cargo such as perishables lying at the Tarmac unattended for days- all this has created immense pressure on the stakeholders and local exporters, farmers suffering huge losses. This is happening due to non availability of stringent facilities at airports to ensure cargo safety, but there should be a solution – MoCA, AAICLAS and trade should come up with a solution fast to resolve this issue, which is challenging EODB, and the growth of Indian air cargo industry. The trade is suffering huge losses, this is putting India In a bad light internationally.”

Eleven AAICLAS operated domestic Common User Terminals (CUTs) at T2 & T3 Airports, have been closed for the movement of Domestic and International Cargo due to non-compliance of BCAS-RA norms by AAICLAS, said Yashpal Sharma, President, Air Cargo Forum India. AAICLASS has sighted commercial loss on running of these facilities so have not done needful. He added, “With the sizeable market for international & domestic air cargo moving out of these airports this current deadlock of RA3 facility at all these airports must be resolved by AAICLAS & MoCA on top priority. This situation, which has caused a serious challenge for the growth of air cargo industry and needs to be relooked into favourably in the interest of shippers in the catchment area of these airports if the country has to move towards the targeted growth of air cargo i.e. 10 Million Mt by 2030-31 set by the Government(MoCA) itself.”

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is planning to set up at least five logistics hubs along the 172km Pune ring road, said reports. “Since Pune ring road connects eight national highways/expressways, the MSRDC is keen on setting up at least five logistics hubs along the stretch,” MSRDC officials told in reports. According to reports, logistics hubs would come up along the expressways across the state and this would benefit both the agriculture and manufacturing sector in a big way. “Multi-modal logistics parks in hub and spoke model are part of most highways across the country. They help in lowering overall freight cost by cutting warehousing cost, reducing vehicular pollution and congestion, improving tracking and traceability of consignments through infrastructural, procedural and information technology interventions.”

Kale Logistics Solutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NorthLink Aviation to build the next generation of digital cargo infrastructure at NorthLink’s express freight and e-commerce terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC). NorthLink and Kale have jointly developed a multi-layered digital roadmap to create digital cargo infrastructure at ANC including process automation platforms for e-commerce and cargo handling, a stakeholder collaboration platform and other cross-border management tools, states an official release from Kale. “This infrastructure will help NorthLink create digital differentiation and support its vision of a revolutionary and vibrant logistics hub at Anchorage.” ANC was ranked third in activity among worldwide cargo airports in 2022, the release adds. “NorthLink intends to leverage this opportunity to unlock Anchorage’s unrealised potential as a global logistics hub with an emphasis on cross border e-commerce. To accomplish this goal, NorthLink Aviation is building essential airport infrastructure at ANC to serve air cargo carriers. NorthLink has entered into a 55-year concession for a 120-acre property on the airport’s South Park campus and is developing infrastructure for aircraft parking, fueling, de-icing, and related warehouse and office space.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for April 2023 global air cargo markets, showing capacity (measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers, ACTK) was up 13.4 per cent compared to April 2022 and 3.2 per cent compared to April 2019, marking the first time in three years that the capacity has surpassed pre-COVID levels. “The strong uptick is primarily driven by belly capacity as demand in the passenger business recovers. Adjusting for this, freighter capacity declined 2.3 per cent. Preighter operations ceased in March after 2.5 years of continuous activity,” states the release. Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said, “The air cargo industry is adjusting itself to the implications of the recovery in passenger demand that brings with it an expansion of belly capacity. Preighter operations stopped in March and freighter services were scaled back by 2.3 per cent in April.” In April 2023 global air cargo markets also showed a continued, but slower, decline against the previous year’s demand performance. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), fell 6.6 per cent compared to April 2022 (-7.0 per cent for international operations). This decline was an improvement over the previous month’s performance (-7.6 per cent).

Qatar Airways has signed a deal with Shell for 3,000 tonnes of neat (undiluted) Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at air cargo hub Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The deal falls under the airline’s existing jet fuel contract at the airport, but will now include at least 5% SAF over the contract period for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Qatar Airways’ bilateral agreement with Shell is part the Oneworld alliance’s wider target for SAF to form 10% of combined fuel volumes by 2030, said release. Qatar Airways says it will be the first carrier based in the Middle East and Africa to procure a significant amount of SAF in Europe, beyond government SAF mandates. The carrier expects to reduce its emissions on flights from Amsterdam by about 7,500 tonnes of CO2 during the fiscal year. Qatar Airways group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said, “We are strongly committed to supporting the industry’s effort to ramp-up the use of sustainable aviation fuel, as one of the key pillars to decarbonise the aviation industry.” “Last year, we signed our first offtake agreement in the US, and now we are placing a multi-million US dollar SAF deal in Amsterdam to illustrate our SAF commitment and reiterate our calls for a more robust SAF supply chain across our global network,” he added.