Etihad Cargo is all set to provide additional capacity to key destinations in the coming months across Asia, Africa, and Europe. From July, Etihad Cargo will continue to operate its Boeing 777 freighter network with flights across Chicago, Dhaka, Frankfurt, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Kenya, Milan, Riyadh, Saigon, and Shanghai, the carrier said in an official statement. Martin Drew, Senior Vice President – Global Sales & Cargo, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “Etihad is operating additional flights during the busy summer period, which will introduce additional belly capacity across key routes for Etihad Cargo’s customers. “Cargo transported during the season will benefit from Etihad Cargo’s extensive road feeder service across the US, Europe, and Asia,” added Drew. The carrier will also benefit from additional passenger flights on its Boeing 787 and Airbus 350 with 35 direct flights to London Heathrow, seven direct flights to Bangkok, and five flights to Bangkok via Phuket. “Etihad will offer daily flights to Dublin, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, more weekly flights to Barcelona, Brussels, Johannesburg, Madrid, Tokyo, and Vienna have been added to the carrier’s summer schedule,” adds the statement.

With the focus to improve multimodal infrastructure in India, the Ministry of Railways will soon build 100 cargo terminals with easy connectivity with roads and ports, said an official release. A senior official from the Rail Ministry said details related to identification, timelines, and mapping for the plan are already underway. At the Network Planning Group’s (NPG) 20th meeting, he also said that details will soon be shared across with all ministries and departments for in-depth coordination. The NPG meeting held recently was chaired by Amrit Lal Meena, special secretary in DPIIT’s logistics division, and saw participation from member ministries and departments including the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, amongst others.

To reduce its carbon footprint and progress towards a sustainable future and Greener India, global logistics giant, Kuehne+Nagel has launched electric vehicle services at the Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL). The Indian-made electric vehicle ‘Mahindra Treo Zor’ will shuttle air cargo between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and Kuehne+Nagel’s Mumbai Airport warehouse. The use of the EVs is expected to result in a reduction of 24.7 tonnes vehicular CO2 emissions each year, thus reducing the company’s overall carbon footprint. Marcel Fujike, SVP, Global Head Products & Services Air Logistics at Kuehne+Nagel, said in an official statement, “As an environmentally and socially responsible organisation, Kuehne+Nagel is proud to use EVs in India for its airport transfers to offer green logistics solutions and reduce carbon emissions. Our customers have benefited from the global availability of SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) since last year, and we continue to develop sustainable solutions for a fully carbon neutral transport journey. The introduction of EV airport transfer is the next phase in our transition to low-carbon, door-to-door air transportation, with more sustainable services to follow.”

DHL Supply Chain is all set to start a new, highly automated fulfilment centre for its customer IKEA in Bergkamen, Germany. According to reports, the multi customer site in Bergkamen has a total of 40,000 m2 of storage space and is part of the neighbouring DHL Supply Chain Campus Unna, which is less than 10 km away. Almost 20,000 m2 of storage space will be available for IKEA alone in the coming years. Around 350 employees at the Bergkamen site will work for the customer in three shifts, six days a week. “With this state-of-the-art location, DHL is supporting the furnishing group in handling its rapidly growing B2C online business in Germany. The overall growth of the e-commerce business was significantly boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, so IKEA saw an urgent need to expand the B2C fulfilment capabilities it needed,” said company statement. By the end of June, the operational process for IKEA will be fully operational.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its latest reports suggested that the air cargo market will begin to improve in the coming months ahead, despite the current market challenges. In its latest market update, IATA said that air cargo demand dropped by 11.2% year on year in April, while cargo load factors slipped by 5.2 percentage points on a year ago to 51.6%, and capacity was down by 2%. The fall in demand is the largest since August 2020 and load factors are at their lowest level since February 2020, although still above pre-Covid levels. The airline association said in the reports that the drop in demand was fuelled by the war in Ukraine leading to a fall in cargo capacity used to serve Europe as several airlines based in Russia and Ukraine were key cargo players. “Global goods trade has continued to decline in 2022, with China’s economy growing more slowly because of Covid-19 related lockdowns (among other factors). The lockdowns have brought much of the world’s largest port, Shanghai, to a standstill. Supply chain disruptions due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict are also adding to the downward pressure on trade,” th reports added.

