Category Archives: Aviation

Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of a 10th Boeing 777 freighter to grow its air cargo capacity. The twin-engine commercial cargo plane, due to be operated by Ethiopian Cargo, has a payload of more than 100 tons. We are delighted to announce that we took delivery of our 10th Boeing 777-200LR Freighter aircraft,” said Ethiopian Airlines in a LinkedIn post on November 8. In September last year, Ethiopian Airlines signed up to lease three Boeing 767-300ER converted freighters from Titan Aviation. And in 2021, Ethiopian partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to launch a B767-300ER freighter conversion line at Ethiopian MRO facilities in Addis Ababa.

The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), Air Cargo Belgium and Brussels Airport formally announced the first TIACA BlueSky community program. The TIACA BlueSky program, launched in 2022, is the air cargo and logistics industry’s only program designed to provide individual companies with a verified independent assessment of their sustainability credentials. Air Cargo Belgium and Brussels Airport Company have established a sponsorship fund which will support 15 members with their BlueSky assessment by co-sharing their fees into the globally first TIACA BlueSky community program. Not only will this deliver the individual assessment to the members, more importantly this initiative will also provide a community report outlining Air Cargo Belgium’s shared sustainability objectives. The BlueSky assessment covers 8 crucial areas of a company’s sustainability activity; Decarbonization Elimination of waste Protection of biodiversity Support for local economies and communities Improvement of lives and social well-being Efficiencies and profitability Attraction, retention, and development of employees Building and nurturing of partnerships The program which will run until Q2 2024 will provide additional support for participating organizations and the collective results will also provide Brussels airport and Air Cargo Belgium clear guidance as to where their community could benefit from additional sustainability project initiatives.

Kale Logistics Solutions (Kale) will be implementing an Airport Cargo Community System (ACS) for Istanbul Grand Airport (İGA), making it the first airport in Turkey to embark on digitalising cargo data exchange. The cargo community platform, Airport Kargo Paydaş Platformu (KPP), developed by Kale, will be implemented at İGA in collaboration with TroyNet. The ACS platform will assist İGA in becoming a regional cargo transfer centre for the world’s leading cargo companies by facilitating end-to-end digitalisation, enhancing efficiency, streamlining procedures, and automating communication for stakeholders at its cargo precinct. “Istanbul is a critical air cargo connection point and we are determined to develop and expand our air cargo network – the implementation of KPP is an important milestone in providing best-in-class services to our customers and stakeholders,” said Selahattin Bilgen, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), İGA. “We want to take our place in the sector as one of the world’s most important global transfer centres and with this system, we will encourage digital trade, facilitate business, and establish a digital infrastructure to ensure that cargo moves faster at the least possible cost.”

InterGlobe Enterprises, and Archer Aviation Inc, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the goal of partnering to launch and operate an all-electric air taxi service in India, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and clearances. Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of InterGlobe, and Nikhil Goel, Chief Commercial Officer of Archer, signed an MOU to form a proposed partnership through which the parties aim to provide a revolutionary transportation solution for the country, improving urban mobility with safe, sustainable, and low-noise electric air taxi service that is cost-competitive with ground transportation. The parties intend to work with select in-country business partners to operate Archer’s aircraft, finance and build vertiport infrastructure, and train pilots and other personnel needed for these operations. The partnership also plans to finance the purchase of up to 200 of Archer’s Midnight aircraft for the India operations.

The Air Cargo Agents Association of India is all set to organise its 47th annual convention in Kuala Lumpur from November 23-26. ACAAI has released agenda comprising interesting topics focused on the theme – AI the Game Changer -Embracing the Intelligent Future, and great line up of speakers who are industry stalwarts. Key topics for panel discussions include, “Tradition to Transformation- AI in Air Cargo, Cargo in the Cloud- AI reforming air freight, emerging technologies and its impact on LSPs, Navigating the future- AI powered transformation in Logistics, AI for safety, security and transparency of cargo and lot more. Stay tuned for more updates.

