UPS and the Hong Kong Airport Authority have entered into an agreement that aims to improve UPS services and enhances the company’s operations in Asia with a new hub at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and near the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. “The new hub will serve as UPS Hong Kong’s main facility for processing and sorting imports, exports and transshipments to and from Europe, the U.S., and other parts of Asia,” says a release from UPS. The hub is expected to be completed by 2028 and will be built on a land parcel of 20,000 square metre with direct access to aircraft, the release added. “The facility is being designed to handle close to one million tonne of annual capacity, giving UPS and its customers around the world better and more reliable connectivity to Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and the growing Asia Pacific consumer market,” the release added.

The Air Cargo Agents Association of India – an association of Cargo Agents and Freight Forwarders has been instrumental in conducting training and ensuring that the shipments tendered by the Members are safe and secure to be loaded on the aircraft and ensuring safety of the passengers. ACAAI is proud to be associated with DGM India and jointly the 100th DGR Refresher Training Course shall be conducted from Monday in Ahmedabad. With more pharmaceutical being shipped out of India it is imperative to have training imparted to the staff And comply with the regulation.

Atlas Air has taken delivery of the latest Boeing 777 freighter that it will operate on behalf of MSC Air Cargo. The new aircraft will be operated for MSC under a previously announced ACMI deal and is the third of a four-aircraft partnership. The aircraft will be used on existing routes but will also be used to add an additional service from Hong Kong to Dallas Fort Worth. Atlas said that the fourth aircraft is due to be delivered in December. Jannie Davel, senior vice president, Air Cargo, MSC, said: “This latest 777 freighter delivery accounts for a strategic addition to our MSC Air Cargo fleet, enabling us to address the market’s constantly changing demands and reinforcing our commitment to enhancing trade connections for our clients.” MSC has been busy expanding its air cargo network over recent months. In October the carrier added Milan Malpensa and Tokyo Narita to its service operating between Europe, Asia and North America. Then in November, the airline added a connection from Quito (UIO) to Liege twice per week, in addition to Zaragoza to Mexico City on a weekly basis, to its service covering Europe, Asia and Latin America. Meanwhile, Atlas has been continuing to expand its 777 freighter fleet this week, after it announced the order of two of the model from Boeing.

The Arunachal Pradesh cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu has approved framing of the state’s logistics policy, aligning it with the PM Gati Shakti Framework. The primary objective of the policy is to create an integrated, multi-modal logistics ecosystem, contributing towards the vision of a ‘Developed Arunachal Pradesh 2047’, a CMO statement said. Recognising the significance of the logistics sector on a national scale, the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan was introduced in 2021 to establish multimodal connectivity infrastructure for economic zones. In 2022, the National Logistics Policy was launched to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.

Shankar Iyer, Director South Asia, Sales & Handling, Lufthansa Cargo AG says, “The carrier is planning to expand fleet to 18 freighters during the winter flight schedule. It currently offers its customers 83 weekly connections with 16 Boeing 777 freighters to intercontinental destinations in this year’s winter flight schedule and markets the belly capacities of more than 6,000 flights operated by Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines and SunExpress. The fleet is expected to grow to 18 freighters during the winter flight schedule. Final decisions on further destinations will be confirmed to ensure we offer a network that best meets our operational requirements and customer demand. Since November, the fourth A321 freighter has been operating in Lufthansa Cargo’s network, making a significant contribution to the cargo carrier’s expansion plans. We are continually evaluating their performance to ensure it’s in line with our operational standards and market requirements. When it comes to network changes for our A321 Freighter, adapting is routine to continue to respond to market needs.

Kuehne+Nagel secured the available cargo space on the world’s first 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) powered transatlantic flight by Virgin Atlantic that successfully landed at New York after its departure from London Heathrow. “Kuehne+Nagel, a leader in sustainable logistics, actively engages in projects that encourage and promote the use of sustainable fuels within the logistics sector. As part of its efforts, Kuehne+Nagel secured the available cargo space on this SAF-powered flight and utilised the corresponding amount of SAF for the transported goods,” says an official release. Yngve Ruud, Member of the Management Board responsible for Air Logistics, Kuehne+Nagel says: “This is a historic moment in our collective journey towards sustainable aviation and we are very proud to represent the air cargo industry on the world’s first 100 percent SAF transatlantic flight by a commercial airline. It is an honour to support this Virgin Atlantic-led consortium, pushing the boundaries of decarbonisation in aviation.” The SAF used to power the two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is produced by hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) and synthetic aromatic kerosene (SAK) at an 88 percent SAF and 12 percent SAK blend ratio, the release added. The Virgin Atlantic led consortium, jointly funded by the U.K. Department for Transport, includes Rolls Royce, Boeing, University of Sheffield, Imperial College London and Rocky Mountain Institute.

