Category Archives: Aviation

Calling pandemic an opportunity for us to look at digitisation seriously, Saurabh Kumar, CEO, Hyderabad Air Cargo, says, “We started challenging ourselves to process the same amount of cargo with minimal number of people. The pandemic has led us to challenge the existing way and leverage all the existing technologies. The busiest people in the industry are the people who are giving solutions to the emerging needs. The pandemic has set a clear roadmap in front of airports and air cargo complexes to become more sustainable and resilient in the future in case of any such pandemic.”

Indigo has transported two bags of convalescent plasma from Bengaluru to Srinagar, via Delhi for a COVID-19 patient. The plasma sustained a transit period of over eight hours and was delivered successfully at the government hospital in Srinagar, the airline informs. The plasma was first flown from Bengaluru to Delhi on 6E 363 followed by the connecting flight from Delhi to Srinagar 6E 2486.. The airline confirms that it is the second airline in the world to have transported plasma successfully on-board cargo. Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo said, “The creation of the first air corridor in India to transport blood plasma can have a huge positive impact on the treatment of COVID-19 patients through plasma therapy”.

Freight networking group Neutral Air Partner (NAP) is working with Bridges Worldwide to provide international express and courier linehaul solutions. The strategic partnership between the companies will provide NAP members with a platform of neutral line haul solutions and block space agreements (BSA) on scheduled freighter services and commercial airlines for express and time-critical freight movements. NAP chief executive Christos Spyrou said, “Our collaboration will enable NAP partners to enhance their expedited freight and courier products on a global scale, utilising a dynamic freighter network and BSAs, to create a unique and competitive global advantage.” “We remain well positioned as a neutral supplier to offer bespoke services to the NAP members that will benefit them and their customers. It is an exciting opportunity and we look forward to working closely with Christos and the NAP team.”

Using its wide-body Airbus A340 aircraft, SpiceJet operated its first-ever long-haul cargo flight from Delhi to Frankfurt. The airlines’ A340 aircraft carried 45 tonnes of cargo supplies from New Delhi to Germany. Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet, said, “SpiceJet has operated its maiden non-stop cargo flight to Europe; a first by an Indian airline. Our first wide-body flight to Frankfurt, the busiest airport in Germany, carried a massive 45 tonnes of cargo. SpiceJet is now regularly operating non-stop cargo flights to Europe, Africa and CIS countries providing the fastest connectivity to Indian businesses, farmers, pharma companies to the rest of the world.” SpiceJet’s international cargo network now spans over 43 international destinations that include Amsterdam, Rome, Almaty, Abu Dhabi, Baghdad, Bahrain, Bangkok, Bishkek, Cambodia, Cairo, Cebu, Chad, Colombo, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Huangzhou, Incheon, Jakarta, Kabul, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Kyrgyzstan, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Male, Myanmar, Shanghai, Singapore, Sharjah, Sulaymaniyah, Tashkent, Ukraine, among others. The airline has also been actively using Ras Al-Khaimah airport as a hub for its cargo operations.

Speaking on the size of the new market, once the recovery happens in few quarters, Saurabh Kumar, CEO, Hyderabad Air Cargo, highlighted, “In the last three months we have fundamentally realised that air cargo is a very significant component. It used to be an add-on ancillary, however, today the significance of air cargo is much high. The focus is on ensuring that supply lines are efficient and adequate capacity is available and people believe that air cargo is the most reliable and fastest mode of transportation that would still be available to the economy even if a similar pandemic hits in the future. There will be better growth after we overcome the threshold recovery in the next few quarters.”

Sharing the perils associated with paper, Amar More, CEO, Kale Logistics Solutions calls paper just not a piece, it means delays, environmental damage and in some places it means corruption. He continued, “India is a big success story, we have come to sixth rank globally from 116. Our country is the world’s IT backbone and we should not be following the world; however, we should be leading the world. In our industry, the time is now and we shouldn’t be wasting this opportunity considering paper not only delays and damages but with COVID-19 it is a death threat because the virus stays on paper for three to four days. So, if we are handling more paper, we are putting our own staff and industry at more risk. Hence, we should use technology not just for paperless operations but contactless.”

To make up the shortfall and maintain global supply chains during the pandemic, Scoot has operated hundreds of cargo flights using passenger aircraft, including many where cargo was placed on passenger seats. Now, to better serve cities with smaller airports, Scoot has modified one of its A320ceo aircraft (9V-TAZ) to carry cargo in the cabin by removing all seats, doubling its cargo-carrying capacity to nearly 20 tonnes. Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, Scoot, said, “With many passenger aircraft sitting idle due to the pandemic, Scoot started operating cargo charters to carry essential supplies as an alternative revenue stream. Since then, we have been growing our cargo capacity and capabilities to remain competitive while providing more value for our customers. The modification works carried out on 9V-TAZ are our biggest undertaking to date, and we thank the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) for their support in this endeavour with their certification of the modification works.”

Calling contactless logistics a dream coming true, Cyrus Katgara, Partner, Jeena & Co and President, Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI), at CargoTalk’s fourth digital conclave says, “From last so many years we are asking to go paperless and adopt digitalisation but now is the time to go contactless. If we don’t do it now and will still rely on paper, sustaining in business for long would not be possible. Going paperless is the first step to go contactless; we have to be paperless to go contactless.” “Secondly, we definitely need to embrace technology like the way we have never done before,” he adds.

SpiceJet operated its first-ever long-haul cargo flight from Amsterdam to Mumbai using its wide-body Airbus A340 aircraft today. With this the airline has become the first Indian carrier to operate a non-stop cargo flight from Europe. The aircraft will operate from Mumbai to Khartoum in Sudan tomorrow. Adding Netherlands to its international cargo network, SpiceJet carried 13 tonnes of cargo supplies to Mumbai. Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet said, “The induction of our first Airbus A340 cargo aircraft has significantly enhanced our operational capability and will allow us to operate non-stop cargo services across the globe to destinations in Europe, Africa and CIS countries.” SpiceJet has operated over 5764 cargo flights and transported over 31800 tonnes of cargo – this is more than double of all domestic airlines combined together – carrying medicines and medical equipment and fruits and vegetables to all corners of India and the world since March 25, 2020. The airline operated the country’s first cargo-on-seat flight on April 7 carrying vital supplies in passenger cabin & belly space. Since then, the airline has been regularly deploying its B737 and Q400 passenger aircraft to carry cargo in the passenger cabin. SpiceJet’s international cargo network now spans over 42 international destinations that include Amsterdam, Rome, Almaty, Abu Dhabi, Baghdad, Bahrain, Bangkok, Bishkek, Cambodia, Cairo, Cebu, Chad, Colombo, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Huangzhou, Incheon, Jakarta, Kabul, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Kyrgyzstan, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Male, Myanmar, Shanghai, Singapore, Sharjah, Sulaymaniyah, Tashkent, Ukraine, among others. The airline has also been actively using Ras Al-Khaimah airport as a hub for its cargo operations.

Explaining the importance of digitising the processes, Parvinder Singh, Managing Director, Hans Infomatic,says, ”Many companies still have problems coming to grips with the concept, but there is no way for them to avoid digitisation. It is important for companies to understand that digitisation will only be successful if the cloud and IoT solutions are secure and facilitate privacy of their corporate and customer data. So be it securing data, file management system, HR management, employees performances or booking orders & fulfilling them and all major financial transactions including invoicing and receipt generation, everything is going to be digital and handled from remote areas. Hans Infomatic is committed to helping organisations stay connected; and facilitating remote access to information while being productive during such challenging times.”