Transworld Group and Bengal Airlift have formed a strategic partnership with the goal of combining their wide-ranging expertise in sea and air shipments, 3PL; consolidation, project logistics, contract logistics, cross-border trade, and customised solutions. K B Balmurali, COO – Transworld group, Mr. Maruf Hossainn Khan, COO – Bengal Airlift, and their senior team members signed the strategic MOU in the presence of the management teams of Transworld and Bengal Airlift. Ramesh S Ramakrishnan, Chairman, Transworld group said, “We are delighted with the strategic association with Bengal Airlift. Bangladesh has been a strong emerging economy and we see a lot of growth opportunities in the growing market. With this partnership, we look forward leveraging the strengths of both the group’s and it’s legacy to enable high scalability and growth.”

Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) has selected Tata Projects Ltd. to undertake the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of Noida International Airport (NIA). The company has been selected from three shortlisted teams with demonstrated experience in the design, procurement, and construction of large infrastructure projects. Tata Projects will construct the terminal, runway, airside infrastructure, roads, utilities, landside facilities and other ancillary buildings at Noida International Airport. Noida International Airport will combine Indian culture and hospitality with Swiss technology and efficiency to develop a modern, user-friendly design, inspired by India. Christoph Schnellmann, Chief Executive Officer, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, said in a statement, “With the award of this EPC contract, our project enters the next phase, which will witness a rapid increase in the pace of construction activities on site. Together with Tata Projects, we’re working to deliver a passenger terminal, runway, and other airport infrastructure with a capacity of 12 million passengers annually, by 2024. We are aiming to enable, promote and strengthen all-inclusive sustainable development of aviation and air cargo ecosystem in India. Noida International Airport will bolster employment generation and economic growth in the state as well as the country.”

Stating India as one of the largest exporters of perishables, Emirates SkyCargo expects a rise in exports of perishables from India in the next five years. Dennis Lister, Vice President, Cargo Commercial Development and UAE Sales at Emirates SkyCargo said in a statement, “The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between India and UAE would give exports of pharmaceuticals and perishables further boost. Emirates SkyCargo would unlock the potential by promoting Indian perishables at Gulf Food, a fresh food conference to be held in UAE.” Lister further added, “We want to invite Indian farmers to Dubai for the Gulf Food Exhibition and we want to introduce them to local and international traders. We have that ability to reach even the smallest SME business anywhere in the world, from the smallest farmer or grower in India and in the UAE to transport their products. We want to grow more out of India, particularly around perishables.”

To boost digitalisation and provide access to its e-booking portal to airlines, Awery Aviation Software has teamed up with IBS Software. This partnership will allow Awery to deliver its CargoBooking and eMagic software platforms to IBS’s iCargo customers. The move is part of Awery’s ongoing strategy to drive digitisation across the sector with increased collaboration between all air cargo stakeholders, says release. Tristan Koch, Chief Commercial Officer at Awery said in a statement, “IBS shares Awery’s vision of open access to our products to encourage cooperation that will lead to a truly lasting transformation in the airfreight industry, which will benefit all stakeholders.” CargoBooking is an online booking portal that allows airlines and their GSAs to provide freight forwarders with real-time air cargo rate distribution and bookings between hundreds of airlines and forwarders.

Albuquerque based cargo airline, AirDialog has commenced its cargo flight operations, becoming the first Part 135 air cargo carrier to launch with FedEx in over 20 years, says release. The cargo flight, this week provided services between Gallup and Albuquerque. The airline is also planning to add new routes to its fleet. David DeRose, President and Director of Finance for AirDialog and former Ameriflight executive said in a statement, “It’s a groundbreaking opportunity to be a part of the FedEx feeder network, and we look forward to expanding cargo operations to serve customers in the Southwest and beyond.” AirDialog is led by an experienced team with over 100 years of collective cargo industry expertise. AirDialog, LLC is a Part 135 airline founded in 2004. In 2022, the company relocated its central base of operation to Albuquerque, New Mexico to provide cargo services.