After observing a 30 per cent growth in volumes in the last year, Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has increased its facility footprint at London’s Heathrow Airport. WFS has signed a five-year lease on Building 578 in the airport’s cargo area, boosting its warehouse and office space by a further 27,000 sq. ft, said an official statement. The additional building, due to commence operations in October, features eight landside doors for cargo deliveries and collections, and a 20-foot truck dock. As well as caster deck storage for loaded pallets and containers, WFS also plans to install a 7,000 sq. ft. area for ambient shipments and dedicated storage for temperature-controlled cargoes requiring a 2-8°C environment, the statement added.

Rhenus Warehousing Solutions has signed an agreement to acquire the Danish company DKI Logistics A/S and its warehouse investment affiliate DKI Automatic A/S (both together “DKI”). The logistics provider specialises in complete warehousing and supply chain solutions with customised value-added services. With the acquisition, Rhenus Warehousing Solutions expands its presence in Europe to the Nordic countries. Andreas Plikat, General Manager Rhenus Warehousing Solutions, says: “Rhenus Warehousing Solutions and DKI both stand for high-quality and scalable customer solutions. In this respect, it was the logical step for us to shape our market entry into the Nordic countries together with DKI.” In addition to geographically complementing the Rhenus Warehousing Solutions network in Europe, this acquisition strengthens the presence of the Rhenus Group in the FMCG and healthcare sectors. With DKI becoming part of the Rhenus Group, customers will benefit not only from the warehousing service but also from the wide range of services, including the global air and sea freight network and the extensive European land transport options.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is all set to focus on building resilience to further strengthen air cargo’s post-pandemic prospects in its forthcoming annual event, World Cargo Symposium (WCS) taking place in London from September 27-29. The WCS will address many topics related to resilience building, including digitalization, sustainability, air cargo safety, attracting and retaining talent, e-commerce, air cargo market dynamics, digital distribution and booking, plus Digital Cargo and ONE Record. Three streams of content will be divided into the themes of digitalization, sustainability and safety and security. The event will also feature plenary sessions, specialized streams, workshops, and executive summits. Also scheduled is a first-time workshop focused on improving the efficiency of billing settlements between airlines and freight forwarders. The session will incorporate IATA’s new internet-based data processing and customer management system CASSLINK (the Cargo Accounts Settlement System).

To facilitate the movement of dangerous goods worldwide, the International Chemical Transport Association (ICTA) has collaborated with several global trade organisations namely International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA), International Vessel Owners Dangerous Goods Association (IVODGA), National Cargo Bureau (NCB) and World Shipping Council (WSC). Now, they can jointly work on the White Paper entitled, ‘Safety Guidance for Dangerous Goods Storage and Handling Facilities’ issued in December last year. Richard Steele, CEO of ICHCA welcomed the additional support, “To make a real difference to the standards of safety in supply chains that feature hazardous materials, it is vital to reach all involved and create a critical mass of like-minded partners. The endorsement of our work by such an authoritative voice as ICTA is therefore decidedly welcome.”

Delta Air Lines and Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) have partnered to reduce aircraft carbon emissions. APB has also announced the carrier’s (Delta’s) recent agreements to purchase Split Scimitar Winglets for its 737-800 fleet and for several recently acquired 737-900ER aircraft, says an official release. The carrier also gave a green nod for Scimitar Blended Winglets for up to 70 of Delta’s 757-200 aircraft. Both the Split Scimitar Winglets and Scimitar Blended Winglets are upgrades to APB’s ubiquitous Blended Winglets. Delta has previously purchased and installed APB winglet products on its 737-800, 737-900ER, 757-200, 757-300, and 767-300ER fleets. “APB is proud that Delta has, once again, turned to APB’s winglet products across its fleets to deliver savings in jet fuel consumption and gains in fuel efficiency,” adds the release.

Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services has announced a new domestic cargo service to Dire Dawa and Jigjiga that will operate thrice a week from August 30. As per reports, its fleet includes B777-200F and B737-800SF aircraft. In March, Ethiopian Airlines partnered with International Djibouti Industrial Park Operation (IDIPO) and Air Djibouti as it looks to develop sea-air operations between China and Africa. Addis Ababa-hubbed Ethiopian operates in major trade lanes between Africa and Europe and the Middle East and Asia, serving 70 global freighter destinations. Currently, Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services operates a warehouse with annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes, equipped with modern cooling facilities. Currently, the company is building a new transhipment terminal anticipated to have a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year.

Skye Air Mobility has allied with Flipkart Health, a medical branch of Flipkart Internet, to deliver pharma products up to 5 kg by drone. Each flight can fly up to 16 km. The partnership began with the launch of BVLOS flights from Flipkart Health warehouse in Baruipur of West Bengal, to several Health Buddy OTC sites in Kolkata and suburbs. Flights numbering 20 will take medication each day from Warehouse to Health Buddy OTC locations in the region.

In a bid to reduce carbon emission, protect the ecology and to reduce logistics cost drastically, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Govt of India suggested the logistics Industry to go green by using alternative fuel like LNG and ethanol. He informed that efforts are on to introduce ethanol in the transport sector as well. While addressing the 24th Biennial Convention of FFFAI, which was held in Chennai from August 12-14, 2022 Shri Gadkari said that Customs Brokers, Freight Forwarders and other logistics service providers are the major stakeholders behind the success of increasing international trade in the country. He commended FFFAI for choosing the theme of the convention: “Logistics – Reshape, Embrace and Surge in the Digital Era”, which is in line with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision pertaining to “PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan” focused on strengthening multimodal logistics infrastructure and transportation. The theme is also apt to achieve the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s goal of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ while the Convention is taking place on the eve of celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

The eleventh edition of India Warehousing Show (IWS), India’s most premium and established platform for warehousing, logistics, material handling, storage, AIDC, automation and supply chain sector is scheduled for 19-21 August 2022, Hall 4 & 5, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. After the successful 10th anniversary edition in 2021, India’s most awaited event for logistics is once again getting ready to offer an in-person platform for live product demos, innovative technologies, and several knowledge-sharing networking sessions. The theme of the event is ‘Sustainable and Cost-Effective Supply Chains’

TIACA and Messe München announce Edmonton International Airport as the inaugural host of the start.hub logistics during air cargo forum & transport logistic Americas 2022. Following the success of the Innovation Journey held during the Executive Summit in March 2022, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and Messe München are pleased to announce the launch of the start.hub logistics in Miami during the air cargo forum (ACF) and transport logistic Americas 2022. “The Innovation Journey showed how vital it is for the industry to connect and explore innovations that can be applied into our businesses. We knew then that this could not be a one off and innovation needed to be incorporated into our events going forward. The launch of the start.hub logistics in Miami is yet another step toward our vision for air cargo and we are excited that Edmonton International Airport, which has such a focus on supporting innovative start-up businesses will be the first host.” Steven Polmans, TIACA Chair.