Global multimodal provider of air, ocean and ground services Omni Logistics has merged with Forward Air, a provider of transportation services across the US, Canada and Mexico. The definitive agreement will create a combined company that generated approximately $3.7bn of adjusted revenue for the twelve months ended June 30. The combination of Forward and Omni creates a scaled, premier, high-value, less-than-truckload (“LTL”) enterprise focused on providing customers with multimodal solutions for complex, high-service, and high-value freight needs,” said Omni Logistics. The deal will provide Forward with access to more than 7,000 customers, an increased domestic footprint, and a portfolio of essential logistics services, multimodal operations, and supply chain services.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for September 2023 global air cargo markets, showing continuing demand recovery. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), increased by 1.9% compared to September 2022 levels (+6% for international operations). Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), was up 12.1% compared to September 2022 (+0% for international operations). Growth was largely related to international belly capacity which rose 31.5% year-on-year as airlines scaled up operations to meet peak-northern summer travel season demand.

Turkish Airlines has plans to expand its freighter fleet over the coming five to 10 year period. At the ongoing Tiaca Executive Summit hosted by Brussels Airport, Turkish Airlines chief cargo officer Turhan Özen said the carrier had ambitious plans for its passenger fleet and in line with this is also planning to expand its freighter fleet. The carrier is hoping to expand its current overall fleet from around 429 currently to more than 800 in 10 years’ time. On freighters, Özen said that over the next “five years plus” the freighter fleet would expand from its current 24 aircraft to 40 aircraft. Turkish Airlines has been working on an order for 400 narrowbodies and 200 widebodies in order to meet these ambitions. The airline had initially hoped to finalise that deal this summer, but completion has been complicated by challenges securing delivery slots at Airbus and Boeing and current engine supply issues, reports FlightGlobal.

GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC), announced the launch of an import courier terminal to facilitate faster processing and import clearance of courier import cargo. Spread across 300 sqm, the 24×7 import handling facility is located at GHAC terminal premises. The facility is well equipped with world-class security screening and state- of-the- art cargo handling systems. It has dedicated officials and custom officers to ensure a seamless process, custom clearance, and quicker turnaround of courier import consignments. Speaking on this achievement Mr Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GHIAL said, “We drive our business with an unwavering commitment to growth and excellence. This new facility is a testament to our belief in providing world-class logistic solutions to our customers. It will not only accelerate and improve our services but will drive our cargo business forward with a competitive edge in the industry and enhance air cargo services globally.” GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) currently handles over 120 MT per month of export courier. With the addition of the new facility, it is expected to handle a larger volume of cargo, reaching 150 MT per month of import courier. This will help the shipment of key commodities such as documents, readymade garments, samples, household goods, and engineering goods that can be imported in large volumes across the region.

Safari Express Cargo has partnered with Cargo Flash Infotech to enhance its cargo management capabilities. Through this strategic collaboration, Safari Express Cargo Ltd. aims to avail the comprehensive Octogen’s package, a cutting-edge cargo management system designed to optimize operations and provide a seamless experience for its customers. As per the recent agreement, Cargo Flash will deliver the Octogen’s CMS broadly classified into the Reservation, Operation and alongside some significant add-ons. The Package includes Customer Management, Cargo booking & operation, Rating Management, Schedule Management, Capacity Management, Stock Management, EDI and Tracking. The recently introduced “Octogen” is a modular-based Cargo Management System catering to the entire Air Cargo domain, globally, especially the Airlines. Octogen allows the customer to choose from the list of modules that are required as per their business needs and pay only for the processes, which they pick for implementation. Through Octogen, Cargo Flash will allow Safari Express Cargo Ltd. to scale up its cargo sales & operation whilst enlarging its network furthermore. We are excited about our collaboration with Cargo Flash Infotech,” says Moses Nzomo, Account Manager Safari Express Cargo Ltd. By adopting the Octogen’s advanced tools and modules, we are committed to elevating our cargo management services to new heights. This partnership aligns with our vision of staying at the forefront of innovation and providing our customers with a seamless cargo experience.”