Category Archives: Aviation

Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has launched a dedicated cargo terminal for bonded and heavy export cargo at city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) which is one of the busiest airports in Asia. With this, CSIA’s cargo handling capacity will increase to seven lakh tonne annually from around four lakh tonne at present. The heavy cargo includes machinery, non-perishable pharma, automobile, engineering products, etc. The terminal will start operations from December 14, 2016. According to MIAL, the new process management deployed, along with incremental export capacity, will reduce the dwell time to a considerable extent. “The new facility will complement the existing Export Zone by increasing efficiency through faster admittance of cargo, swift turnaround of vehicles and overall reduction in handling dwell time with new process management. With this additional facility, CSIA can now offload more than 50 trucks at a time,” said an airport insider. Earlier, the average offloading capacity was about 30 trucks.

Lifted by solid growth in cargo traffic, Cathay Pacific Airways plans to increase frequency of its freighter services to Indian cities. The Hong Kong based airline has freight services to six Indian cities and there are 25 freighter departures every week from India. A sign of significant market potential in the freighter segment, the carrier has seen an eight per cent jump in cargo volumes in first nine months (January-September) of this year. “At this moment, we plan to optimise our network base in India and want to increase our frequency here,” Mark Sutch, General Manager – Cargo Sales & Marketing, Cathay Pacific. The carrier provides freighter services from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The twice-a-week service between Kolkata and Hong Kong was launched in March last year.

DHL eCommerce is investing EUR70 million (Rs 51,184 lakh) to strengthen its operations to meet the fast-growing demand for quality e-commerce logistics services in India. Through its subsidiary Blue Dart Express, this investment will go into the expansion of its air hubs in Delhi and Mumbai which are part of its network of 13 air hubs in India. The latest investment supports the growth of B2C e-commerce in India, and is part of the company’s broader plan to aggressively expand across Asia Pacific. “The expanded facilities in Delhi and Mumbai, coupled with our flexible and easy-to-use e-fulfillment solutions, will enable e-commerce sellers to distribute their products to over 34,000 domestic locations effectively. As the national leader in door-to-door delivery in India, our deliveries are fully managed end-to-end, including routing, sorting and shipping goods efficiently from the warehouse to customers’ doorstep, to provide customers with consistent service excellence. Our EUR70 million investment will ensure that we continue to lay a strong foundation to offer even greater support to our e-commerce customers,” said Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue Dart Express.

Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) is organising its annual convention at a European destination, for the first time in its history, from November 16-19, 2016. “Europe is a strategic and traditional stronghold from Indian exports’ point of view, albeit we are witnessing sluggish growth at present. This edition is expected to witness the presence of dignitaries apart from more than 400 ACAAI delegates from across India,” informs, Sunil Arora, Secretary General & Chairman Convention, ACAAI. “The list of dignitaries includes the Indian Ambassador to Greece and it is expected to include high officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. In addition, several overseas delegates from various trade associations will also be present at the convention to interact with their present and prospective Indian partners,” he adds.

Air Cargo Agents Association of India’s (ACAAI) 43rd convention, that is scheduled from November 16-19, 2016 in Athens, Greece convention will be a full of serious business discussions and leisure programmes. Says Sunil Arora, Secretary General & Chairman Convention, ACAAI, “Athens is a lucrative destination for tourism and, thus, the 43rd convention would make a difference by adding value for precious time and money. We will analyse the current global economic scenario and its impact on the Exim industry, particularly on air cargo industry in India. Apart from the rapid changes in the dynamics of economy, we would also focus on challenges from technology, e-commerce, safety/security aspects, profitability, etc.” “There will be five business sessions and out of them three will follow round-table format. Topics of the business sessions are: Revitalising Air Cargo – Global Recession, Securing the Air Cargo Supply Chain, Airline – Forwarder Synergy, Technology Driven Process and Quality and Cost – The Management Challenge & Future Vision. We are expecting exchange of radical ideas to sail through turbulences we face very often,” informs Arora.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has launched an air cargo and logistics subsidiary AAI Cargo Logistics & Allied Services (AAICLAS). This new subsidiary will be allowed to develop its own distinct culture, organisation structure and business model while at the same time draw upon the strength of its large patent organisation, AAI. “The vision of the company is to become the foremost integrated logistics network operator in India with primary focus on air cargo handling and allied services,” informs Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, AAI.

As a step of the joint business agreement between Lufthansa Cargo and Cathay Pacific Cargo, the air cargo carrier has moved its local freight handling into the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal (CPCT) in Hong Kong. The move took effect on October 1. This benefits customers of both carriers, with one single location for export drop-off and import delivery arrangements. As part of the JBA, both cargo carriers are working closely together on network planning, as well as sales, IT and service enhancements, and plan to transport the first shipment under the cooperation framework from February 1, 2017 – initially from Hong Kong to Europe. The ability to also book eastbound shipments from Europe to Hong Kong will then follow in 2018. The joint activities will be carried out in full compliance with all applicable laws, including the competition rules of the European Union and Hong Kong.

Earlier in September, Emirates SkyCargo deployed three dedicated freighter flights, two from Thiruvananthapuram and one from Kochi, transporting more than 288 tonnes of perishables to the Middle East especially for the Onam celebrations in the region. The perishables included all kinds of vegetables, different varieties of fruits including bananas and banana leaves. The majority of the shipment was headed to Dubai; the perishables also reached other destinations in the Gulf region including Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Dammam, Muscat and Jeddah. Emirates SkyCargo has witnessed a steady growth in the export of cargo from Kerala over the years. In 2015-16, the carrier helped export over 29,000 tonnes of cargo, a growth of 8.7 per cent from 2014-15.

Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS) commenced trial operations of India’s first integrated on-airport perishable cargo handling centre, ‘AISATS COOLPORT’, at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB). The state-of-the-art, 11,000 sq. meter facility will meet the ever-increasing demands and handling requirements of temperature-sensitive cargo and will further enhance the state of Karnataka’s status as the pharmaceutical and perishables hub of India. The facility, with a handling capacity of 40,000 tonnes per annum, will cater to an extensive range of perishable commodities such as pharmaceutical products, fruits, vegetables, poultry, sea food and flowers. It is customised to offer the most comprehensive cold storage solutions with 17 dedicated cold rooms with adjustable temperatures ranging from – 25OC to + 25OC. It is designed as a one stop shop to facilitate the import and export processes of the air cargo industry. The integrated facility will house a state-of-the-art drug controller lab as well as a plant quarantine inspection and certification office. It will be supplemented by temperature controlled queue lanes for unitised shipments and cool trollies to ensure integrity of the cool chain from AISATS COOLPORT to the aircraft and vice versa.

Emirates SkyCargo has also been awarded the certification of compliance under the EU Good Distribution Practice guidelines (GDP) for medicinal products for human use by Bureau Veritas following an audit conducted by the certification agency’s team from Germany. The certification validates the carrier’s adherence to the strict guidelines on the transport and handling of pharmaceutical products and covers all Emirates SkyCargo handling activities for pharmaceutical products at its hub in Dubai. Emirates SkyCargo is the first cargo airline in the world that has obtained GDP certification for its hub operations covering two airports and the 24/7 bonded trucking service that connects cargo between them. The carrier also operates the largest GDP certified area in the world offering a total area of 8,600 square metres of combined handling space dedicated for pharmaceutical products at Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central.