Etihad Cargo will provide its customers and partners with increased belly hold cargo capacity across its global network starting from June 2024. The carrier’s summer schedule will introduce 23 passenger flights to new destinations and increase passenger flights to existing routes by 77 per week, totalling 100 new weekly passenger flights. Popular seasonal destinations in Europe return to the carrier’s schedule, and Etihad Cargo will offer additional belly hold cargo capacity to Spain, Greece, and France and launch a new route to Turkey. From 2 June, customers will be able to book cargo capacity on three weekly passenger flights to Malaga and two flights per week to Nice. In addition to increasing the flights to Athens to 14 per week, two flights to Greece’s capital will operate via Myknos, and two flights will operate via Santorini. The airline will also launch a new route to Antalya via three weekly flights in addition to increasing weekly flights to Istanbul from ten to 14 from 22 July. Etihad Cargo’s customers will also benefit from increased cargo capacity for Dublin, with three more flights being offered from 23 July, bringing the total number of flights to the Republic of Ireland’s capital to ten per week. Etihad Cargo’s partners and customers will have access to increased belly hold cargo capacity in the Middle East. In addition to three passenger flights to Al-Qassim in Saudi Arabia, a new destination for the carrier, the airline will also increase frequencies to Middle Eastern destinations by 32 flights per week. This includes seven additional flights to Amman, bringing the total to 14 per week, seven more flights to Kuwait, bringing the total to 28 per week, two more …

Malaysia Airports

Qatar Airways Cargo and MASkargo will share their networks and fleet capacity to increase cargo services to customers as part of a new partnership. MASkargo customers will have access to the global Qatar Airways Cargo network, while Qatar Airways Cargo customers will have further access to the growing Asia Pacific market, including new destinations and additional capacity in existing stations. The partnership is the result of a move by Qatar Airways Group and Malaysia Aviation Group to further their relationship as Oneworld alliance partners with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Qatar Airways Cargo and MASkargo – the cargo airline and subsidiary of Malaysia Aviation Group.

Japanese logistics provider Seino Holdings is entering a 50:50 joint venture with Mahindra Logistics in India to provide Japanese automotive customers with logistics services for finished vehicles, and parts warehousing and transport. Seino MLL Logistics will provide a range of warehousing and transport services supported by digital technologies that will also be available to non-automotive companies. Seino said that working with Mahindra Logistics’ strong network in India it could deliver optimised services and extend its reach with customers in the country, with a strong focus on technology, operations, process innovation and sustainability. Seino said there is continued growth for Japan-based OEMs and automotive parts manufacturers in India.

Samir J Shah, Partner, JBS Group of Companies says, “India is a country that has grown on the aspirations and dreams of its citizens. This approach is needed much more now than ever. There are many issues to be tackled – certification for employees; lopsided or over booked capacities; erratic charging by Custodians; the current political situations in many countries etc.” He adds, “The issues are many in number and solutions not easy. The intention of the bureaucracy and the service providers is to find a quick solution amidst an unclear road map. We also have a new minister for Civil Aviation and it is hoped he would bring a fresh new perspective to all the current issues. Air Cargo is the back bone of so many industries for both inbound and out bound. A slower execution; uncertified personnel, under capacity all add to the existing woes. We must collectively put efforts without being selfish since our survival is based on the survival of the industry.”

Jitan Ram Manjhi is the new Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Former Chief Minister of Bihar is the new MSME Minister under the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Dalit face of NDA, Manjhi, 79, and the leader of athe Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) was Bihar CM between 2014 and 2015 for a short period of 10 months.

Murlidhar Mohol is the new Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He is the only Maratha leader from BJP in Maharashtra to have had ministerial birth especially when Maratha agitation has once again resumed in the state. He is also the only leader to be in the Modi government from Western Maharashtra, where the party’s stakes are high in the upcoming assembly polls, slated for November this year. In the recently held Lok Sabha polls, only two BJP members were elected from Western Maharashtra. Besides Mohol, another is Udayanraje Bhonsle, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, from Satara, says reports.

Harsh Malhotra is the new Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Malhotra, who had served as the Mayor of the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2015, was picked because of his “ground connect” and “organisational mindset”, a party source said. He is presently the general secretary of the BJP’s Delhi unit. He had joined the BJP youth wing in 1984.  Malhotra was elected as a councillor from Welcome Colony in 2012. Born to migrant parents from Amritsar and brought up in north-east Delhi’s Shahdara, the East Delhi MP is a graduate in botany and holds a law degree from Delhi University.

Ashwini Vaishnaw is the new Minister of Railways; Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology. The Wharton-educated minister is an alumnus of the prestigious IIT Kanpur.Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw (born in 1970) is a Member of Rajya Sabha from Odisha. He served the people of Sundergarh, Balasore, Cuttack and Goa. He earned Master’s in Technology from IIT Kanpur and MBA from Wharton. He brings a combination of skills in technology, finance and its application to weakest sections of society. He firmly believes in the philosophy of ‘Antyodaya’, i.e. transforming the lives of the marginalized sections of society.

Sarbananda Sonowal, a BJP veteran from Assam, took the oath as a Union Cabinet Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways in the Modi government for the third time. The 61-year-old’s clean image, oratorial skills and popularity among the masses in Assam ensured that he got another stint at the Centre for the third time.  Sonowal was the minister of state (independent charge) of youth affairs and sports in the first Modi government from 2014 to 2016, when he resigned to head the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition in Assam.