IndiGo Airlines is planning to set up a cargo facility at Vijayawada and at other important airports in Andhra Pradesh. Giridharan Srinivasan, Regional Director (South), said four dedicated cargo aircraft will be introduced shortly, the first one from October which will be linked to AP airports also. In a seminar organised by the AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation on improvement of air cargo facilities at airports in the State, he said that IndiGo had a dedicated cargo facility at the Rajamahendravaram airport, which was operational before COVID. The airline planned its resumption, and it would be available for exporters. The cargo facility at the Visakhapatnam International Airport was customs-notified, from where cargo is exported directly by IndiGo to 27 overseas destinations after necessary customs clearances.

The cargo facility at the Chandigarh International Airport (CHIAL) is likely to be completed in a month’s time. As per reports, all the approvals have been okayed by CHIAL and Airport Authority of India Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited (AAICLAS) and both are closing the agreement. Decks have been cleared to fully operationalise the cargo facility. The decision to sign a pact with the AAICLAS was finalised at the CHIAL Board meeting recently, said reports. Rakesh Ranjan Sahay, CEO, CHIAL said, “The three-acre facility inside the airport will be handed over to the AAICLAS and it will be up and about in a month’s time. Once operationalised, the cargo facility will add a new dimension to the airport. We will provide the covered structure and install the set-up and operationalise it.” He added, “With this, the current capacity of 20 tonne is set to increase to 80 tonne in the coming days. A full-fledged cargo facility operational at the airport will give a fillip to the businesses of industrialists and exporters of Punjab. Vegetables, fruits, and pharma houses in HP will also gain.” 

As per DHL’s recent Airfreight State of the Industry report, demand for air freight is still low, but capacity is rising. The report cites few factors for the poor demand, including inflation and diminished spending power. Despite “remaining softer” volumes, they are stable after the highest reduction witnessed in July. The impact of e-commerce on air cargo volumes is “mild but persistent”. However, DHL Global Forwarding stated in a LinkedIn post about the research that a volume rise during the approaching peak season is unlikely because of the report’s low export orders and high inventories. Additionally, the Ukraine-Russia war continues to impact the industry, while improving conditions in sea freight is reducing demand for airfreight. 

To ensure high quality combined products and services to fulfil the needs of global customers, Senator International and Maersk Air Services have now started to integrate their service offerings. The first integration involved the introduction of a brand-new ‘SAB’ product that offered weekly round-trip airfreight services from Liege, Belgium, to Hong Kong. Maersk and Senator are working together to promote the launch of this innovative own-controlled flight. More solutions are anticipated to be released soon as Maersk pushes its aim to become the go-to global integrator by leveraging its sizeable FCL customer base.

WIZ Freight inaugurates logistics Tech and R&D Centre in Chennai on Wednesday. Ramkumar Ramachandran, Co-Founder & Chairman and Ramkumar Govindarajan, Co-Founder & CEO, WIZ Freight inaugurated the centre. This is the largest R&D centre in Asia dedicated to cross-border shipping technology. The centre will develop cutting-edge tech solutions for cross-border shipping industry using AI, ML, blockchain, IoT, web & mobile applications, and big data capabilities to improve critical functions such as ETA prediction, routing, end to end visibility, digitization of shipping documentation, warehousing management, and business insights. WIZ Freight Tech and R&D Centre, at an initial capital expenditure of Rs 30 crore, will facilitate tech-enabled innovation in the shipping industry to reduce shipping costs, offer accurate end-to-end visibility, enable better upstream and downstream supply chain planning & execution, and minimise carbon footprint. The company is committed to spending Rs 300 crore over the next three years on R&D. 

Paving way for speedy transportation of commercial goods through air, the cargo terminal at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport here is likely to be ready by December, said AAI. The facility is likely to boost the industry and provide access to domestic markets. About 90 per cent of the construction work has been completed on the two-storey building. The new facility will be four times bigger than the existing cargo complex. The area of the existing cargo block is 3,600 square feet, while the new building is being built over an area of 15,000 square feet. Laced with the latest technology and equipment the G +2 cargo terminal will be operational at the airport by 2023. An AAI official said the facility will have cold room refeer van, weighing scale, X-ray machines door frame metal detectors scissors lips palette, and high security apparatus. The building will be equipped with CCTVs for 24X7 monitoring, he added. KS Vijayan, GM, Projects AAI Patna said in a statement, “We are hopeful that the new complex will become operational by March 2023.”

An MoU has been signed between National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) for the development of multimodal logistics parks in the presence of Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Cabinet Minister of AYUSH and General VK Singh, Union MoS and Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways. “The Government of India approved the development of 35 multimodal logistics parks under Bharatmala Pariyojana to centralise freight consolidation and reduce logistics cost,” Gadkari said. “Providing seamless modal shift, MMLPs will ensure that cargo is swapped/shifted from and to waterways, dedicated freight corridors and road transport,” he added.

“We are focusing on developing into an Integrated Logistics Service Provider, and we are bolstering our Strategic Business Unit (SBU) for the same. It does not matter if it is transportation and distribution, 3PL/4PL business, global freight forwarding, or customs clearance. In the next two years, we have plans to build 4.5 million sq. ft. of additional Grade A+ warehouse space across numerous locations. Most of the facilities are projected to begin operations within the next 12 months as construction on these logistics and industrial parks is moving forward at full speed,” said CV Kumar, CEO, CCI Logistics.

ATA Freight has invested in new technologies to increase the quality it offers to its global customers with an effective and efficient transportation approach than traditional transportation. Erkan Aksoy, General Manager, ATA Freight Türkey said the transportation solutions will be specific to the textile industry and the digitalisation journey of the company. “ATA Freight has significant experience in the storage, packaging, repackaging and transportation of textiles, carpets, electronics, shoes, and food products; disclosed that they can transport with hanger containers and trucks adapted for textile industry. We offer special warehouse solutions for the textile industry,” Aksoy added. 

TILOG Virtual Exhibition 2022 (TILOG VE 2022), ASEAN’s first most comprehensive logistics virtual exhibition which links Thai and International Logistics Service Providers is all set to begin from August 24 and conclude on 26. Organised by the Department of International Trade Promotion, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand, www.tillog-ve.com is the platform connecting Thai and global logistics key players thereby strengthening the competitiveness of Thai logistics professionals and expanding business network.  International logistics providers, foreign buyer and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to discover and experience the innovative products from Thailand’s logistics industry. These include five catering namely Packing, Material Handling, Warehouse and Loading, Logistics IT and E-logistics and Transportation and Logistics Services.