A shift in consumer spending and higher prices led to air cargo demand decline amongst Asia Pacific airlines in June. Preliminary June 2023 traffic figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) found air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), declined by 8.1% year on year. Capacity rose by 0.7%, leading to a 5.9 percentage point fall in the average international freight load factor to 60.7% for the month. Meanwhile, global trade activity was muted with the ongoing declines in new export orders, said the AAPA. The easing in container shipping rates relative to air freight rates further discouraged demand for air shipments. Subhas Menon, AAPA director general said, “In the first half of the year, the number of international passengers carried by Asian airlines quadrupled to a combined total of 120 million, boosted by the upsurge in leisure and business travel demand, as the region’s economies emerge strongly from the pandemic.” “During the same period, the region’s carriers posted a 10% decline in air cargo demand. A myriad of factors, including a post-pandemic shift in spending from goods to services and higher merchandise prices, weighed on global air cargo markets.”

Hawaiian Airlines has received the first of 10 freighters that it will operate for e-commerce giant Amazon. The airline’s president and chief executive, Peter Ingram said, the A330-300 converted aircraft is situated at its headquarters in Honolulu and is due to start operating in October. “Earlier this month, the first A330-300 freighter that we will operate for Amazon arrived in Honolulu,” said Ingram. “Over the next few months, we’ll use the aircraft for employee familiarization work. “This is the first of 10 freighter aircraft we will be inducting over the course of the next 1.5 years providing us a new and diversified stream of revenue that will begin to ramp more materially in 2024.”

GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) announced a new route for its road feeder services from Pune to Hyderabad. The road feeder service will boost the trade from the Pune region and is home to eight major industrial areas nearby. The road feeder service will benefit multiple industries in and around areas in Pune and Pune City Industrial to name a few. Initially, the service will cater to cargo from industries like automobiles, engineering, and pharmaceuticals among others. GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo has a Unique, integrated ‘Cargo Village’ featuring a cargo terminal, on-site regulators, and warehousing and cargo trade offices. It is supported by robost Road Feeder Service covering South-Central India. It is also one of the preferred gateway for pharmaceutical logistics across India and abroad. A major highlight of the Hyderabad Airport Cargo facility is the unique ‘Pharma Zone’ which includes a large multi-ULD Cool Dolly. With this addition, it makes the facility one of India’s largest centres for the handling of temperature- sensitive cargo up to -20 degrees centigrade. Furthermore, the terminal also offers one of India’s largest fleets of modern temp-controlled Cool Containers including Cool Dolly, Envirotainer and VaQtec among others.

IndoSpace recently leased 3 lakh sq. ft. of warehousing space to Kerry Indev Logistics. The facility, which occupies a space of 3 lakh sq. ft. is built exclusively for supporting Mitsubishi Electric India’s (air conditioning business) operations. The 3PL logistics provider has a well-established tenant portfolio including key OEMs from automotive and electronics manufacturing across India. The logistics park is situated within the industrial ecosystem provided by Sri City, renowned for its strategic location and world-class infrastructure. Rajesh Jaggi, Vice Chairman – Real Estate, Everstone Group, said, “We are deeply honoured to continue being the partner of choice for Kerry Indev Logistics. This renewed association is a testament to the trust they place in our capabilities, and we will continue to innovate and provide best-in-class solutions to all our partners and operate with the highest governance.” Xavier Britto, Chairman, Kerry Indev Logistics, said “We are excited to extend our partnership with IndoSpace offering Grade A assets and having a robust presence across India. The facility aligns with our mission to provide top-notch logistics and warehousing solutions to our clients. This facility, strategically located at Sri City, coupled with an ideal infrastructure, will enhance our operational efficiency, thereby enabling us to match customer expectations.”

V-Logis opens its state-of-the-art warehouse facility at Bhiwandi. Strategically located on the Mumbai Nashik highway and near the newly opened Nagpur Mumbai Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, this facility provides the best-in-class storage solution to clients nationwide. Covering a vast area of 1,25,000 square feet with an impressive clear height of 45 feet, this warehouse is specifically designed to cater to the evolving needs of modern logistics and distribution. The location holds immense significance as it lies along the 701-km Nagpur Mumbai Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, passing through Vadape in Bhiwandi. Additionally, the proposed Virar Alibaug Multimodal Corridor and Vadodara Mumbai Highway will soon offer a robust road network, further enhancing the connectivity of the region to various parts of the country. Key features of this facility include a pre-engineered building (PEB) shed structure, ensuring durability and flexibility, and FM-2 flooring with a load capacity of 8MT per sq meter. The warehouses are compliant with international standards, providing Grade A facilities that guarantee top-notch quality and reliability. Ensuring superior safety measures, the warehouse has received MMRDA approval and Fire NOC. This is equipped with essential safety features, including Water Hydrant, K-series sprinklers, and a 4 lakh-liter water tank.

