Ministry of Civil Aviation in collaboration with FICCI held a stakeholder workshop for evaluation of Krishi UDAN 2.0 recently. The conference brought together experts from the air cargo sector for highlighting the benefits of Krishi UDAN and how the players can create a seamless transaction across the value chain. The workshop was chaired by Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, MoCA, and was moderated by Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA. The workshop was attended by Piyush Srivastava, Senior Economic Advisor, MoCA, Saurabh Endley, Joint Secretary, MoD North-eastern Region, Ashutosh Dey, Joint Secretary, DONER, Ajay Kumar, CEO, AAICLAS, senior dignitaries from MoCA, AAICLAS, FICCI, MoA & FW, Department of Fisheries, 26 Airport Directors across the country and various other stakeholders. Bansal said, “The air cargo industry realized the importance of sustainable air cargo ops in the past two years. Indian airlines and the airports should facilitate the transportation of agricultural products to create a sufficient demand for local producers in domestic and global market. We (MoCA) are willing to work on some pilot projects with the help of agricultural department and state governments regarding a transport subsidy scheme, which will help in faster transportation.”

To boost fleet capacity, Emirates SkyCargo took delivery of its latest Boeing 777F. As per an announcement, Emirates’ freight division has witnessed growth in cargo loads across its products, including pharma and perishables. In 2021-22, annual tonnage crossed 2.1 million, an increase of 15 per cent, with transport of perishables crossing 260,000 tonne, and both pharma and valuable goods each grew by 17 per cent. Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior VP, Emirates SkyCargo, said, “The new freighter will help increase our capacity, boost our ability to deliver vital goods and facilitate trade globally. Despite the challenging headwinds this year, the air cargo industry is booming and we have been flat out since the pandemic began. Emirates SkyCargo will continue its journey as one of the world’s largest and best air cargo airlines by investing in our fleet, our global network, technology, and world-class logistics infrastructure at our Dubai hub and beyond.”

Over 90 per cent of warehouse operators across APAC, including India, are investing in NextGen technologies to automate operations, as per a study conducted by Zebra Technologies Corporation to explore the trends. According to the findings, warehouse operators are making significant investments to better fulfil the needs of both customers and workers and make it easier to fill open jobs. Conducted in January and February 2022, the survey collected feedback from over 1,500 warehouse decision-makers and associates around the world. In APAC, the markets surveyed for the study are India, Australia, China, Japan, and Singapore. As per the survey, nine in 10 warehouse operators agree they must implement the new technology to be competitive in the on-demand economy, with 80 per cent confirming the ongoing pandemic has prompted them to modernize quickly. They feel the pressure to modernize as much as the others around the world, with about three-quarters of APAC decision-makers, including India, saying the pandemic has prompted them to make the changes.

Wiremind Cargo opts for sustainable solutions to reduce carbon emissions by offering smart solutions that assist its airline clients in managing their capacity and procedures to the best of their ability, and by conducting internal audits of its own operations to lessen adverse effects. Nathanael de Tarade, CEO, Wiremind Cargo, said, “Sustainability is all about ensuring that what we do to meet our current needs does not influence the ability of future generations to meet their requirements. We all share that obligation, whether we are working as a business, as an individual, or inside society as a whole.” Wiremind has audited its own carbon emissions in addition to its sustainable work practices.

DHL Express has commenced operations for the first-ever DHL Aviation Bahrain freighter to Delhi. With this addition, Delhi will have 17 freighter connections every week, linking both North and East India to over 220 countries across DHL’s global network, states a release. The new freighter will fly six times each week, carrying 50 tonne of shipment per flight on the Bahrain-Delhi-Bahrain route thereby boosting the capacity for the region, and providing quality service to customers. Earlier, there were 11 freighters from Delhi to the West and Asia Pacific. R.S Subramanian, Senior Vice President & MD, DHL Express India said, “We have been working to provide reliable connectivity to our customers to fuel India’s global trade. In line with this, we look for opportunities to expand the capacity of our dedicated air network and invest in ground infrastructure and processes to enhance our service quality to our customers. Through the addition of these dedicated freighters, we are well positioned to remain the provider of choice for our customers across key markets.”

