Category Archives: International

Saudi Arabian Logistics Company (SAL) has launched its new pharma and perishable facilities,specialising in perishables and all types of pharmaceuticals, including the much-awaited Covid vaccines soon to be rolled out worldwide, at the Cargo Village in Riyadh. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Saudi Minister of Transport inaugurated SAL’s new facilities at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With 5,000 square metres of storage, the pharma and perishable facilities combined can adequately handle up to 365,000 tonnes of cargo a year. With SAL’s partnership with the Saudi Customs, Saudi Food and Drug Authority has made clearance of shipments becomes easier and faster. The new facilities have four docks for loading refrigerated containers. The project, which started its operations, also has 12 warehouses with different temperatures ranging from minus 20 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius to suit the nature and type of cargo to be stored. In addition, within the facility, there is a special storage dedicated for flower cargo. Omar Hariri, CEO, SAL, comments, “The launch of the Riyadh Cold Storage facilities comes at a historic moment that coincides with the world’s anticipation for the delivery of the COVID vaccine. This urgency makes us harness the capabilities of the operation capacity of our pharmaceutical facility and be fully prepared to receive and handle the new vaccines in coordination with the health authorities.” “The new project will enhance SAL’s handling and storage services for medical and pharmaceuticals in line with the highest quality standards approved by the EU GDP,” he adds. The opening of the facilities ushers in a new and advanced phase for handling sensitive cargoes including foodstuffs that require special care. Within the facilities, there are divisions run …

With one of the region’s largest ultra-modern pharmaceutical logistics facilities now operational, Abu Dhabi Ports’ is positioned to positively impact millions of lives around the world. As part of its commitment to this immunisation drive, Abu Dhabi Ports has dedicated a 19,000 square metre temperature-controlled warehouse facility in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), which already houses more than 1 million vials of the vaccine. The technologically advanced facility has the capability to store vaccines and other pharmaceutical products at a range of 2 to 8 degrees as well as the more extreme range of -80 degrees. The facility is equipped with temperature and humidity systems monitored digitally via a control dashboard. Abu Dhabi Ports is playing a vital role in the global fight against COVID-19 with enhanced logistics capabilities for the storage and distribution of more than 70 million COVID-19 vaccines. Amid an anticipated surge in vaccine logistics demand, Abu Dhabi is cementing its position as the global logistics hub by spearheading the launch of the Hope Consortium, a UAE-based public-private partnership, of which Abu Dhabi Ports is a member, that will facilitate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the world. Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Group CEO, Abu Dhabi Ports, said, “As our nation’s key strategic logistics enabler, we have invested in one of the region’s largest and most expansive logistics capabilities. This makes us uniquely positioned to support our government’s vision and facilitate the immunisation efforts to positively impact millions of lives. Abu Dhabi Ports is ready to play a leading role in the end-to-end supply chain including storing, processing, and distributing this extremely sensitive product.” Dr. Jamal Mohammed Alkaabi, Undersecretary of Department of Health, Abu Dhabi, …

Abu Dhabi has launched an initiative called the Hope Consortium which aims to serve as a logistics platform to coordinate and facilitate the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine around the world. The Hope Consortium represents a complete supply chain solution to address vaccine transport, demand planning, sourcing, training, and digital technology infrastructure, and facilitate vaccine availability across the world. Hope Consortium member Etihad Cargo will transport five million vaccines in November on behalf of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, which is spearheading the consortium and will oversee regulatory compliance, full chain expertise and scientific insight. The Hope Consortium has pooled its collective expertise to garner a multi-faceted capability to provide logistics services to handle over six billion doses from the vaccines being developed and manufactured around the world – whether in single or multi doses – in cold and ultra-cold conditions in 2021, rising to over three times more doses by the end of next year – the largest capacity and logistics capability regionally and one of the largest globally. “The Hope Consortium is a prime example of how Abu Dhabi is leading in providing solutions, capabilities and capacities to help the world get through this global pandemic. It is a continuation of all players’ collaboration of a UAE-based public-private partnership that spans the globe. While assuring vaccine supply to the domestic market, the Hope Consortium will offer international governments, non-governmental organisations, and vaccine suppliers a cohesive solution across every supply chain step – from air freight, regional storage and temperature monitoring, to inventory management, cold and ultra-cold container solution, regulatory clearance, and healthcare and pharma quality assurance,” explained HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of …

