Category Archives: Aviation

In order to expand its fleet to meet growing demand for cargo transportation, Silk Way West Airlines has signed a purchase agreement with Boeing. According to the agreement, Silk Way West Airlines will purchase five state-of-the-art Boeing 777 Freighter aircraft, with delivery planned over 2023-2027. The agreement was signed at a ceremony in Baku on April 28, 2021 attended by Rashad Nabiyev, Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Zaur Akhundov, President of Silk Way Group, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Azerbaijan Earle D. Litzenberger, Stan Deal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. This is the first order for Boeing 777 Freighters in the Central Asia and Caspian region. The Boeing 777F is the largest twin-engine freighter on the market, with a range of 9,200 km and a maximum payload of 102,000 kg. As the world’s most efficient and environmentally friendly freighter, the latest additions to the Silk Way West fleet will contribute to the airline’s sustainability goals, as well as being a particularly cost-effective option in terms of maintenance and operating expenses. “We envision an integrated transport network in Azerbaijan, and airline transportation plays a critical role in this. I believe this contract will help solidify Azerbaijan’s position as a regional transportation hub and a reliable airline partner in international trade and commerce,” said Nabiyev. “The signing of this agreement is a new milestone in the growth of our company. I am confident that the acquisition of these new aircraft and the start of this project will further strengthen the company’s leading position in the global air freight market for the next …

Cathay Pacific Cargo has taken a significant step towards the end-to-end digitisation of the global supply chain by taking the lead in its third pilot of IATA’s ONE Record initiative in Hong Kong. The success of this pilot marks a major milestone for Cathay Pacific Cargo, which has pioneered the implementation of this initiative. Tom Owen, Director – Cargo, Cathay Pacific, says, “ONE Record is a very important programme, which is going to set the future standard for air cargo.” IATA ONE Record creates a ‘virtual shipment record’ for all shipments; a single-record view of a shipment that will enable data to be shared by all stakeholders across the air cargo industry. The programme builds on paperless operations of the e-AWB (Electronic Air Waybill). Cathay Pacific Cargo was the first airline to implement 100 per cent e-AWB operations in its home market and the airline has been the leader in its implementation around the world for the past 10 years, contributing to Hong Kong’s reputation as the leading international air cargo hub. IATA’s ONE Record initiative enables end-to-end transparency of consignments as they pass through multiple links in the chain from shipper to agent, airline, warehouse and statutory authorities such as customs, all following IATA’s protocols for APIs – the interface that enables users to connect to the system – security and data sharing. Henk Mulder, Head of Digital Cargo, IATA, adds, “The ultimate aim of the ONE Record programme is to enable a data-led digitisation of the global supply chain in order to improve service, speed and reliability, through the standardisation of competing or overlapping systems of the different stakeholders in the air cargo industry into one of shared …

Amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic which has resulted in an acute shortage of oxygen in the country, SpiceXpress has airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong to Delhi via Kolkata for emergency use and distribution across the country. Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director, SpiceJet, said, “SpiceJet is firmly committed to the service of our fellow Indians in these most trying and difficult times. Along with SpiceHealth, we have airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong for emergency use in India and we are looking at bringing more than 10,000 oxygen concentrators in the coming days from across the globe.” “We carried medicines and medical equipment and fruits and vegetables to all corners of India and the world when the pandemic hit us last year helping our country and our fellow citizens when they needed it the most and we will continue to serve with the same vigour. We have transported a record 88,802 kg of Covid vaccine shipment with a total dosage of 34 million Covid vaccines between January 12-April 12, 2021 and our efforts will only grow stronger from here.” SpiceHealth, a healthcare company launched by the promoters of SpiceJet, has been actively involved in the country’s fight against Covid-19. Since its launch in November 2020, SpiceHealth has conducted more than two million RT-PCR tests and has spread its operations across fives states – Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttarakhand.

