Category Archives: Aviation

The LATAM Group has commenced operating flights to Qatar to cater the demand from Chile’s fruit harvest season. The service was launched on November 30 and the first flight on the route was operated by Latam Airlines Brazil. The flight transported perishables from customers in South America to Asia and electrical goods were carried on the return route. The carrier operated its second flight to Doha on December 7, carrying more than 95 tonnes of fresh fruit. The fruits were then transported to Shanghai by Latam’s interline partner Qatar Airways Cargo. Qatar Airways Cargo helped LATAM Cargo to import more than 60 tonnes of electrical goods to Brazil and Chili to meet the Christmas season demand. “LATAM Cargo maintained its strategy of using passenger aircraft as all-cargo transport during the pandemic, which proved very helpful to mitigate the belly capacity reduction caused by the global border closure,” the carrier said.

The October data of International Air Transport Association (IATA) for global airfreight markets shows that air cargo demand continued to improve but at a slower pace than the previous month and remains below previous year levels. Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for international air cargo fall 11.6 per cent in October 2020 compared to the same month a year earlier. This was an improvement from the 14.6 per cent fall in September 2020 and the second consecutive month of improvement. International capacity remained constrained in the region, down 28.7 per cent. However, this was an improvement over the 31.8 per cent fall in capacity the previous month. The region’s airlines reported the highest international load factor indicating a solid appetite for air cargo services. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was 6.2 per cent below previous-year levels in October (-7.5 per cent for international operations). This is an improvement from the 7.8 per cent year-on-year drop recorded in September. However, the pace of recovery in October was slower than in September with month-on-month demand growing 4.1 per cent (1.1 per cent for international). Global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), shrank by 22.6 per cent in October (‑24.8 per cent for international operations) compared to the previous year. Strong regional variations continue with North American and African carriers reporting year-on-year gains in demand (+6.2 per cent and +2.2 per cent respectively), while all other regions remained in negative territory compared to a year earlier. The improving performance is aligned with improvements in key economic indicators; The new export orders component of the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stayed above the 50-mark for the second month in a row. This a …

In order to meet the safe and effective distribution of these vaccines around the world, Singapore Airlines (SIA), over the last few months, has been actively engaging various stakeholders across the supply chain and in pharmaceutical export markets. An internal COVID-19 task force was set up in May 2020 to ensure readiness across all aspects of cargo operations, and manage the crucial task of safely carrying these time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments. “We have been working hard to ensure that we are ready for one of the biggest and most important supply chain challenges of our generation the transportation and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world,” says, Chin Yau Seng, Senior Vice President Cargo, Singapore Airlines. He adds, “We will continue to grow our pharmaceutical handling capability by investing in our THRUCOOL service and expanding our pharmaceutical quality corridor network. We are also working closely with our service partners to continuously improve pharmaceutical handling processes and capabilities across our network.” The carrier will make available cargo space on its flights and accord uplift priority to COVID- 19 vaccine shipments across the key vaccine trade lanes. This means readying the Boeing 747-400 freighters, as well as the passenger aircraft fleet which will be deployed on cargo operations to increase the capacity for vaccine transportation where needed. Leveraging its network connectivity, SIA Cargo carried about 22,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical shipments across its network coupled with SIA extensive network connectivity for the financial year ended March 2020. In order to strengthen its pharmaceutical transport product, SIA has been actively expanding its THRUCOOL1 quality corridor network, with the latest additions to the network being Brisbane and Melbourne in September this year. To build …

Freightwalla has partnered with Maersk to offer spot rates on its platform. The partnership will provide more transparency, reliability and assurance to import and export shipments. While providing end-to-end supply chain services to the larger EXIM fraternity, inaccuracy and un-reliability are the two significant challenges that are being solved by Freightwalla. The platform will give access to spot rates 24/7, provide accurate information and give assurance of loading on the allocated vessel. The spot rate integration with Freightwalla will allow shippers to search, secure competitive rates, and book container space instantly online, making it more reliable. Punit Java, Co-Founder & CTO Freightwalla, says, “The conventional booking process involved multiple steps with no guarantee of loading. Maersk’s spot rate integration enables our customers to see instant rates and see real-time availability of equipment, space, and surety of loading for their shipments. Given the challenges in today’s market with space, customers have a definitive advantage in their logistics planning. It will simplify the overall booking experience of exporters or importers.” Maersk introduced spot rates to reduce overbooking cycles while also providing a price and cargo loading assurance. Traditional freight forwarding has been a highly manual and inefficient process, and the shipping industry’s digital revolution has been long overdue. When it comes to the booking process, there are two major challenges associated with booking freight offline. First, the accuracy and reliability of the contracted rates are poor. There is a possibility of the vessel being overbooked and the customers facing unprecedented delays in shipping their cargo. Second, this unreliability makes clients perform multiple bookings with different liners in a bid to guarantee that their cargo will get a spot on at least one …

