Category Archives: Aviation

Kenya-based cargo airline Astral Aviation is all set to enter the Indian market under Pradhaan Air brand with an A320F plane. The company announced the news by posting a picture of the plane on its social media account. As per reports, Astral is keen to add freighters in future, primarily from the Airbus stable. Astral Founder and Chief Executive Sanjeev Gadhia said, “In addition to the two A320Fs we have acquired from Vaayu, which are the first converted A320Fs in the world, we have also signed a LoI to acquire two A321Fs by 2023 and four A330-300Fs (delivery between 2024 and 2025). We are also negotiating to acquire two A330-200Fs (2023-4) and four B777-300ERFs (2024-5).” 

IAG Cargo and CHAMP Cargosystems have extended their partnership for access to the largest air cargo community platform, Traxon cargoHUB. The carrier will continue to work with CHAMP on services for access to its vast global network of freight forwarders. IAG Cargo has been using CHAMP’s solution for over seven years. “The connectivity enables seamless and efficient communication with all of our supply chain partners worldwide,” said Angel Cabeza, Head, Technology Change, IAG Cargo. “We look forward to more years of service with CHAMP,” she added. Nicholas Xenocostas, VP Commercial & Customer Engagement, CHAMP Cargosystems said, “CHAMP looks forward to expanding our services and connect the airline to our community. We will continue to endeavour to provide the best services to connect all players throughout the air cargo supply chain.”

To broaden its reach and visibility, online booking portal CargoAi has joined digital air cargo project CargoTech. With CargoTech, CargoAi will combine forces with ECS Group’s Cargo Digital Factory and Wiremind Cargo. Cedric Millet, president, CargoTech said in a release, “What CargoTech was missing in its portfolio until now was an online distribution platform. CargoAi not only fills that gap as the world’s only cloud-native based, neutral, SaaS marketplace, but also brings the benefit of an expanded customer base.” The partners said that Cargo Digital Factory and Wiremind Cargo serve their customers’ internal processes, whereas CargoAi digitises the interface processes between freight forwarders and airlines or GSAs. “Given our cross-sectional reach, we see it as our responsibility to advocate sustainability within the industry, both by developing products that promote a greener future and by positioning ourselves as the sustainability experts within CargoTech,” Matthieu Petot, Chief Executive, CargoAi said.

To support growing cargo throughput, Kale Info Solutions, the US subsidiary of Kale Logistics Solutions, is all set to implement its Airport Cargo Community System at Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Canada. The tech solution will be implemented to improve efficiency for all stakeholders, streamlining cargo flows, and addressing airport truck congestion challenges, which continue to affect many North American airports as cargo volumes swell. YVR is investing in its cargo ops to ensure it can continue to meet growing demand, while identifying new solutions that will increase efficiencies with trucking and transportation, especially during peak hours. “This project is a testament to the efficacy of our solutions, and we look forward to helping the Vancouver Airport Authority and other airports in North America to overcome the challenge of truck congestion in the region,” said Amar More, President, Kale Info Solutions. “Our ACCS brings tremendous benefits in meeting environmental sustainability objectives with a major reduction of paperwork, carbon emissions and pollution, and creates a vibrant stakeholder digital eco-system around the airport,” he added.

Ministry of Civil Aviation in collaboration with FICCI held a stakeholder workshop for evaluation of Krishi UDAN 2.0 recently. The conference brought together experts from the air cargo sector for highlighting the benefits of Krishi UDAN and how the players can create a seamless transaction across the value chain. The workshop was chaired by Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, MoCA, and was moderated by Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA. The workshop was attended by Piyush Srivastava, Senior Economic Advisor, MoCA, Saurabh Endley, Joint Secretary, MoD North-eastern Region, Ashutosh Dey, Joint Secretary, DONER, Ajay Kumar, CEO, AAICLAS, senior dignitaries from MoCA, AAICLAS, FICCI, MoA & FW, Department of Fisheries, 26 Airport Directors across the country and various other stakeholders. Bansal said, “The air cargo industry realized the importance of sustainable air cargo ops in the past two years. Indian airlines and the airports should facilitate the transportation of agricultural products to create a sufficient demand for local producers in domestic and global market. We (MoCA) are willing to work on some pilot projects with the help of agricultural department and state governments regarding a transport subsidy scheme, which will help in faster transportation.”

