Category Archives: Aviation

The Airforwarders Association (AfA) and the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) are seeking a state or federal-backed Air Cargo Support Fund to tackle the infrastructural crisis facing the U.S. air cargo industry, said release. The recommendations form part of a whitepaper following a major national survey of 400 air cargo stakeholders in the public and private sectors undertaken by the organisations, identifying the critical issues and the airports where the challenges are greatest. Brandon Fried, Executive Director, AfA said, “With airports and airlines experiencing substantial revenue shortfalls over the past two years, the situation is becoming critical with potentially severe impacts on the economy and jobs throughout the country. Because of the lagging financials, airports will be allocating the monies of the Infrastructure Act to passengers, security, and safety, leaving insufficient funds to sustain air cargo operations. Additional funding, specifically dedicated to air cargo, is urgently needed.”

To introduce and manage the cargo capacity digitally, Italian National carrier, ITA Airways Cargo has collaborated with cargo.one, marketplace for digital air cargo bookings. “Thousands of freight forwarders throughout the world will have far better access to ITA Airways Cargo’s capacity into and within Italy. Cargo.one, the airline’s first digital sales channel for air cargo, will provide the airline with an industry-leading methodology that assures clients have a superior and smooth digital booking experience,” said an official release. The launch demonstrates cargo.one’s breadth and variety of supply possibilities for forwarders. “Digital distribution expansion, together with quality and sustainability, is a major strategic pillar of ITA Airways Cargo’s development plan, speeding the transformation of air cargo management processes, systems, and culture. ITA Airways Cargo strives to increase its value offering through digital connection, creating an offer that provides clients with quality services quickly and with even more control over their shipments,” added release.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious master plan, Gati Shakti and the recently launched National Logistic Policy are fully focused on reducing logistics cost and enhancing logistics efficiency. Gati Shakti is also facilitating the development of multimodal transportation infrastructure across the country. Focus has been on improving infra and integrating all the sectors like rail, road, ports, airports, civil aviation, power, and telecom etc, said Amrit Lal Meena, Special Secretary Logistics, Department of Commerce, Government of India, while addressing the symposium organised by the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) themed, ‘National Logistics Policy – Embracing Opportunities.’ “The logistics sector has witnessed an enormous push in the last few years, the capital expenditure has gone up to four times. National Logistic Policy targets to improve the logistics efficiency through 100 per cent digitization, standardization of warehousing, human resources, skilled manpower, focusing on the EXIM trade and by bringing all the states together,” he added. Focusing on the multimodal connectivity, he further added that, economic zones is the mandate under PM Gati Shakti. “The target is to facilitate logistics efficiency so that all the Economic zones do not face any kind of disruption. As part of Gati Shakti and NLP, all the ministries are implementing very high scale and volume projects to improve the interest.”

Mammoth Freighters LLC has signed a General Terms Agreement with STS Aviation Services (STS) to perform passenger-to-freighter conversions for the Mammoth 777 program. All work will be accomplished at STS’s facility in Manchester, UK, and the multi-year agreement covers both the 777-200LR and 777-300ER aircraft. “Ensuring that we have the right modification capacity in place around the world to meet the robust demand for the Mammoth 777 freighter program is vital to our success. STS has the experience, knowledge, capability, and, most importantly, the high-quality reputation that we look for in an MRO partner. We are excited to have STS on our team and look forward to a productive, long-term relationship,” said Mammoth’s Senior Vice President of Operations, David Steinmetz. The STS facility will also provide Mammoth with AOG, product support, and spares provisioning throughout Europe. STS acquired the Manchester facility earlier this year as part of its expansion efforts, and this constitutes its third facility in the UK. Mammoth will begin inducting 777 aircraft for modification at the facility in mid-2024.

Airbus has utilised one of its five-strong BelugaST aircraft, based on the A300-600 design to deliver the Airbus-built Hotbird 13G satellite for Eutelsat to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida, said an official release. This milestone marks the first time since 2009 that A BelugaST has visited the US – when it transported the International Space Station European module ‘Tranquility’. For this latest mission, the BelugaST used 30% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for its departure flight from Toulouse, France. The flight followed the successful launch of the twin Hotbird 13F satellite by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The spacecraft are the first members of the new “Eurostar Neo” family of Airbus telecommunications satellites, based on a next-generation platform and technologies developed with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), and others, including the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA). Airbus launched a new air cargo service using its five-strong BelugaST fleet, based on the A300-600 design, to help meet outsized freight transportation needs in January, the release added.

