Malaysia Airlines (MH) has chosen Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) as the destination for a weekly full freighter service from Kuala Lumpur. Thefirst flight is due to arrive in early April, operated by the relatively fuel efficient and quiet MH Airbus A330F.
It will be the carrier’s second European destination, the other being Maastricht’s sister gateway, Schiphol.
Royal Schiphol Group (RSG) took a 40% stake in MST last year, and, together the province of Limburg, which holds the remaining 60%, has invested €30 million (US$23.8m) in renewing the runway, along with over €40 million in further upgrades to infrastructure and hardware.
MH is the second airline to confirm business with MST this year; Royal Jordanian Airlines has resumed services after a hiatus due to a fleet renewal program.
Broker Air Partner has appointed Oliver Giesen as global head of onboard courier (OBC). He will be based in his home country of Germany, which is a prominent manufacturing hub in Europe, ideally located for US- and Asia-bound delivery services.
Reporting to vice president of global charter, Pierre Van Der Stichele, he will be responsible for identifying opportunities to drive the growth of the division, focusing on the aerospace, automotive, fashion and pharmaceutical industries.
British cargo airline One Air has started operations at East Midlands Airport. EMA will now be a regular origin and destination point for the carrier’s Boeing 747-400 freighter services connecting Asia and Europe as well as for ad hoc global charter services.
One Air’s first flight into EMA arrived from Hong Kong at the Easter weekend with a 105-tonne payload.
One Air’s chief operating officer, Chris Hope, said: “East Midlands Airport has a lot of important plus points which make it attractive for all-cargo operations, including the availability of slots and fewer restrictions around night flying compared to other airports. EMA also has a very understanding and progressive attitude towards freighter operators.
“As a growing British airline, we look forward to establishing our presence at EMA and supporting our freight forwarding, logistics and charter clients moving goods to and from the UK.”
EMA is the UK’s leading airfreight hub after London Heathrow, mainly for express parcels operators, handling the equivalent of more than a million packages every night.
Commercial director, Chris Lane, added: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome One Air to East Midlands Airport. They bolster what is already a highly successful, nationally significant cargo operation which benefits from a strategic central location, fewer restrictions than many other airports, and a team who are totally dedicated to providing a top-class service. We hope this is the start of a long-standing partnership with One Air to help us continue to provide seamless trade that powers the UK.”
IAG Cargo is to restart services between London Heathrow and Abu Dhabi on 20 April following a four-year hiatus. The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 widebody aircraft. Key transatlantic routes will also see a boost in capacity, with a 9% increase in services to Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes an additional three services per week to Buenos Aires and up to four services per week to Sao Paulo out of Madrid. IAG will also double weekly services between London Heathrow and San Diego, and operate an extra seven flights per week to Chicago. IAG Cargo has also launched a new service between Barcelona and Miami.
Air Canada has awarded a cargo, passenger and ramp handling contract to SATS’ WFS arm for its first flights to Singapore’s Changi International Airport for over 30 years.
The airline launched four Boeing 787-9 flights a week to and from Vancouver and Singapore on 4 April.
SATS currently handles all the Star Alliance partners in Singapore, giving seamless cargo connections to other key airports across Southeast Asia.
Swissport Cargo Services Austria has gained TAPA FSR-C security certification at its Vienna International Airport logistics hub. The handler says it further strengthens its position as a trusted partner for handling high-value and theft-sensitive goods.
Plans are also underway to TAPA-certify the whole site including all tenants.
Swissport opened the 8,000sq m (86,00sq ft) air cargo warehouse in Fischamend in 2021 which is connected with Swissport’s on-airport cargo center by a dedicated electric truck.
Dr Gert Pfeifer has been appointed general manager Europe at Unit Load Device (ULD) management company, Jettainer.
Having previously appointed general managers for the Americas and for the Middle East and Africa, Jettainer says the latest appointment is part of its strategic reorganization to respond to regional market trends and needs. Gert Pfeifer’s new responsibilities include developing and implementing a regional sales and operations strategy for Europe and will handle all aspects of customer relations in the region, including sales, operations, and customer service.
Dr Pfeifer joined Jettainer 15 years ago and has held a variety of leadership roles in IT and Operations over the years, most recently as head of operational excellence supply chain. He also played a key role in the development of digital twins, virtual images of real ULDs, to identify any additional potential for improvement.
Global air cargo market demand rose +11% year-on-year for a third consecutive month in March as buoyant e-commerce volumes and concerns over Red Sea ocean freight delivered an unexpected first quarter bonus, according to the latest market data from Xeneta.
In what are typically weaker months of the year for airfreight, the higher volumes outpaced growth in capacity supply in the first quarter of 2024, which increased by +8% year on year. In turn, this produced a jump in the global dynamic load factor, which is Xeneta’s measurement of cargo capacity utilization based on volume and weight of cargo flown alongside capacity available.
Load factor in the opening three months of 2024 rose +2% YoY to 59%, and March has shown similar growth, edging up to 61%.
Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, Niall van de Wouw, commented: “While this latest monthly data should be balanced against the lower base recorded in the corresponding month of 2023, when we saw weakened global manufacturing activities, Q1 2024 has still seen a surprisingly busy airfreight market. Demand in the first quarter doesn’t indicate a market which is running out of steam so far.
