Category Archives: Aviation

The Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru has recently processed a consignment of 24,200 ornamental fish. With approvals from Indian Customs and the Bengaluru Animal Quarantine Services, the consignment was transported to Kozhikode, Kerala. The consignment, which arrived at Bengaluru Airport from Thailand through DHL Express on AeroLogic freighter, was handled by Menzies Aviation Bobba Bengaluru Cargo Terminal. The varieties included Betta Splendens (Fighting Fish) and Flower Horn Fish.

While lockdowns and travel restrictions have starved the skies of passengers, air cargo demand; particularly for PPE has been racing ahead of capacity. Sharing how Cathay Pacific has managed to sustain in business, Rajesh Menon, Regional Head of Cargo – South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Cathay Pacific, says, “We have introduced a number of measures including the 100 per cent E-Airway bill (E-AWB) across India and also enabled a digital payment platform for all import delivery order payments. Both introductions have not only helped us go paperless but have also reduced the risk of physical interaction, thereby safeguarding the health of all our partners. The recently introduced payment platform has also been widely accepted by the agents and freight forwarders as it gives them flexibility to choose from a wide array of payment options. We have also developed two digital platforms; one for our cargo agents to make their booking and allotment process a lot faster and convenient, while the other is for our internal handling.”

Targeting the life sciences market, DHL Global Forwarding has opened a new $1.6m facility in Indianapolis in the US. The building offers bonded services and three temperature controlled chambers: 15-25 degrees celsius storage and handling, 2-8 degrees celsius storage and handling and -20 degrees celsius storage and handling. Together the temperature controlled areas measure close to 20,000 sq ft and will be able to process pharmaceutical, biotech or medical devices that require a temperature-controlled environment. “This new building is especially important now during these challenging times, when temperature controlled logistics is crucial in helping customers navigate the pandemic,” said David Goldberg, Chief Executive, DHL Global Forwarding, US.

To continue accessing CHAMP’s Traxon cargoHUB and Traxon CDMP solutions, Lufthansa Cargo extended its partnership with CHAMP. The airline will be able to gain synergies and cargo insights through its continued use of CHAMP’s Traxon CDMP, a tool that measures over 40 per cent of the worldwide Cargo iQ airline shipments. The carrier will also benefit from being a part of CHAMP’s air cargo digital interchange community – the Traxon CargoHUB. “Traxon CargoHUB efficiently links the entire global airfreight community, irrespective of their IT configuration or systems resulting in higher productivity and lower costs,” explains CHAMP, in adding. “It improves supply chain quality and completeness; bookings, operations, document handling and customs processes can be executed and confirmed in seconds; it can be aligned with and updated to latest industry standards; it enables standard and custom message processing and conversions.”

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air cargo demand is recovering slowly from the effect of COVID-19. The association has released data for global air freight markets in June showing improvement, but at a slower pace than some of the traditional leading indicators would suggest. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), fell by 17.6 per cent in June (-19.9 per cent for international operations) compared to the previous year. That is a modest improvement from the 20.1 per cent year-on-year drop recorded in May. However, global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), shrank by 34.1 per cent in June ( 33.9 per cent for international operations) compared to the previous year. This was on par with the 34.8 per cent year-on-year drop in May.

“Over the last half-a-decade, digitisation has been the buzzword in air cargo industry, says, Amar More, CEO, Kale Logistics Solutions, in adding, “It has been the key topic of every conference or seminar. The most common term used during these conferences was ‘dinosaur’: are we a dinosaur in a digital world?” Calling COVID-19 an accelerator for giving a boost to digitisation, More explains, “It is true that compared to other sectors like automobile, banking and even travel; air cargo has been lagging behind in terms of digitalisation, despite the integrators and the increase of e-commerce. But now we have witnessed that there is a surge in the Cloud-based solutions and platforms. The focus is shifting from documents to data. The infrastructure is there, innovative technology is ready, it’s just a matter of time before we move to data and automate.”

With an aim to reduce its members’ environmental footprint, Delta Cargo has joined the Sustainable Air Freight Alliance (SAFA). The move aligns with Delta’s pledge earlier this year to become the world’s first carbon neutral airline. The airline has committed $1 billion over the next 10 years to mitigate all emissions from its global business. SAFA is collaboration between shippers, freight forwarders and airlines to track and reduce emissions from air freight and promote responsible freight transport. It is facilitated by BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), a global non-profit business network and consultancy dedicated to sustainability. “We are in the midst of the worst global pandemic in living memory, but we can’t afford to take sustainability off the agenda. Through this commitment, we are supporting Delta’s goal to be a more environmentally-friendly airline for generations to come,” said Shawn Cole, Vice President – Delta Cargo.

Serving the air cargo logistics industry, its members from the entire segments of air cargo logistics industry and the nation, Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) has completed its eight constructive and successful years. With the objective of developing the air cargo logistics and supply chain industry and for bringing improvements in the movement and processing of EXIM trade with the help of the government regulatory agencies, ACFI was formed in the year 2012. After completion of two successful years (2018-19 to 2019-20) term of previous ACFI Governing Board, ACFI in its 8th Annual General Meeting (AGM) followed by its 63rd Board meeting held on July 17, 2020 has announced the new ACFI Governing Board members for the next two years i.e. 2020-21 to 2021-22 taken over charge under the leadership of Cyrus Katgara, Partner M/S Jeena & Co. as President of ACFI. Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) is the only nationwide association having representation from the entire air cargo logistic supply chain industry i.e. Airport Operators (Government & Private), Freight Forwarders, Airlines, Customs Brokers, Cargo Terminal Operators, Bonded Truck Operators, General Sales Agencies, Express Industry and the Associations of these individual stakeholders. In the international collaboration ACFI is the member of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and an Association Member of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry in India.

“Supply has never been a problem in the cargo industry before this pandemic,” says Ashok Rajan, Senior Vice President and Head – Cargo & Logistics Solutions, IBS Software. Calling digitisation a saving grace for most of the air cargo professionals, Rajan shares, “In last three months, nature of operations has started to change considerably. With the work from home concept, interactions have gone digital. People who had strong digital backbone have responded much better to this crisis.” “In the time of crisis people are struggling to get connected to their customers in order to make sales. Hence, people who had access to digital sale channel are actually able to get a bigger chunk of the market than others,” he adds.

As part of its efforts to continue modernising and growing its fleet, DHL Express and Boeing has announced that DHL will add four B767-300 Boeing converted freighters (BCF). According to DHL, the move was a step towards modernising its long-haul intercontinental fleet in order to fly eco-friendlier and more cost-efficiently. Work on the conversions will start in the fourth quarter of this year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. “We are excited to introduce additional B767 freighters to the DHL Express air network,” says, Geoff Kehr, Senior Vice President – Global Air Fleet Management, DHL Express. The 767-300BCF has virtually the same cargo capability as the 767-300F production freighter with approximately 50 tonnes structural payload at a range of approximately 5,556 km and 186,880 kg maximum take-off weight.