Qatar Airways Cargo, Qatar Aviation Services (QAS) Cargo and Siemens Logistics have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote close cooperation in digitalising cargo handling processes. The collaborative project is due to deploy the latest in data analytics applications and predictive maintenance. Planned activities under the MoU include joint workshops, mutual site visits, and technical assistance training, said release. “Artificial intelligence, machine learning and senseful data usage are becoming increasingly important within airfreight handling,” said Michael Reichle, chief executive of Siemens Logistics. “We are excited to work with Qatar Airways Cargo and QAS Cargo in a forward-looking collaboration to jointly achieve results that will strengthen operational efficiency in demanding cargo processes.” Guillaume Halleux, chief officer cargo, Qatar Airways Group also said, “Our aim at Qatar Airways Group is to further implement digitally advanced, innovative cargo solutions to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from an even more sustainable and seamless operating environment. For this, Siemens Logistics is our clear choice as an experienced technology partner. With the signing of the MoU for digitalisation, we are preparing for the challenges to come.”

Latvia-based SmartLynx Airlines has expanded its fleet with the addition of four A321Fs to grow operations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The additional freighters will bring SmartLynx’s fleet to a total of 15 active aircraft of this type by H1, 2023, with a plan to expand up to 20 by the end of the year, said release. All four A321Fs – MSN 941, 961, 1185, and 1241 are part of a sales-leaseback agreement with Aero Capital Solutions, Inc. (ACS) and will be registered in Malta after the conversion. The passenger-to-freighter conversions are being undertaken by Precision Aircraft Solutions (Precision) and Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), the release added. Zygimantas Surintas, CEO of SmartLynx Airlines said, “The current demand for this type of aircraft is very high – even higher than the conversion capacity, and we are happy to be one of the first airlines to believe in the program and secure multiple P2F conversion slots. I can admit that at the beginning there were doubts if it was the right move for SmartLynx, but from today`s perspective, taking that risk and diversifying our business portfolio with cargo operations has proven to be the right choice. In addition to tapping into a market that has grown during the pandemic, the addition of freight business helps offset the seasonal issues that ACMI operators typically face.”

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of the new terminal building of Gwalior Airport in the presence of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Minister for Civil Aviation & Steel Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar. The design of the new terminal is based on the needs of the future. The current airport has a runway can accommodate A-320 and ATR-72 types of aircraft. The new terminal building will be developed on a land of 172 acres, at the cost of Rs 450+ crore, which is 6 times more than the present 29 acres of land. The apron will have a parking capacity of 13 aircraft, which is 4 times higher than the current capacity. Apart from this, a cargo terminal will also be established to promote regional industries, which will help local production of the region reach every corner of the country and abroad. In his inaugural address, Shah appreciated the work of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and said that the way this airport has been planned it will be one of the best airports of the country. In the development of the new terminal building, technologies like rainwater harvesting and solar energy will be used to protect the environment. A 2.5 MW solar power plant will also be commissioned.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) selects SITA OptiClimb, a digital inflight prescriptive analytics tool for fuel optimisation, to support the carrier’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. By deploying SITA OptiClimb, the airline is able to optimise fuel utilisation during the aircraft’s climb-out phase. The unique solution combines aircraft tail-specific machine-learning models with 4D weather forecasts to recommend customised climb speeds at different altitudes. It leverages historical flight data to predict fuel burn in different flight scenarios and recommends optimised climb profiles on a user-friendly interface for pilots, said reports.  According to official statement, “It is estimated that airlines can derive fuel savings of up to 5% during climb-out on each flight, with around 5.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided annually if every airline worldwide uses SITA OptiClimb.”

Ethiopian Airlines Group has completed the first passenger-to-freighter conversion of one of its three B767 aircraft, said reports. Ethiopian partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to launch a B767-300ER freighter conversion line at Ethiopian MRO facilities in Addis Ababa last year. The conversion of the aircraft, introduced into the airline’s fleet in 2004, will boost Ethiopian’s cargo shipment capacity. In partnership with IAI, Ethiopian started the full conversion of the B767 aircraft early this year. Meanwhile, the conversion of the second aircraft has reached an essential stage of door cutting and will be completed in few months. Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive Mesfin Tasew said, “We are thrilled to collaborate with Israel Aerospace Industries and become the first African carrier to successfully complete the passenger-to-cargo conversion of B767 aircraft.” He added, “As a fast-growing airline, our partnership with IAI, one of the global technology leaders in the Aerospace industry, is crucial in technology and skill transfer in the field of maintenance, repair and overhaul.”