Category Archives: International

Qatar Airways Cargo has gone live with CARGOSTACK Optimiser, a product of Wiremind Cargo to boost innovation in revenue management. This innovative solution is specifically designed for the optimisation of the capacity, revenue and the management of pricing. CARGOSTACK Optimise ensures efficiency of cargo operations through its advanced machine learning models. Qatar Airways Cargo’s revenue management teams will now be benefitted from CARGOSTACK’s innovative AI-generated recommendations, its intuitive UI/UX, which the users themselves provided input on during the implementation phase. “At Qatar Airways Cargo, our goal is to lead. The adoption of Wiremind Cargo’s CARGOSTACK Optimiser suite is a testament to our commitment to innovation and excellence. This partnership continues our leadership in employing technology by utilizing the most sophisticated AI solutions available to transform our revenue management processes.  We are thrilled to have found a partner in Wiremind Cargo with whom we continue to closely collaborate and deliver and fine-tune their cutting-edge solutions at such an incredible speed,” Mark Drusch, Chief Officer Cargo, Qatar Airways Cargo said

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP) and trucking firm Bos Logistics are utilising an electric truck for the delivery of cargo. The duel-branded Volvo FH Electric truck will deliver consolidated freight from AFKLMP’s Schiphol facility to various airfreight agents. The companies had already switched to a biofuel for deliveries, which the partners reckon reduce net emissions by 90%. The two partners in a release said they would make further investments in reducing their impact on the environment in the future. As well as investing in improving its environmental performance on the ground, the airline group has also been investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Challenge Group has announced the expansion of its operations in India with the introduction of two weekly cargo flights to Delhi, starting October 3, 2024. This brings the Group’s total to five weekly flights into India, including three into Mumbai. The new service will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays using Challenge Group’s growing fleet of Boeing 767F aircraft, with a capacity of approximately 52 tons each. “Delhi is a vital hub for global trade, and our new routes reflect our commitment to supporting India’s growth as a key player in the world economy,” said Or Zak, Chief Commercial Officer at Challenge Group. “These flights will boost connectivity for essential industries and provide much-needed capacity for temperature controlled, time-sensitive, hi-tech shipments, along with other complex verticals.”

Qatar Airways Cargo announced the launch of AirPlus Solutions, offering enhanced services for various cargo products. Customers can now choose from three options; Q-Climate, Q-Plus, and Q-Prime to elevate their shipment’s journey. Mark Drusch, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways Cargo, stated, “As the world’s leading cargo carrier, we are committed to continuously innovating our product offerings. We recognize that our customers have unique requirements and often need greater flexibility. With the launch of AirPlus Solutions, we are providing tailored options that best meet our customers’ needs, while delivering our best -in s-class service.” Q-Climate: Provides temperature-control for additional product categories, ensuring a seamless cool chain and ramp protection against external weather elements and is applicable to general cargo and vulnerable cargo. Customers can select from three standard temperature ranges: COL (+2°C to +8°C), CRT (+15°C to +25°C), or ERT (+2°C to +25°C). Q-Plus: Offers prioritised capacity for time-sensitive shipments, ensuring high-priority handling on confirmed flights or the next available flight if the requested flight can no longer accept bookings. Available as an add-on for Qatar Airways Cargo’s General Cargo, SecureLift (Vulnerable Cargo), Fresh Care (perishable cargo), and Drive (automobiles) products. Q-Prime: Guarantees urgent shipments needing guaranteed uplift with prioritised processing, best or preferred connections, and a money-back guarantee if the shipment does not fly as confirmed. Q-Prime can also be used to gain capacity on full flights in urgent cases, where possible. The Control Tower monitors the shipment throughout its journey proactively solving possible disruptions. Available as an add-on for Qatar Airways Cargo’s General Cargo, SecureLift (Vulnerable and Valuable Cargo), Fresh (perishable cargo), and Drive products ( automobiles).

