LATAM Cargo and DSV will increase the frequency of their freighter partnership operating out of Huntsville as they look to capitalise on demand to South America. The partners started the service five months ago with a once-a-week flight on Mondays between the US airport and Viracopos in Brazil utilising a B767-300F, said release. The operation will now be expanded to three times per week with the addition of flights on Wednesdays and Fridays. LATAM said that Huntsville is an “optimal origin and destination point, given its great connectivity both within the US and to international markets in Asia, Europe and South America”. Mads Ravn, Executive vice president of DSV, said, “With the addition of two additional frequencies to the DSV Charter Network, we will now be able to offer unmatched transit times from the US south east as well as in-transit cargo from Asia and Europe. LATAM Cargo’s agile approach, to adapt to our customer’s needs in a challenging market has been instrumental. With the option to connect to LATAM’s network in South America, we offer our customers faster transit time and savings on trucking to Miami by stopping at the DSV Hub in Huntsville, Alabama for direct uplift to all of Latin America.”

The cargo division of Etihad Aviation Group achieved IATA CEIV Pharma recertification following an audit by independent validators that assessed the carrier’s capacity to control and enhance its processes through a checklist that focused on Etihad Cargo’s Quality Management System incorporating supplier management, training programmes, processes and procedures, audit programmes, and quality enhancement, among others, said official release. Achieving recertification demonstrates Etihad Cargo’s and its dedicated pharmaceutical transportation product PharmaLife’s full compliance with specific pharmaceutical regulations, including IATA Temperature Control Regulations (TCR), Good Distribution Practices (GDP), a quality system for warehouses and distribution centres dedicated to medications and life sciences products, added release.

China’s Ezhou Huahu Airport has launched its first all-cargo air route, linking Ezhou with Shenzhen in south China’s Guangdong Province. It is being claimed to be the first “professional cargo hub” airport in Asia and the fourth of its kind in the world, said official reports. Since the airport was put into operation in July, it has opened multiple passenger routes linking Ezhou with cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen. According to the airport, said Xinhua, the all-cargo air route is operated by Boeing 737 aircraft, carrying express mail. The range of the route covers places such as Wuhan, Ezhou, Huangshi, and Huanggang in Hubei Province. The airport said it will also open an all-cargo air route linking Ezhou and Shanghai soon. The annual cargo and mail throughput of the airport is expected to reach 3.3m tonnes by 2030, with the annual passenger throughput reaching 1.5m.

RwandAir has taken delivery of its first dedicated cargo aircraft as it looks to expand its cargo operation in Africa and the Middle East. The Boeing 737-800SF, which is painted in RwandAir’s first cargo livery, will be based at the carrier’s Kigali hub in Rwanda. The carrier said that the freighter would be utilised on flights to destinations in Africa and the Middle East, including Johannesburg, Nairobi, and the UAE. Yvonne Makolo, RwandAir chief executive, said, “The delivery of our dedicated cargo aircraft is a huge milestone in RwandAir’s fleet expansion plans. “Cargo is of ever-increasing importance for the aviation industry, and as a landlocked country, we recognise the importance and value of good cargo connections. We want to ensure that Africa is seamlessly connected to the world, driving economic growth and valuable trade deals.” Air Cargo News first reported that the carrier, which is 49% owned by Qatar Airways, was looking to acquire a freighter in September 2020.

Ramesh Mamidala, CEO, Adani Airports in an exclusive conversation said, “Air cargo industry globally has suffered a lot especially during the pandemic. The crisis had a huge impact on the cargo volumes. But now the industry is moving towards growth. We should focus on the MoCA’s vision to achieve 10 million tons of cargo by 2030. Also, some policy changes are required and there are various air cargo associations that have been lobbying for these policy changes. Indian carriers have been witnessing recovery now in the post pandemic times and working on bringing back capacity. Freight rates are adjusting now. Airport infrastructure also needs to be developed, especially in the remote areas. Tech integration is happening with ULIP and Kale’s Air Cargo Community System (ACCS) at a fast pace so that’s a good sign. The two biggest risks for the growth of the air cargo in India at present will be, — constraints related to the open skies policy and levy of GST on export freight. GST will unnecessarily put pressure on the exporters, impact EODB and will increase cash flows.”