Express distribution and supply chain management company Gati launched a tech-enabled surface transhipment centre and distribution warehouse (STCDW) at Mayasandra, Bengaluru. The launch is a part of the company's plan to build 21 modern, automated and environment-friendly STCDWs. Located at 5.5 kilometre from Bengaluru-Hosur highway at the border of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the STCDW is spread over 3.5 lakh square feet, the company said in a filing to BSE. The STCDW is equipped to deliver daily throughput of 1,600 tonne and monthly throughput of 40,000 tonne. It caters to multiple industries including automotive, apparel, heavy engineering, retail. "The tech-enabled STCDW will pave the way for greater customer centricity at Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India and a key consumption centre of the country," Gati Express and Supply Chain Pvt Ltd (Gati) MD and CEO Pirojshaw Sarkari said.

Atlas Air has ordered two new Boeing 777 freighters that are due to be delivered in the second half of 2024. The company said ongoing strong customer demand for dedicated large widebody airfreight capacity, particularly for cross border e-commerce shipping, prompted it to make the order. The two 777Fs were ordered earlier this quarter. The company most recently ordered four 777Fs in 2021, which are placed on a long-term ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) agreement with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, for use by MSC Air Cargo. Three of these aircraft have been delivered, with the fourth 777F expected to be delivered in December this year. “We are excited to add these aircraft to our leading world-class fleet. These come at a time when retirements of older widebody freighters will significantly increase and when the introduction of new widebody freighter capacity will be limited,” said Michael Steen, chief executive, Atlas Air Worldwide. “We have a deep pipeline of prospective customers interested in these 777 Freighters, and we’re confident in our ability to place them under long-term agreements.”

The state government of Tripura with support from Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India has set up a School of Logistics, Communication and Waterways under the administrative control of SIPARD, Agartala. The prime objective of this centre is to focus on strengthening support to make logistics easy for business, having ultimate goal to reduce the logistics cost. A few of the primary objectives of this School are: (a) Seminars/ workshops with students of colleges/ universities and with the business houses (b) Research studies on present and future prospect of trade and commerce with neighbouring countries and on economic development & logistics. (c) Networking and cross-border exchange (d) Study tour program (e) Reskilling/ up-scaling of the existing manpower (f) Capacity building program on Logistics (g) Entrepreneurship development It is imperative that Tripura, having its unique geo presence in this region, can play a very vital role in cross border trading particularly with Bangladesh not only for the products of Tripura and even for other states of NE region of the country targeting the other countries of South-East Asia. Tripura is now well connected with Air, Road and Railway networks while it is being connected with Chittagong port through Sabroom, and Akhaura very soon.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics is entering into a pioneering partnership with shipzero with the aim of making road transport more sustainable. Germany-based shipzero specialises in measuring and reducing CO2 emissions in global freight transport. “The co-operation builds on a pilot project that has been running successfully since April of this year. As part of the co-operation, shipzero supports the entire data management process and determines the CO2 emissions for Hellmann’s global road business. In doing so, shipzero also includes primary data from external logistics partners in the calculation, thus ensuring that the CO2 measurements are not based on extrapolations and average values – as has been customary in the market to date – but on actual consumption data,” says a release. To determine emission values, data is exchanged between Hellmann and its transport partners via the shipzero platform so that precise Scope 3 emissions are collected per customer, shipment and route section, the release added. “These are then integrated into the calculation of the corporate carbon footprint, external audits and sustainability reports, thus supporting compliance with new regulatory requirements that will come into effect from 2024. The data-based processing and analysis of transport data enables Hellmann to identify specific decarbonisation projects within the supply chain and implement them together with its partners.”