  Challenge Group is now IATA CEIV Lithium Battery certified, in addition to its existing IATA CEIV Pharma and IATA CEIV Live accreditations previously awarded to Challenge Airlines and Challenge Handling in Liège. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), around 1.3 million shipments of lithium batteries are transported by air annually. They also estimate that about 5% of air cargo shipments include lithium batteries, in addition to other electronics and mail parcels. And those are just the shipments officially declared as containing these batteries. “At Challenge Group, we are very concerned with detecting mis-declared or undeclared Lithium Battery shipments and therefore make certain that our people are trained in what to look out for,” Yossi Shoukroun, Chief Executive Officer of Challenge Group, says. “We are proud that our efforts have been officially recognised and that we may now carry the IATA CEIV Lithium Battery seal of approval as a visible demonstration to customers that their DGR shipments are in the best of hands, including the ones under UN3090 and UN3480. Thank you to the IATA CEIV Lithium Battery auditors for their commendations and feedback as we continue to ensure the highest level in handling standards.” “As the numbers of lithium batteries being shipped globally continues to increase, it’s essential these vital items are transported safely and efficiently. IATA’s CEIV Lithium Batteries was established to raise standards, spread best practice, and ensure regulatory compliance across the supply chain. We commend Challenge Group for achieving CEIV lithium battery certification. This gives customers total confidence in Challenge Group’s world-class performance and quality credentials for lithium battery shipments,” said Brendan Sullivan, IATA Global Head of Cargo. Safety in the workplace is ensured …

CSafe, a provider of a range of thermal shipping solutions for the pharmaceutical cold chain, has launched a new model of its Silverpod pallet shipper that is designed to help users save on disposal costs and improve environmental sustainability. The Silverpod MAX RE, based on CSafe’s single-use Silverpod MAX passive pallet shipper, is made of reusable components. Its maker claims the product offers more than 120 hours of thermal protection. It is made from durable exterior panels with extended edge and corner cap protection so that it can be used many times. The shipper is supplied via a rental model in which CSafe fully manages the life cycle and return of the product. The pallet shipper is supplied flat-packed for delivery, storage and assembly.

Preliminary June 2024 traffic figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show that there was strong demand for international air cargo capacity in the region in June. Overall, Asia Pacific airlines recorded a 16.4% year-on-year increase in international air cargo demand – as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) flown – in the month. After accounting for a 12.6% growth in offered freight capacity, the average international freight load factor climbed by 2 percentage points to an average of 62.8% for the month. AAPA pointed to a pick-up in manufacturing activity across the Asian economies, including those of China and India, as being in good part responsible for the healthy year-on-year improvement in demand. Rising e-commerce trade and security concerns in the Red Sea also spurred the need for airfreight capacity.

Glyn Hughes, Director General, TIACA said, “Some TIACA members have expressed surprise at the answer given by IATA as to why they are refusing to accept certificates of DG training without an accompanying letter from the training school that issued them. Firstly, IATA states that over the years it has received fraudulent DG training certificates across the world, considering the serious ramifications of such fraudulent submissions, has this issue been brought up with FIATA through the IFCC?  Also, as Agents who submit fraudulent certificates are breaking national laws and pose a serious safety risk to the industry, has IATA reported these to the national authorities so legal action could be taken?  Have they terminated their IATA agency status?  We checked with several authorities and industry contacts and cannot identify such terminations.  Perhaps IATA can confirm how many fraudulent certificates and in which jurisdictions and what action was taken. Secondly, if an organization has shown no respect for the rules or laws by submitting fraudulent certificates, then why would IATA not think that they would also produce a fraudulent letter from the named training school. And thirdly, IATA refers to changed accreditation rules applicable from July 1, 2024.  Have the rules been changed for every country or just India? Does this mean IATA has changed the applicable Agency Resolutions, which are the rules which govern the accreditation criteria and process?  Or is it an IATA process that has changed?  Surely if IATA is concerned about the validity of certificates provided to them, and they want to tackle the safety risk most effectively, then they should establish a checking mechanism which doesn’t involve the party submitting the certificate. They could check with the …

Indian multinational tyre manufacturing company MRF Tyres has secured a substantial warehousing space covering 3.85 lakh sq ft in the village of Sudvadi, located in Pune’s Mawal area through a long-term lease agreement extending over a total period of 10 years. The Chennai-headquartered company has entered into this lease arrangement with NDR Warehouse and according to the terms of the lease, MRF will be paying an initial monthly rental of nearly Rs 1.05 crore. The lease agreement is structured to include an annual rental escalation clause of 4.5%.

Satish Lakkaraju, CEO, Garudavega, Nexgen Logistics said, “The Current Budget has focussed on the states like Andhra Pradesh which have the largest coast line and the potential to bring the overall logistics cost down. The Budget has touched important aspect of Infrastructure and allocating Rs.11.11 lakhs crore for capital expenditure which will boost development and participation from the state government as well . Bihar will receive a substantial Rs.26,000 crores as well and that will help in the development of key infrastructure projects along with the Visakhapatnam – Chennai Industrial corridor. The coast line of Andhra Pradesh and the development of the Industrial corridor will boost the logistics industry and clearly as well.”