Emirates SkyCargo has extended its Emirates Delivers e-commerce solution to Saudi Arabia. Shoppers from across the Kingdom can now shop online in the US, UK and the UAE and use Emirates Delivers for international, shopping at retailers that don’t deliver to the Middle East. Emirates Delivers will bring the packages to their door in 3 to 5 days.
Biden signs congestion-busting measures into law
President Biden has signed into law legislation sponsored by the Airforwarders Association (AfA) working with the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association.
The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization legislation aims to modernize the US aviation system and tackle airport truck congestion. It authorizes more than$105 billion in appropriations for the FAA for the next four years, including $19.35 billion for airport infrastructure improvement grants to support more than 3,300 airports across the US. Under the new law, the General Accountability Office will begin a large-scale assessment of air cargo operations across the US with a section dedicated to truck delays and the lack of infrastructure. It gives the current administration a year to carry out the investigation and take the necessary steps to tackle the problem.
The AfA has repeatedly called on the Biden administration to invest in infrastructure to improve the US supply chain and reduce unnecessary delays and costs.
AfA executive director Brandon Fried, said: “This legislation is music to our ears. We have been working relentlessly with our members and the NCBFAA to make sure it is supported and passed.
“Unnecessary costs from delays and inefficient loading bays ripple down the supply chain to our local stores and shoppers, which means prices are increasing because of tired infrastructure that needs a 21st century refit – this is the first step on the long road ahead.
“Our members are working around the clock to make sure we stay competitive and have a world-class logistics and supply chain industry, and we need Capitol Hill to invest as well, to keep prices low and our sector efficient.”
AfA president, Bob Imbriani, confirmed: “This is a major step forward in addressing the cargo congestion problem that has existed for quite some time at many airports across the country. The AfA is proud to be the primary sponsor of this legislation and it is only through the support of our members and the hard work of our executive director, legislative consultant, industry partners and board of directors that we can successful in addressing issues such as this that are of vital concern to our industry.”
Hermes signs deal with Germany’s Georgi
Hermes Logistics Technologies (HLT) has signed a contract to deliver its latest Cloud-based cargo management system, Hermes 5, to Georgi Group’s two handling facilities in Germany.
Known for its road feeder services across Europe, Georgi also operates cargo handling services at Frankfurt and Leipzig/Halle airports, specialising in sensitive cargo, including high-value pharmaceuticals and hazardous shipments.
HLT is set to introduce its cloud-based Hermes 5 SaaS cargo management system in two phases, starting with Frankfurt and supported by a new, German-language version of the Hermes Learning Management System.
Saudia sees volumes surge in first quarter
Saudia Cargo’s cargo volume jumped by 20% in the first quarter of 2024, a significant improvement over the same period last year driven by export growth of 28% from its home country.
It also witnessed a significant 19% increase in total specialized product tonnage. The fashion segment saw a 85% tonnage increase, express achieved 9% growth, while e-commerce boasted the highest tonnage flown, with a 34% growth.
Chief executive Teddy Zebitz, said one notable initiative was the expansion into the Asian market and introduction of two weekly flights to Shenzen, China.
He also highlighted a notable rise in cargo rates on passenger aircraft operated by Saudia Airlines, estimated at 38% compared the same period last year.
He added: “Our strategic partnerships with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and Cainiao Group have transformed cross-border e-commerce logistics, amplifying customer service and industry innovation. This launch of our collaboration at Cainiao’s Liege eHub in Belgium earlier this year underscores our dedication to global operational excellence, meeting the surging demand for top-tier organization in cross-border e-commerce across the Middle East and European markets, while also facilitating seamless logistics solutions and solidifying our position as a vital bridge between East and West trade.
“Saudia Cargo continues to set new industry standards while empowering businesses to flourish worldwide. All of these initiatives led to achieving the highest monthly flow tonnages for the month of March 2024 since 2017”
He added, “In a pivotal move, we have also bolstered operational capacity by welcoming new aircraft 747 to our fleet, ensuring enhanced efficiency and timely delivery of cargo worldwide. As we continue to navigate through dynamic market conditions, we remain focused on delivering exceptional value to our customers and driving growth in the global air cargo industry.”
UPS opens Dublin healthcare hub
UPS has opened its dedicated healthcare facility, the first of its kind in Ireland. The €12 million investment covers nearly 6,000sq m and offers small package, freight forwarding and logistics and distribution capabilities.
