Category Archives: Aviation

“The existence of well developed air cargo infrastructure will benefits not only the airport but the region’s economy as well,” said Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways at the recently concluded The Domestic Air Cargo Agents Association of India (DACAAI) convention. He added, “Air cargo service can facilitate the supply of raw material and components to the region which attracts manufacturing. But it is true that in the domestic market air cargo share is very low and the challenges are many. However, in the era of Amrit kal, that is the next 25 years, we are committed to make of our country our Armanirbhar Bharat. The first important thing for that is reducing the logistic cost to 8% of GDP. This is at the top of our agenda and it will benefit all sectors and all the owners economy. Aviation infrastructure should be developed using the latest technology.If we can make it efficient and accessible then it will create in huge numbers.Air cargo has the biggest advantage of speed to save transit time can help global business in a big way.We have a huge flight capacity.Utilization should be improved by taking appropriate measures. If we can transport more volume by air, logistic cost will be reduced.” Gadkari also focused on boosting domestic perishables trade. He said, “I am in discussion with the Defense Minister regarding use of big Defense aircraft for transportation of fruits, vegetables and agriculture produce.”

The Domestic Air Cargo Agents Association of India (DACAAI) organised the 12th edition of its convention in New Delhi on Friday. The theme of the event was ‘The Future of Domestic Air Cargo in India: Way Forward.’ The event began with the inaugural address by Suraj Agrawal, Secretary, DACAAI followed by the lamp lighting ceremony by DACAAI members Arvind Nayak, President DACAAI, Gaurav Ghuwalewala, VP and Founder DACAAI, Amit Bajaj, Member DACAAI and leading air cargo experts and government officials namely, Mahesh Malik, CCO, IndiGo Cargo, Kamesh Peri, CEO, Celebi and Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, MoCA amongst others. DACAAI members also launched the yearly handbook in the virtual presence of Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road, Transport and Highways. The focus of the convention was on building resiliency in the domestic air cargo sector. The experts also highlighted on leading domestic airlines launching freighters in the coming months to meet the surge in demand and new cargo complexes coming up at the regional airports boosting logistics activities from the tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The experts also focused on the growing e-commerce sector bolstering growth of air cargo domestically. “We have adequate infrastructure, policies and manpower in place to achieve the pre-COVID growth levels in the coming years. We have government’s support and we are moving in the right direction,” said experts.

At recently concluded 12th edition of The Domestic Air Cargo Agents Association of India (DACAAI), Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India told exclusively to Cargo Talk that Industrial collaboration will definitely help in achieving the ambitious target of 10mn tonnes by 2030 for both domestic and international cargo. “Industry should collaborate and work towards achieving one mission – growth. All the respective organisations should team up and keep their ego aside and work towards the benefit of the industry,” said Dubey. Focusing on the growing importance and prominence of cargo drones, he added, “Drones will help in transportation of variety of cargo especially pharmaceuticals to the remote locations and far off areas. We will see more of cargo drones in the coming years.” He also urged the industry to make the best use of adopting cost-effective IT solutions and digitalisation for resilient supply chain operations.

Cathay Pacific has extended its Fly Greener, a carbon-offset program, powered by an integrated carbon emissions calculator, to its air cargo services as part of its commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, said a release. The new carbon emissions calculator works out the carbon emissions of shipments and the cost to offset them. Customers can then contribute to buy carbon offsets from carefully selected carbon-offset projects. All selected projects are certified under the Gold Standard to ensure their carbon reductions are verified and come with societal and developmental benefits. “The carbon-offset program follows the launch earlier this year of Cathay Pacific’s SAF Programme, which brings SAF into Hong Kong International Airport for the first time in history. It provides corporate customers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint from business travel and air cargo shipments by contributing to the use of SAF,” stated a release. 

IndiGo Airlines is planning to set up a cargo facility at Vijayawada and at other important airports in Andhra Pradesh. Giridharan Srinivasan, Regional Director (South), said four dedicated cargo aircraft will be introduced shortly, the first one from October which will be linked to AP airports also. In a seminar organised by the AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation on improvement of air cargo facilities at airports in the State, he said that IndiGo had a dedicated cargo facility at the Rajamahendravaram airport, which was operational before COVID. The airline planned its resumption, and it would be available for exporters. The cargo facility at the Visakhapatnam International Airport was customs-notified, from where cargo is exported directly by IndiGo to 27 overseas destinations after necessary customs clearances.

Bakkafrost subsidiary, FarCargo has closed a deal to purchase a Boeing 757-200 aircraft ahead of its planned operational launch as a salmon transportation airline. FarCargo’s maiden trip is planned to take place in two to three months. Initially, the cargo plane will fly between Vágar, the Faroe Islands and New York, US, stated a release. The aircraft has a flight range of 7,000 km and can carry some 35 tonnes of cargo. For the last 12 months, preparations have been made for the launch of the airline, and finding the right aircraft has been challenging as well as getting all the necessary permits and generally sorting out practicalities.

Hungary’s Budapest Airport (BUD) is investing around 30 million euros (US $29.8 million) in the extension of its Cargo City complex. BUD will develop an additional 6,500 square meters of cargo handling capacity and double its aircraft parking space, enabling the apron to handle up to four code-F aircraft such as 747Fs, said Josef Kossuth, Head of Cargo.

Talking about its upcoming 46th Annual Convention in Bangkok, Thailand from 24 November to 27, Mohamed Afzal Malbarwala, President, Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) said, “The theme of the convention is Resilient Air Cargo Industry – Post Pandemic. We will discuss extensively on the challenges faced during the ongoing pandemic, the increased freight rate and scarcity of space, issues being faced with the airlines in the COVID scenario, and lastly the GST waiver on freight charges, which we have been discussing with GOI every year.” He said, “Despite the air cargo industry’s contribution to the Indian economy, we still lack standardised infrastructure at airports. This is connected directly to the ease of doing business and resulting in excessive costs. Our next step forward must be aligned to standardise processes where customers experience the same delight and ease of shipment execution irrespective of the airport they operate from. Standardisation and automation are the key to achieve this,” he added.

As per DHL’s recent Airfreight State of the Industry report, demand for air freight is still low, but capacity is rising. The report cites few factors for the poor demand, including inflation and diminished spending power. Despite “remaining softer” volumes, they are stable after the highest reduction witnessed in July. The impact of e-commerce on air cargo volumes is “mild but persistent”. However, DHL Global Forwarding stated in a LinkedIn post about the research that a volume rise during the approaching peak season is unlikely because of the report’s low export orders and high inventories. Additionally, the Ukraine-Russia war continues to impact the industry, while improving conditions in sea freight is reducing demand for airfreight. 

To ensure high quality combined products and services to fulfil the needs of global customers, Senator International and Maersk Air Services have now started to integrate their service offerings. The first integration involved the introduction of a brand-new ‘SAB’ product that offered weekly round-trip airfreight services from Liege, Belgium, to Hong Kong. Maersk and Senator are working together to promote the launch of this innovative own-controlled flight. More solutions are anticipated to be released soon as Maersk pushes its aim to become the go-to global integrator by leveraging its sizeable FCL customer base.