Blog | Air Cargo Vision | Air Cargo News ACV Air Freight News Air Cargo Vision

Six more 777Fs to join Emirates SkyCargo

Airlines

-

November 15, 2021

Six more 777Fs to join Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo says it will add two new Boeing 777Fs into its fleet in 2022 and also convert four of its Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft into freighters between 2023 and 2024.

The new aircraft will be delivered in April and June 2022 respectively.

The conversions will be carried out by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), starting in early 2023 and expected to conclude in 2024 with each aircraft taking up to an estimated five months for the process.

The agreement also includes an option for further Boeing 777-300ER conversions at a later stage.

The converted freighters will provide up to 10 additional pallet positions over the Boeing 777-F production freighter allowing for transport of more low density cargo. The converted aircraft’s payload capabilities are very close to those of the Boeing 777-F production freighters and the twin-engine aircraft will be more efficient per tonne of cargo carried than standard freighters, said Emirates.

Emirates Group chairman and chief executive, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said: “We are delighted to announce an investment of AED 3.6 billion (US$ 1 billion) to further expand our freighter capacity. This underscores our commitment to supporting our customers’ requirements, and reflects our confidence in our future growth and status as one of the largest airline cargo carriers in the world.”

Ready for the rush

Express

Chris Lewis

-

November 15, 2021

0

FedEx Express has added three new intra-Europe flights from its Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) hub to Manchester, Kiev and Ukraine ahead of peak season, adding a total of almost 210,000 kilograms of weekly capacity.

It will also temporarily boost its transatlantic air capacity by up to 20% an iticipation of a busy holiday season.

It has also replaced small aircraft with larger ones on routes from CDG to Shannon, Prague, Timisoara (Romania), Katowice and Warsaw.

President of FedEx Express Europe, Karen Reddington, said: “These latest air network investments demonstrate our commitment to growth, to our customers, and to supporting the flow of trade at a challenging time for supply chains and companies. Together with our peak capacity expansion to the US and our new EU-APAC flight, we are ready to support our customers during peak and beyond.”

As consumers continue shopping online through the pandemic, the 2021 peak season is expected to meet or exceed the unprecedented 2020 holiday season, leading to a high demand for capacity. In August, global demand for air cargo was already up 7.7% compared to pre-Covid levels. Continuing supply chain challenges, including in ocean freight, are also leading to higher demands for air cargo capacity as businesses replenish stock levels in time for the holiday season.

American flies back to India

Airlines

Chris Lewis

-

November 11, 2021

0

American Airlines Cargo has returned to India for the first time since 2012 with a daily service from New York JFK to New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International. It will be followed by a daily service between Seattle-Tacoma and Kempegowda International Bengaluru in early 2022, linking two global technology markets.

The New Delhi service will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, the largest widebody in American’s fleet. Expected traffics are leather products, textiles, ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and technology parts to destinations around the world via JFK.

Sales director for the region Tim Isik, said: “India is a really exciting market for our cargo business and we are delighted to be returning to these key destinations. There has long been a demand from our customers in the region for a direct link with New York, and we anticipate strong support for the service.”

The company’s GSSA in India is Air Logistics, who will be selling outbound cargo capacity from Delhi. Country manager for India, Sakshi Gupta added: “Recent capacity constraints to the US have created huge demand for air cargo capacity ex-India and this new service is a huge boost. We are ecstatic that the two largest production powerhouses of the world are on the cusp of being better connected through this new service.”

Munich celebrates a freighter festival

Airports

Chris Lewis

-

November 11, 2021

0

Germany’s Munich Airport said it had seen a sharp increase in cargo-only traffic. From January to October 2021, it handled around 55,000 metric tons on such planes, an increase of nearly 40% compared with 2019, the last year before the crisis.
Previously, cargo through Munich predominantly transported in large passenger aircraft as belly cargo, which made up around 90% the total volume.
Airport chief executive Jost Lammers said: “The fact that more and more freighters are touching down in Munich is a further proof of the enormous potential that our airport offers as a handling hub for air cargo. In light of the export-oriented economy of southern Germany and its close connections to markets and production sites all over the world, I still see considerable development opportunities for our airport here.”
Munich currently sees regular flights by the Russian cargo airline AirBridgeCargo, which flies to various Asian destinations six times a week with Boeing B747-8Fs. More recently, Moldova’s Aerotranscargo has landed a jumbo freighter from Hong Kong in Munich twice a week, a route operated on behalf of DB Schenker.
At the beginning of November, DHL Express doubled its services from five to ten weekly departures while Kuwait Airways, Thai Airways and Oman Airlines have registered several charter cargo flights in Munich during the next few weeks and, from the end of November to mid-December, Russian cargo airline Volga-Dnepr Airlines is planning a series of Antonov 124 flights.
Further cargo services are being planned for next year but there will also be more capacity for belly cargo in Munich due to the resumption of long-haul flights to North and Central America, such as to Miami, Vancouver and Mexico.

Airline-forwarder partnership delivers more services in Asia

Forwarding

Chris Lewis

-

November 11, 2021

0

Airline-forwarder partnership delivers more services in Asia

Kerry Logistics Network has joined forces with Malaysian cargo airline My Jet Xpress Airlines to offer customised options within Asia based on a transit hub at Macau International Airport.