It provides in-storage and inbound and outbound transportation for a range of pharmaceutical and health tech products.
UPS says that 80% of pharma products in Europe already require temperature-controlled transportation and the latest biologics and specialty pharmaceuticals require even more precision.
The pharma industry already accounts for nearly 50% of Ireland’s exports1 and the market is expected to grow by over 6% from 2024 to 2028.
Vice president for international sales at UPS Healthcare, Cathy O’Brien, said: “This investment marks our commitment to supporting Ireland’s world leading pharmaceutical and medical device industries. We’re the only provider who can take our customers’ treatments from clinical trial right to the patient, turning logistics into a competitive advantage, one that will only help grow Ireland’s position as a central hub for the pharma industry.
“Most importantly, we can give patients the peace of mind knowing that their critical healthcare treatments and devices are in safe hands.”
Last year, UPS introduced a new flight between its air hub in Louisville, US and Dublin and Stansted for healthcare and small package goods.
Vienna airfreight on the up again
Vienna Airport says its air freight business is picking up again significantly with 68,058 tonnes of imports and exports handled in the first quarter of 2024, a 16% year-on-year increase. Tonnage handled in the Pharma Handling Center in the first quarter also increased by 6.9% to 886 tonnes.
The increase was primarily due to a significant increases in belly cargo on passenger aircraft. The volume of belly cargo more than doubled, increasing by 52% to 27,131 tonnes, which more than compensated for a 12% decline in volumes for cargo-only aircraft (20,238 tonnes).
Chinese e-retailers to boost transpacific airfreight – at least for now
Air cargo demand will enjoy a sustained boost as Chinese e-retailers such as Temu and Shein attempt to establish sizeable market share in the US, a senior member of Dimerco Express Group told The Freight Buyers’ Club podcast in mid-May.
However, said vice president of global sales and marketing, Kathy Liu, the strategy trailblazed by rival retailer Amazon for more sustainable ocean-based supply chains will eventually emerge, she predicted.
Shanghai-based Liu believes however that the fast-growing Chinese retail platforms will continue to rely on air freight in the short and medium-term as they differentiate their services from rivals by offering ‘on-demand’ product delivery to US buyers direct from China.
“Every order they take, they ship directly from their warehouse in China,” she told The Freight Buyers’ Club podcast (video available for publication here). “So, it means all those products need to move by air freight. Ocean freight will not be accepted by consumers.”
Consumers purchasing from the mostly Chinese merchants selling on the platforms receive all-in prices with “everything included including transportation, so the end consumer has no need to pay any freight and there’s also no membership charge,” she said.
Liu said the shopping platforms were primarily focussed on overseas markets with many products not even available to buy in China. “Their main focus is the US market,” she added.
According to data from ShipMatrix, Shein and Temu are each now shipping around a million packages a day on average in the US, helping drive spot rates and demand out of Asia by freighter and bellyhold.
Liu said that, unlike Amazon and Alibaba, which generally use ocean freight shipments and store inventory in the US for last-mile delivery, Temu and Shein had not invested heavily in US warehousing. Instead, they sort deliveries into pallet load sizes in China and then air freight shipments for direct delivery to consumers from US airports.
Temu has however started sea/air routes via Taiwan, Japan, and Korea into the US, resulting in “freight rates from these alternative routes that are now exceeding those from mainland China – an unusual occurrence.”
However, she predicts that once market share has been secured and data analysis is able to help better predict product demand ahead of time, more cost-effective logistics solutions will be developed by Chinese e-retailers.
“What we see is that maybe during the next two to three years, they will gradually reduce the airfreight volume and switch to ocean freight, especially after they get [better] big data analysis and understand what kind of product is most frequently ordered by consumers.”
Lui told ehe podcast that e-commerce shipments, on top of strong demand for e-cigarettes and spare parts exports from China to the US, helped keep trans-Pacific air cargo buoyant in the second quarter of 2024.
Space on flights from Beijing to the US has been particularly tight in recent weeks, she added, while exports from China were also driving up volumes at key carrier transit hubs in places such as Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
On the Asia-Europe trade lane, Liu said the volatile situation in the Middle East and demand for the transportation of materials to France ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games was resulting in relatively tight space with shippers needing to book in advance or use alternative sea-air or all-rail options.