Qatar Airways Cargo has appointed Wexco, part of ECS Group, as its general sales agent (GSA) in Australia. Through that new agreement, Qatar Airways and ECS Group are extending their strategic partnership which today covers 20 countries worldwide. The partnership will leverage Qatar Airways’ strong presence in Australia, promoting destinations to the Middle-East, Europe, the Americas and Africa to the Australian exporters. The carrier serves five major Australian cities: Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide and operates 30 passenger and freighters flights per week. Daniel Parker, Vice President Cargo Asia, Qatar Airways, says, “Qatar Airways is one of the best and most reliable airlines in the Australian market. We have a solid foundation for further growth with our partner Wexco, whose excellent reputation in the Australian market was also a major factor in our decision, together with its deep knowledge of Qatar Airways’ processes.” The main market for Qatar Airways in Australia remains the perishable exports to the Middle East, but also growing outbound pharmaceuticals traffic to Europe and The Americas. The carrier can also capitalize on the opportunities from Australia to the neighboring market of New Zealand thanks to its scheduled services between Brisbane and Auckland. Cédric Millet, Managing Director, Wexco Australia, welcomed the new agreement with Qatar Airways Cargo, adds, “Qatar Airways sets very high expectations and so does Wexco. We are very much aligned on providing the highest service levels to our customers. The Qatar Airways Cargo motto is ‘Moved by people’ and we have built an excellent team of 13 dedicated people within Wexco, who will do a fantastic job for Qatar Airways. Commenting on the current Australian market Millet continues, “The Australian air exports registered …

Teleport, the logistics venture of AirAsia Digital has completed the accelerated rollout of its delivery services in 70 cities across Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines over the last 30 days. Businesses in any of these 70 cities can now partner with Teleport to have items instantly delivered to their customers within one hour. Teleport can deliver almost anything, from food, groceries, documents, flowers and even laundry! Pete Chareonwongsak, CEO, Teleport says, “Our mission is to make delivery simple, fast and affordable for everyone. With a one hour delivery promise, we hope that all local merchants and businesses will benefit. Soon, businesses can experience 24 hour express deliveries between cities as well as cross-border delivered to you by Teleport. The goal is by next year, with a click of a button, you can send almost anything instantly to anywhere AirAsia flies to.” In Malaysia, Teleport is now present in Klang Valley, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, Labuan, Kuching, Miri, Bintulu, Sibu, Alor Setar, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bahru, Langkawi, Penang and Melaka.

Chapman Freeborn has successfully handled an unusual heavy and outsize cargo operation in Australia. The cargo was manufactured in Germany and sent to Australia on an expedited basis due to the high value and importance of the consignment. The shipment, weighing 92 tonnes in total, consisted of exceptionally large pieces that were 15 metres in length and weighed 17 tonnes each. Because of the over-dimensional length of the cargo, a nose loader was required and a full Boeing 747-400 freighter was used for transportation. Before acceptance onto the aircraft, the cargo was load planned for maximum centre of gravity flight efficiency with both the main and lower decks being used. The cargo itself was restrained by placing high quantity straps into the crates and directly over the cargo to achieve the load plan requirements. To ensure the smooth and quick operation, external equipment comprising two main deck loaders and two cranes was used to load and offload the cargo and the visitor permits were arranged for the trucks to receive the cargo direct on the apron. The consignment bypassed the terminal in Australia by exiting the airport through the emergency access gate and it was organised that the Customs Authority would clear the consignment electronically.

