Category Archives: Aviation

Explaining why forwarders need to stay in between, Tigist Eshetu, Regional Director – Indian Subcontinent, Ethiopian Airlines, says, “Shippers are only at one end of the transaction, they almost always need freight forwarders to bridge with their buyers. One of such requirements is management of all stakeholders involved end to end up to delivery. Secondly, knowledge related to customs clearance, transport planning and freight rate reduction via consolidation, end to end planning remains the core competence for the freight forwarders; digitalisation at the airline side wouldn’t change these.” “Shippers which usually operate via banks and with letter of credit still rely on forwarders to pull their cargo out of the expensive carrier warehouses till cash against document cycles are finalised. Digitalisation could bring shippers close but wouldn’t eliminate the role of forwarders,” she adds.

Air Cargo Club of Delhi (ACCD) has announced Rajan Nijhawan as new President of the club and also announced the newly elected Managing Committee team. The club held its 43rd Annual General Meeting online through video conferencing .The house had an active discussion on the tasks executed by the Management Committee last year and put forward some valuable suggestions for the coming year. The members and past Presidents also appreciated the work done by the entire Management Committee for organising excellent events, specially the Annual ball and The Founders day, and also complimented the newsletters and social media coverage by the sub-branding committee. “I would like to thank our founding members, seniors, Past Presidents and all the members of ACCD for their confidence in me. It is a proud moment and I follow in the footsteps of many fine Past Presidents. I am so grateful for this remarkable opportunity. When I look back at the many years as a member of ACCD I cannot be prouder of what we have accomplished. ACCD is a club we are all so proud to associate with. This transition comes at a challenging time and there is still considerable uncertainty in our everyday lives. However, I know the future is bright and holds great things in store for ACCD. We will need all of your support to be successful and I am sure, together, we will be,” says, Nijhawan.

Explaining what air cargo has done to India, Cyrus Katgar, President, ACFI, says, Air cargo is the speed to market and speed is so important for businesses like pharmaceuticals. COVID-19 could be the biggest flop if air cargo was not around. The pharmaceutical industry and air cargo has been great for everybody during the pandemic and thousands of lives have been saved. On a regular basis, air cargo is supporting pharmaceuticals industry by carrying vaccines, cancer medicines, etc. Airlines have created ‘envirotainer’ for temperature-controlled cargo. They are only meant for the pharmaceuticals industry.

Further enhanced its pharma handling capabilities in Singapore, dnata has launched cool dollies in its operations. The company’s new, high-tech containers are specially designed to serve the pharmaceutical industry with a closed temperature-controlled system for seamless delivery of temperature-sensitive goods between cargo warehouses and aircraft. Dirk Goovaerts, dnata’s Regional CEO for Asia Pacific, said, “It has become increasingly crucial for both airlines and freight forwarders to be supported by a reliable, certified handler that can protect their pharma shipments and ensure the products remain in perfect condition until they reach the end customer. “We constantly invest in our people, facilities, equipment and processes to provide world-class services to our customers. Our latest investment in cool dollies underlines our commitment to ensuring the highest quality of supply chain management when handling temperature-sensitive cargo. We continue to enhance our operations to deliver the promises our customers make, every day.” dnata’s announcement to introduce another innovative solution to the Singapore market has been widely welcomed and supported by its partners and stakeholders, including the government and the airport operator. dnata’s new equipment allows the company to transport temperature-sensitive cargo to the highest international standards. Providing temperature-controlled storage from -18°C up to +25°C, the cool dollies mitigate risk of temperature deviations and contamination. They have a closed structure with alarms on opening and closing, as well as alerts if temperatures fluctuate above acceptable ranges. As they are fitted with solar panels, the cool dollies are both environmentally friendly and autonomous. The units are also hygienic and easy to clean, which is an important consideration for pharma cargo. The company operates a state-of-the-art 1,400m² pharma and perishable handling centre at Changi Airport, which is capable …

Carrying essential pharma supplies to the CIS countries via Uzbekistan Airways, Beehive Logistics (India) has send more than 1,36,078 kg of pharma supplies in the first week of October from Uzbekistan Airways’ Boeing 767 aircraft. The company has achieved a target of 2,54,012 kg of pharma supplies in record time in September 2020 also. Beehive Logistics also flew the first cargo flight to Tashkent on April 21, 2020 carrying more than 27,000 kg of essential supplies to the Central Asia region. Dr Naveen Rao, Group Chairman, Sentro Group, states, “The COVID-19 pandemic is a whole new world where service to humanity and supporting our partners is our prime objective. We will continue to work hard towards this goal.” Anish Khatri, GM (Uzbekistan Airways – GSA Beehive Logistics), says, “During this on-going pandemic, essential pharma supplies are very crucial for any nation to provide other medicines on time. Due to lockdowns in almost every nation from time to time, keeping stock of medicines has become even more important. We are just working hard to fulfil these gaps for CIS Countries by running regular cargo flights.” Beehive Logistics is planning to expand its services and to press more charter flights in supplying other goods also. Beehive Logistics, a part of Sentro Group representing Cargo Uzbekistan Airways as GSSA in India is operating host of cargo charter flights carrying essential pharma supplies to CIS countries.

Kenya Airways has appointed Rainbow Aviation as the carrier’s General Sales Agent (GSA) for India. “Kenya Airways with its extensive network and upgraded capacity for cargo will enable us to enhance the service offering in the region,” says, Feroz Qureshi, General Manager, Business Development, Rainbow Aviation in his LinkedIn post. He further informs, “We shall be sharing Kenya Airways flight schedule and market rates shortly.” Kenya Airways is the national carrier of the Republic of Kenya and an important industry player for Africa market from India. The airline will soon be commencing its online operations from India and shall be sharing destination, schedule and tariff shortly.

