Category Archives: Aviation

Emirates SkyCargo has announced extension of its fully automated cool room with 94 airline pallet positions at its EU GDP certified dedicated pharma facility at Dubai International Airport, a move which will further strengthen the carrier’s temperature sensitive pharma and vaccine handling capabilities in Dubai. This extension of cool room will provide an additional 2600 square metres of temperature-controlled environment (2-25 degrees Celsius) for the storage and handling of pharma products including vaccines at Emirates SkyCargo’s purpose-built GDP certified facility. The new extension is capable of holding an estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at one time. Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, the airline is playing a leading role in the international distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. It has transported over 75 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on more than 250 flights to over 60 destinations since late 2020.

IATA has reported in its latest market analysis that air cargo volumes in April this year continued to outpace pre-Covid (2019) levels. The association said this was largely due to the strong performance of carriers based in North America, the Middle East and Africa. Global air cargo demand in April 2021, measured in cargo-tonne kms (CTKs), was reported as 12% higher than in April 2019 (used instead of last year for comparison purposes due to impact of Covid). It added: “This solid cargo growth performance this month was primarily driven by North American airlines, but all the regions outside Latin America contributed positively to the growth outcome.” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, commented: “Air cargo continues to be the good news story for the air transport sector. Some regions are outperforming the global trend, most notably carriers in North America, the Middle East and Africa. Strong air cargo performance, however, is not universal. The recovery for carriers in the Latin American region, for example, is stalled.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released April 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand continued to outperform pre-COVID levels (April 2019) with demand up 12%. As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons to follow are to April 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 12% compared to April 2019 and 7.8% compared to March 2021. Seasonally adjusted demand is now 5% higher than the pre-crisis August 2018 peak. The strong performance was led by North American carriers contributing 7.5 percentage points to the 12% growth rate in April. Airlines in all other regions except for Latin America also supported the growth. Capacity remains 9.7% below pre-COVID-19 levels (April 2019) due to the ongoing grounding of passenger aircraft. Airlines continue to use dedicated freighters to plug the lack of available belly capacity. International capacity from dedicated freighters rose 26.2% in April 2021 compared to the same month in 2019, while belly-cargo capacity dropped by 38.5%.

Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) is launching a unique half-day virtual “Elementary Cargo Training Program (ECTP)” on Thursday, 10th June 2021 from 09:00 AM to 02:00 PM, on pan India basis. This initiative is first of its kind in the skilling programs happened so far in the air cargo industry. The ECTP course has been designed particularly for the ‘Base Level staff’ (blue collared) of air cargo industry, such as Loader, Helper, Packer, Equipment Operator etc. considering their important role while the EXIM cargo is being handled by them, about the operational aspects, knowledge on the equipment’s being handled by them with all the safety measures including health safety and security aspects while handling various types of cargo/special types of cargo, during their day-to-day routine work. The elaborate course material on ECTP has been developed by an elite group of trainers of ACFI Task Pillar on Skill Development, which will be imparted online during the period of COVID pandemic, first at Delhi on 10th June 2021 and then at the 5 ACFI Regional Chapters i.e. Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi in Hindi/ English or in the regional or local languages of ACFI respective Chapters.

On the eve of the World Environment Day, 2021, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is proud to announce the accomplishment of one of its ambitious goals — Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) achieves net energy neutral status in the Financial Year 2020-21. As part of its sustainability goals, BIAL had set the target to become Net Energy Neutral by 2020-21. As an outcome of energy conservation, BIAL has been able to save nearly 22 lakh units of energy in the FY 2020-21, enough to power nearly 9,000 houses for a month. BIAL saved nearly 5 lakh units (KWH) from lighting, and has implemented chiller plant optimisation in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), which has resulted in saving of over 17 lakh units (KWH). “As we expand our operations at BLR Airport, we aim to remain the flagbearer of sustainable operations. We have put in place various measures to reduce carbon footprint and protect our environment. Energy security is a very important aspect of our business as it is one of the key indicators to assess our sustainability levels,” said Mr. Hari Marar, MD & CEO, BIAL.

