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GSAs for the post-Covid world – updated

GSA

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October 11, 2021

ECS Group says it has taken the archetypal airfreight general sales agent (GSA) concept “to a whole new level” to help its customers cope with the effects of Covid. As smaller and medium-sized airlines begin to ramp up again, they may face a number of organisational challenges, many of them related to lack of staff. ECS says it can lift the burden and that its Augmented GSA concept goes far beyond traditional sales activities.

ECS’ new offering is built on the four pillars of: New Abilities, Technology, Commercial, and Sustainability. The New Abilities pillar contains 10 single modules such as the established Total Cargo Management (TCM) solution which covers all operational requirements, data-scanning and quality and safety management.

The Technology pillar enables process efficiencies through in-house digital solutions, while the Commercial pillar makes use of these technologies to provide business data and ultimately greater financial success. The Sustainability pillar tackles environmental, diversity, and social responsibility issues.

Airline partners can select any of the four pillars, as well as their individual components to configure an individualised support structure.

ECS adds that it will introduce the pillars and components in greater detail, along with their new brand names, over the next few weeks and months.

ECS group chairman and chief executive, Adrien Thominet, explained that the devastating effect of the pandemic on the aviation industry had promoted the company to bring forward its plan: “Over the course of the past almost quarter of a century, serving hundreds of airlines of all shapes and sizes across the globe, ECS Group has developed a huge and diverse skill set, and it is this that we have now structured to form our innovative Augmented GSA concept.”

CHAMP Cargosystems and ECS Group signed a new Cargospot contract at the IATA World Cargo Symposium in Dublin on 12 October. The new contract between the two companies, which have worked together since 2002, is based on the latest Software as a Service version of CHAMP’s improved cargo management application.

Etihad launches new-look cargo website

Airlines

Chris Lewis

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October 11, 2021

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Etihad Cargo has revamped its etihadcargo.com portal. The new-look website offers quicker booking, a personalised dashboard, recommendations and dynamic pricing, along with a dynamic map of the carrier’s global network. It says it cuts the time to complete a booking from over two minutes to under 45 seconds. New features such as requesting shipping quotes, booking ad-hoc prices and booking shipments based on arrival timelines have also been introduced. Customers can also create and manage booking templates based on previous purchases.

Day of the drones dawns at dnata

Ground Handling

Chris Lewis

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October 11, 2021

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Handling company dnata is using drones to monitor cargo and airline supplies in its warehouses at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. It has partnered with US tech start-up Gather AI to introduce the drones which will map the environment, collect inventory data, count cases, measure temperature, and read barcodes, without the need for any additional active infrastructure. The drones are paired to a tablet device to provide live inventory data which, says dnata, will be 99.8% accurate. The drones can operate at temperatures as low as -10 Celsius degrees and the handler plans to roll them out across its global cargo network in the next few years.

Silk Way celebrates 20 years in the air

Airlines

Chris Lewis

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October 11, 2021

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Azerbaijani carrier Silk Way Airlines is celebrating its 20^th anniversary. During this time, its route network has covered over 130 countries and its aircraft have flown 70 million nautical miles, transporting 600,000 tons of freight, often to regions completely cut off from the road network or to airfields with nonexistent infrastructure. The three crews that founded Silk Way in 2001 have grown to a workforce of over 440 professionals operating five Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft.

Delta ships four million vaccines to Colombia

Airlines

Chris Lewis

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October 8, 2021

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Delta ships four million vaccines to Colombia

Delta has shipped its 4 millionth Covid vaccine dose from the US to Colombia. There are being shipped via Bogota, where the carrier works with a freight company to deliver them to where they are needed.

Regional field operations manager, Marcela Friedrich, said: “I was born in Colombia but have lived in the US for 16 years, and my parents live in Bogota, so these shipments are incredibly important for me. I feel that I am part of the solution and that I am helping to get my native country, and its economy, back to a new normal.”