Alitalia Airlines, who have been operating their weekly P2C flights from India since June 2020, have reached a milestone figure of successfully uplifting 53,375 kgs on a single flight from Mumbai (BOM) – Rome (FCO). An optimum mix of high density cargo along with pharmaceuticals, auto parts, spares, chemicals, garments & courier helped achieve the desired result. The ULD planning was carefully monitored for maximum utilisation of space on the newly cargo only reconfigured aircraft. Commenting on the achievement, Sakshi Gupta, Country Manager – India, Air Logistics Group, says “Alitalia enters the book of records once again with a consecutive birdie in a row, uplifting yet another milestone figure of 53 tonnes on its BOM-FCO route which comes just a day after the successful flight ex DEL which ferried 54T to Rome.” Deepak Kumar, Cargo Manager – Western India, Air Logistics Group, states, “Air cargo is a constitutive part of logistics business. We could only attain this crest through arduous dedication and commitment towards the air cargo industry. This would have not been possible without our stake holders who have underpinned and braced us through thick and thin.” Alitalia has been expanding its Cargo capacity to transport vital supplies across the globe & looks forward to increasing the import & export trade between Italy & India in times ahead.

With its commitment to help improve the supply chain and ensure timely medical provisions, Blue Dart is ramping up its infrastructure with its pre-existing specialised Temperature Controlled Logistics (TCL) to combat the pandemic. The company will further offer complete supply chain solution for the Life Sciences and Clinical Trials Sector and reefer vehicles (cold chain) services to the vaccine sector to ensure seamless transport of shipments. As the development of the COVID-19 vaccine leapfrogs across development phases, stringent temperature requirements (up to – 80°C) will be a critical factor for its transportation and warehousing at every stage. An efficient and specialised logistics network will be a prerequisite, to ensure safe and rapid delivery of billions of Covid-19 vaccine doses for mass immunisation, and other temperature sensitive pharma products on a national & global scale. Blue Dart has successfully tailored its existing Temperature Controlled Logistics solution to transport critical shipments such as vaccines, medical samples and more. The TCL teams work with three industry specific segments: Clinical Research Organization (CRO), Vaccine/Testing Kit manufactures and Active Pharma Ingredient for swift and safe delivery of shipments. As per research on Blue Dart’s consumer feedback, conducted through Net Promoter Approach methodology, Blue Dart successfully scored a Net Promoter Score(NPS) of 100% for its TCL solutions, even higher than its other services which has an enviable NPS of 99.6%. Ketan Kulkarni, CMO & Head – Business Development, Blue Dart, said “The right partnerships are vital to secure critical medical supplies during health emergencies. We are actively working with various pharmaceutical organizations that are conducting clinical trials to produce a Covid-19 vaccine in India in their pre and post production journey. As a part of the …

Alitalia Airlines has successfully uplifted 53626 kilos on a single flight from Delhi (DEL) to Rome (FCO). The airline has been operating its weekly all-cargo flights (P2C) from India since June 2020.The aircraft had an optimum mix of high density cargo along with pharmaceuticals, DG cargo, auto parts & garments which helped in achieving the desired result. The ULD planning was carefully monitored for maximum utilisation of space on the newly cargo only reconfigured aircraft. Commenting on the achievement, Antonio Temporini, VP – Cargo, Alitalia, says “The milestone reflects our commitment towards customers during these challenging times. With reduced flight schedules due to COVID-19, it’s now of paramount importance to maximize every cargo space. India is a very important market for Alitalia Cargo-worldwide network and having Air Logistics Group as our partners in India, we are sure to enhance our services from all key ports in the country.” Sakshi Gupta, Country Manager, Air Logistics Group (ALG), says “The pandemic has created and set new goals and benchmarks for all stakeholders. As the supply and demand soars, air cargo has come forth to become a robust saviour for the aviation industry and finally everyone has realised that cargo is not just a filler but a very strategic and core part of the industry.” “During these pandemic times when airlines are struggling to stabilise flight operations, Alitalia Cargo with scheduled p2c weekly flights from Delhi and Mumbai are strongly supporting the cargo demand for the EU & USA with great efficiency and dedication. We shall continue to do so with all support from our business partners,” comments Annu Rai, Manager Key Accounts, Alitalia Cargo. The airline has been expanding its cargo capacity …

In response to the rapidly growing demand for cargo charters National Airlines would add three more B747-400Fs to its existing fleet of two of the aircraft. The airline had acquired three B-747-400Fs two years back and because of the declining demand for airfreight all of them had been parked in Arizona. Following maintenance checks, the first of the three aircraft was put into service in September, with another due to join in October and the third in November. Chris Alf, Chairman, National Airline, said, “We always had a plan of bringing out the parked airplanes into service right at the beginning of the year but then the Covid-19 pandemic hit. We felt the urgency to bring on these aircraft to support the demand for moving the urgent relief supplies in support of governments and global aid agencies. It was strategically important for us to bring in additional cargo capacity since there is a huge constraint because of the pandemic taking away the belly capacity on passenger operations. We are happy to offer our global customers with an additional three B747-400Fs.” Rates certainly remain higher than this time last year with prices from Hong Kong to North America up by more than 50% year on year to an average of $5.26 per kg in September, according to TAC Index data.