Category Archives: Aviation

To develop on product innovation and to meet customer demands, KLM Cargo has introduced the Cargo Seat Bag, The carrier has carried out the first operational flight using 172 Cargo Seat Bag, carrying 950 boxes of medical relief goods like Corona test equipment, from Shanghai to Amsterdam in the cabin of our Boeing 777 on April 13. The user-friendly, easy-to-install and remove Cargo Seat Bag (CSB) was designed in collaboration with product developer and supplier Trip & Co. These bags not only protect the interior, seats, and entertainment systems but also double loading capacity on the seats, decrease physical strain during handling and prevent plastic waste. With this ‘quick change solution´, the cabin is ready again to welcome passengers within one hour. It can be used in our Boeing 777-200/300, Boeing 787-10 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Since the aviation industry was heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and freight capacity remained low, KLM has been operating over 150 Cargo in Cabin (CiC) flights, carrying over 130 million medical relief goods and PPE material on seats. The Cargo Seat Bag is another example of creating innovative solutions by joining forces in this difficult time.

International logistics service provider Dachser has received the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification from IATA for its Shanghai organisation including its PVG airport branch in March 2021. This marks the finalisation of a project of extensive preparation, complex procedures and detailed auditing, despite additional challenges caused by the global pandemic. With this certification, Dachser Shanghai now joins the very close circle of few logistics companies in the region to be recognized by IATA for temperature-controlled and time-sensitive products transportation. CEIV Pharma Certificate ensures that infrastructure, equipment, operations, and personnel are complied with the standards and regulations expected by pharmaceutical manufacturers. “A resilient and reliable logistics network for Life Science and Healthcare (LSH) products has proven critical in light of current events,” said Yves Larquemin, Managing Director ASL Far East North. “The professionalism and hard work put in by our colleagues to achieve certification by IATA will allow Dachser to play our part in the LSH industry.” Responding to growing global demand, Dachser has been expanding its LSH capabilities in its logistics network for years. The logistics service provider received its first CEIV Pharma certification in 2018 for its Frankfurt branch in Germany and by 2019 was also certified for its Atlanta branch in the US and its two Indian branches in Mumbai and Hyderabad. The Shanghai certification marks the company’s commitment on LSH and its excellence in handling such commodities which are extremely sensitive to time and temperature. In addition, with the Chinese government’s “Health China 2030” directive to invest in the health and well-being of its people, Dachser Shanghai’s accreditation makes it well poised to fill the increased demand in transporting medical …

SkyCell has partnered with Virgin Atlantic to contribute to its safe, secure, and sustainable shipment of valuable vaccines and pharma products. Virgin Atlantic will use SkyCell containers covering the full range of biologics transit temperature requirements: -80°C, -25°C to -15°C, +2°C to +8°C, and up to +15°C to + 25°C. The partnership will give customers confidence that their pharmaceutical shipments will arrive at destination safely, as the innovative hybrid containers – which have an average runtime of 202 hours – have a failure rate of less than 0.1 per cent. This is compared to an industry standard failure rate of up to 12 per cent, which cost the pharma industry $34.1 billion in 2019 alone. SkyCell’s containers have a number of additional innovative features, including shock absorbent feet to reduce vibrations and double doors system to eliminate potential humidity damage to the cargo. These containers also save large amounts of CO2, thanks to their lightweight, environmentally friendly material, design and efficiency. This partnership will further enable Virgin Atlantic to deliver pharmaceuticals through its Pharma Secure service, which was introduced for all urgent, valuable, and vulnerable pharmaceutical and life sciences shipments last year. Meeting the rising needs for pharmaceutical and life science products, Virgin Atlantic together with SkyCell offers end-to-end compliance and assurance of vaccines and other vital medicines. Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, comments, “Our partnership with SkyCell takes our already well-established pharmaceutical offering to the next level. We want to offer our customers peace of mind so they can book confidently with us, knowing their precious cargo will arrive safely, securely, and on time. It will allow our customers to lease self-charging, temperature-controlled containers to boost …

A global air services provider, dnata, has been awarded IATA’s Centre of Excellence for Perishable Logistics (‘CEIV Fresh’) certification at Singapore Changi Airport for achieving the highest quality and standards in the temperature-controlled handling of perishable products, including fresh fruits, meat, fish, dairy and flowers. The transport of perishable goods by air increases constantly with growing consumer demand for healthy products all year round. The most important aspects of air transportation of perishables are time and temperature management to prevent food loss. The CEIV Fresh program meets these exacting requirements primarily based on the IATA Perishable Cargo Regulations (PCR) which combines professional regulatory and operational input from industry and government experts. Sam Gould, Head of Cargo – Singapore, dnata said, “There is an increasing demand for safe air transportation of temperature-sensitive goods. We constantly invest in infrastructure, training and process improvement to ensure that these delicate products reach the end-customer in perfect condition. IATA’s CEIV Fresh certification demonstrates the quality and reliability of our services, and supports Changi Airport’s positioning as the preferred cargo hub for time-, and temperature-sensitive shipments.” In addition to the CEIV Fresh certification, dnata holds IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (‘CEIV Pharma’) accreditation which demonstrates its ability to move pharmaceutical products under the strictest standards across its operations.