CargoTalk, India’s leading and highest circulated logistics industry magazine was honored at the recently concluded 46th edition of The Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) held in Bangkok, Thailand. The three day long convention, after a gap of two years, brought together air cargo industry stakeholders from all across the globe under one roof. The insightful panel discussions will pave the way for the industry to move towards growth and the glittering evenings will be fondly remembered by one and all. Kudos to the ACAAI team for organising highly informative and well-organised convention and setting the standards so high.

There are few important elements which needs to be really looked into. There is a need for long term planning by stakeholders be it the airlines or the airports,” said Manoj Singh, Senior VP Cargo and Express. He added, “The airports do have the infrastructure and capacity but the planning for the airlines for future requirement of the fleets and with the fuel cost going up and a lot of issues related to the war between Ukraine and Russia, there is an instability in terms of the vision where the airlines can procure the fleets for creating more of capacity.” He added, The fuel cost is very volatile again it’s going to fluctuate. But of course the fuel efficient aircraft, the EVs, the way the environment has been focused upon, even the aircraft are being modernized or new production of the aircraft, the growth is certain.”

India has one of the best cargo terminals in the world. Enjoy your infrastructure. Enjoy what you have. Let’s celebrate. Let’s help each other. Let’s grow together there is a whole new future for us we can do it together and we will show to the world how the Air Cargo will, in future would happen,” said Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, Cargo Service Center while addressing the gathering at the ongoing ACAAI convention. He urged the industry to collaborate, unite and hire young skilled professionals who have a fresh perspective. “I feel there are lots of opportunities for the young generation to enter this business. Younger generation, younger people, efficient government, that’s all what we need to become a global super power. This is our time. Don’t let it go. In the age of 70, in the last 4 months, I have visited 48 terminals around the world, So you need to get out, take your bag, go abroad see what they’re doing. India has all the potential.”

I have been addressing the issue of developing and building Air Freight Stations (AFS) at various conventions in the last few years, but unfortunately, nothing has been done to resolve the issues,” said Vipin Vohra, Chairman, Continental Carriers. At the ongoing 46th edition of ACAAI convention in Bangkok Thailand, he spoke exclusively to CargoTalk and said, “The government had launched the policy for AFS in 2014 and mine was the first approved greenfield AFS in India in 2016, but unfortunately the terminal operators in India, they don’t want to create competitions, they want to create monopoly, also as we know that logistics cost is very high in India, they want to charge full TSP while not doing even 15 % of their job. 85% job will be done by AFS, even customs cost recovery will be done by the AFS operator, their job is only to take the cargo in ULD out from the trucks to the flights. why customers should pay twice? I have approached all the government bodies, but this issue is not being resolved. It was my father’s dream to build a greenfield AFS in India and I will continue to fight for this.”

The Warehousing Association of India (WAI) was formed as a section 8 Company on 8th November 2021 with the mission to promote the interest of the Warehousing Industry in India during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Key Stakeholders & Members of WAI comprise Developers/Builders of Warehouses and Logistics Parks; Users of Warehouses such as Retail/ Manufacturing/ E-Commerce Companies; Operators of warehouses such as 3PL/ Logistics/ Warehousing Companies; Associated Companies that provide Equipment/ Software/ Design for Warehouses. In rhythm with PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, the key objective of WAI is to facilitate the ease of setting up and operating world-class warehouses in India make supply chains more efficient and bring overall Logistics Costs down improving productivity and turnaround times, reducing damages, shortages by automation of modern warehouses, and deployment of new technologies coupled with the modern multimodal connectivity of Road, Rail and Waterways. WAI is privileged to have been entrusted by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to update and publish this e- Handbook on Warehousing Standards. “This is indeed an excellent e- handbook and will benefit all the stakeholders of the industry and go a long way toward standardisation and facilitate the development of world class warehousing infrastructure in India. We will continue to update this document annually and it will be our endeavour to include the latest developments, practices, and technologies in the Warehousing Industry from time to time. With the Support of Industry Leaders and major Stake Holders WAI is undertaking several important initiatives in the Warehousing Industry.