Jet Airways which went bankrupt in 2019 is expected to resume its domestic and international operations by summer 2021. The consortium led by Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital has announced the revival of the Indian airline Jet Airways as a full-service carrier. The release says, “If everything goes as per plan and the consortium receives the NCLT and regulatory approvals on time, Jet Airways would be back in the skies by the summer of 2021.” The consortium also plans to increase cargo services to include dedicated freighter service. “Given India’s position as a leading centre for global vaccine manufacture, cargo services have never been more required,” it says. As per the resolution plan, the Jet 2.0 program intends to operate all of its historic domestic slots in India and restart international operations. Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru will remain the Jet 2.0 hubs. The revival plan proposes to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by creating sub-hubs in such cities. Manoj Narender Madnani, Board member, Jalan Kalrock Consortium says, “Jet Airways has been a brand with a glorious history of over 25 years, and it is the vision of the Consortium to put Jet Airways back in the skies at the earliest opportunity. We aim to re-energise the brand by infusing energy, warmth, and vibrancy into it while making it bigger and better. Over the years, the brand has created loyal customers and we wish to bring in freshness by adding value – an Indian brand with a global outlook, warm yet professional which symbolises the New India, Young India. With the revival of Jet Airways, it will restore the confidence among the Jet customers to fly again and …

Hyderabad Airport has announced that GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) is all set to provide the necessary infrastructure for unbroken cool-chain for the global vaccine shipments to maintain the vaccine integrity. The COVID-19 vaccines require specialised handling, hence the procedures are being developed in coordination with manufacturers and supply-chain players to mitigate any risk during the process of transportation of vaccines right from the manufacturers’ facility to the final destination. GHAC has a well-established Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in place for acceptance, screening and handling of vaccines as per required temperature conditions. The Pharma zone of the terminal is a WHO-GSDP (World Health Organization – Good Storage and Distribution Practices) certified facility. As the vaccines are highly sensitive shipments, GHAC will leverage its efficiency in handling Pharma from last 12 years of operations to maintain unbroken cool- chain. The terminal offers one of India’s largest fleet of the modern temp-controlled Cool Containers viz. Envirotainer, VaQtec, etc. GHAC recently launched Cool Dolly- a mobile refrigeration unit for airside transportation of temperature sensitive Pharma and Vaccine shipments. Cool zones/containers have temperature data loggers and humidity sensors to ensure better monitoring and control while handling the sensitive vaccine shipments. GHAC terminal has a large sized Dual view tunnel X-ray Screening Machine to maintain the integrity of vaccines cool containers while screening. It is already handling various traditional vaccine shipments for global exports and imports. The GHAC Pharma Zone is well equipped in providing seamless processing of critical vaccines. Critical processes like – acceptance, weighing, customs examination, screening, palletization and transportation to aircraft are also performed under temperature-controlled conditions. As per the industry insights, most of India’s vaccine export will be to Africa, Latin …

TUI, Condor and SunClass Airlines has gone live on CargoAi. Pursuing its digitisation strategy for airfreight, CargoAi offers its users access to a variety of air transport solutions anywhere in the world. The company is increasing its offer to freight forwarders by making real-time prices and electronic bookings available on its platform for major leisure carriers; TUI, Condor and SunClass Airlines. This roll-out has been made possible because of the support of ECS Group, the GSSA of these airlines in Total Cargo Management. ‘These three airlines offer a multitude of destinations. Our users can now benefit from this by reserving their capacities on our platform in a few seconds’, says Matthieu Petot, CEO, CargoAi. For ECS Group, the approach also aims to provide a premium service to its airline customers and above all, to offer an additional sales tool for their cargo capacities. “Our customers need us to support them in new ways to maximise their income, and digitising the distribution processes is one of them. We therefore connect to all major e-booking platforms in the market to sell the cargo capacities of airlines under Total Cargo Management contract in a more efficient way’, explains Cédric Millet, Chief Strategy and Digital Officer, ECS Group. This is an important step for CargoAi, which is aiming for a ‘smooth, simple’ digitization of the industry. ‘We offer a turnkey service to our customers by doing all the technical work upstream, without the need for any investment on their part. These are the types of actions that will lead to a digitised industry, equal to its importance in the world economy’, says Peto.