B Medical Systems, the Luxembourg-based pharma cold chain solutions provider, has signed up an agreement with SpiceXpress to open pharma logistics centres of excellence at Indian airports to facilitate transportation of vaccines, pharma preparation and biological specimens. B Medical Systems manufactures medical-grade vaccine refrigerators, laboratory freezers, ultra-low freezers, and transport boxes that can store and transport any vaccine in the temperature range of -86 °C to 8 °C. B Medical Systems has been working closely with governments across the world to strengthen their national vaccine cold chain for the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. Sanjiv Gupta, CEO, SpiceXpress, said, “For the first time that the cold chain industry can lease the boxes from the pharma logistics centre of excellence which will be operated by SpiceXpress. We have not only tied up with one of the world’s best companies to give the best packaging solution but also a very new concept to the Indian manufacturers to save money and time while using these packets.” B Medical Systems will provide medical-grade transport solutions to SpiceXpress for the transportation of the Covid-19 vaccine and various pharmaceutical preparations across the country. The collaboration also covers the opening of several pharma logistics centres of excellence across several airports in India. Jean Claude Kugener, the ambassador of Luxembourg to India, said “This new cooperation will strengthen our bilateral cooperation and contribute hugely to the strong partnership between both countries that the prime minister Narendra Modi and prime minister Xavier Bettel had highlighted during their bilateral virtual summit a few months ago.’’ Jesal Doshi, CEO of the B Medical Systems’ India operations, said, “We are excited that our transport boxes that are also manufactured in India will …

Seeing a slight decrease of 0.9 per cent compared to the previous year, Dachser’s consolidated net revenue totaled EUR 5.61 billion. In contrast to the decline of 2.2 per cent in the road logistics business field, the air & sea logistics business field saw growth of 5.2 per cent. The business field benefited from having airfreight charter capacity of its own as well as from high freight rates for intercontinental transport. At the Group level, the number of shipments dropped by 2.5 per cent to 78.6 million, while tonnage fell by 2.9 per cent to 39.8 million metric tonnes. “We have delivered on our promise to be a rock of stability during the coronavirus crisis,” says, Burkhard Eling, CEO, Dachser. The compny kept its customers’ global supply chains running without interruption and came up with flexible solutions to capacity bottlenecks, particularly on intercontinental freight services. At the same time, the company provided the best possible protection for its employees’ health and supported its longstanding service partners in Europe. “Following a solid first quarter, the lockdowns in many European countries meant sometimes drastic declines in overland transport shipments,” says Eling. He adds, “There was a clear improvement by June, however, with volumes remaining more or less consistently above 2019 levels. Our business model has proved that it can withstand crises, at the same time boasting strong growth potential and adaptability.” Revenue at the air & sea logistics business field benefited from the shortages in air and sea freight capacity, and the corresponding rise in freight rates, throughout 2020. Buoyed by its activities in Asia, the business field upped its revenue by 5.2 per cent to a total of EUR 1.2 billion. …

CargoFlash Infotech has partnered with the Luxembourg-based EDIfly to provide innovative messaging software for aviation and logistics sectors. Starting April 2021, CargoFlash has embedded the technology of EDIfly into its cloud-based, digital platform to enable free, encrypted messaging for its air cargo management solutions. With this partnership, CargoFlash can now enable all users of the advanced EDIfly technology to benefit from the free, web-based exchanges with stakeholders in ground handling and warehouse management, airline trucking, forwarding, logistics, cargo community systems and even governments, for that matter. The implementation is completely seamless for CargoFlash’s clients as EDIfly relies on the same IATA addresses, already in use by the legacy aviation messaging providers, including SITA and ARINC. With this recent association, EDIfly shall add value to the exchanges of CargoFlash’s communication as there is an instant proof-of-delivery through a digital signature, allowing complete process control for its business partners. Conceptualised by a team of air cargo domain’s veterans and experts, having over 500 years of combined experience, the next-generation ‘nGen’ by CargoFlash is an end-to-end air cargo management system delivering solutions to the global aviation cargo industry. Through the ‘nGen’, the company caters solutions to airline carriers, GHAs, GSSAs and forwarders. ‘nGen’ provides instant, integrated and seamless solutions to the Air Cargo industry for reservation, revenue management and accounting, D2D and warehouse management. “Some clients on the comprehensive nGen management platform by CargoFlash work without a connection to legacy Type B providers while relying on the global IATA messaging standards and end-to-end encryption instead of using unsecured email for mission-critical communication. With the quick implementation and seamless integration, we aim to rapidly spread the disruptive concept that EDIfly can bring to the …

