Category Archives: Aviation

According to a latest report by Trade And Transport Group titled, India Air Cargo Outlook 2023, “The Indian air cargo market generated 2.2 million tonnes of traffic-1/5th the size of China’s and about 1/10th the size of the U.S. air cargo market – with about 30 per cent of the traffic generated on the domestic and the remainder on the international sectors. “Around 90 per cent of international traffic is carried by non-Indian carriers with Gulf-based carriers as well as Aerologic (operating for Lufthansa Cargo and DHL), Cathay and Turkish being the most important.” Cargo handled across Indian airports may touch 2.4-2.5 million tonnes in 2023 even as passenger/belly capacity comes back, says Frederic Horst, Managing Director, Trade and Transport Group. “With 5-6 Indian conglomerates investing abroad, the India link is always going to be strong. So, India is in a good position as far as trade is concerned.” International cargo traffic has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels but domestic traffic has, driven by express, e-commerce as well as general freight traffic, the report said. Five Indian carriers now operate freighters. “Three of these – IndiGo, Quikjet and Pradhaan Air Express – commenced operations in the last 12 months using narrow body freighters.” Five carriers are in various stages of start-up “but the Indian air cargo landscape is littered with just as many failed airlines.” The largest carrier in the Indian market is currently Aerologic (14 percent) followed by Qatar Airways (12 percent), Emirates (12 percent), Air India/Air India Express (8 percent) and Cathay Pacific (7 percent). Turkish Airlines has increased its share to about 5 percent of the market. (In the case of Aerologic, there has been a …

LATAM Cargo has received its 17th freighter to strengthen its cargo offering. The Boeing B767-300F has been converted from LATAM’s passenger fleet, said the carrier. Another six B767Fs are due next year. LATAM has also expanded its belly capacity in South America. LATAM Airlines Brazil will begin operating a Sao Paulo/Guarulhos-Passo Fundo route with daily flights from March 28. Plus, LATAM Airlines Colombia will begin daily Bogota-Riohacha flights from March 28. LATAM Cargo also recently added a new freighter service between North and South America to target flower volumes in the region. This freighter service will operate between Ecuador, Brazil and the US, calling: Quito, Los Angeles, Houston, Manaus and Viracopos. The service will initially operate twice weekly, but will increase to four rotations later this year when new freighters are added. At the end of October, LATAM Cargo and partner DSV increased freighter flights from Huntsville International Airport in Alabama to Viracopos in Brazil from one to three weekly frequencies. The partners are utilising a B767-300F as they look to capitalise on demand to South America. This came shortly after the carrier had taken delivery of its 16th freighter.

Global Crossing Airlines Group (GlobalX) has reached an agreement to lease an additional A321 Passenger to Freighter (P2F) aircraft for delivery in December this year. The carrier received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration for cargo operations in February and commenced flights with its first A321P2F aircraft in the same month, said release. “We are pleased to be able to add an additional A321F to our delivery schedule for 2023. We expect now to take delivery of a total of six A321Fs this year, including the first freighter (N410GX) which entered revenue service in February,” said Ed Wegel, chair and chief executive of GlobalX. Previously a passenger ACMI and charter airline, Miami-based GlobalX said in February it expected its second A321P2F to arrive by mid-March and its third A321P2F to be delivered in May. However, the company now expects its second A321P2F to arrive in April. “We expect delivery of our second A321F in mid April, and that aircraft has been completely booked by our cargo clients for the next 12 months,” said Wegel. The company plans on acquiring 25 freighters in total, which will equal the number of passenger charter aircraft in the fleet. Wegel added: “We continue work on the certification of GlobalX Colombia which will operate the A321F and expect to enter phase 3 of that certification by May, 2023.” The first A321P2F aircraft was converted by ST Engineering and delivered to Miami International Airport (MIA) in December. The A321P2F has a capacity of 14 upper deck and 10 lower deck containers, which is 55% more containerised volume than the Boeing B737-800 freighter and 14% more containerised volume than the B757-200F, said GlobalX. GlobalX serves the …

DP World and Grupo Puntacana have partnered to develop a new air cargo logistics hub in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, boosting the country’s position as the largest trade and logistics centre in the Caribbean. “The new facility is being created through an agreement between DP World and the Punta Cana Free Trade Zone (PCFTZ), a company of Grupo Puntacana,” says a release from DP World. “It will include a new logistics centre and infrastructure platforms capable of supporting multimodal air, land and sea cargo. Operations are expected to commence in late second quarter 2023.” The logistics centre will harness DP World’s extensive Dominican Republic multimodal cargo management experience and world-class standards for handling logistics operations globally as well as the high connectivity of the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) to global distribution centres, the release added. DP World began operations in the Dominican Republic in 2003 at its port facility at the Punta Caucedo peninsula, a strategic place for the redistribution of cargo to the Caribbean, the United States, Central America and South America.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo is launching a new structure for its products that offers various levels of speed and priority across the portfolio. The new structure means that when customers select one of the cargo divisions products – General, Courier, Fresh, Pharma, Valuable, Vulnerable, Cars, mail, and Custom – they will also be able to select from three service levels: Classic, Priority, and Express. Classic is the entry service level, Priority includes preferred access to space and guarantees delivery on time and Express offers the fastest solution, with the shortest close-out times and highest priority. Sean Cruse, manager of commercial development at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “The logistics space is evolving quickly around how our customers want to interact, and the operational requirements needed to efficiently transport goods around the world, which is why it is important to us to provide our customers with more choice so they can move cargo, their way. “This new structure will help our customers understand the range of capabilities we can offer across our network and allow for a tailored movement based on their exact requirements. “It also acts as our foundation for continuous improvement, where we will be reviewing and developing our offering based on customers feedback through our established Customer Survey programme.” The development follows the airline’s recent cargo management system upgrade to Accelya’s latest SkyChain solution. Maria Sanchez-Grant, head of distribution at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “As we continue our digital transformation journey, this change in our products allows us to provide an intuitive experience across any channel for our customers. Having this as our foundation allows us to continually develop and enhance what we do to further improve our offering.” The …

Allcargo Group is strengthening its ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) framework and accelerating its initiatives. The priority for Allcargo Group is to ensure that its businesses across the world have a common, robust framework for their ESG initiatives at different stages of evolution to create sustained outcomes whilst strengthening the group’s commitment to environment and societies. It has engaged KPMG Assurance and Consulting Services LLP to assist in laying the foundational framework for ESG strategy and formulating the milestone goals. Due to the group’s global presence and for automating ESG reporting along with the requisite digital tools for tracking as well as driving ESG programs it has roped in GovEVA. The GovEVA ESG software is a unique technology which combines leading-edge, AI-enabled automation and domain-rich content that accelerates an organizations’ ESG journey. The Group’s ambitious ESG strategy will be governed by a core group, including senior leadership from across its offices in the world, led by Suresh Kumar R, CEO of Allcargo Logistics India. A comprehensive roadmap for the Group to achieve its ESG and sustainability goals is being created. To further understand how ESG could be integrated into the group’s business, over 300 senior leadership team members have been trained through an immersive program by NITIE (National Institute of Industrial Engineering). “We are reimagining our existing business models and believe that for sustainable growth ESG has to be integral and embedded in our business strategy. To scale up our ESG agenda further we have embarked on our journey of building a diverse workforce while nurturing the community we live in. Our ultimate focus with the ESG strategy is to help us in positioning for continued success, while supporting our …

An initiative will be taken to start cargo flights from Maharaja Agrasen Airport in Hisar, Haryana for exporting fruits and vegetables to the Arab countries, said Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar while addressing an event. “New experiments are being done to increase the income of farmers. The government has also formed the Export Promotion Council. Besides, an initiative will be taken to start cargo flights from Maharaja Agrasen Airport in the coming time, so that fresh fruits and vegetables grown by state farmers can be exported to the Arab countries,” said the CM. He also stressed on the need for starting a new agricultural revolution. “We are ready to give every possible encouragement and support to these universities so as to ensure that the said research work is smoothly carried out. This desired research work will not only ensure reduction in agricultural cost but will also improve the quality of crops produced, which will further play a pivotal role in increasing the income of the farmers,” said Khattar. The CM urged the scientists working at the agricultural universities of the state to conduct research on the subject for adopting best ways to get a high yield at minimum cost. The focus should be on improving the variety of seeds. Also, the marketing board should make proper arrangements for the marketing of food grains, said Khattar. He once again highlighted that because of the constant exploitation of water, the underground water level is going down. Farmers should adopt sowing cash crops including fruits, flowers, vegetables, along with shifting to beekeeping, animal husbandry and fisheries, he said. “We also have to ensure optimum usage of water…for this micro irrigation has to …

Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Prime Minister, Saudi Arabia and Chairman, Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced the establishment of Riyadh Air, a wholly-owned company of PIF. According to an official release, “The new national carrier will leverage Saudi Arabia’s strategic geographic location between the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, enabling Riyadh to become a gateway to the world and a global destination for transportation, trade, and tourism. Riyadh Air will be chaired by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF while Tony Douglas, who brings more than 40 years of experience in the aviation, transportation and logistics industries, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. The airline’s senior management will include Saudi and international expertise, the report added. With Riyadh as its hub, “the airline will usher in a new era for the travel and aviation industry globally. Riyadh Air will be a world-class airline, adopting the global best sustainability and safety standards across its advanced fleet of aircraft equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology. The airline is expected to add $20 billion to non-oil GDP growth, and create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs.” The new national airline represents PIF’s latest investment in the sector along with the recently announced King Salman International Airport master plan, the release added. “Riyadh Air aims to enhance customers’ journey while connecting them to over 100 destinations around the world by 2030 through offering an exceptional experience with authentic, warm Saudi hospitality at its heart.”

CargoAi onboards its first Australasia carrier with Air NZ Cargo’s capacity now live on CargoAi’s digital marketplace (CargoMART). Air NZ Cargo will be offering its capacity from USA and Canada into New Zealand and Australia. “We are proud to be the marketplace of choice that Air NZ has chosen to commence its digital offering with. With our shared vision of transforming the air cargo landscape, we are looking forward to bringing the best digital booking experience that CargoMART offers to our joint customers,” says Matt Petot, CEO of CargoAi. Freight forwarders in USA and Canada can book general and express cargo instantaneously on all Air NZ Cargo routes. Users of CargoMART benefit from searching for real-time schedules, bulk quoting, e-Booking, the ability to Track and Trace each shipment, as well CargoAi’s Cargo2ZERO sustainable features to support the air cargo industry’s decarbonization mission. “We are pleased to be partnering with CargoAi as Air New Zealand Cargo looks to expand our customer base within the North American market. While we enjoy a strong presence from the ports where we operate direct flights, the sheer size of the U.S. and Canadian markets dictates we embrace platforms that expand our commercial reach. CargoAi will provide us the tools necessary to effectively offer cargo solutions to these customers for their everyday transportation needs into New Zealand and Australia,” said Brooke Roberts, Sales Manager, North America from Air NZ Cargo.

US-based express cargo carrier Mountain Air Cargo has launched its first ATR 72-600 freighter. The ATR 72-600F made its debut on March 6, flying from New Bern, North Carolina to Raleigh, North Carolina. Mountain Air Cargo said, “We are excited to provide containerised service that comes with the versatility of the new aircraft!” In August last year, Mountain Air Cargo requested US Department of Transportation (DOT) authorisation to operate large aircraft and in its application stated it planned to add an ATR-72-600F freighter to its fleet that would be used in interstate and foreign charter cargo operations under contract with FedEx. Based in Denver, North Carolina, AirT subsidiary Mountain Air Cargo provides flight and maintenance services in the eastern half of the US and the Caribbean Islands. According to last year’s US DOT application document, Mountain Air Cargo holds a 14 CFR Part 135 certificate and a 14 CFR Part 121 certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and operates 25 Cessna Caravans, 9 ATR-42s, and 9 ATR-72s on cargo flights in the US and the Caribbean, under a dry-lease agreement it has had with FedEx since 1980. Mountain Air Cargo states that it is one of seven feeder air carriers for Fedex in the US. The company also owns a 14 CFR Part 145 Repair Station in Kinston, North Carolina and performs maintenance work for itself and other commercial and government air carriers.