Category Archives: Aviation

In a bid to transport COVID-19 vaccine across the country, SpiceJet and Skyways Air Services have announced a joint initiative. While SpiceJet will provide connectivity across its pan India network with full temperature mapping controls, Skyways Air Services will provide cold chain transportation and storage along with the dedicated last-mile connectivity. In addition, Skyways Air Services will provide custom brokering services, wherever required in India, Germany and USA. The MoU was signed by Sanjiv Gupta, CEO, SpiceJet and Yashpal Sharma, Managing Director Skyways Air Services.

Calling logistics a sector that has a lot of prominence in terms of delivery of services especially during the times of pandemic, Vandana Aggarwal, Sr. Economic Adviser, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, says, “ Indian logistics has matured to the extent during Covid times that we have seen logistics meet the extraordinary circumstances which were met globally. In this new normal, logistics needs to have automation, safety, fast delivery, ensure performance in the supply chain, and leveraging multimodal transportation. We must harmonize the law in a measured way and meet the financial requirements. We need to focus on building a robust infrastructure for meeting future demands.” She emphasised that we need to work on integrating the individual supply chains and there must be advanced preparedness of issues. Aggarwal expresses these viws at PHD Virtual Logistics Conclave 2020 .

The newly launched Hope Consortium, a UAE-based public-private partnership, has bolstered its distribution reach following a strategic agreement with leading international freight forwarders. The latest consortium partners, which include Agility, Aramex, Hellmann and Kuehne + Nagel, will help address the different steps of the logistical challenge, including ‘last mile’, with a capacity of billions of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses by the end of 2021. Spearheaded by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, the Hope Consortium appointed these global transport companies based on their expert abilities and reach to safely and effectively deliver vaccine doses under cold and ultra-cold conditions (temperature bands 2-8 C, -20 C and -80 C) between transportation hubs, warehouses, medical facilities and other final destinations in over 170 countries. Representing the top global and Abu Dhabi supply chain solution players, the Hope Consortium consists of Etihad Cargo, Abu Dhabi Ports, Rafed – the healthcare purchasing arm of Abu Dhabi-based ADQ and Switzerland’s award-winning SkyCell, which develops next-generation, temperature-controlled logistics containers for the pharmaceutical industry. H.E. Dr. Jamal Mohammed Alkaabi, Undersecretary of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, says, “The Hope Consortium’s success relies upon the collaboration of public sector entities and leading private sector companies across the global logistics supply chain. The addition of Agility, Aramex, Hellmann and Kuehne + Nagel provides solid support and expertise to address multiple challenges, including the ‘last mile’ vaccine distribution challenge. This partnership demonstrates the unrivalled global strength of Hope Consortium.” “The Abu Dhabi-backed Hope Consortium has quickly and effectively garnered the attention and support of the world’s leading logistics players. Today’s announcement is testament to the sector’s ambition to overcome the complex challenges inherent in transporting sensitive cargo of …

With the Brexit transition period ending on January 1, Air Charter Service has started to secure exclusive capacity for its customers by contracting a UK-registered BAe 146 freighter. The aircraft is potentially the first of several options that ACS is securing in order to ensure that, in the scramble for capacity due to Brexit disruption, it can continue to offer its clients competitive solutions. As the aircraft is UK-registered, there will be no need for permits to fly into the country. Dan Morgan-Evans, Group Cargo Director, Air Charter Service, says, “Whether there is a trade deal between the UK and EU or not, it is clear that there will be disruption ahead at the UK border. According to government statistics, if even a small percentage of cargo coming through the UK’s sea ports in January requires transportation by air due to the disruption, there would be a significant requirement for airfreight – the equivalent of filling thousands of Boeing B747 freighters, in some scenarios. With the continued lack of belly capacity potentially exacerbated in January by this anticipated spike in demand, charter aircraft will have to pick up the shortfall. “The Bae 146 was identified as an ideal aircraft in many of our simulated scenarios, which included looking at the possibility of landing at smaller airports in the event of cargo congestion at major airports. However, there are a limited number available, especially on the G register. Whilst we can already source all the 146’s on the market reactively like many other brokers, we felt that exclusive use of this aircraft would give ACS customers an advantage, should the situation escalate. We have a long history of dealing with these …