Lui was also upbeat about the general outlook for air cargo for the rest of the year, citing semi-conductor and high-tech demand and a generally improving economic picture.
“I’m actually very positive for the rest of 2024,” she said. “We are quite confident for the coming months. We are expecting a peak during the final quarter.”
Lufthansa to fly freighter to Monterrey
Lufthansa Cargo is to offer a B777F freighter service from Frankfurt to Monterrey, Mexico from June 3, an extension of its route to Mexico City.
The service is aimed particularly at automotive suppliers, electronics providers and medical products.
Lufthansa Cargo now serves North America with up to 33 freighter frequencies weekly and South America with up to four frequencies weekly in addition to belly flights.
The carrier has also added a stop in Dubai on its B777F freighter route from Shanghai to Frankfurt and will also expand its belly network with further connections to North America this summer, including direct connections from Frankfurt to Minneapolis and Raleigh-Durham. Austrian Sister carrier Airlines will fly directly from Vienna to Los Angeles and Boston and Discover Airlines will fly from Frankfurt to Anchorage and to Halifax in Canada during the summer.
Another Lufthansa group carrier, Brussels Airlines will supplement its summer flight schedule with additional connections from Brussels to Nairobi and Kigali.
The belly network will be expanded with more destinations served by Lufthansa Airlines from Munich: Since the beginning of the summer flight schedule, passenger aircraft have also been operating from there to Trondheim in Norway, Nantes in France, Oulu in Finland, and Chișinău in Moldova as well as to Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.
The A321P2F freighter –operated short- and medium-haul network meanwhile adds a stop in in Riga, Latvia to its Frankfurt-Helsinki route.
Robot dogs have their day in Munich
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML demonstrated the initial results of the Digital Testbed Air Cargo” (DTAC) research project at Munich Airport to an audience of politicians and industry leaders on 13 May.
The machines on show included a ‘robot dog’ patroling autonomously through the warehouse looking for free storage locations, a transport robot that automatically moves pallets to their storage locations and a very flexible ‘segway robot’ that places parcels from pallets onto a conveyor belt:
The DTAC project, which is funded by €47 million by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport €7 million euros and will run until September 2024, is focusing on efficiency and performance of the air freight transport chain.
WFS trains airfreight leaders of the future
Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a member of the SATS Group, has launched a Leadership Academy for staff in stations in North America in collaboration with Abilene Christian University (ACU). It aims to develop operational management skills, create a pathway for career growth by equipping participants with the know-how for bigger responsibilities, and position WFS as an employer-of-choice.
The first 28 participants of the Academy – existing WFS team members and recent recruits – are part of a 15-week leadership training program in the first two host cities in WFS’ North American network, Dallas Fort Worth and Los Angeles. They will complete the program’s custom-made curriculum, including a seven-week core academic program and seven weeks of on-the-job training at WFS stations in the two cities. The course will include modules with online course work.
Senior WFS leaders from each functional area of the business will be guest lecturers for presentations in class or virtually. The functional areas include operational aspects such as Cargo, Express, Ground, and Safety and Security, as well as corporate aspects like Continuous Improvement, Finance, Human Capital, and Project Management. Guest speakers from key WFS customers will also be invited to share their experience with course participants to give them a broader appreciation of the air logistics industry.
The complete course consists of 19 modules, including managing and leading, organizational culture, social awareness and empathy, coaching and feedback, goals, resilience and well-being, and self-leadership.
Upon successful completion of the program, certification for each participant will include a Manager-on-Duty Leadership Academy Credly Badge as well as up to nine hours of college credit in Leadership, Management, and Communications.
The Leadership Academy will become an annual WFS training program with fresh recruits and employees selected from the company’s network of 85 North American stations in key cities in Canada and the US.
Americas chief executive Mike Simpson said: “We want to make sure we are providing our people with a great place to work and an environment where they can use their capabilities, learn new skills, and nurture their careers. This is about being purposeful with leadership development and ensuring our senior and middle managers across North America are equipped to support our people and customers, taking full advantage of opportunities, and effectively managing challenges when they arise.
“We are investing in our emerging leaders because we believe effective leadership creates a work environment where people want to stay with WFS and grow with us. Having seen ACU’s successes with other major organizations across many industries, we look forward to the business and personal benefits our new Leadership Academy is going to deliver.”