Category Archives: Aviation

Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has acquired IAS Logistics DFW, LLC (also known as Pinnacle Logistics), a leading provider of cargo handling services in the United States. The companies have not disclosed the financial details yet. Pinnacle Logistics is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas,US, strengthening WFS’s cargo handling platform in the States. The company is focussed on specialist express cargo handling for e-commerce customers. WFS is also handling cargo in London, Liege, Amsterdam, France, Japan, Spain and more. Michael Simpson, WFS’s EVP Americas, commented, “The acquisition of Pinnacle Logistics enhances our core cargo and express cargo handling value proposition to customers, and Pinnacle’s established trucking logistics business further expands our service offering. Pinnacle’s people bring renowned experience and expertise, great service quality, and long-standing customer relationships with them to WFS. This acquisition is a strong strategic and cultural fit for WFS and we are delighted to welcome the Pinnacle team to WFS.”

CargoBooking, also known as CargoBooking.aero is a global digital air cargo booking platform providing real time capacities and rates for airlines. Launched in August 2020, it also looks after the airlines’ General Sales Agents (GSAs) to deliver instant air cargo quoting and booking with Application Programming Interface (API) integration to freight forwarders. The solution, powered by global IT service provider and software development company Awery Aviation Software, gives a consolidated view of all connected airlines and GSA prices on possible flight and truck routing options. “The digital transformation of the air cargo industry is gaining momentum, enhancing efficiency and cost effectiveness across the supply chain,” said Tristan Koch, Awery’s new Chief Commercial Officer. Our in-house team has been working together for over 12 years to develop aviation software solutions to support the digitisation of the industry, and with CargoBooking, we are delivering a streamlined user experience connecting capacity and demand.”

Airbus, one of the world’s largest airplane manufacturers, has firmed up plans for the freighter version of its successful passenger jet A350 with interest from the likes of global cargo giants DHL and UPS. And Boeing, which has a near monopoly in the production freighter market, has a plan for a freighter version of it’s yet to be operational passenger jet B777X. While the Covid-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the aviation sector, cargo operations are offsetting operators’ losses, as it continues to play a critical role in facilitating international trade. As a result, industry forecasts show an increase in demand for wide-body freighter aircraft with long-haul capacity. As original equipment manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing expand their production freighter options, the conversion of passenger-to-freighter (P2F) business has also boomed ever since the Covid-19 pandemic gripped the world.

Lufthansa Cargo along with the German Federal Ministry of Transport (BMVI) has come together for a new federal research project “Digital Test Field Air Cargo”. The aim is to increase the efficiency, performance and competitiveness of air cargo in Germany by improving the networking of all the players involved and digitizing processes. This project will be coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML). “We are pleased that the Federal Ministry of Transport has clearly committed itself to air freight in Germany with the Digital Test Field Air Cargo. We want to contribute to further strengthening Germany as a business location. That is why we are contributing our many years of experience in digitalization along the supply chain to this nationwide project and ultimately also want to set international standards. Digitalizing air freight further also means making it more sustainable. To this end, we see great potential in optimized data exchange between all partners in the airfreight transport chain, for example, which we want to leverage,” said Harald Gloy, Lufthansa Cargo’s Executive Board member for Operations and Human Resources and a member of the BMVI’s Innovation Commission.

Emirates SkyCargo, an air transport of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals, announces the completion of more than 400 million kilos of pharma transport in 5 years, marking an important operational milestone. In September 2016, Emirates SkyCargo raised the bar in the air cargo industry for the safe and efficient transport of pharmaceuticals by launching its dedicated GDP certified pharma handling facility at Dubai International Airport and at the same time unveiling its three-tiered specialised product – Emirates Pharma. Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional senior vice president, Cargo, said, “At Emirates SkyCargo, we recognised very early on that our customers were looking for increasingly specialised solutions for their cargo and this was true especially for valuable and life-saving medicines that have to be transported under very strict conditions. We introduced our 360 degree transportation solution backed by state of the art GDP certified Dubai handling facility for our pharma customers in September 2016. The response from the market was overwhelmingly positive and we managed to very quickly transform the perception that Dubai was a destination to be avoided for pharma cargo in the summer to that of Dubai being a reliable hub for pharma customers all year round. Our pharma volumes have continued to grow over the years and to date we have transported more than 400 million kilos (400, 000 tonnes) of pharma cargo under our Emirates Pharma umbrella.”

