Category Archives: Aviation

Boeing announced the addition of three conversion lines for 737-800BCF across North America and Europe. The company also signed a firm order with Icelease for eleven of the freighters as the launch customer for one of the new conversion lines. In 2022, the company will open one conversion line at Boeing’s London Gatwick Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) facility, modifying 737-800 commercial aircraft into Boeing Converted Freighters and increasing its footprint in the Crawley area, and two conversion lines in 2023 at KF Aerospace MRO in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. “This new work for London Gatwick not only is a result of the cargo demand we’re seeing worldwide, but also because of the aviation industry’s valued position in the United Kingdom,” said Sir Martin Donnelly, president of Boeing Europe and managing director of Boeing in the UK and Ireland. “From Lossiemouth to Sheffield to Gosport to Crawley, Boeing’s footprint in the UK across defence, commercial and services is robust and growing, and today’s announcement is yet another in recent weeks that demonstrates our partnership here.”

DHL Express inaugurated a new cargo airline DHL Air Austria, headquartered at Vienna Airport. DHL Air Austria will handle European cargo flights in the future with eighteen Boeing 757 aircraft and around 176 pilots. The inauguration flight of the first registered Boeing 757 under the Austrian flag also took place in the presence of key partners from the responsible aviation authorities such as the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology and Austro Control. The founding of DHL Air Austria is an important milestone for DHL Express in Austria, which began 41 years ago: “With this important step, we are making our air freight network in Europe more flexible and stable, while at the same time continuing to meet our customers’ high demand for cross-border express deliveries and providing them with sufficient capacity,” says Ralf Schweighöfer, CEO, DHL Express Austria.

American Airlines Cargo has further expanded its international network with the introduction of service to New Delhi, starting on Nov.12, 2021. American marks its return to the Indian capital city with a daily service from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). This expansion will be followed by daily service between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (BLR) in early 2022, linking two critical global technology markets with the U.S. and beyond. The New Delhi service will operate using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, the largest widebody in American’s fleet. The freight forwarder community in India is eager to support the launch of this international service that will connect many commodities, such as leather products, textiles, ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and technology parts with destinations around the world via JFK. “India is a really exciting market for our cargo business and we are delighted to be returning to these key destinations. There has long been a demand from our customers in the region for a direct link with New York, and we anticipate strong support for the service,” said Tim Isik, Sales Director – EMEA & APAC for American Airlines Cargo.

Lufthansa Cargo reported traffic revenue increase of 37 percent to €2.4 billion for nine months ended September 30, 2021, from €1.8 billion in January-September 2020. The increased capacity (available cargo tonne-kilometres) by 5 percent compared to the previous year and sales (revenue cargo tonne-kilometres) increased 11 percent to 5.2 billion. “Cargo load factor improved four percentage points to 71.8 percent and yields, adjusted for exchange rate effects, went up in all traffic regions and were 25.4 percent higher overall than the previous year,” an official statement said. Lufthansa Group’s cargo business revenue increased 37 percent to €2.8 billion for January-September 2021 on higher sales and better yields. Carsten Spohr, CEO, Lufthansa Group, told analysts, “The unprecedented strength of the air cargo market will continue”. “Cargo results remain on record levels even in the lower-volume summer months”, CFO Remco Steenbergen added.

Go First becomes the first airline to start a direct international connection from Srinagar to Sharjah. It has inked a pact with UAE-based Lulu Group and becomes the first airline to commence international cargo services from Kashmir Valley. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Go First Head (Corporate Affairs) Mohit Dwivedi and Lulu Group Director Salim M A, in the presence of Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce, and Administrative Secretary, Civil Aviation Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Ranjan Thakur. “On behalf of the Lulu, I am very thankful to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Government of India for giving us the opportunity to come to Kashmir. We are quite surprised to see the immense opportunities that we have for the exports from here. As Lulu, we will be able to take a lot of fruit, vegetables and antique and craft and a lot more items. We assure you that we will do our best to export goods from Kashmir.” said Salim M A, Director, Lulu Group “On behalf of Go First, I would like to thank the Jammu and Kashmir government, Lulu Group and the Government of India, for giving us this opportunity for taking up the cargo for gulf countries. We are happy with this agreement. The airline will start the operations from December this year.” said Mohit Dwivedi, Head (Corporate Affairs), Go First.