Qatar Airways Cargo has announced to launch three times weekly Boeing 777-300 passenger freighters to Harstad-Narvik Airport (EVE) located in the Evenes Municipality of Northern Norway, starting December 14. The airport serves the towns of Harstad and Narvik in Nordland County. The freighter will depart on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, providing over 150 tonnes of cargo capacity for exporters from Northern Norway each week. Seafood and salmon will account for the majority of exports on these flights. There will also be 50 tonnes available every week for imports from the airline’s network into Harstad-Narvik Airport. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo, Qatar Airways, said, “In cooperation with NordicGSA, we are pleased to introduce cargo capacity and support Northern Norway’s seafood and salmon exporters who will benefit from direct connection to African, Asian and Middle East markets via Doha. Our state-of-the-art Climate Control Centre has dedicated storage areas for perishables transiting the hub while the use of reefer trucks ensures a seamless cool chain for all perishable shipments.” Stig Winther, CEO, Perishable Center Nord AS, said, “Perishable Center Nord AS is very pleased to cooperate with Qatar Airways Cargo. Operating more direct routes to and from the market will mean a lot for fresh seafood businesses from the North and quality, freshness and competitiveness will definitely improve. We are looking forward to start up, develop and together with Qatar Airways Cargo make seafood from Northern Norway more available globally.” Martin Langaas, Director Traffic Development and Cargo at Avinor, said, “Our partnership with Qatar Airways Cargo has been a true success story for Avinor and the Norwegian seafood industry. With the opening of a second gateway for seafood exports, the connectivity for Norway …

In a bid to provide the seamless solutions in transporting temperature sensitive COVID-19 vaccine, SpiceXpress has joined hands with Om Logistics. This strategic partnership is envisioned to not only provide a speedy and reliable solution for vaccine delivery but to also create a sustainable cold chain network both, domestically and internationally. The cargo carrier has its cargo network spread over 54 domestic and 40 international destinations, and with a current fleet of 15 dedicated freighter aircraft in addition to its passenger aircraft Fleet; it has the ability to carry over 500 tonnes of cargo per day. Om Logistics has an extensive international and domestic presence, with its 1,200 offices worldwide and the ability to cater to more than 19,000 pin codes in India. In the COVID-19 vaccine movement, the company will provide the refrigerated trucks to cover the first-mile pickups and the last-mile deliveries on pan India basis, while SpiceXpress with the introduction of the ‘Spice Pharma Pro’ solution and robust ground handling infrastructure will provide the secure and safe line haul for the extremely sensitive vaccines in controlled temperatures ranging from -40°c to +25°c.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has announced the launch of SamrtAir! for the real-time tracking of air cargo shipment. Together with the Bonn-based start-up BlueBox Systems, Hellmann developed a web-based platform, which aims to provide customers with information about their air freight shipments, regardless of airline, route or type of shipment. Based on GPS coordinates, SmartAir! will be providing information on all stopovers and loading times for live tracking of shipments. The system offers numerous analysis options for the performance of individual airlines, routes and airports, aiming towards the optimisation of supply chain management. The company also offers tracking for sea freight and the generally applicable smart visibility tracker. These can record, in addition to tracking data, information on humidity, temperature, incidence of light, vibration and door opening, thus enabling detailed transport control of shipments. “SmartAir! is a real game-changer in the tracking of airfreight shipments, which has not been available in the market in this way before. In times of digitalisation and ever smaller time windows for decisions, quickly available real-time data within global supply chains are becoming increasingly important. This will also be of particular relevance in the upcoming distribution of COVID-19 vaccines,” says Henning Pottharst, Product Manager – Smart Visibility, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics.