Category Archives: Aviation

UPS is delivering for Boeing, boosting Boeing’s August sales with an order for eight freighters. The aircraft maker said UPS’s order for eight cargo planes was the biggest order out of a total order of 26 cargo planes. It may be noted Boeing also took orders for 13 more orders from 737 Max planes, including two from American Airlines. A Boeing official said, two 787s released to American Airlines were not included in the sales bucket as the planes were undergoing some repairs.

DHL Supply Chain (DHL) announced a EUR 500 million investment in India over the next five years. DHL will own and operate wholly owned large multi-client sites in India because of this transaction, adding twelve million square feet of warehouse space to the Group’s existing portfolio, says official press release. The expanded warehouse capacity is intended to better serve rising industries such as e-commerce, retail, consumer, life sciences, technology, engineering, and manufacturing, and automotive. “Majority of investment will go towards construction of large warehouses and logistics centers. In India, we will have a multiple customers facility, which means we can deploy people across multiple customers or bring in economies of scale,” said Vikas Anand, MD, DHL Supply Chain India.

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport has received new air freight processing and distributing terminal to handle cargo such as cars, car parts, medical supplies and equipment, manufacturing machinery and more. The 50,000-foot expansion represents an estimated $5 million investment. The goal is to accommodate ongoing rapid growth in the airport’s freight operations, said the reports. According to the airport, the volume of air freight handled in 2021 increased 48 per cent over the year prior. Airport leaders say GSP is one of the fastest-growing airports in the country for freight. They want to compete with Atlanta and Charlotte for shipping in the future. Currently, the cargo flowing through GSP fuels upstate industry.

Teleport has announced plans to expand its fleet with the addition of three Airbus A321 Freighters (A321F). The latest development has increased Teleport’s cargo-only fleet to four freighters in total, in addition to 200 exclusive AirAsia passenger aircraft belly. The three A321Fs will be operated by AirAsia and will be delivered in stages starting in Q1 of 2023, said an official release. “The addition of the A321Fs into Teleport’s fleet provides the unique load ability and body composition where it allows for containerised loading in both the main deck and lower deck,” stated the release. These narrowbody freighters are believed to strengthen Teleport’s cargo network and address the diversifying market demand within Southeast Asia and the overall Asia-Pacific region. According to the release, each A321F, leased from BBAM Limited Partnership (BBAM), can carry up to 27 tonnes of cargo per flight which is ideal considering the surge in market demand for air cargo to fulfil both small-scale items of e-commerce and bigger scale of volumetric cargo.

Çelebi Cargo GmbH has selected Check-it, one of Nallian’s software applications, to improve the digitalisation path in his subsidiary in Frankfurt. The cargo handler is using Check-it as a digital and smart ULD airworthy check for final fit-to-fly checks but also for the acceptance of BUPs to further increase our all-number-one priority: flight safety. After the successful trial at the beginning of the year, Çelebi Cargo GmbH is scanning and checking already 100 per cent of the ULDs from a major airline customer using the application. Either at the acceptance stage (BUP) or own build ULDs before they get handed over for ramp transport. The solution will be used in the Frankfurt station first. Christopher Licht, CEO Çelebi Frankfurt, comments, “Safety is and will be always the highest priority for Çelebi. Therefore, we started this initiative to create a cent per cent safe, transparent, and digital solution, which is communicating in real time, internally and externally. Combining the operational know-how from our staff with the technical know-how from Nallian was the right decision to enable this game-changing digital airworthy check.”

According to latest data released by Airports Authority of India (AAI), Indian airports handled 275,030 tonnes of cargo in July, an increase of 6 per cent compared to July 2021. International cargo movement was down marginally at 159,520 tonnes, and domestic cargo increased nearly 19 per cent to 115,510 tonnes, stated AAI. For the first four months of the current financial year, total cargo movement was up nearly 9 per cent at 1.1 million tonnes. Domestic cargo movement increased over 28 per cent to 446,730 tonnes compared to 348,090 tonnes during April-July 2021. According to AAI, the 70 domestic airports logged the maximum gains in the April-July period (62 per cent) at 11,663 tonnes. Airports reported mixed volumes in July as well as April-July period. For example, Delhi handled 46,013 tonnes in July, down 6 per cent y-o-y and 187,541 tonnes during April-July, down nearly 8 per cent. Mumbai also reported lower volumes, but Kochi reported a 20 per cent increase during April-July at 16,111 tonnes. Nagpur saw 86 per cent increase at 104 tonnes.

BBN Cargo Airlines has plans to add a new airline based in Indonesia as it looks to capitalise on growth in the region. BBN Cargo Airlines, which operates Iceland-based cargo airline Bluebird Nordic, said BBN Airlines Indonesia would be based out of Jakarta. BBN Airlines Indonesia is in the process of getting the airline business license, which the company stated should be ready this year, and it hopes to gain an Aircraft Operator Certificate (AOC) in the second quarter of 2023. The airline will manage its cargo operations from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which one of the busiest airports in the Southern Hemisphere. “The demand for air cargo transportation services in the past decade is one of the main reasons for this business expansion,” the company stated.

To improve air transport logistics and diversify air cargo products in the region, Vietnam’s Vietravel Airlines shares plans to launch a new cargo airline in cooperation with logistics service Asean Cargo Gateway (ACG). With stakes of 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively in VUAir Cargo, Vietravel Airlines and ACG anticipate the first year of operations will see the airline focus on transporting goods between Vietnam and large factories in Asian countries, including China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, stated a company statement. VUAir Cargo will use a fleet of up to four Boeing B737-800F freighters in the first year, stated Vietravel Airlines. The fleet is expected to double next year.

To meet growth in cargo volumes, construction work at 77,000 sq. ft cargo facility has started at Pittsburgh International Airport. The cargo facility is scheduled to open in 2024 and will include 69,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space and 7,300 sq. ft. of office space across two floors. The building will feature 17 loading docks for trucks; most will come with dock levellers, while others will be used specifically for Unit Loading Devices (ULDs). Flatbed trucks will be able to access the interior of the warehouse with a dedicated loading dock, which is advantageous in poor weather. Dedicated areas in the facility will be able to segregate goods deemed valuable, vulnerable, or hazardous. It will also have expansion capabilities to hold more equipment for special cargo and accommodate temperature-controlled goods. In addition, the building’s design includes additional space for security screening, particularly for international cargo. It will be able to serve two Boeing 747-8 freighters side by side, or up to four Boeing 757-200s at once.

Astral Aviation operates charter flights to and from India on its B767-200F. The charter flights that originate from Hong Kong carry cargo comprising mobile phones and e-commerce cargo, and pharma. The charter flights from India comprise pharma, including vaccines destined for Africa. With the induction of B757-200F into the Astral fleet in September 2022, Astral will offer additional charter opportunities to meet the increase in demand, which will complement B767F which has a payload of 42 tons, while B757F has a payload of 30 tons. Sanjeev Gadhia, Founder & CEO, Astral Aviation said, “Astral Aviation currently operates two B747-400F for perishables between its Nairobi Hub and Europe and will be expanding its wide-body fleet with the arrival of two B767-300Fs in 2023 and two B777-300Fs in 2024 and 2025. Astral will be introducing new flights to and from Tel Aviv and Riyadh, while increasing its frequency to Johannesburg and Hong Kong. Astral operates to 50 destinations on its network, connected via its hubs in Nairobi, Liege, Dubai, Johannesburg, and Delhi.”