cargo.one announces the launch of a real-time data and analytics product called cargo.one360. This will provide cargo.one partner airlines with unique insights to maximize their sales performance in digital channels. cargo.one360 helps airlines to accelerate the airlines’ adoption of best practices in digital sales, delivers valuable customer insights, and reflects market changes and trends to facilitate better tactical and strategic commercial decision-making. As the Boston Consulting Group recently noted, data-based steering can boost net profits by up to 12 percent in the first year. While an increasing shift towards digital sales predates the pandemic, Covid-19 has supercharged this trend: volatile schedules, constrained capacity, and disrupted pricing mechanisms have sent customers seeking transparency on offers, and instantly confirmed bookings.

IAG Cargo capacity increased 24 percent compared to the previous quarter (Q22021) and 62.2 percent compared to Q32020. “The increased activity reflects growing levels of global trade as many economies experience recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. New routes during the quarter included Nairobi, Istanbul, Male, Chennai, Vienna, Denver and Phoenix whilst many other lanes saw increased frequencies,” an official statement said. IAG Cargo reported a 34 percent increase in revenue to €405 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 on increasing capacity and network. Revenue for nine months increased to €1,174 million, up 28 percent compared to the same time last year. During the nine months, 3,334 cargo-only flights were operated. David Shepherd, managing director, IAG Cargo, said: “This quarter we have seen momentum build as IAG Cargo, and the global economy, begins to take increasingly confident steps towards a more buoyant future, as recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to gain ground. The team’s resilience and commitment to put our customers first continues, and we are excited to enter into a new and ambitious phase of activity.”

A UPS 747 flight is now connecting India directly to Europe and connecting UPS customers to North and Latin American markets five days per week. That doubles the company’s previous capacity to and from India for small and medium-sized business customers looking to grow their revenue base. UPS’s first direct flight from India will connect Delhi to its largest international hub at Cologne, Germany. Customers have been diversifying their supply chains as they respond to pandemic disruptions. And cargo space in the belly of passenger aircraft – normally reliable and cost-effective – has been significantly reduced. Now, buoyed by market demand and with an eye on business continuity, Indian entrepreneurs are looking for reliable alternatives to import and export products. “When business demand is increasing and volumes globally are being challenged, what you need is a smart logistics network that can respond to what customers are asking for, in an altered business environment. The agility to connect major economies to India via a direct flight for exports and imports is an example of UPS’s better not bigger strategy and will provide reliability and expanded capacity to UPS’s customers,” said Rachid Fergati, Managing Director Middle East, Central Asia, and Indian subcontinent for UPS.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released September 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that demand continued to be well above pre-crisis levels and that capacity constraints persist. As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons below are to September 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. • Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 9.1% compared to September 2019 (9.4% for international operations). • Capacity remains constrained at 8.9% below pre-COVID-19 levels (September 2019) (-12% for international operations). “Air cargo demand grew 9.1% in September compared to pre-COVID levels. There is a benefit from supply chain congestion as manufacturers turn to air transport for speed. But severe capacity constraints continue to limit the ability of air cargo to absorb extra demand. If not addressed, bottlenecks in the supply chain will slow the economic recovery from COVID-19. Governments must act to relieve pressure on global supply chains and improve their overall resilience,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

The Application Programming Interface (API) solution for Air Canada Cargo customers is live now. By being directly integrated with Air Canada Cargo, customers will be able to reduce the amount of time taken to complete a booking or AWB, resulting in improved efficiency. This API solution will improve efficiency for customers by manual interactions such as quoting, booking, scheduling, and track and trace requests. It will also improve connectivity and collaboration, as well as the overall customer experience by connecting different systems and processes to offer an enhanced booking flow. “We are thrilled to implement this important technology for Air Canada Cargo and are excited about the role it will play in advancing the industry toward the digitization of processes, and indeed our business as a whole. This will be beneficial for Air Canada Cargo’s valued customers who will be able to take advantage of the many benefits this API will provide,” said Matthieu Casey, senior director, Global Sales and Revenue Optimization.