Continental Carriers Pvt Ltd announced the movement of Genex 1B engine, weighing over 10 tones, biggest in the GE family, from US to India. The scope of work extended from Door to Port including packing, lashing and movement of engine on Air Ride Trailer. Genex 1B engine Designed specifically for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family. Continental Carriers Pvt Ltd Aerospace Team has for over a decade been the foremost choice for MRO/OEMs/ Commercial Carriers/Lessors for their AOG/DG/HAZ/Time Critical movements across the globe. The faith and confidence is nurtured by our dedicated AOG team who works round the clock monitoring the shipment status, end to end.

Asia Airfreight Terminal (AAT) has been awarded IATA’s Center of Excellence for Perishable Logistics (CEIV Fresh) certification in September 2021. This accreditation recognizes our strong expertise, stringent training and excellent facilities in handling perishable cargo in accordance with global standards. It enhances our service commitment and professionalism when handling temperature-sensitive shipments. There is increasing demand for the safe transportation of high-end perishables and pharmaceuticals by air. AAT is in the process of further enhancing our handling capabilities to capture these opportunities as part of Airport Authority Hong Kong’s initiative to develop HKIA into the world’s Perishables Hub.

South Africa’s national carrier South African Airways (SAA) will stretch its wings after a hiatus of over a year as it entered into the business rescue process that began on December 5, 2019. The first flight took off today from Johannesburg to Cape Town. SAA has got wings to fly once again because the government finally decided to give up its controlling stake by offloading 51 percent stake to Takatso Consortium which comprises Global Aviation and Harith General Partners. Initially, SAA will not return to the international long-haul as the market conditions are not yet right. Even though SAA has two A340-600s (owned) and one A330-300 (leased), aircraft that are capable of serving intercontinental routes, the operating cost for the old fleet is so prohibitive that the airline has decided not to resume intercontinental flights for the moment. An SAA Spokesperson said, “SAA’s current fleet includes the A330-300 which has the capability and efficiency for some international service at the right time. However, the primary focus is for maximum operational flexibility within Africa. Future fleet for international service is yet to be decided and the timing of that decision will coincide with evidence of sustained recovery in international demand.”

The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) issued a warning that the industry is facing unprecedented challenges to deal with expected fourth quarter demand for air cargo services. The air cargo industry has responded to 18 months of pressure and challenges as the industry was faced with high demand for PPE, ecommerce, vaccines, perishables and other critical cargo as economies and society went into lockdowns then reopened. Addressing this demand, supply chain partners dealt with capacity withdrawals, then capacity shortfalls as well as ever changing travel, work and quarantine restrictions forced upon crew, handling staff and other key workers. As we head towards the fourth quarter and the growing number of annual on-line shopping events, the stress on the system is expected to grow substantially. With states, particularly China, introducing a growing number of Covid related worker restrictions which are unlikely to be lifted in the near future, the industry is urged to commence preparations urgently. Such restrictions are causing cargo to be disbursed across neighbouring countries and airports, causing further challenges. Shippers are therefore encouraged to work with forwarder partners to secure required capacity as early in the cycle as possible, said the official release.

Budapest Airport is a member of the consortium which won nearly 25 million euros of support from the European Commission, as part of a sustainability project called STARGATE. The airport operator’s task will be to develop and put in place a cloud-based, paper-free air cargo handling system, together with other sustainable projects concerning mainly the terminal, energy efficiency and traffic developments. As part of the project, Budapest Airport can implement developments to a value of 1.53 million euros, 70 percent of which (1.07 million euros) is provided by the European Union, with the rest funded by Budapest Airport. Reducing carbon emissions is a key pillar of Budapest Airport’s sustainability efforts. In recognition of this, it has been awarded ACI’s carbon neutral certification for the fourth year running. In line with its objectives, the operator of Budapest Airport thus joined a consortium consisting of Brussels Airport, Athens Airport and Toulouse Airport, along with 18 other non-airport members, which submitted a successful EU funding application dedicated to tackling sustainability in the aviation sector. Following several months of preparatory work, the contract between the consortium and the European Commission was signed on 6 September 2021.