Category Archives: Aviation

Swissport is all set to open a new air cargo centre at Chubu Centrair International Airport as it seeks to meet growth in Japan’s Tokai region. The new facility is on the north side of International Cargo Warehouse 1 at the airport and will open on November 1. It measures 2,500 sq m and has further potential to expand. Offered at the facility is the full range of air cargo handling services: import, export, including general cargo, cool chain and e-commerce. Stephan Kaeser, director and chief operating officer of Swissport Japan, said, “We are very pleased to announce the opening of our third international cargo warehouse in Japan. It has been our long-time goal to open an international cargo centre at Central Japan International Airport ever since we started our cargo operations at Narita and Kansai International Airport 11 years ago.”

Uzbekistan logistics firm, My Freighter has taken delivery of its first Boeing B747-200F freighter and has plans to add five more as it looks to capitalise on Tashkent as an airfreight hub. The aircraft was delivered on October 23 to Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport after departing from Jakarta, Indonesia where it had undergone refurbishment and technical checks. According to company’s0 official statement, “The new aircraft will enable My Freighter to capitalise on the growing position of Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, as an airfreight hub.” The aircraft will be used to launch services between China and Southeast Asia and Europe and the US, with Tashkent acting as a hub. The company added that it would soon purchase five more B747 freighters as part of plans to expand its fleet to 20 aircraft within the next five years. Abdulaziz Abdurakhmonov, chief executive, My Freighter said, “When we established My Freighter in 2019, we had set a goal to turn Uzbekistan into a centre for international cargo transportation. We are working to create an ‘air freight Silk Road,’ taking advantage of Uzbekistan’s geographic position between China and Europe. An analysis of the trends makes clear that Uzbekistan’s airfreight market will grow exponentially over the next five years.”

Parvinder Singh, Managing Director, Hans Infomatic said, “GST for airfreight is 18% and ocean freight is 5%. Now per kilo, the rate of ocean freight is much less than the airfreight. So there’s less tax burden. For sea freight forwarders’, it will be very miniscule but for air cargo sector, its huge. The forwarders can take reimbursements, but it will be reimbursed in three to four months’ time. So, the working capital will be blocked and also everyone cannot claim the taxes back from the government. With high airfreight rates and working capital under pressure, the deployment of capital will be a big challenge. Only big freight forwarding companies will be able to handle it and survive.”

DHL Express has opened RM10.8 million (approx. EUR 2.35 million) Johor Gateway facility located within the Senai Airport City industrial park. Spanning over 6,000 sqm of warehouse space, the facility is more than twice the size of its predecessor and will support robust trade growth in Malaysia’s southern region. According to the official release, the new Johor Gateway comes equipped with a high-speed conveyor system capable of sorting up to 1,900 shipments per hour. This offers improved shipment processing for the more than 1,800 parcels and documents bound for and coming from the facility’s busiest trade lanes, namely the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, China, and Japan. The faster transit times make for an uptick in service quality for customers in Johor and Singapore.

Air cargo is witnessing growth but at relatively slow pace. The growth is expected to continue. Even today major shipping lines are investing heavily in aircraft which is a proof that the Air cargo industry is progressing,” said M Afzal Malbarwala, Founder, Galaxy Freight and President, Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI). There is a perception of a market down trending in Americas & Europe. We however see stable volumes month on month out of India and we believe the Asian markets are still strong inspite of the tremendous focus on China and associated challenges therein. Making space available at competitive rates, ability to deliver to fixed schedules still remain as base growth drivers. Complementing these would be the continued focus on infrastructure build up, accepting innovative methodologies while retaining the fixed touch on the customer’s pulse. The agenda should be to make the air freight operations process more pleasant and acceptable to all industry sectors,” he added.

Cargo Talk, South Asia’s leading and highly circulated magazine, was felicitated at the recently held symposium themed ‘New Logistics Policy-Embracing Opportunities’ organised by the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) at New Delhi. Amrit Lal Meena, Special Secretary (Logistics), Department of Commerce and Industry, Government of India was the chief guest on the occasion. Throwing light on the National Logistics Policy, he said, “The logistics sector has witnessed a push in the past few years, the capital expenditure has gone up to four times. The NLP targets to improve the logistics efficiency through 100 per cent digitization, standardization of warehousing, HR, skilled manpower, focusing on the EXIM trade and bringing all the states together.” Focusing on the multimodal connectivity, he added, economic zones are 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 high scale and volume projects to improve the interest.”

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.