Category Archives: Aviation

The Air Cargo Agents Association of India – an association of Cargo Agents and Freight Forwarders has been instrumental in conducting training and ensuring that the shipments tendered by the Members are safe and secure to be loaded on the aircraft and ensuring safety of the passengers. ACAAI is proud to be associated with DGM India and jointly the 100th DGR Refresher Training Course shall be conducted from Monday in Ahmedabad. With more pharmaceutical being shipped out of India it is imperative to have training imparted to the staff And comply with the regulation.

Atlas Air has taken delivery of the latest Boeing 777 freighter that it will operate on behalf of MSC Air Cargo. The new aircraft will be operated for MSC under a previously announced ACMI deal and is the third of a four-aircraft partnership. The aircraft will be used on existing routes but will also be used to add an additional service from Hong Kong to Dallas Fort Worth. Atlas said that the fourth aircraft is due to be delivered in December. Jannie Davel, senior vice president, Air Cargo, MSC, said: “This latest 777 freighter delivery accounts for a strategic addition to our MSC Air Cargo fleet, enabling us to address the market’s constantly changing demands and reinforcing our commitment to enhancing trade connections for our clients.” MSC has been busy expanding its air cargo network over recent months. In October the carrier added Milan Malpensa and Tokyo Narita to its service operating between Europe, Asia and North America. Then in November, the airline added a connection from Quito (UIO) to Liege twice per week, in addition to Zaragoza to Mexico City on a weekly basis, to its service covering Europe, Asia and Latin America. Meanwhile, Atlas has been continuing to expand its 777 freighter fleet this week, after it announced the order of two of the model from Boeing.

Shankar Iyer, Director South Asia, Sales & Handling, Lufthansa Cargo AG says, “The carrier is planning to expand fleet to 18 freighters during the winter flight schedule. It currently offers its customers 83 weekly connections with 16 Boeing 777 freighters to intercontinental destinations in this year’s winter flight schedule and markets the belly capacities of more than 6,000 flights operated by Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines and SunExpress. The fleet is expected to grow to 18 freighters during the winter flight schedule. Final decisions on further destinations will be confirmed to ensure we offer a network that best meets our operational requirements and customer demand. Since November, the fourth A321 freighter has been operating in Lufthansa Cargo’s network, making a significant contribution to the cargo carrier’s expansion plans. We are continually evaluating their performance to ensure it’s in line with our operational standards and market requirements. When it comes to network changes for our A321 Freighter, adapting is routine to continue to respond to market needs.

Kuehne+Nagel secured the available cargo space on the world’s first 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) powered transatlantic flight by Virgin Atlantic that successfully landed at New York after its departure from London Heathrow. “Kuehne+Nagel, a leader in sustainable logistics, actively engages in projects that encourage and promote the use of sustainable fuels within the logistics sector. As part of its efforts, Kuehne+Nagel secured the available cargo space on this SAF-powered flight and utilised the corresponding amount of SAF for the transported goods,” says an official release. Yngve Ruud, Member of the Management Board responsible for Air Logistics, Kuehne+Nagel says: “This is a historic moment in our collective journey towards sustainable aviation and we are very proud to represent the air cargo industry on the world’s first 100 percent SAF transatlantic flight by a commercial airline. It is an honour to support this Virgin Atlantic-led consortium, pushing the boundaries of decarbonisation in aviation.” The SAF used to power the two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is produced by hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) and synthetic aromatic kerosene (SAK) at an 88 percent SAF and 12 percent SAK blend ratio, the release added. The Virgin Atlantic led consortium, jointly funded by the U.K. Department for Transport, includes Rolls Royce, Boeing, University of Sheffield, Imperial College London and Rocky Mountain Institute.

Atlas Air has ordered two new Boeing 777 freighters that are due to be delivered in the second half of 2024. The company said ongoing strong customer demand for dedicated large widebody airfreight capacity, particularly for cross border e-commerce shipping, prompted it to make the order. The two 777Fs were ordered earlier this quarter. The company most recently ordered four 777Fs in 2021, which are placed on a long-term ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) agreement with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, for use by MSC Air Cargo. Three of these aircraft have been delivered, with the fourth 777F expected to be delivered in December this year. “We are excited to add these aircraft to our leading world-class fleet. These come at a time when retirements of older widebody freighters will significantly increase and when the introduction of new widebody freighter capacity will be limited,” said Michael Steen, chief executive, Atlas Air Worldwide. “We have a deep pipeline of prospective customers interested in these 777 Freighters, and we’re confident in our ability to place them under long-term agreements.”

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics is entering into a pioneering partnership with shipzero with the aim of making road transport more sustainable. Germany-based shipzero specialises in measuring and reducing CO2 emissions in global freight transport. “The co-operation builds on a pilot project that has been running successfully since April of this year. As part of the co-operation, shipzero supports the entire data management process and determines the CO2 emissions for Hellmann’s global road business. In doing so, shipzero also includes primary data from external logistics partners in the calculation, thus ensuring that the CO2 measurements are not based on extrapolations and average values – as has been customary in the market to date – but on actual consumption data,” says a release. To determine emission values, data is exchanged between Hellmann and its transport partners via the shipzero platform so that precise Scope 3 emissions are collected per customer, shipment and route section, the release added. “These are then integrated into the calculation of the corporate carbon footprint, external audits and sustainability reports, thus supporting compliance with new regulatory requirements that will come into effect from 2024. The data-based processing and analysis of transport data enables Hellmann to identify specific decarbonisation projects within the supply chain and implement them together with its partners.”

