United Airlines said it would add a second daily flight from Washington DC to London Heathrow and would increase the Houston-London service from five times a week to daily, following the UK government’s announcement that the country would reopen to fully vaccinated travellers from the US from 2 August. The moves will give the carrier six daily flights between the US and LondonThe carrier added that it would resume additional London service in the coming months as well as launch a new service between Boston and London. The carrier also flies daily to London from Chicago, New York/Newark and San Francisco.
A rose by any other mode …would not smell as sweet
Turkish Cargo is playing a part in making high-end perfumes just a little more affordable, says the national flag carrier. It is an important carrier of rose products produced in Anatolia’s Lake District and Isparta to manufacturing countries around the world, including the US, as well as France, Germany and China.
Moving rose oil solid – a deep purple, creamy substance obtained from unfermented fresh pink roses – and rose water by air contributes significantly to the shelf life of the products, the carrier explains. Around three quarters of rose products from Turkey are moved by air rather than road.
DSV profits surge
DSV Panalpina said its figures for the first six months of 2021, published on 29 July, showed strong growth in EBIT before special items of 64.7% compared to the same period in 2020. This was driven by 18% growth in gross profit and high productivity across all divisions, the forwarder added.
Group chief executive Jens Bjørn Andersen, Group said: “The logistics markets continue to be characterised by tight capacity, congestion and low visibility, and we are doing our best to find solutions for our customers and keep their supply chains flowing.”
He added that he still expected to close the purchase of rival forwarder Agility in the third quarter of 2021.
A separate announcement about the launch of a new share buyback programme of up to DKK 4,000 million was due to be made later that day.
Cool new gang for Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Cargo has joined the Cool Chain Association (CCA). The non-profit organisation, aims to reduce food wastage and improve the quality, efficiency and value of the temperature sensitive supply chain through collaboration, education and innovation.
CCA chairman Stavros Engelakakis said, “CCA members are focused on developing tangible programmes and backing projects which help reduce food waste and ensure that life saving pharma consignments safely reach their destination and this has never been more relevant than now.”
Qatar Airways has established innovative solutions for the air freight of pharmaceuticals and perishables. It has also invested considerably in quality handling, infrastructure, digitalisation, facilities, people and procedures at each of its destinations, including its Doha hub.
Airfreight plugs the gap for Austrian forwarder
Austrian-based forwarding and logistics company cargo-partner has launched a weekly part-load charter program from Vienna to Chicago O’Hare International Airport in response to customer demand. Vienna Airport serves as a hub for Central and Eastern Europe, with Chicago a strategic point the US Midwest, it says
Since the spring, cargo-partner has also been offering a new groupage service with weekly departures from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Munich, Frankfurt and Vienna, including pickup from any location in Vietnam and delivery to the final destination in Europe.
Cargo-partner has extended its scheduled charter services between Asia and Europe until the end of the year and has also introduced weekly charter flights from Frankfurt to Zhengzhou and back.
UPS revenues rise 14.5%
UPS announced a second-quarter 2021 consolidated revenue of $23.4 billion on 27 July, a 14.5% increase over the second quarter of 2020. The company also revealed a consolidated operating profit of $3.3 billion, up 47.3% compared to the second quarter of 2020, and up 40.8% on an adjusted basis. While diluted earnings per share were $3.05 for the quarter, 50.2% above the same period in 2020, and up 43.7% on an adjusted basis.
Edinburgh Airport in Scottish freeport bid
Edinburgh Airport will form part of an ambitious bid by a leading port operator to create a multimodal freeport complex on the East Coast of Scotland.
Forth Ports says it has “intimated” to the Scottish Government that it will submit a proposal for a Green Port encompassing key harbours, industrial complexes and logistics centres on the north and south shores of the Firth of Forth, including the airport.
Edinburgh airport is one of Scotland’s two main international air gateways, the other being Glasgow. Pre-Covid, Edinburgh enjoyed regular long haul passenger flights to a range of global destinations. Historically, Prestwick airport, about 20 miles to the west of Glasgow was Scotland’s main gateway for full freighter aircraft.
A spokesman for the airport said: “We see air freight as an area of growth for the airport and to help meet the Scottish Government’s exports targets, not to mention aid the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic. It also contributes to our plan for a more sustainable future for aviation in Scotland.
“We have held a number of positive discussions with Forth Ports to determine how we might achieve this and we will continue to look at other ways of growing and strengthening our existing network to ensure Edinburgh Airport is viewed as a critical hub going forward.”
The Scottish Government has invited expressions of interest for the creation of a Green Port – the country’s equivalent of freeports in England – within which operators and businesses can benefit from a package of financial and customs incentives to attract inward investment.
Forth, Scotland’s largest operator and owner of seven east coast ports says its plans would encompass strategic locations along the Forth Estuary, including Grangemouth (home to Scotland’s sea, intermodal and logistics hub as well as the country’s main petrochemical cluster) and the Port of Leith, where Forth Ports announced plans for a £40 million renewable energy hub in May.
Fife and the City of Edinburgh are also expected to feature in the Green Ports bid. Forth Ports is currently evaluating sites in Fife along the North Shore of the Firth of Forth from Longannet to Rosyth and Edinburgh Airport is also expected to feature for its international connectivity.
Earlier this year, the UK government in Westminster revealed a list of eight ports in England that had been selected to become the country’s first freeports since the country left the European Union in January. However, the Scottish and Welsh regional governments have formulated their own freeports policy, with Scotland demanding additional environmental and social credentials compared with the English model.
Fulfilment firm plans move into US
UK-based e-commerce specialist James and James Fulfilment says it is exploring a deeper move into the US and aims to offer a similar proposition to the services it now offers in continental Europe.
James & James, whose UK base is in Northampton in central England, has recently opened an EU fulfilment centre in Venlo, the Netherlands to facilitate trade for UK firms trying to enter or grow their businesses following the UK’s exit from the European Union.
Over the coming months, James and James says it plans to grow a network of like-minded partners in Europe, including international payment providers, customs and tax specialists.
El Al joins WebCargo
Israeli carrier El Al is offering real-time e-bookings and access to live rates and cargo capacity through Freightos’ WebCargo platform. EL AL Cargo will be rolling out WebCargo across the US, Europe, and Asia, giving over 2,500 forwarders access to its system.
Lufthansa to market Eurowings space to Vegas
Lufthansa Cargo is now marketing the freight capacities of the new long-haul flights of its Eurowings Discover subsidiary including, from the autumn, space between Fankfurt and Las Vegas.
Eurowings Discover is the new tourist airline of the Lufthansa Group and a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
Initially, it will offer routes from Frankfurt to the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana), Kenya (Mombasa), Namibia (Windhoek) and Tanzania (Zanzibar).
From October, Eurowings Discover is planning further flights to Las Vegas and Mauritius while the 2021 winter flight schedule will include Bridgetown, Montego Bay and Varadero will be added followed in November by Cancún as well as to medium-haul destinations such as the Canary Islands, Egypt and Morocco.
The first Eurowings Discover aircraft loaded with cargo took off from its home airport of Frankfurt am Main on 24 July for its inaugural flight to Mombasa with onward service to Zanzibar.
Lufthansa Cargo chief commercial officer, Ashwin Bhat, said the extra frequencies would complement existing connections “and help our customers in times of still scarce capacity.”