The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) recently celebrated its Foundation Day in Mumbai and shared plans to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee early 2023. Shankar Shinde, Chairman appreciated Govt.’s recent initiatives like ‘PM Gati Shakti’, ‘LEADS Report’, LPPT, ‘Faceless Assessment’, ‘Turant Customs’ to name a few and stressed on upskilling manpower with the help of technology. “FFFAI is constantly monitoring and analysing the entire ecosystem of the logistics industry in consultation with domain experts. Our focus is to upskill the domain knowledge with effective utilisation of emerging technologies. Our training arm IIFF is leaving no stone unturned in this regard. In addition, FFFAI has strengthened its Women and Youth Wings to guide women and young entrepreneurs to this highly potential and vibrant sector,” he said. FFFAI is in constant dialogue with the Government, other Trade Associations/Chambers of Commerce, and logistics industry stakeholders for creating a collective force for this sunrise sector. “FFFAI plays a constructive role in maintaining a constant rapport with the Customs, Port Trusts, Airport Authorities, Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), Central Warehousing Corporation, Central Excise, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), etc., to make its own contribution in the formulation of Policy and administrative measures and simplification of various procedures,” he added.

Air cargo pricing on some of the world’s major trade lanes continued to decline in November, bucking usual seasonal trends. The latest statistics from the Baltic Exchange Airfreight Index (BAI) show that spot and contract rates paid by forwarders on services from Hong Kong to North America slipped to an average of $6.49 per kg, compared with $6.74 per kg in October. Rates on the trade lane are also down on a year ago when forwarders were paying a whopping $11.54 per kg. Average prices from Hong Kong to Europe were also down on a month earlier, slipping to $5.62 per kg from $5.78 per kg in October. Last year rates on the lane for November stood at an average of $7.91 per kg. Prices usually increase in the run-up to December as the industry enters its peak season. The declines come as the air cargo market continues to slow after rapid growth in 2021. Inflation, slowing economies, the war in Ukraine and Covid lockdowns in China have all resulted in demand declines, IATA said in its latest monthly summary.

DHL’s latest Airfreight report suggests soaring inflation is likely to see reduced purchasing power and demand for air freight going into 2023. The monthly report details the latest developments of the global air freight market and is undertaken by DHL Global Forwarding. It shows that lower sales and high inventory are common across most sectors, with retail and manufacturing the most affected. This, it says, is encouraging shippers to use ocean options where possible to limit inventory and reduce freight costs. DHL points out that in pre-pandemic times Q4 would typically see a “burgeoning surge of air cargo demand and rates due to the approaching holiday season”. But it says that air freight volumes in October showed “almost no signs of a fourth-quarter cargo surge”. It concludes that the belief that this year would see the normalisation of trading patterns after two years of Covid-19 “premature”. DHL says that underpinning this dampening of demand is the current global average inflation rate of around 9%.

American Airlines Cargo is hoping to benefit from the addition of two new origins to its transatlantic winter network. The carrier, during this year’s winter season, will be able to offer direct capacity from 11 European cities and 11 US destinations – two more than last year – with 35 daily flights. The additional US locations compared with last year are Phoenix (PHX) and Raleigh-Durham (RDU). The airline is currently providing daily service from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to 11 US destinations on a mix of Boeing widebody aircraft, including the 777-200, 777-300 and 787-9. US destinations are Boston Logan International (BOS), Charlotte Douglas International (CLT), Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW), New York JFK (JFK), Los Angeles International (LAX), Miami International (MIA), Chicago O’Hare International (ORD), Philadelphia International (PHL), PHX, RDU and Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA).

International air cargo demand declined considerably in October, said the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). The association said October’s preliminary traffic figures for Asia Pacific airlines show international air cargo demand declined by 13.9% year on year in freight tonne km (FTK) terms, amid a downturn in export markets for intermediate goods. Offered freight capacity fell marginally, by 1.2% year on year, leading to a 9.6 percentage point fall in the average international freight load factor to 64.7%. Meanwhile, Asia Pacific airlines carried a combined total of 12.1m international passengers in October, an eight-fold increase compared to the 1.4m in the same month last years. Overall, passenger traffic volumes reached 38.6% of pre-pandemic levels. AAPA director general Subhas Menon said air cargo faced “multiple headwinds”. He said, “Declining business confidence, against a backdrop of rising risks to the global economy, led to a slowing in orders for manufactured goods, in turn driving a 5.5% year-on-year decline in air cargo demand for the first ten months of the year.” He added that “the region’s airlines are facing a challenging operating environment, as a result of high fuel prices, weak local currencies and manpower shortages”.