DB Schenker has reopened its sustainable logistics terminal in Tilburg, Netherlands. According to an official statement, eco warehouses are part of an integrated concept developed by DB Schenker that enables warehouses to be operated in an energy-efficient manner, thereby improving the well-being of employees, and greatly reducing CO2 emissions. The terminal has been modernised using the global standards for sustainable construction – i. e. standards relating to heat insulation, use of renewable resources obtainable from the region surrounding the building, installation of modern natural lighting systems for the well-being of employees, and the use of efficient HVAC system for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, said the statement. Cyrille Bonjean, Head of Land Transport, DB Schenker Europe said, “Eco warehouses are the future of our terminals. The facility in Tilburg is the latest example of how quickly we’re moving toward highly automated, eco-efficient freight hubs. This serves our strategic goal to become CO2-neutral by 2040 and it’s already having a positive effect on our employees, who are now able to work in a future-proof, professional, and safe environment.”

Vallair has unveiled first-ever temporary Airbus A330-300 E Class widebody freighter conversion solution at its new hangar in Châteauroux, France, stated a release. Designed to bridge the gap, while operators wait for five years or more for full freighter conversion slots, this temporary solution is the result of a JV between France-based companies Vallair and UUDS Group, which is Part 21 certified. Vallair’s E Class solution uses a conveyor that fits inside the cargo hold to efficiently load and distribute individual parcels, rather than using pallets or containers to load. The design may enable fast loading and reduce turnaround times to suit the needs of e-commerce market. The new hangar can accommodate one or two Airbus A330s and up to three Airbus A321s at a given time, which means Vallair can perform wide and narrow body maintenance.

rce has announced automatization of over 8000 warehouses via its warehouse management platform by March 2023. More than 7200 warehouses are already live on Unicommerce’s Warehouse Management Platform and managing more than 96 Mn SKUs serving across diverse sectors like FMCG, Beauty and wellness, fashion and accessories, and eyewear. Unicommerce’s warehouse management SaaS solutions processes millions of orders every day to serve consumers across India and international markets. Companies have deployed Unicommerce’s warehouse management platform to manage and automate all the workflows of the warehouse from picking, packing, dispatch of goods as well as procurement of goods at the warehouse.

Astral Aviation is set to expand its freighter fleet, with the addition of three Boeing B757-200Fs and two Airbus A320 P2Fs. Kenya-based cargo airline already has 14 strong freight fleet. “The B757-200F’s will be operational from June 2022 onwards, as we have had some unfortunate delays, partly caused by Boeing’s lack of timely support on the multi-mode receiver (MMR) upgrade. The B757-200F’s will operate scheduled flights from Astral’s Nairobi hub to Johannesburg, in addition to Dubai and Tel Aviv, with plans to operate charter flights to and from China by Q3,” said Sanjeev Gadhia, Founder and Chief Executive of Astral Aviation in an official statement. “The A320F will be operational from mid-July 2022 and will operate on charter basis in 2022 on routes between Africa, Middle East, and South Asia. The second A320F will be delivered by the end of the year,” he added.

Pharma.Aero and the Bio Supply Management Alliance (BSMA) have collaborated to augment their supply chain management capabilities for their global communities and customers. The signatories of the collaboration were Devendra Mishra (Executive Director of BSMA), Franck Toussaint (Managing Director of BSMA Europe), Frank Van Gelder (Secretary General of Pharma.Aero), and Trevor Caswell (Chairman of Pharma.Aero). Mishra said, “The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of the global supply chain where airfreight logistics was significantly constrained because of systemic and external factors of decimated cargo capacity. Combining the supply chain management dimension of BSMA with the global network of Pharma.Aero augurs well for the industry committed to saving human lives. Together, the two associations will synchronize the links of the end-to-end supply chain with optimal policies.”