“The question is, should we be surprised by it, or should we get used to it? Although the market didn’t benefit immediately, the Red Sea disruption was clearly a factor in these latest figures. Airfreight growth was primarily driven by increased volumes from the Middle East and South Asia as shippers shifted services from ocean to air to avoid Red Sea delays. We also cannot underestimate the importance of e-commerce growth, which shows no sign of abating on its most prominent lanes.”
Subsequently, the average global airfreight spot rate in March increased +7% from the previous month to US$2.43 per kg.
On the corridor level, as highlighted, the Middle East and South Asia to Europe market continued to lead growth in rates in March as the upsurge in air cargo demand caused by Red Sea concerns squeezed capacity on these lanes. The average spot rate on this corridor jumped +46% over February’s level to $2.82 per kg, up +71% year-on-year. This was especially seen in the India outbound market, where the spot rate to Europe rose 68% month-on-month in March to $3.38 per kg.
In contrast, the average ocean containerized spot rate on the India West Coast to North Europe lanes declined -9% after its peak in February, although this remained +340% above December, prior to the Red Sea disturbance.
The Middle East and South Asia to US air cargo market followed suit. Its average spot rate of $4.03 per kg in March was up +35% month-on-month and +51% year-on-year.
In comparison, the spot rate from Europe to the US increased only marginally by +3% month-on-month to $2.12 per kg as this corridor was less affected by the Red Sea.
China outbound experienced a decline in spot rates versus February 2024 as the market cooled down after the Lunar New Year.
The China to US market spot rate of $4.06 per kg slipped down -2% month-on-month, although, year-on-year, growing e-commerce demand and delayed recovery of belly capacity contributed to a noticeable +15% average jump in spot freight rates. Similarly, the China to Europe spot rate decreased -3% month-on-month to $3.64 per kg. However, it increased +5% over the previous year, boosted primarily by e-commerce demand and the shift away from the Red Sea.
The South America outbound market registered the largest decline among the top air cargo corridors. As demand for flowers eased, the South America to US spot rate dropped -12% from the previous month to $1.25 per kg in March, down -7% on the previous year. South America to Europe experienced a similar trend, with spot rates averaging $1.75 per kg, a fall of -18% month-on-month and -11% year-on-year.
March data shows freight forwarders continuing to purchase a larger share of volumes on the spot market as they kept their options open pending an anticipated cooling down of the Red Sea disruption, and to benefit from the traditionally more imbalanced demand/supply ratio caused by the influx of airline belly capacity at the start of summer schedules. In the first quarter of 2024, spot market share accounted for 43% of the total – compared to 31% in the corresponding pre-pandemic era – as expectations of ‘normalization’ prompted forwarders to take short-term risks in the spot market in the hope of longer-term gains.
Similarly, in the first quarter of 2024, more shippers pivoted away from longer-term global air cargo contracts to short-term capacity commitments, with three-month contracts accounting for 41% of all newly negotiated contracts in this quarter, up +18% pts from the previous quarter. The preference for six-month contracts declined 23% pts versus the previous quarter.
Wouw concluded: “The air cargo market has clearly enjoyed a stronger-than-anticipated start to the year, but there’s a different quarter coming along and more capacity coming in, so we do expect an overall downward pressure on load factors and rates, aside from selected corridors where the continuing rise of e-commerce and the residue of the Red Sea uncertainty will continue to boost rate levels.
“But this is now six months in-a-row that the air cargo market has been stronger than we expected. When is it going to slow down? Only time will tell but, right now, airfreight demand is surprisingly resilient.”
Etihad Cargo has operated its inaugural service from its Abh Dhabi hub to Boston, Massachusetts. The flight arrived on 31 March, the first of four flights per week. Boston is Etihad Cargo’s fourth US destination and will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner offering cargo capacity of 50 tonnes per week. Etihad Cargo will offer tailor-made solutions for commodities including perishables, medical instruments, pharmaceuticals, and aircraft parts.
Etihad Cargo says its expansion into this market will significantly enhance trade in lobsters and other seafood, as well as critical pharmaceuticals, including medical devices and oncology treatments, from Boston to Abu Dhabi and the rest of the world.
Etihad Cargo’s US network already includes double daily flights to New York JFK, daily services to Chicago O’Hare and Washington DC and a weekly freighter to Chicago. The Boston route brings total flights to the US to 33 per week.
Etihad Cargo vice president, Stanislas Brun, said: “Boston is an important destination for food and pharmaceuticals, as well as a centre for innovation and development. Etihad Cargo’s Abu Dhabi-Boston service will support the region’s export economy, particularly in facilitating the global distribution of its world-class seafood and breakthrough medical products, and further strengthen trade ties between the US and UAE.”
Etihad Cargo also expanded its network with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a member of the SATS Group, to incorporate all the carrier’s stations in the US. The carrier said this would allow it to deliver consistent, high-quality, end-to-end air cargo solutions for its CEIV-certified products, including PharmaLife, FreshForward and specialised services like LiveAnimals and SkyStables.
Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines has flown an AC75 yacht and equipment for the American Magic team from Providence, Rhode Island, to Barcelona, Spain for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.
Logistics partners GAC Pindar and Solent Freight Services charted an An124, the world’s largest transport aircraft to deliver the yacht, 22 meters long, 5 meters wide and 3.5 meters high on a special cradle.
The AC75 is a modified version of the mono hull yacht built for the 36th America’s Cup, which antonov Airlines transported from the US to New Zealand in 2020.
Antonov Airlines is a division of Antonov Company, headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine, operating a fleet of cargo aircraft including five AN-124-100s from a temporary base in Leipzig, Germany.