According to data provider WorldACD, Air cargo’s gradual demand recovery slowed in November, but there were signs that volumes were picking up again in December. The company’s data for the month of November shows that in ‘a year like no other’ volumes declined by 12.6 per cent year on year but rates experienced their strongest increase since the months of April and May. The demand decreases lags behind performance in October, with volumes down by 2 per cent. Despite this, rates were on the up. “Yields/rates in November are usually about 4 per cent above those in October; this year the increase was 11.2 per cent, from US$2.97 per kg to US$3.30,” WorldACD said. WorldACD added that overall capacity went up by 1 per cent from October to November, with freighter capacity decreasing by 1 per cent and cargo capacity on passenger aircraft increasing by 3%. “Asia Pacific was the only origin region growing its air cargo business between October and November by 3.2 per cent,” the data provider said. “Not surprisingly, given the large orders of PPE-goods, shipments above 5,000 kgs grew year on year, whilst all smaller weight breaks lost between 16 per cent and 29 per cent year on year.” It added, “Calling the air cargo market hot, would probably be the understatement of the year. The usual trends from the pre-COVID days seem to have become just faint memories.” Looking at preliminary figures for the first half of December; worldwide volume was 2 per cent higher compared with the first half of November, showing a better month-on-month trend than the trend from October to November. “Origin regions with the highest volume increase were Africa (+21 per …

Hubballi Domestic Airport is ready to house North Karnataka’s first dedicated domestic air cargo terminal, that would be expected to start functioning from February 2021. The Airports Authority of India – Cargo Logistics &Allied Services Company, has given in-principle approval for conversion of the old passenger terminal into the cargo handling section. Pramod Kumar Thakre, Hubballi Airport Director has stated that the upcoming cargo terminal shall have secured storage space for both inbound and outbound cargo, a dedicated room for valuables and dangerous goods, along with provision for commercial space that can be utilised by airlines, major freight forwarders/logistics players like postal authorities and e-commerce players. “The 700 square metre cargo terminal shall have annual cargo holding capacity 15,000 MT,” he said. Industries and progressive farmers of the region are hopeful that the commencement of the cargo terminal will boost the economy of North Karnataka.

To provide a seamless solution in transporting the temperature sensitive COVID-19 vaccine Shadowfax has partnered with SpiceXpress. Shadowfax plans to deploy a fleet of over 250 refrigerated vehicles, which will provide a speedy and reliable transportation solution for vaccine delivery through a sustainable cold chain network. For the COVID-19 vaccine movement, the company will provide logistics support to cover first mile pickups and last mile deliveries through a verified network of delivery partners operating across 500+ cities covering 7000+ pin codes in India. Commenting on this partnership, Rahul Kumar, Founding Team Member and Head of Network Partnerships, Shadowfax, says, “We are proud to partner with SpiceXpress for transporting the COVID vaccine and helping it reach people. Agility, speed, and precise handling will be essential considering the sensitive nature of the vaccine. We are geared up with our technology, people, and delivery expertise to ensure timely and safe deliveries across our extensive network. It has been a tough year and playing a role in bringing relief makes us immensely elated and energized. It is vital to have the right partnership when undertaking a task this critical. In SpiceXpress, we have found the synergies that will allow us to deliver the vaccine safely and seamlessly. We will handle ground services such as transportation to/from manufacturers, warehouses, airports and consumption points, packing, storage, and warehousing, at prescribed temperature across 500 + cities. We will deploy a fleet of refrigerated vehicles to ensure requisite temperatures are maintained throughout the delivery cycle.”