Government is open to ease rules to help Indian airlines boost capacity amid supply chain disruptions that have delayed deliveries of aircraft, engines, and other parts, said Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, at an event recently. The government is now open to approve a wet lease on an aircraft for a year from the current six months, the minister added saying the measures are being implemented as an exception and will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Scindia also said he expects the relaunch of Jet Airways next year. The airline is due for an important NCLT hearing on 29 November, said reports.

DSV has become the first company to purchase Etihad Cargo sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to offset the carbon emissions of a flight. Etihad Cargo transported DSV’s cargo shipment from Washington Dulles to Abu Dhabi on Etihad’s first transatlantic NetZero flight on November 13. The B787 flight also utilised contrail prevention technology from Satavia to manage carbon emissions and non-CO2 climate effects from contrails which cause surface warming and are responsible for up to two-thirds of aviation’s climate impact. Martin Drew, senior vice president – global sales & cargo at Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Etihad Cargo is witnessing more focus on sustainable air cargo from customers who are seeking to establish partnerships that provide SAF utilisation, carbon offset initiatives and management of non-CO2 climate impact. “Etihad Cargo’s partnership with DSV to transport cargo utilising the SAF book and claim system has showcased the power of collaboration and demonstrated the future of net-zero aviation. “The successful delivery of DSV’s shipment has proved net-zero air cargo operations are possible and is the first step in transforming the possible into the routine.” Etihad said its investment in SAF is part of efforts to improve its sustainability profile. The airline is also the first Middle Eastern carrier to join TIACA’s BlueSky verification programme and has pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to transform Riyadh Airport into a six-runway airport and logistics hub that will have capacity to handle 3.5m tons of cargo by 2050. It will include 12 sq km of airport support facilities, residential and recreational facilities, retail outlets, and other logistics real estate. The development aims to boost Riyadh’s position as a global logistics hub, stimulate transport, trade and tourism, and act as a bridge linking the east with the west. The project is in line with Saudi Arabia’s vision to transform Riyadh to be among the top ten city economies in the world and to support the growth of the city’s population to 15–20m people by 2030. “The airport aims to accommodate up to 120 million travellers by 2030 and 185 million travellers, with the capacity to process 3.5 million tons of cargo, by 2050,” a press release stated. The airport will be built by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, The Public Investment Fund (PIF). The announcement comes as part of PIF’s target of investing in the capabilities of promising sectors to enhance Saudi Arabia’s efforts in diversifying the economy. “The new airport is expected to contribute SR27bn annually to non-oil GDP and to create 103,000 direct and indirect jobs, in line with Vision 2030 objectives,” the press release said.

Celcius Logistics announced the launch of its Hyper-Local temperature-controlled delivery services for food and pharma orders, as part of its last mile solution. Celcius aims to expand to 9 metros, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Gwalior and Amritsar, with 200 riders, within 3 months of the launch. The brand has currently tied up with Zomato and is the partner of choice for temperature-controlled deliveries across varies cities for their inter-city orders. In the long run, Celcius also aims to cater to fruits and vegetable suppliers, direct-to-home services, pharma products and intermediary distributors, vaccine distributors as well as cloud kitchens, canned food companies, dairy and meat distributors, among others, who would need temperature-controlled deliveries to be made for quantities ranging from 500gms to 5Kgs. Celcius Logistics is the first of its kind cold-chain online marketplace that offers an integrated smart platform for all stakeholders to explore, book, monitor and process their cold supply chain needs, with utmost efficiency and transparency. With their hyperlocal service, Celcius is the first to ensure perfect quality of materials being transported through real-time tracking of temperature at every point.

DHL Express has strengthened its network in the Delhi-NCR region with the expansion of Faridabad service center. Inaugurated by John Pearson, CEO, DHL Express, this is DHL Express India’s eighth service center in Delhi/NCR region and 53rd in the country. The sustained expansion is in line with the company’s commitment of EUR250 million towards infrastructure development across the country. DHL Express has been serving customers in Faridabad since 2014. The company has now expanded its Faridabad service center into a 9000-square-feet facility to meet the significant trade volume growth in the last five years. This augments DHL Express’ current service offering to customers, as it meets the growing export and import demands. John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express, commented on the expansion: “Even in these volatile times, our well-connected global network, focus on infrastructure, and dedicated people have paved the way for our growth. Our recently released DHL Trade Growth Atlas tells us that India is on track to more than double its trade volume growth rate in the next five years, and we are uniquely positioned to support this because of our unrivalled expertise. Investments like these in the country will allow us to provide best-in-class service to our customers and make us a reliable partner.” R.S Subramanian, SVP South Asia, DHL Express said: “We are committed to supporting India’s economic growth and facilitating international trade. To meet this commitment, we have invested heavily in people, processes, and infrastructure across the country in recent years. The Faridabad service center expansion is part of the growth strategy. The region has seen a 70% increase in shipment volume over the last three years, necessitating infrastructure expansion to meet rising demand. We …