DB Schenker has transported equipment for a vaccine filling line this week, on behalf of US-based healthcare company Nexus pharmaceuticals. With a total volume of 82 tons, it was necessary to charter an Antonov An-124 aircraft for the flight from Frankfurt-Hahn in Germany to Chicago-Rockford in the US. The transported material comprised of a vaccine filling machine with isolator from the German specialized engineering companies Bausch + Stroebel and Franz Ziel. Once the production line is operational, it has the capability to produce up to 30 million doses of vaccines per month. The design and fabrication of the machine already began years before the pandemic. Thorsten Meincke, Member of the Management Board for Air and Ocean Freight, DB Schenker, says, “With our expertise in intercontinental transports, we want to support the global fight against the pandemic by building up vaccine production capacities where possible. More than ever, logistics truly matters. We are proud to be able to realize short-term air freight solutions for our customers even in times of limited market capacities.” John Cook, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations of Nexus Pharmaceuticals, adds, “Nexus Pharmaceuticals is keenly aware of the need for an increase in global vaccine production capabilities and as such has aggressively taken steps to address the situation. The filling line and associated isolator represent critical pieces and their arrival is the culmination of Nexus’ commitment to addressing medical needs during the pandemic. Nexus’ investment with DB Schenker’s tremendous support was instrumental in the fast-tracking of the commissioning of our state-of-the-art sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.” From the two companies’ locations in Ilshofen and Billerbeck, DB Schenker transported the equipment to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport from where an Antonov An- 124 …

CEVA Logistics has joined United Airlines’ Eco-Skies Alliance, a first-of-its-kind program involving leading global corporations working with the airline to power future flying in a more sustainable way. CEVA Logistics and other Eco-Skies Alliance leaders will work with United to collectively purchase approximately 3.4 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) this year. With nearly 80 per cent emissions reductions on a life-cycle basis compared to conventional jet fuel, this is enough SAF to eliminate approximately 31,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or enough to fly passengers more than 200 million miles. As an inaugural participant, CEVA Logistics is taking a lead in the air cargo industry to reduce the logistics-related impact on the environment at the source by creating demand for more SAF. In addition to the Eco-Skies Alliance program, which is designated for corporate customers, United is also inviting individual customers to join in the airline’s efforts by contributing funds to purchase SAF, which United will use to help lower the greenhouse gas emissions from its flights compared to traditional jet fuel. Says Mathieu Friedberg, CEO, CEVA Logistics, “At CEVA, we deliver responsive logistics for our customers, and as part of the CMA CGM Group, we’re strongly committed to acting for the planet in the areas of climate change, air quality and biodiversity. With our participation in the United Eco-Skies Alliance, CEVA is taking tangible action today, with an eye on the solutions of tomorrow. Offering a SAF option to our air cargo customers in partnership with United demonstrates CEVA’s commitment to a more sustainable supply chain. We applaud the participation of each member of the Alliance.” Scott Kirby, CEO, United, adds, “While we’ve partnered with companies …

Continuing its efforts to transport COVID-19 vaccines across the world, IAG Cargo has delivered 2.5 million doses into Latin America and the Caribbean since January. The shipments were transported using IAG Cargo’s specialist Constant Climate service via its airside hubs at London Heathrow and Madrid Barajas, two of its three specialist pharmaceutical GDP certified hubs, to the approved Constant Climate stations in the region. Daniel Byrne, Regional Commercial Manager – UK & Ireland at IAG Cargo said, “We are delighted to be able to support Latin America and the Caribbean with their vaccine rollout – a region that is a key part of our network. With our sister airlines, British Airways and Iberia we’ve already transported vaccines into El Salvador, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and we partnered with Crown Agents to support the delivery efforts into several British Overseas Territories including Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos. With our world-class cool chain facilities supported by highly trained teams and a seamless service we are committed to supporting the logistics to deliver COVID-19 vaccines in the Latin American and Caribbean region, and worldwide.” Fergus Drake, CEO, Crown Agents, adds, “In the global race to secure doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, we strike to ensure no country gets left behind. We’re proud to be working with IAG Cargo to ensure even the most remote regions of the globe get their fair share of the vaccine.”