Kuehne+Nagel’s start to the 2021 business year was marked by a strong demand in transport services, especially for pharma and e-commerce fulfilment. Kuehne+Nagel achieved an excellent result in this environment; net turnover of over CHF 6 billion, EBIT of CHF 431 million and earnings for the period of CHF 318 million were all significantly higher year-on-year. Dr. Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, says, “Exactly one year ago, when we were still at the beginning of the pandemic, we decided to commit to our proven strategy. Upon reflection, we are assured that we chose the correct path. In the first quarter of 2021, we were well-prepared to serve our customers’ robust demand for high quality logistics services despite the tense market environment. We expect this environment to remain challenging for the remainder of another atypical year.” Sea Logistics The positive profit trend reversal in Sea Logistics, already noted in the second half of 2020, continued in the first quarter of 2021. Kuehne+Nagel delivered intensified service to meet exceedingly high customer demands particularly in the US, in an environment of limited container capacities, reduced terminal productivity and increasing demand. Volume growth was particularly strong in the consumer goods segment. Container volumes in the first quarter of 2021 were up 2% year-on-year at 1.1 million TEU, despite a decline in recyclables demand. The unit’s net turnover was nearly CHF 2.4 billion and EBIT CHF 206 million. The conversion rate reached a record high of 42.7%. With a new alert feature in the online Seaexplorer platform, Sea Logistics customers are informed promptly about irregularities in container transport. This transparency proved particularly helpful to remedy disrupted supply chains during the Suez …

Responding to a boom in e-commerce and general cargo traffic, Australian airfreight consolidator Consol Alliance has increased its services from the UK to four Australian Airports. Consol Alliance now serves Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane a total of 20 times weekly, using premium carriers and a proven transhipment routing. All cargo is pre-palletised before presentation to carriers for added security, safer transits and faster handling. The company is offering both door-door and airport-airport options. A steady rise in demand throughout 2020 is seeing Consol Alliance now handling a record 300 tonnes of airfreight per month on the UK-Australia trade lane alone, and the company has already processed 500,000 inbound e-commerce parcels in the first quarter of 2021. Alana Raitt, National Airfreight Product Manager, says, “Having successfully maintained a totally reliable service throughout the last year, despite the considerable challenges, we are pleased to announce this increase in capacity and frequency to Australia, with over 20 consolidations per week from the UK. Capacity has not been an issue for us. We make bookings one month in advance, and have pre-allocations to all airports. Our consistent support for carriers and our excellent carrier relations have given us a strong edge in securing space for our customers.” Although the normal services do not allow for outsize or project shipments, these can be accommodated on a back-to-back (separate AWB) basis, still receiving attractive rates. Consol Alliance is also attracting dense cargo by offering discounts based on its ability to optimise pallet capacity by carefully combining dense and volume cargo. “For Dense cargo, we will always beat competitors’ pricing, and our local arrival charges are also discounted,” adds Alana. Consol Alliance says its service quality …

TAP Air Cargo has launched a new online booking portal which allows more autonomy in managing bookings and tracking shipments. The online booking portal has a more modern and intuitive design which allows remote accessibility anytime and anywhere with all the information about cargo bookings on different devices (computer, tablet or mobile). Through the new TAP Air Cargo portal, agents now have independence in managing their bookings and can consult flights and prices, space availability, print labels, update bookings and send AWB (Airwaybill) and HAWB (House Airwaybill). The handling of electronic waybills (eAWB) will also become possible autonomously (providing that IATA requirements are met). The new portal provides a fully digital booking process, combined with the concern of constantly improving the user experience. It is available at https://www.tapcargo.com/en/manage-booking, after registration (only for agents) in the user area.

