Category Archives: International

Mesa Air Group has announced to start providing air cargo services for DHL Express using Boeing 737-400F cargo aircraft. Under the agreement, Mesa will operate two cargo aircraft from DHL Express Americas global hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for a five-year term. The company will lease the aircraft from DHL with the first scheduled to be in service this October. “We are very excited to enter the cargo market and diversify our business. Flying under contract on behalf of DHL is essentially the same business model Mesa has operated under for over 20 years,” said, Jonathan Ornstein, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Mesa Air Group. “Cargo transport plays a critical role in the health of communities and economies around the world. Mesa is well-suited for this new mission and this is just the beginning of what we believe will be a long and productive relationship with DHL.” “This new cargo operation opens new doors for Mesa,” added Brad Rich, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Mesa Air Group.

Adani Logistics has moved its first-ever containerised cargo export from India to Bangladesh utilising inland waterways and it has reached its destination Pangaon International Container Terminal, Dhaka on July 12, 2020. The success of landmark container export cargo consignment has provided importers and exporters of India and Bangladesh an alternative to roadways and railways. Currently, majority of the exports and imports through West Bengal region to Bangladesh is taking place through Petrapole (India) and Benapole (Bangladesh). In fact, Petrapole is one of the largest Land Customs Station (LCS) in Asia handling a trade of more than US$ 2.5 billion. “Since last year, our team is working on offering commercially viable logistics solutions using Inland Waterways. Previously, we have successfully completed the domestic containerised movement between Haldia – Patna on NW1 and Haldia – Guwahati on NW2 (using IBPR). The success of containerised movement from Haldia to Guwahati on NW2 (using IBPR) has generated keen interest with the importers/exporters of both India and Bangladesh to extend its usage for EXIM cargo movement. One vessel movement is equivalent to 64 or more trucks. Thus inland waterways provide a competitive alternative to current road based movement of goods through Petrapole ICP. Containerised movement of sponge iron is a safer alternative as compared to carrying the cargo in bulk/break bulk which has also been appreciated by industry.” says Anil Kishore Singh, CEO – Inland Waterways, Adani Logistics.

As part of its efforts to reduce waiting times at airports, Jan de Rijk Logistics, the road feeder firm, has signed up with Trucking CDM for to manage slot allocation planning mechanism between truckers and handlers. The industry is under pressure to reduce costs but also achieve faster transit times between European airports, because much of the trucking operation is spent waiting at airports. Stefan Pieters, Manager of Operations & Development, Jan de Rijk, says, “Our biggest challenge boils down to the waiting hours spent at cargo handling facilities, caused by lack of communication and transparency. As there is often no contractual relation between the trucker and the handler both parties operate on behalf of the airline but not directly connected to each other. If we could share data about when the freight is available, the status of vehicle combined shipment information we could communicate much better with the handler thus creating, insight and data sharing for all parties involved.” The Trucking CDM platform provides transparency, predictability and a slot allocation planning mechanism between truckers and handlers. It allows data sharing between the involved stakeholders in regard to the truck movement.

Embarking a ‘1 Million Kilos’ campaign, from July to the end of December, Qatar Airways Cargo will enable charities to use its services to transport humanitarian aid and medical supplies all over the world, free of charge. The airline is donating one million kilograms of freight to selected customers around the world to give to the charities of their choice. This will allow the movement of medical equipment, humanitarian relief and essential products to where they are most needed. “This action was triggered by the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic is a tragedy for millions of people, and we looked for ways how we, as an airline, could help those in the greatest difficulty. This solution – shipping one million kilos of cargo free of charge – is a firm commitment for QR Cargo. More than just words, we wanted to act and to adopt a comprehensive approach based on actions for the future,” said, Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer for cargo at Qatar Airways.

Turkish Cargo has launched a new artificial intelligence chatbot, called CARGY, to provide customers round-the-clock updates about the status of their cargo shipments. The artificial intelligence based chatbot ‘Cargy’ gives information about available dates and flights for shipments. Cargy will offer the opportunity to inquire the rate details at its second phase in September and will provide other details related to the cargo at its third phase which will go live in December. The airline has added that it is enhancing and digitising its technological infrastructure to enhance its service quality.

With an aim to offer customers an additional option to pay for their shipments’ destination charges, Delta Cargo has partnered with PayCargo and Unisys. PayCargo’s system has cost benefits directly for Delta Cargo’s customers as it automates data flows, eliminates the need to send paper checks and enables same-day release of cargo. To use the system, customers must first register via the PayCargo website. Customers will then receive updated charges information and efficiently process payments due at the destination. Once payment is made, Delta Cargo is notified in real-time to process the shipment and expedite shipment release. “As we strive to become the airline of choice for our customers, we know that offering secure payment options is one way we can achieve this. We are focused on making it easy to do business with us and our new collaboration with PayCargo and Unisys does just that,” said, Shawn Cole, Vice President, Delta Cargo.

According to expert scenarios forecast, there will be more than 130 million electric vehicles on the roads globally by 2030 . Seeing the strict legal requirements for transporting and warehousing batteries, DB Schenker has launched a new and dedicated service that combines individual national and international regulations concerning battery types and transportation modes. Power and availability of batteries are key to of this transport shift, manufacturers face new challenges managing the logistics around their supply. Jochen Thewes, CEO, DB Schenker, “Batteries are the main drivers of the ongoing electrification of the world. With our global network, we can cover the whole logistics spectrum to create reliable solutions for safe and customised battery transport and storage. We believe that e-mobility will be a key driver towards a more sustainable future. With our new service dedicated to battery logistics, we are proud to be a facilitator of this game-changing development.”

According to Mansukh Lal Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Shipping, “By developing strategic Chabahar Port in Iran, India will reduce logistics cost by 20 per cent in container transport to CIS countries, bypassing China or Europe.” He explains, “So far, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries could be reached only via China or Europe. There was no other connectivity with CIS countries. Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Balochistan province at energy-rich Iran’s southern coast, lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India’s western coast, bypassing Pakistan.” “In a strategic development, loading and unloading of cargo has started at Chabahar Port. CIS countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Now, we have developed Chabahar port and there is direct connectivity to these countries via Afghanistan,” the minister said. “Transshipment of cargo started last week at Chabahar Port,” he adds. “Chabahar Port is scaling up its operations drastically. India Ports Global terminal loaded 76 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) all refrigerated for India. This is record single loading and is a milestone in growth path of Chabahar Port,” he said.

Delhi International Airport (DIAL) in collaboration with Delhi Customs Brokers Association (DCBA) and operators of both the cargo terminals (Celebi and DCSC) has launched paperless e-Gate pass with QR coding at their cargo terminals. The e-Gate pass facility would be open to all stake holders effective July 1 as an optional service and it will be made compulsory from July 15. The e-Gate pass facility for import cargo delivery will not only help in ensuring social distancing by reducing human contact at the terminals, but will also expedite the process and save time. The airlines, consolidators or freight forwarders will now upload the scanned copy of Master Airway Bill/ House Airway Bill in the custodian system. The Bill of Entry (BoE) and Out of Charge (OoC) is being transmitted electronically by the Customs to the custodian system. With these details, the custom broker agent will submit the request for issuance of e-gate pass for the delivery of goods and will generate the QR code at his office itself after due verification by the cargo terminal operator, saving time and resources.

SriLankan Airlines has converted a wide-body passenger aircraft into a dedicated cargo aircraft to support country’s export industries and to keep the country connected with the global economy during the pandemic. The aircraft will fly a total of 170 cubic metres of cargo capacity with the enhanced 60 cubic metres of cargo on its upper deck with 110 cubic metres carried on the lower deck. The total payload of the aircraft will amount 45 metric tonns. The converted A330 aircraft has commenced operations from June 25 to key destinations in the Far East and Europe. Chamara Ranasinghe, Head – Cargo, SriLankan Airlines, said, “With the poor demand for passenger travel and the consequent reduction of air freight capacity in the global market has left a significant void for global supply chains. The past few months have seen SriLankan Airlines operating several routes specifically to cater to this demand for cargo capacity with our fleet of passenger aircraft. The converted operation comes at an ideal time for providing customers with enhanced volume capacity in maximizing the connectivity per flight.” Ashok Pathirage, Chairman, SriLankan Airlines said, “We have transformed this aircraft to allow maximum cargo capacity with main deck loading in addition to the aircraft’s lower deck cargo hold to mainly support the needs of our export industries, as well as our imports sector, during the current global shortage of air cargo capacity and to strengthen the airline’s revenue stream during a time when the air transport industry is in crisis.” The reconfiguration of the aircraft was carried out in-house at the airline’s hub at Bandaranaike International Airport, where the SriLankan Airlines’ engineering team worked around the clock. The new operational configuration …