In the wake of keen interest showed by the investors and investments worth several hundred billion rupees being in the pipeline, Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh has issued directions for further strengthening of the investor-friendly industrial ecosystem and for building a robust logistics infrastructure in the state. The state government has nominated Additional Chief Secretary (Infrastructure & Industrial Development) Alok Kumar as state nodal officer for developing the integrated state logistics plan aimed at overall development of logistics sector. Kumar will head a newly created state logistics cell to function in sync with national logistics division for development of supply chains and warehousing facilities for industries. The officials of state government departments like Planning, Transport, Civil Aviation, Revenue, PWD, Export Promotion Bureau, UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) will be the key members on board, and nodal officers from Central agencies like National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Airports Authority of India (AAI), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), etc. will be special invitees to the cell. The state government will also set up a state logistics coordination committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary to monitor the progress and implementation of the logistics plan. Uttar Pradesh is attracting sizeable investments in warehousing & logistics sector, so far, total 6 proposals worth approximately Rs 438 Crores have been received in the sector.

TIACA, together with Pharma.Aero released a special report for air cargo, pharmaceuticals and life sciences professionals detailing the requirements and airfreight preparedness for COVID-19 vaccines transportation. The Sunrays project report shows that 46 per cent of air cargo industry stakeholders, including airlines, freight forwarders, ground handlers, airport operators and IT solution providers, now feel well prepared for the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines, a significant increase compared to only 28 per cent feeling ready two months ago. Although the improvement is seen across the whole industry, ground handlers, who were the least prepared in September, reported the strongest jump in preparedness. “Industry has clearly stepped up its efforts to get ready for the largest logistics effort ever seen and with 79% feeling more prepared than 3 months ago, we applaud the readiness progress the air cargo community has made,” stated Nathan De Valck, Chairman of Pharma.Aero’s Board of Directors and member of the Sunrays project. “It is very encouraging to see that the majority of our industry has established working relationships with vaccine manufacturers, dedicated teams in place and collaborates with their supply chain partners to handle the logistics of COVID-19 vaccines.” The report also examines currently known requirements for COVID-19 vaccine logistics for the front runner manufacturers such as AstraZeneca and University of Oxford, Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, GSK and Sanofi, J&J, as well as the procurement and logistics strategies by individual countries and international bodies, like the EU and COVAX, and locations of vaccine trials and production. Areas of Priority “Although the air cargo industry has scaled up its capabilities, collaboration and readiness in the past couple of months, and COVID-19 vaccines are getting approved for wide distribution, we …

Shell Aviation has announced an agreement to supply DHL Express with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Schiphol Airport. The deal sees DHL Express become the first customer to be supplied under Shell and Neste’s SAF supply agreement, announced in September 2020. The agreement will enable DHL Express to take regular flights using SAF, an important step forward in its ambition of reducing all logistics-related emissions to zero by 2050. The volume of SAF being supplied by Shell Aviation represents a full year of DHL Express’s fuel requirements from Schiphol Airport, helping to reduce its emissions from this European hub. The SAF will be used in blended form and is made from sustainably sourced, renewable waste and residue raw materials. In its neat form and over the lifecycle it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil jet fuels. This deal demonstrates the contribution that business can play in decarbonising aviation through the cargo sector. Alongside commercial airlines, cargo operators can play an important role in driving demand signals for the increased investment in and use of SAF. This has been particularly pertinent during the Covid-19 pandemic, with commercial airlines operating at a reduced capacity and cargo operators transporting vital supplies around the world. “We’re proud to be working with DHL Express and supporting them in taking the next step in their decarbonisation journey. Today’s agreement is an excellent example of how the cargo aviation sector can help accelerate aviation’s pathway to net-zero emissions by building demand as the fuel industry seeks to increase supply of SAF,” said Anna Mascolo, President, Shell Aviation. DHL have committed to achieving zero emissions by 2050 and as a pioneer of green …