Antonov Airlines has transported 14 pieces of mining equipment, weighing 216 tonnes in total, on two AN-124-100 flights from Istanbul, Turkey to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Monrovia, Liberia. The 113-tonne cargo for the second flight was safely loaded in minimal time to meet the tight deadline required by the mines, both in the process of expanding operations. “These two flights from Turkey to Africa were meticulously planned and both flights were completed with maximum payloads on each route,” said Eugene Kiva, commercial executive at Antonov Airlines. “Antonov Airlines provided the flexibility required by our partner Skyair Chartering to perform these air shipments within the customer’s deadlines.” The airline made a single technical stop in Algiers, Algeria for the 103 tonne Burkina Faso-bound cargo and two stops in Casablanca, Morocco, and Diass-Thies, Senegal for the journey to Liberia to refuel and provide crew rests. “As per our customer’s request for the delivery of large quantities of oversized drill machinery in a short timeframe, the two flights provided by Antonov Airlines made sure the needs of the expanding mining facilities were met,” said Tekin Ertemel, Director Business development at Skyair Chartering. “Antonov’s AN-124-100s are equipped with ramps, which are ideal to transport heavy and oversized loads safely and easily, contributing greatly to the delivery of a seamless operation.” Antonov Airlines has seen an increase in charters for mining projects since the beginning of the year and just last month completed three flights of equipment weighing 370 tonnes to Latin America from Australia.

Continental Carriers has successfully completed the door to door movement of Airbus H145 helicopter ex Germany, Donauworth to Mumbai on April 21, 2021. H145- Airbus twin-engine light utility helicopter can carry up to nine passengers along with two crew in standard configuration. The helicopter will be used for passenger transport, corporate transport, emergency medical services (EMS), search and rescue, para-public and utility roles with the possibility of reconfiguration for various roles. With experience of 64 years in the logistics industry, Continental Carriers is a proud member of IATA Family, one of the pioneers of CHA License Holders and International Freight Forwarding business with strong partner presence across the globe. Continental’s global service portfolio includes AOG’s, ODD Dimension, HAZ movements. The Group’s Aerospace Team has for over a decade been the first choice for Private Carriers, OEM’s, MRO and Lessors.

IndiGo has initiated a freighter programme and is in the process of sourcing four A321ceo aircraft each of which will be converted from passenger jets to a full freighter configuration. A Letter of Intent has been signed with a lessor for two aircraft already, and IndiGo expects to reach agreement for the next two shortly. The initiative will make best use of the natural synergies that IndiGo offers, using the same pool of pilots and engineers that fly and service its current fleet. The A321P2F (Passenger-to-Freighter conversion) is the most efficient narrow-bodied freighter available, offering 24 container positions and supporting a payload of up to 27 tonnes. These are being converted through a programme involving ST Engineering and Airbus with their joint venture, Elbe FlugzeugWerke (EFW). IndiGo is expected to take the delivery of its first freighter in the first half of 2022, which will be used for both domestic and regional missions. The remaining three aircraft in the initial commitment are expected to arrive within a year or so from arrival of our first freighter, and further aircraft may be sourced depending on market development. Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director, IndiGo said, “CarGo has been a success story over the last year, scaling new heights and creating new records, but our belief in the cargo business goes beyond the special circumstances right now. IndiGo was already the largest carrier of cargo in domestic India before Covid-19, and we expect the market to continue to grow after the pandemic. Our investment in the Airbus Freighter Programme will help strengthen our product and services in the segment, and not only help accelerate our own business recovery but also …

Located adjacent to its existing operation within the ALPS Free Trade Zone at Changi Airport, B&H Worldwide has doubled the size of its operation in Singapore. The new facility will cater for business growth in one of the fastest growing aerospace markets in the world. The new unit will enable B&H Worldwide to continue serving customers with aero assets requiring strict quality and climate control storage in a Free Trade Zone setting. It will also provide significant additional space to store aircraft engines and other large specialist items requiring environmental controlled protection within the 28,000 sq foot facility. B&H’s extensive capabilities in the aerospace logistics field mean it operates 24/7/365 from the strategically located Singapore facility and has established a Control Tower Operation and additional Quality Monitoring Centre there from which it provides full connectivity to customers across the globe. Says B&H Worldwide’s Group CEO, Stuart Allen, who is based in Singapore, “State-of-the-art facilities under-pinned by cutting edge IT and this doubling in the size of our operation here will enable us to meet the strong demand we are now seeing from customers across the aerospace industry. It will also allow us to further extend the range of additional services we can offer customers including long and short-term storage, inventory management, neutralising and unit inspection, all in accordance with EN9120:2018 requirements.”