To boost fleet capacity, Emirates SkyCargo took delivery of its latest Boeing 777F. As per an announcement, Emirates’ freight division has witnessed growth in cargo loads across its products, including pharma and perishables. In 2021-22, annual tonnage crossed 2.1 million, an increase of 15 per cent, with transport of perishables crossing 260,000 tonne, and both pharma and valuable goods each grew by 17 per cent. Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior VP, Emirates SkyCargo, said, “The new freighter will help increase our capacity, boost our ability to deliver vital goods and facilitate trade globally. Despite the challenging headwinds this year, the air cargo industry is booming and we have been flat out since the pandemic began. Emirates SkyCargo will continue its journey as one of the world’s largest and best air cargo airlines by investing in our fleet, our global network, technology, and world-class logistics infrastructure at our Dubai hub and beyond.”

Wiremind Cargo opts for sustainable solutions to reduce carbon emissions by offering smart solutions that assist its airline clients in managing their capacity and procedures to the best of their ability, and by conducting internal audits of its own operations to lessen adverse effects. Nathanael de Tarade, CEO, Wiremind Cargo, said, “Sustainability is all about ensuring that what we do to meet our current needs does not influence the ability of future generations to meet their requirements. We all share that obligation, whether we are working as a business, as an individual, or inside society as a whole.” Wiremind has audited its own carbon emissions in addition to its sustainable work practices.

DHL Express has commenced operations for the first-ever DHL Aviation Bahrain freighter to Delhi. With this addition, Delhi will have 17 freighter connections every week, linking both North and East India to over 220 countries across DHL’s global network, states a release. The new freighter will fly six times each week, carrying 50 tonne of shipment per flight on the Bahrain-Delhi-Bahrain route thereby boosting the capacity for the region, and providing quality service to customers. Earlier, there were 11 freighters from Delhi to the West and Asia Pacific. R.S Subramanian, Senior Vice President & MD, DHL Express India said, “We have been working to provide reliable connectivity to our customers to fuel India’s global trade. In line with this, we look for opportunities to expand the capacity of our dedicated air network and invest in ground infrastructure and processes to enhance our service quality to our customers. Through the addition of these dedicated freighters, we are well positioned to remain the provider of choice for our customers across key markets.”

Vallair has unveiled first-ever temporary Airbus A330-300 E Class widebody freighter conversion solution at its new hangar in Châteauroux, France, stated a release. Designed to bridge the gap, while operators wait for five years or more for full freighter conversion slots, this temporary solution is the result of a JV between France-based companies Vallair and UUDS Group, which is Part 21 certified. Vallair’s E Class solution uses a conveyor that fits inside the cargo hold to efficiently load and distribute individual parcels, rather than using pallets or containers to load. The design may enable fast loading and reduce turnaround times to suit the needs of e-commerce market. The new hangar can accommodate one or two Airbus A330s and up to three Airbus A321s at a given time, which means Vallair can perform wide and narrow body maintenance.

Astral Aviation is set to expand its freighter fleet, with the addition of three Boeing B757-200Fs and two Airbus A320 P2Fs. Kenya-based cargo airline already has 14 strong freight fleet. “The B757-200F’s will be operational from June 2022 onwards, as we have had some unfortunate delays, partly caused by Boeing’s lack of timely support on the multi-mode receiver (MMR) upgrade. The B757-200F’s will operate scheduled flights from Astral’s Nairobi hub to Johannesburg, in addition to Dubai and Tel Aviv, with plans to operate charter flights to and from China by Q3,” said Sanjeev Gadhia, Founder and Chief Executive of Astral Aviation in an official statement. “The A320F will be operational from mid-July 2022 and will operate on charter basis in 2022 on routes between Africa, Middle East, and South Asia. The second A320F will be delivered by the end of the year,” he added.