Kale Logistics Solutions (Kale), a UN award winner and a trusted global IT solution partner for several Fortune 500 companies worldwide for the Logistics Industry, has been chosen by dnata, to develop the next generation Airport Cargo Community e-Commerce platform in Dubai. With the two airports Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Center (DWC), handling over 3.5 Million tons of air freight in 2019, there has been several physical and digital infrastructure upgrades taking place in Dubai. dnata has been a pioneer in running one of the most comprehensive airport cargo community eCommerce platform under the brand name of CALOGI, way ahead of its times in the first decade of this millennium. The Calogi business has served the community for over a decade now. dnata has currently envisioned creating the next-generation community platform that would cater to the cargo community’s current and future needs and have the capability to support innovative services like Sea-Air Corridor, 3rd Party services and many more to accommodate end-to-end supply chain needs. The new Airport Cargo Community eCommerce Platform at DXB and DWC by dnata and Kale is the testimony that the region is slated to change gears for Air Cargo to the fast lane.

SAS Cargo has extended its unit load device (ULD) partnership with Unilode Aviation Solutions by five years, up to 2026. Unilode will also continue to supply SAS Cargo with containers and pallets from its pooled ULD fleet, as well as enabling the carrier to use its track and trace solutions. Additionally, SAS Cargo will trial SAS Cargo’s Connect service package, which monitors and and gives notifications about ULDs’ temperature, humidity, shock and light data. Max Knagge, president and chief executive of SAS Cargo Group, said: “We have built a strong relationship with Unilode over the years. Unilode’s pooled fleet significantly increases month-to-month ULD flexibility, enabling us to pay only for the ULDs we need, which is critically important in volatile market situations and during a pandemic. This will also help us reduce our ULD-related spend. In the years ahead we see great opportunity for growth and continued success through our partnership with Unilode.” Babak Yazdani, managing director of ULD Solutions at Unilode, added: “We are proud to have been a long-term trusted partner for SAS Cargo over the past 10 years. This is the second renewal of our ULD management agreement, which is a testament to the mutually beneficial collaborative relationships we build with our customers.

Blue Dart, South Asia’s premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution company, part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), announces paperless transactions on their new Digital Portal for all its Vendor Partners this World Environment Day on 5th June 2021. The United Nations has proclaimed 2021- 2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Blue Dart recognises the importance to fight climate change and is integrating robust ESG mechanisms into this decade of ecosystem restoration. Blue Dart has executed over 50% of its customer invoices online and is working towards achieving a 100% transition. Manufacturing paper is energy-intensive; one A4 sheet requires approximately 50 watt-hours. Going paperless will help conserve energy, reduce CO2 emissions, avoid deforestation, protect the natural habitat and strengthen forest-based livelihood opportunities for the surrounding communities. Through this initiative, Blue Dart will not only protect the environment but also commits to planting a significant number of trees every year. Currently, Blue Dart plants 111,000 trees every year, in order to offset 22,20,000 kg carbon per year on maturity.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, has announced it will donate $50,000 USD each to sustainability-focused projects in India and Africa. As part of the FedEx Priority Earth Global Grant Program, thousands of FedEx team members selected 12 nonprofits from across the six international regions in which FedEx operates. Each be awarded a $50,000 USD grant, for a total FedEx investment of $600,000 USD toward green solutions: “FedEx has set ambitious goals to reduce our footprint where we have the greatest environmental impact. Working alongside nonprofits and investing in their efforts is a critical part of the company’s strategy to drive the action and innovation needed to make a difference in our world,” said Jack Muhs, regional president for the Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Africa.

Tasman Cargo Airlines has launched a new freighter service between Changi Airport and Australia, becoming the first freighter operator based in the country to offer services to the Singapore hub. The five-times-per-week services utilisises a B767-300 freighter and operates on a loop of Melbourne-Darwin-Singapore (bi-directional). The flight is chartered by DHL Express and will carry cross-border e-commerce volumes from across the express firm’s global and Southwest Pacific network. Sean Wall, executive vice president, network operations & aviation, DHL Express Asia Pacific, said: “Australia is growing as an important market for DHL as local businesses continue to adapt, innovate and adopt e-commerce practices for their business needs. “To cope with rising shipment volume and ensure we continue to provide timely deliveries to our customers, we have swiftly responded by adding flights connecting Australia to the rest of the world.”