While announcing the revised outlook for airline industry performance in 2020 and 2021, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) states, operational parameters for cargo are performing significantly better than for passenger but are still depressed compared to 2019. Uplift is expected to be 54.2 million tonnes in 2019, down from 61.3 million tonnes in 2019. Cargo revenues are bucking the trend, increasing to $117.7 billion in 2020 from $102.4 billion in 2019. A 45 per cent fall in overall capacity, driven largely by the precipitous fall in passenger demand which took out critical belly capacity for cargo (-24 per cent), pushed yields up by 30 per cent in 2020. In 2019 cargo accounted for 12% of revenues and that is expected to grow to 36% in 2020. “Cargo is performing better than the passenger business. It could not, however, make up for the fall in passenger revenue. But it has become a significantly larger part of airline revenues and cargo revenues are making it possible for airlines to sustain their skeleton international networks,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO. IATA. The cargo side of the business is expected to continue with strong performance. Improved business confidence and the important role that air cargo should play in vaccine distribution is expected to see cargo volumes grow to 61.2 million tonnes (up from 54.2 million tonnes in 2020 and essentially matching the 61.3 million tonnes carried in 2019). A continued capacity crunch due to the slow reintroduction of belly capacity from passenger services combined with a higher proportion of time and temperature sensitive cargo (vaccines) will see a further 5 per cent increase in yields. This will contribute to strong …

CBIC has recently issued revised policy and guidelines for setting up of new Container Freight Stations (CFSs), Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Air Freight Stations (AFSs). Sharing his views on the policy, Vipin Vohra, Chairman, Continental Carriers, says, “The idea behind the revised guidelines for setting up of ICDs, CFSs and AFSs must be for all the good reasons, but, has no relevance as AFSs are still non-operational despite the fact that the policy was announced way back in 2014. The purpose of AFS was to increase air cargo volumes by decongesting the air cargo terminals at the international gateway airports, thereby reducing air logistics costs for companies engaged in foreign trade.” “Today, when everyone is gearing up for COVID vaccine delivery management, we are still not sure about the future of AFS and facing unnecessary hurdles and roadblocks in making it operational, interestingly, in other countries the concept of off-airport cargo handling is successfully in practice for decades. AFS is an innovative solution that would decongest air terminals and help in cargo management and will certainly give easy space for vaccine logistics management. Air freight stations, close to manufacturing industry, are need of the hour and an essential step towards Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ambitious Make in India’ scheme. To make these new guidelines effective it is important to resolve pending issues related to Air Freight Station Policy. Continental Carriers, which has invested heavily on AFS since 2016, is still waiting for the clearance on fixation of TSP charges by AERA and compliance from Airport Terminal Operator for built-up cargo and loose cargo. The prime objective of concerning authorities should be to resolve issues pertaining to implementation of AFS policy …

Adani Port & Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) has ranked 14th in the global transportation and transportation infrastructure sector and is the only company from India to have been included in this sector. This initiates the presence of APSEZ on the DJSI Emerging Markets Index, one of the most sought-after sustainability indices in the world that represents the top 10 per cent of the largest 800 companies within the world’s 20 emerging markets and is based on long-term Environment, Social and Economic, and Governance criteria. As part of a stringent DJSI rating process all responses by APSEZ were substantiated with internal documentation and real-life examples and audited by an independent third party to verify the accuracy of the information provided. APSEZ was ranked in the top 20 of every single dimension of the three criteria. In all, just 11 Indian companies made it to the DJSI Emerging Markets Index this year. Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director, APSEZ comments “We are pleased to make an entry into the DJSI Index. As the largest multi-port operator and logistics player in one of the fastest growing markets in the world we recognize the complexity that we are confronted with and therefore being able to achieve this high ranking on our debut into the DJSI Index comes as a shot in the arm for us as well as validates our accountability to our investors, customers, and employees. While our Environment, Social and Economic, and Governance criteria scores are a strong validation that we are on the right path, we really see this as just one point along a more ambitious journey we have embarked on to demonstrate our absolute commitment to …

Ethiopian Cargo has launched a transpacific freighter service between South Korea and the US. The air cargo carrier operates B777-200F, one of the most technologically advanced aircraft on the route, offering a remarkable freight service to our cargo forwarding customers worldwide with reduced flight hour, seamless connectivity and better payload. The new B777F service operates from Incheon to Atlanta via Anchorage, with its first flight took place on November 9. Tewolde GebreMariam, Chief Executive, Ethiopian Group says, “We are delighted to have launched our newest freighter service to our cargo forwarder customers worldwide, extending from Incheon to Atlanta via Anchorage in the current global pandemic crisis where speed in the supply chain management is highly required to deliver urgently required goods.”