Delta was the first US passenger airline to receive IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators Pharma Logistics Certification (CEIV) at its Atlanta hub and has long offered tailored pharmaceutical shipping options that meet specific temperature requirements for vaccines.

Come on in, the water’s lovely, says pallet pool operator

Technology

Chris Lewis

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October 7, 2021

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Come on in, the water’s lovely, says pallet pool operator

Airfreight cargo equipment operator Jettainer says its ULD sharing platform is currently about 25,000 tons of CO2 by avoiding unnecessary deadheading – but has much greater potential. The no-cost platform allows airline controllers to share ULDs around the globe, reducing fuel use, costs, and emissions.

Taking a more deliberate approach to ULDs as a resource has massive potential to make aviation more sustainable, it says. Avoiding just one empty AKE container from going on an intercontinental flight can save an average of 65 kilograms of CO2. With its automatic matching function, pooling can solve under or overstocks of equipment, it adds.

Over50 airlines at more than 250 stations around the world already use the platform. There is also a lost and found service to put unused ULDs back into circulation as quickly as possible.

Jettainer’s managing director, Thomas Sonntag, stressed: “The time to make significant CO2 savings is now. Our relatively new platform is already making an important contribution …We want to get handling agents and airports involved much more in the future so that we can achieve even more together and help make aviation more sustainable.”

Jettainer is also working on more lightweight and robust ULDs and artificial intelligence to make ULD management more efficient and environmentally friendly. It is also the exclusive distribution partner for squAIR-timber, an innovative system from Trilatec made from carbon fibers to replace wooden skids in airfreight pallets which weigh around 80% less. .

WFS extends Lufthansa contract in Ireland

Ground Handling

Chris Lewis

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October 7, 2021

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WFS extends Lufthansa contract in Ireland

Lufthansa has extended its cargo handling contract with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in Ireland.

The airline was one of WFS’ launch customers in Ireland in 2005 and has operations in Dublin, Cork and Shannon. The airline currently operates four flights between Dublin and Frankfurt, as well as twice-daily Dublin-Munich services.

WFS also provides handling services for Lufthansa’s trucking operations between Ireland, Frankfurt, Manchester and London.

WFS operates 4,500sq m of warehouse space at the three airports including the largest temperature-controlled facilities in Ireland. It now handles over 40,000 tonnes of cargo a year for clients in Ireland, including Swiss International Air Lines, which has also renewed its handling contract with WFS in the past 12 months.

General manager of WFS in Ireland, Simon Coomber, said: “We are proud to have retained this prestigious handling contract for so long. Lufthansa is highly respected for the quality of its cargo operations in Ireland, and we support the airline and its customers through our dedicated team’s clear understanding of its service requirements. WFS has shown its ability to adapt to Lufthansa’s products and growth goals and we are delighted to see our efforts rewarded. We look forward to continuing this long and successful partnership.”

Paris testbed for automonous cargo truck

Airports

Chris Lewis

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October 7, 2021

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Paris testbed for automonous cargo truck

Paris region airport operator Groupe ADP and Air France KLM Martinair Cargo have been testing an autonomous electric airside cargo transporter at Charles de Gaulle.

Produced by French startup OROK, it uses GPS and sensors to access loading and unloading areas close to the aircraft, supervised by a server through artificial intelligence. It can the 30 and 40 suitcases, containers or freight pallets and is could one day replace tractors and trailers usually used between cargo warehouses or baggage sorting centres and aircraft parking stands.

The solution was developed by OROK as its submission to an innovation challenge dedicated to cargo organized by Groupe ADP.

The vehicle is being tested at Air France Cargo’s G1XL cargo warehouse, transporting empty aircraft containers between two areas inside the warehouse using a first prototype vehicle.

Possible benefits of autonomous electric vehicles are reduced accidents, faster delivery and less space for maneuvering.

