Category Archives: Aviation

Qantas Freight is expected to increase its domestic fleet with six Airbus A321 passenger to freighter (P2F) aircraft to meet growing e-commerce demand from its customers. The Australian airfreight carrier said the A321s, likely to arrive between 2024 and mid-2026, will be sourced in the open market and converted to freighters. This conversion work will include removing seats and installation of a cargo handling system. The A321’s will replace the long-term fleet of five Boeing 737 freighters that are approaching the end of their economic life. Qantas said that each A321 freighter can carry 23 tonnes of cargo, nine tonnes more than the older 737s, and are around 30 per cent more fuel efficient per tonne of freight carried. Currently, Qantas has three A321P2Fs and is replacing the remaining 737 freighters with these newer aircraft will generate extra efficiency in training and maintenance. Qantas is also converting two widebody A330s to freighters for use on the domestic network.

QuikJet Airlines, an ex-Indian cargo-only carrier, is planning to return back to the Indian skies soon. The airline has already taken its first aircraft, a 20-year-old Boeing 737-800 P2F, with another one arriving soon. According to reports, QuikJet 2.0 would fly Amazon Prime airplanes in India. QuikJet Airlines is a part of ASL Aviation Group, an aircraft services provider and leasing company based out of Dublin, Ireland. The carrier started scheduled services after receiving the relevant Air Operator Permit from Indian authorities in February 2016. QuikJet was already operating charter cargo services since 2012.

On the occasion of 75th year of Independence, Cyrus Katgara, Partner – Jeena & Company says, “The Indian freight and logistics sector has evolved in leaps and bounds over decades. Although we have significantly augmented our transportation infrastructure over the past two decades, the country has much more to achieve to ensure that its infrastructure can meet the country’s demand for the future. At Jeena & Company, we have proudly witnessed the progression of the nation over decades, which inspired us to create our trajectory. Our legacy is a testament to our belief in ‘Make In India’ since our foundation. We pledge to skill and scale our human resources and operations to make a huge mark across the globe.”

Global air cargo flown tonnages continue to remain stable in the last two weeks compared to the preceding two weeks, while the previously reported softening trend of the worldwide average rates seems to have halted last week, the latest figures from WorldACD Market Data show. Looking at week 31 (August 1-7), worldwide chargeable weight decreased -3% compared with the previous week, and the average worldwide rate increased slightly, based on the more than 350,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data and analysis of the main international air cargo lanes. Comparing the last two weeks with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), average worldwide rates decreased -1% while chargeable weight increased +1% and overall capacity remained stable. Chargeable weight from Central & South America remain on a particularly negative trend, with a decrease of resp. -7% to Europe and -6% to North America compared with the preceding two weeks. Middle East & South Asia outbound volumes show a strong continued increase at +11%, with the first half of July being impacted by the Eid Al-Adha holiday. For the overall global market, the last two weeks showed a worldwide rate increase of +10% compared with last year, despite a chargeable weight decline of -9% and a capacity increase of +7%. Higher fuel surcharges continue to influence overall air cargo prices relative to their levels last year.

New business from airlines investing in digitalisation has helped global freight booking and payment platform Freightos achieve strong growth in the SQ of 2022. Freightos recorded 1.5 lakh platform transactions, resulting in growth of 163% y-o-y in the second quarter. Gross Booking Value was US$155m—up 137 per cent y-o-y, while revenue was US$5.2 million—up 30 per cent y-o-y. Freightos Chief Executive Zvi Schreiber, said, “Freightos continues to demonstrate strong, predictable growth that exceeded targets, despite macroeconomic volatility that impacted consumer buying patterns, supply chains, and global freight. We are seeing excellent momentum, with the number of transactions growing 163 per cent y-o-y, as well as 137 per cent growth in GBV. Growth in transactions was fuelled on the supply side by major airline rollouts such as American Airlines Cargo, LATAM Cargo, and Air Canada Cargo, as well as increased bookings with existing carriers.”