Qatar Airways Cargo has implemetned PROS’ Smart Price Optimization and Management solution to offer customers real-time pricing on its booking platform. The real-time pricing engine offers immediate online booking confirmation and personalised pricing using artificial intelligence on the cargo airline’s Digital Lounge platform. Customers can price and book cargo shipments without the need to call or email the sales team directly, the airline said. The PROS solution will also connect with online booking portals where the carrier offers its services, such as WebCargo, CargoAi and cargo.one. “PROS real-time pricing engine provides a highly accurate, scalable pricing capability that directly translates to a reliable and responsive buying experience for our customers,” said Florent Bonello, vice president cargo revenue management at Qatar Airways Cargo. “As a next phase of our implementation, we are seamlessly integrating PROS Smart Configure Price Quote within our sales ecosystem, so that we can quickly manage and deliver omnichannel quoting across our spot, contract and allotment sales.”

DANX Carousel has invested in aircraft manufacturer ELECTRON as the company looks to develop an electric freighter. The Electron 5 aircraft is designed to transport 500 kg of cargo around 500 km on a single battery charge and can achieve speeds of up to 300km per hour. “With its requirement for relatively short runways, the Electron 5 provides access to five times more European Union (EU) airports compared to larger freight aircraft used today, enabling cargo to be flown directly on the shortest point-to-point route and bypassing congested logistics hubs,” the two companies said in a press release. The aircraft is due to hit the market in 2027, with Carousel aiming to add them to their fleet within the next five years. DANX Carousel group chief solutions officer Lars Ryssel said, “The ability to launch and land closer to our pick-up and delivery points will cut down on journey lengths, allowing us to offer customers later cut-off times and better serve hard-to-reach areas. Moving away from the traditional hub-and-spoke distribution of air cargo to a point-to-point model means we can avoid congestion at busy airports. Based on our analysis, we believe that small planes are set to outperform conventional aircraft fuelled by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and hybrid aircraft in cost per kilogram, transit time, and carbon emissions.”

Vaibhav Vohra, Managing Director, Continental Carriers says, “We recognize the cyber security risks faced by freight forwarders in an increasingly digital business landscape. To address these issues, we have implemented several measures like we provide regular cyber security training to employees to educate them on best practices for data security and help them identify potential threats. We have installed secure networks and systems to protect against cyber attacks, including firewalls, encryption, and other security measures. Regular system updates and maintenance can help ensure that systems are up to date with the latest security patches and protected against known vulnerabilities. We ensure that third-party vendors and suppliers meet their cyber security standards and requirements. Our incident response plan is always in place to respond to any cyber attacks quickly and effectively that occur, minimizing damage and reducing downtime.”

Air India is gearing up to play a key role in boosting the freight and cargo ecosystem in India and globally. The belly capacity of the Air India fleet will grow significantly over the next few years, with the addition of new wide-body aircraft to its fleet this year and with most aircraft on firm order set to arrive from 2025, complementing India’s manufacturing and export growth. This will have a cascading effect in generating greater employment prospects and boosting various business sectors, while supporting the economy. The firm orders comprising wide-body aircraft of 34 A350-1000, six A350-900, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and 10 Boeing 777X wide-body aircraft will increase Air India’s annual cargo capacity by a staggering 300% to 2 million tonnes over the next five years with non-stop connection to key export markets globally. Air India CEO and MD, Campbell Wilson, said, “At Air India, we see a huge potential in the air cargo industry, which the Indian Government plans to grow to 10 million tonnes by 2030. Our cargo division is implementing a series of strategic measures aimed at fostering growth and strengthening our market presence. The large passenger belly capacity addition will be augmented with the launch of value-added products and services across the network.” The following significant all-round initiatives across various spectrum of the operational and logistics matrix that will see Air India play a significant role in the air cargo arena.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is moving forward with a plan to develop cargo facilities that will help it improve ground handling capacity and efficiency. Airport authority, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has selected a development team led by LAX Community Partners, LLC (LACP), and an environmental, technical and expert consultant team led by Ricondo & Associates, Inc. to deliver the work. “In addition to being the busiest passenger origination and destination airport, LAX also is a key transportation centre for global cargo and a critical hub for domestic and international commerce,” said Justin Erbacci, LAWA chief executive. “This project will provide more technically advanced and efficient cargo facilities and capabilities that will allow LAX to better power the economic vitality for the City of Los Angeles and greater Southern California region.”