The solution was first introduced in March 2021 to support one of KLN’s e-commerce customers that was struggling at the height of the pandemic to obtain capacity from Macau into East Malaysia and Indonesia. The solution now provides seven to eight flights per week.

It has also introduced two new Boeing 737-800F aircraft to complement the existing three Boeing 737-300Fs and one Boeing 737-400F.

It is also added scheduled services from Kuala Lumpur and Shenzhen to destinations in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Broker sets up Moscow office

Brokers

Chris Lewis

-

November 11, 2021

0

Global aircraft charter specialist Chapman Freeborn has opened a Moscow office and appointed Maxim Tsarev (pictured) as director general, Russia. It said that the country is a fast-developing market with increased activity in aerospace, technology and automotive. The new office would allow the company to better work with freight forwarders.

DHL signs green UK fuel deal

Express

Chris Lewis

-

November 11, 2021

0

Deutsche Post DHL Group has agreed a new partnership with Neste to supply its DHL Express division with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at the UK’s East Midlands Airport. DHL will purchase SAF worth more than €60 million by mid-2022, which the operator says will cut its CO₂ emissions by r around 70,000 tons. It is the first step towards a target of meeting at least 30% of its aviation fuel needs through SAF by 2020.

Neste will supply renewable fuel is produced from Used Cooking Oil (UCO), but avoiding palm oil. It will fuel around 200 flights a week

DHL Express is making use of the Renewable Transport Fuel Certificate (RTFC) incentive program which provides support to ramp up the market for SAF. The company has already introduced SAF in San Francisco and Amsterdam (AMS) and plans to equip more airports with the fuel this year.

ABC gains China approval to carry bigger Li batteries

Airlines

Chris Lewis

-

November 9, 2021

0

ABC gains China approval to carry bigger Li batteries

Volga-Dnepr Group’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines arm has obtained Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) approval for commercial transportation of lithium batteries over 35kg, which are commonly addressed as SP (Special provision) A99. ABC says it is the first airline to receive this type of approval in China and it follows two years of preliminary work, testing, and close collaboration with stakeholders.
The first commercial shipment of 113kg was flown on 20 October from Shanghai Pudong Airport to Frankfurt (Germany) for Contemporary Amperex Technology.
AABC regional special cargo manager for Asia and Pacific, Tom Ouyang, said: “This is an important event for the LB industry in China and we are honoured to be the first airline to get CAAC approval. The export of the first SP A99 lithium battery shipment is a remarkable milestone in the air logistics industry in China. With the successful experience, we are encouraged to support more and more customers on the transportation of this special cargo in future.”
China has become a major center for Lithium battery manufacturing, but until now most customers have tended to favor sea freight.

Atran restarts China-Germany flights

Airlines

Chris Lewis

-

November 8, 2021

0

Volga-Dnepr Group’s Atran Airlines has launched a service between Xi’an (China) and Cologne (Germany).

It will be operated by a Boeing 737-800BCF with up to 23 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight. The 12 hour flight includes tech stops in Russia for refuelling, at Krasnoyarsk and Moscow (Vnukovo).

General Director, Vitaliy Andreev, commented: “Last year we had to suspend our operations ex Xi’an and concentrate on other destinations. This year we decided to re-introduce the flights amid the growing market volumes ex China to Europe and revival of regular and stable traffic. Cologne is among a few cargo-friendly airports in Europe which managed to upscale its freight infrastructure, attract required resources and nurture manpower.”

Atran has recently enlarged its fleet which now consists of three Boeing 737-400SF and 6 B737-800BCFs.

Happy days are here again for Atlantic carriers

Airlines

Chris Lewis

-

November 8, 2021

0

Happy days are here again for Atlantic carriers

IAG Cargo is to increase its services into the US from 8 November, as the country reopens to fully vaccinated passengers from around the world. The new schedule will service 21 destinations across the US.

From 8 November, IAG Cargo will increase flights into New York, Austin, Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles among other destinations. It will restarts direct service into Newark and plans to restart services to Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa and Las Vegas from 15 November.

The move coincides with peak season for cargo with Black Friday, Thanksgiving and Christmas all taking place within the next few weeks. The business is also focused on providing additional capacity on priority routes – adding wide-body aircraft to short haul European routes that feed into its main hubs at London-Heathrow, Madrid-Barajas and Dublin.

Chief commercial officer John Cheetham said: “We are delighted to see the US open up once again to passengers, and the impact this will have on cargo capacity; the full reopening of the transatlantic travel corridor is a pivotal moment. With peak season in full swing, one of our busiest trading lanes is linking US, Europe and UK – this additional capacity will be of great benefit to so many of our customers.”

He added: “IAG Cargo is now serving 21 US destinations and additionally, we’ve added wide-body aircraft within Europe that feeds into our main hubs and onwards to the US. For example, we’ve added the A380 for peak season to service London and Frankfurt – an important hub for the automotive industry.”

Services to a number of US destinations also restarted at Manchester. The first stateside bound flights were Virgin Atlantic services to Orlando and New York. Routes to Atlanta and Houston will also return over the coming weeks and months.

In Germany, Lufthansa also resumed flights between Munich and Miami for the first since March 2020 and will operate three times a week in the winter flight schedule.

Delta Air Lines resumes four weekly flights to Atlanta on 14 December, with American Airlines operating daily flights to Charlotte from 17 December. This will return the German airport to pre-pandemic levels in terms of the number of destinations in the US and Canada.