Bobba Logistics has launched ‘Pay as You Store’ 3PL warehousing service. This game-changing concept offers customers unparalleled flexibility and cost-effectiveness in managing their businesses storage needs. Bobba Logistics’‘Pay As You Store’ solution will help any business with their storage needs irrespective of the time frame they are looking to store goods for. “We have dry and cold storage rentable areas specifically dedicated to on-demand warehousing within our state-of-the-art facility, with complete provision to manage end-to-end supply chain needs. It can be used as a distribution centre (located closer to market) and allows for both fast pick-up and faster delivery. This model allows businesses to dynamically scale their storage needs based on the flow of demand. Unlike traditional storage arrangements that necessitate fixed commitments, pay-as-you-store offers a more agile approach, enabling businesses to pay only for the storage space they use. This not only minimizes costs during slower periods but also ensures that sufficient storage is available during peak times.”

DP World flagged off a first-of-its-kind dedicated rail freight service, ‘SARAL’ from Hazira in Surat, Gujarat, to the North Capital Region (NCR). True to its name, ‘SARAL’ which stands for Sustainable, Assured, Reliable, and Agile Logistics, will provide door-to-door sustainable cargo solutions for businesses based in South Gujarat and connect them to markets in and around NCR region and vice versa. The new SARAL rail freight service will link important markets in South Gujarat such as Surat, Vapi, Valsad, Vadodara, Bharuch, and Ankleshwar to markets in and around the NCR such as Western Uttar Pradesh, Eastern Rajasthan, Haryana, and South Punjab. Commenting on the launch of the SARAL service, Adhendru Jain, Vice President, Rail and Inland Terminals, DP World Subcontinent, said, “Ensuring resilient infrastructure and streamlined logistics is essential for enhancing economic growth and facilitating seamless domestic trade. Currently, the businesses in South Gujarat are primarily using roadways for cargo movement. SARAL, our new rail freight service, offers them a more sustainable way to move cargo with enhanced connectivity between Gujarat and NCR. In addition, our track and trace technology will provide complete visibility of the cargo to customers. We are deeply committed to create innovative solutions for our customers that are sustainable as well as efficient for the supply chain.” The SARAL service along with DP World’s multimodal network which provides the last and first mile connectivity facilitated by container trailer trucks, ensures secure delivery from the factory to the desired drop location within 72 hours. This multimodal play of truck and rail will lead to reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. DP World will also provide cargo owners with a sustainability certificate that highlights the reduction of CO2 …

Dronamics and Qatar Airways Cargo announced an interline agreement. The partnership marks the first interline agreement between an international airline and a cargo drone airline. The interline agreement allows the extension of the delivery networks of both partners, significantly increasing their reach as well as providing access to areas previously hard to reach by traditional air freight. Through the agreement, Dronamics can offer cargo services from any of its droneports, initially in Greece, to the wider Qatar Airways Cargo network – including destinations such as Singapore, China, including Hong Kong, and the United States (JFK). Qatar Airways Cargo is able to access remote locations that Dronamics serves, such as the Greek islands, on the Dronamics cargo drone network. Through this network expansion, Dronamics customers can make a single booking to transport goods from a Dronamics droneport to any destination that the interline joint network covers, and vice versa. The potential for the flow of goods, from pharma to food, from e-commerce, mail and parcels to spare parts, is significant, enabling rapid and reliable shipments to and from locations not sufficiently covered by air freight. ‘’We’re very excited to have the world’s largest air cargo carrier as our partner for the first-of-its-kind interline agreement with our category-defining cargo drone airline. While currently less than 1% of global trade moves by air, the vast global reach of Qatar Airways Cargo and their world-leading capacity and service give us the perfect platform to massively expand air cargo accessibility to countless more communities worldwide, enabling same-day delivery for everyone, everywhere,’’ said Svilen Rangelov, Co-Founder and CEO of Dronamics. “As a part of our VISION 2027 5-year strategy, we are committed to remaining at the …

Qatar Airways Cargo and IATA proudly concluded the first ever One Record Hackathon in the Middle East, in Doha, Qatar. 17 teams from around the world came together for a thrilling 28 hour competition to submit highly sophisticated and innovative solutions surrounding the IATA ONE Record data sharing standard to showcase use cases that will help shape air cargo. Six core challenges were given to developers to deep dive into the aviation environment and find solutions for the cargo industry including AI-powered tools, enhancing safety and compliance measures in operations, and pre-validation on documentation to expediate processes. These solutions were presented to a jury and after much deliberation the following projects were announced as winners: Qatar Airways Cargo Prize for team CheckSync by Swissport, Lufthansa Cargo, and Lufthansa Industry Solutions, improves cargo check processes with AI, utilizing ONE Record for accuracy and efficiency. ONE Record Prize for team NE:ONE automate by Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Industry Solutions and Fraunhofer automates ONE Record digital cargo ‘Change Requests’, enhancing efficiency and customer experience with AI and a user-friendly interface. Cargo iQ prize for team OnePiece by Turkish Cargo, inspired by Turkey’s 2023 earthquake, focuses on efficient, individual piece level cargo management for better response and communication. Developer Prize for team OneAI by Unisys, leverages Generative AI for air cargo booking compliance, streamlining pet shipment processes with AI and IATA regulations. AWS Prize for team QPay by Awery, a quick book and pay tool, integrates various payment methods with ONE Record, using Qatar Airways API to enhance airline revenue, customer experience, and transparency.