Aer Lingus has relaunched transatlantic service from Shannon in the west of Ireland to Boston and New York JFK. Both routes, which had been suspended because of the Covid pandemic, will be operated with Airbus A321LR aircraft. Aer Lingus already operates from Dublin (to several US gateways and from Manchester to New York JFK and Orlando.
Irish horses take wing for China
Specialist livestock broker Intradco Global and Etihad Cargo have transported 75 thoroughbred horses from Shannon Airport in Ireland to Shanghai Pudong Airport on board a B777-200F aircraft, despite ongoing Covid restrictions
Equine cargo account manager at Intradco Global, Sara Havers, said, “Restrictions pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic combined with the task of transporting 75 horses in one charter made this a challenging operation. However, our attention to detail and our long experience in flying horses, combined with our teamwork with Etihad Cargo made this transport a success. The arrival of these thoroughbred horses in China will help develop the quality of their market, and we are delighted to have further enhanced an already strong working relationship with the client.”
Intradco Global have previously coordinated some of the largest international movements of horses around the globe, including Europe’s largest horse charter of 86 thoroughbreds.
The charter took advantage of Etihad Cargo’s SkyStables, which guarantees a comfortable and safe journey for horses. As well as the horses travelling in 25 specialist air stalls, both British and Chinese grooms were onboard, with an on-call vet available 24/7 throughout the operation.
New platform to get aid to Ukraine
Pharma supply chain information platform Validaide has launched an online platform – logistic-aide-ukraine.org- to connect relief organisations wanting to transport healthcare supplies to Ukraine with specialist supply chain companies.
It has already matched a global non-governmental organisation (NGO) with a warehouse provider in Poland and has over 900 subscribers specialised in healthcare logistics.
Validaide co-founder and managing director, Eelco de Jong, said: “The matchmaking has so far been facilitated by Validaide with staff volunteering their time. We are at the beginning of this process, but we envision that moving forward the different parties will be able to find each other directly from the logistic-aide-ukraine.org website.”
Shippers wanting to transport cargo to Ukraine can visit the logistic-aide-ukraine.org website and either ask for support or search the forum database for a relevant supplier to contact directly.
Suppliers can post about services or search the forum for organisations needing support.
Validaide has so far had requests relating to airfreight for relief products from the US to Europe, road freight within Europe to the Ukraine region, warehousing in Poland, and transport into Ukraine.
In addition to the matchmaking, Validaide is also planning to provide practical information about humanitarian logistics on the website.
Yusen delivers 300m doses across the globe
Yusen Logistics says it had delivered over 300 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine across the globe by the end of 2021.
The Amsterdam-headquartered forwarder – part of the Japanese-owned NYK group – said that since the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use in the UK at the end of 2020, it had supported the pharma firm in distributing it throughout its global GDP compliant network to every region of the world.
Yusen Logistics global key account director for AstraZeneca, James Colson, said: “Effective communication is key to ensuring seamless supply and both AstraZeneca planners and Yusen Logistics supply chain experts liaise regularly around the clock coordinating the movements of the vaccine throughout Europe and beyond. It is a testament to both organisations that we have managed to overcome all challenges with viable, robust and compliant solutions.”
The teams at AstraZeneca and Yusen Logistics worked together to deliver continued process improvements. James Colson added: ‘’We’re extremely proud of our expertise and achievements and are honoured to contribute to this global vaccine rollout.”
The vaccine is manufactured in Astra Zeneca’s global supply network spanning 15 countries and 25 different manufacturing sites. EU supply and transportation is managed by Yusen’s European Control Tower and shipped from Yusen’s healthcare hub in Benelux fulfilling regional, global and COVAX demand.
AstraZeneca freight and supplier director, Tony Shore, added: “AstraZeneca rapidly conducted due diligence with numerous partners to build a global supply to help meet demand for the COVID-19 vaccine. Yusen Logistics have been instrumental in delivering the vaccine to the required destinations across the globe”.
Air Canada unveils Toronto cold chain site
Air Canada has inaugurated its $16 million cold chain handling facility at its Toronto Pearson International Airport, expanding and enhancing capabilities for pharmaceuticals, fresh food and other perishables.
The upgraded facility features over 30,000sq ft (2,787sq m) of temperature-controlled areas and an expanded cooler to fully meet the requirements of cold chain shipments, including pharmaceuticals. These enhancements are the first step in a multi-year investment plan for the facility and are part of several planned infrastructure investment projects for Air Canada Cargo.
The extended cooler can accommodate more unit load devices (ULD) and loose shipments with +2°C to +8°C and +15°C to +25°C temperature requirements, provides additional racking and an upgraded dedicated area for active temperature control units.