President and co-founder of OROK, Pierrick Boyer, said: “We strongly believe in the complete automation of the tarmac because, thanks to this type of solution, we bring operational peace of mind and better working conditions, while reducing operational costs and expenses related to accidents and the reprocessing of cargo and baggage. Not to mention the optimisation of flows and the ecological aspect since our solution is 100% electric.”

New freighter in quick-time for charter firm

Brokers

Chris Lewis

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October 7, 2021

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New freighter in quick-time for charter firm

Chicago-headquartered leasing and charter operator AELF FlightService has registered a fourth Airbus 330-200 on the certificate of its Malta-based subsidiary, Maleth. The aircraft has already carried out its first operational flight – in auxiliary cargo configuration with seats removed – in partnership with air charter specialist 26AVIATION, delivering Covid-related supplies from Europe to Asia.
In 2020, together with its European partners, AELF FlightService took a controlling interest in Malta-based airline Maleth Aero which has since added four A330s to its certificate, including this aircraft. It now operates eight widebody aircraft in full-time auxiliary cargo configuration.
Chief operating officer at AELF FlightService, Joe Cirillo, commented: “With the rapid growth of e-commerce and constant need for transport of pandemic supplies, there is more than ever a need for innovative cargo solutions in the market. This additional aircraft allows us to expand our fleet to further meet that need.”
President of Maleth Aero, Lee Jones, added: “We are thrilled to add another widebody aircraft to our operation that will increase capacity and allow us to continue providing reliable, seamless and on-time service to our customers.”

Air cargo load factors surge again

Data & analysis

Chris Lewis

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October 6, 2021

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Air cargo load factors and airfreight rates continued their expected peak season climb in September, said industry analysts, CLIVE Data Services.

CLIVE’s ‘dynamic loadfactor’ – which measures both the volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available to produce a true indicator of airline performance – rose to 68% in the last week of the month, higher than any pre-Covid peak season level since it began sharing data in May 2018.

As in previous months, CLIVE’s latest market intelligence reports air cargo market performance to pre-Covid 2019 levels, as well as 2020 year-over-year comparisons, to provide meaningful analyses of the current conditions. Data for September 2021 shows chargeable weight of +1% vs 2019, on a par with recent months, slowly tapering the gap to September 2020 volumes to +14% following the +23% and +19% levels reported in July and August 2021.

Capacity remained constrained at -13% versus the pre-Covid level seen in September 2019, while in August it was still -16% versus 2019, although this more reflects the reduction in capacity in 2019 because of the ending of the summer season than an increase in capacity in 2021. Compared to August 2021, global air cargo capacity was more-or-less flat on a like-for-like basis month-over-month.

The dynamic loadfactor for September overall remained at 66% – but saw a strong upward trend towards the end of the month. This growing demand was reflected in continued higher pricing levels, with the average rate in September 2021 following a similar trend to the previous month at more than double the average rates (+113% pts) in 2019. Versus 2020, following the + 15% pts rise in rates in August, September saw a +26% pts increase as demand vs. supply further improved the ‘sellers’ market’, highlighting the strain on the air cargo supply chain.

CLIVE managing director Niall van de Wouw commented: “This September data shows just the early stages of the typical fourth quarter surge, but many signals and commentaries seem to suggest that this will not be a ‘typical’ peak season. The recent week-over-week increase in load factor is a significant jump by any standards and shows the pressure on the air cargo supply chain is clearly further heating up. If airlines are micromanaging their capacity right now, they can benefit from it quite substantially.” He added: “Currently, air cargo capacity is still largely controlled by cargo departments of airlines, and I see no reason why this will change in the immediate term. We might, however, not be too far away from this starting to change as certain lanes traditionally dominated by passenger flights begin to open up again for passenger travel, like the transatlantic. This is obviously extremely important to the long-term health and survival of passenger airlines, but it will also be a bittersweet moment after the heroics of the cargo industry. The role of air cargo within the airline boardroom will likely start to recede and impact the demand versus supply ratio once again.”

(More commentary from CLIVE Data Services in the next printed edition of Air Cargo Vision in October.)