Atlas Air is planning to extend its long-standing partnership with Australian airfreight carrier Qantas Freight to support Australia, Asia, and USA supply chains. The partnership between Atlas Air and Qantas Freight began in 2004. Under this extended agreement with Qantas Freight, Atlas Air will provide long-haul, widebody main deck capacity with two Boeing 747-400Fs operating its existing network linking Australia, Asia, and the USA. An additional 747-400F deal has also been extended to service the one-way USA-Australia-Hong Kong routing, boosting capacity to meet customer demand. “This important extension with Qantas Freight comes at a time of significant growth in the air freight industry. We look forward to supporting Qantas Freight, as it continues to expand its global freighter network,” said John Dietrich, Atlas Air Worldwide President, and Chief Executive.

Jet Freight Logistics Ltd. has announced that it is gearing up to expand its operations in the US market as well. Jet Freight believes that the US Market has got that potential, where one can explore and exploit innumerable fruitful opportunities. “Recently, the Chairman and Managing Director of Jet Freight, Richard F. Theknath made several trips to the US and visited renowned and business-friendly places like Washington, New York, Indiana, St. Louis, and Rhode Island and found them to be very prominent and worth exploring. Richard’s plan is to improve the trade lane between India and the US, considering the Government’s initiatives to increase exports,” an official statement said.

Vietnam Airlines plans to send used passenger planes to Air Transport Services Group for conversion into cargo jets as it prepares to create a freighter division and capture more intra-Asia freight growth, said a statement. The small deal is noteworthy on two levels. It is another example of passenger airlines moving more aggressively to take advantage of cargo opportunities triggered by the pandemic. And it reinforces how ATSG, the largest lessor of freighter aircraft, is rapidly expanding its customer base beyond U.S. shores due to demand from express delivery providers with strong e-commerce business. Vietnam Airlines will remove two Airbus A321 narrowbody jets from its passenger fleet and sell them to Air Transport Services Group (NASDAQ: ATSG), which will send them to a specialty facility for conversion into pure freighters capable of carrying large containers on the main deck. Once modifications are completed, ATSG will lease the planes back to Vietnam Airlines, CEO Rich Corrado said on the company’s earnings call with analysts.

Air cargo demand fell for the fifth month in a row in July as the industry continues to face a ‘multitude of disruptions’, according to CLIVE Data Services. The Xeneta-owned data provider said that during July air cargo demand dropped by 9% year on year and the dynamic load factor – taking into account both weight and space – slipped 8 percentage points on last year to 58%.In July rates were up 11% on a year ago – and 121% of July 2019 – but CLIVE pointed out that the gap between pre-covid levels has continued to narrow. Xeneta chief airfreight officer Niall van de Wouw said that the demand declines come as the industry is hit by a multitude of disruptions outside of its control, such as the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis which is increasingly affecting household budgets. Meanwhile, airlines and airports continue to suffer “severe operational challenges due to significant shortages of ground staff.”“There are many dark clouds hanging over the air cargo industry given the state of the world right now,” said van de Wouw. “Volumes are subdued, and while air cargo rates are still elevated, they are slowly but surely easing back towards pre-Covid levels. From a rates point of view, indicators suggest the market has yet to bottom out. It’s clear that airlines are following the market very closely to ensure they are deploying their assets in the best possible way because the market is moving quickly. We have already seen freighters moving away from transatlantic routes. On the Atlantic, the decline in general airfreight rates we reported for the previous three months of 2022 continued in July,” he added. …

Lufthansa Cargo is adding new flights to its all-cargo network as it continues to take delivery of freighter aircraft. The Frankfurt-hubbed carrier will add another B777 freighter into service at the end of the month, while a second A321F will begin flying in October. Lufthansa Cargo said delivery of the aircraft will allow it to expand its network and add additional flights to existing calls for its winter schedule, which comes into effect on October 30. New to the schedule is Hanoi (HAN), which will be served twice a week from Frankfurt via Mumbai (BOM) from the beginning of November. The carrier already flies twice per week to Bangkok. In addition, the carrier’s service from Frankfurt via Kansai (KIX) to Seoul (ICN) will increase from three to four weekly flights. The frequency to Hong Kong (HKG) will also be increased from four to five weekly flights.