The renovations also include installation of energy efficient equipment such as temperature controllers that constantly monitor the conditions inside the facility and only regulate the temperature as needed, so reducing energy consumption. Rapid roll-up doors have also been installed to minimize energy loss when the cooler is accessed. LED lighting has been installed throughout the facility.
Air Canada vice president, cargo, Jason Berry, said: “This is an exciting day for Air Canada Cargo as we take another step forward in our evolution. The enhanced temperature-controlled facility is the only one of its kind for a Canadian airline and positions Air Canada Cargo to continue successfully growing our business, including the launch of our dedicated freighter aircraft. This investment, and the others that are to follow, will allow us to better serve our customers and I am very excited for what the future holds for Air Canada Cargo.”
Cargo iQ fills in the gaps
Airfreight organization Cargo iQ has made key updates to its Quality Management System (QMS), adding a Visibility Maps function and new milestones to its Route Map Planning.
Cargo iQ Route Maps, which enable the journey of an air cargo shipment to be planned and monitored, could until now only be created if all flight details were available in advance.
If segments remained missing when the shipment started to move, no Route Map would be available and an error message would be sent to the airline, leading to reporting gaps.
An incomplete Route Map, known as a ‘Visibility Map’, can now be created on the Cargo Data Management Platform (CDMP) when a status update has been received for a shipment, even if gaps remain in the data.
Further improvements to the QMS are the addition of Freight into Warehouse (FIW) and Freight out of Warehouse (FOW) milestones to the Route Map, meaning that shipment handover between the warehouse handler and the ramp handler can now be monitored and recorded.
“As Cargo iQ turns 25, we are focused on embracing digitalization, for example by providing truck drivers with technical tools to send shipment status updates, as the path to a seamless and transparent supply chain,” said Cargo iQ executive director Lothar Moehle (pictured).
Over the past 25 years, Cargo iQ membership has grown to include more than 60 members from the supply chain, most recently including small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) forwarders.
Moehle added: “We are working on the specification and simple communication and messaging tools for Road Feeder Services (RFS) to bring improved planning and monitoring capabilities for shipments travelling under AWB on the roads.”
Emirates to reopen Dubai World central hub
Emirates SkyCargo is to return to dual hub operation in Dubai and will be reactivating its cargo hub in Dubai South, Emirates SkyCentral, for dedicated freighter aircraft from 26 March.
In April 2020, Emirates SkyCargo consolidated its freighter and bellyhold passenger cargo operations at Dubai International Airport in light of the suspension of passenger flights during the early stages of the Covid pandemic, in order to expedite transport of essential supplies and medical items across the world.
Emirates SkyCentral DWC was inaugurated in 2015 and has an annual total cargo capacity of more than a million tonnes. The terminal features extensive cool chain handling facilities as well as a dedicated pharma handling zone certified for EU GDP standards. Dedicated aircraft parking stands in close proximity to the terminal allow for rapid and efficient transportation of cargo.
A fleet of dedicated trucks operating 24-hours basis will connect the two airports with connection times of under five hours for high priority cargo, from wheels down at DXB to wheels up at DWC and vice-versa.
Handler AGI opens new JFK site
Cargo handler AGI has opened a location at New York JFK’s Building 22. Launch customers are Cargolux Airlines and Turkish Cargo, the latter beginning operations on March 15.
The 82,000 square foot building has three levels of racking for imports and AGI also is providing export screening through its canine partner, Global K9 Protection Group.
The facility will provide 150-180 new jobs.
Building 22 is AGI’s third facility at JFK, joining Building 21 operated on behalf of Delta Cargo and Building 71.
First flight for Lufthansa short-haul freighter
Lufthansa Cargo A321 freighter lifted off for its first commercial flight from the carrier’s main Frankfurt base to Dublin on 15 March.
The aircraft, registration D-AEUC was christened ‘Hello Europe’ before departure and is operated by Lufthansa’s CityLine short haul passenger arm.
Lufthansa Cargo chair and chief executive, Dorothea von Boxberg, said the new freighter would allow the carrier to offer same-day and e-commerce solutions within Europe and to selected medium-haul destinations. The aircraft will initially serve Dublin, Manchester, Istanbul, Tel Aviv , Malta and Tunis with flights to Cairo (being added on 29 March, served two to three times a week from and to Frankfurt.
A second A321F is expected to enter service in late summer, which will allow more destinations to be added.
One of the first missions of the new freighter will be to fly aid cargo to Poland. The carrier’s chief commercial officer, Ashwin Bhat added that the plane would provide Lufthansa with more flexibility. It could, he said, be used for charter services or even ACMI leasing deals.
Digital broker recruits tech guru
Digital air cargo broker CharterSync has appointed Andy Evans as its non-executive director. Over the last 20 years, he has founded, built and sold three media and technology businesses including one of the UK’s first digital publishing businesses and the UK’s first podcast production company in 2005.