Airfreight IT specialist Awery Aviation Software has appointed Arnaud Lambert, Ariaen Zimmerman, and Pascal Morvan to its advisory board.
Lambert (pictured) has 25 years’ air cargo and IT experience in senior management roles with Cargolux Airlines and, most recently, CHAMP Cargosystems, where he was chief executive.
Morvan has 31 years’ experience in the airline and air cargo industry, including as chief operating officer at Air France KLM Cargo.
Zimmerman is an independent consultant and executive coach with over 18 years of air cargo and airline experience, including a role as executive director at Cargo iQ, where he led the cross-industry organisation’s repositioning and rebranding.
UK-headquartered online air charter broker CharterSync is now offering real-time flight tracking, enabling clients to accurately follow aircraft through a personalised dashboard. Freight forwarders can monitor the aircraft’s position across any phase of their booking and check progress against schedule, and providing immediate updates in the event of delays caused by weather or air traffic control.
The update also allows users to view all related flight documents, including contracts, permits and cargo information alongside the aircraft’s schedule and live aircraft location, building on CharterSync’s existing RocketRoute integration.
California-based specialist operator Global Critical Logistics (GCL) has acquired Classic Automotive Relocation Services (CARS) in the UK which ships historic, rare and prestigious vehicles.
GCL said CARS’ extensive coverage of the US, European, and Middle Eastern markets would solidify its position as a global specialist forwarder in the sector and complement its existing brand, Cosdel International Transportation.
CARS will continue to operate under its own business name as a member of the GCL group of companies.
GCL president and chief executive, Paul J. Martins, said: “This acquisition extends the GCL group’s service offering and proven operational capabilities across key strategic growth markets, both in terms of customer industries and geographic presence.
“CARS offers highly bespoke, tailored services and their global team has an incredible passion to always exceed their customer’s expectations. All companies of the GCL group share these core values, and we are very excited as this addition will further drive meaningful value for both customers and shareholders.”
Founded in 1989, CARS has offices in the US, UK, Middle East, Netherlands, and Japan along with a network of specialist storage facilities, offering services such as Carnet de Passages, registration and testing.
CARS co-founder and managing director, Jeremy Barker added: “By joining the GCL group, we gain access to additional resources that will turbo charge our service offerings to better serve our existing customers and to reach more customers across the globe.”
“We are thrilled to be part of a major logistics group whose operational ethos and end-market focus so closely matches our business culture.”
GCL has been making a number of strategic moves to bolster its worldwide capabilities serving the live events, fine art, classic and high-value automobiles, film, television, broadcast, sports and motor sports industries. In late 2021, it acquired Dynamic International Freight Services to enhance its global film and TV offering, and in 2022, added Spain-based forwarder Asesores de Flete, serving the Spanish-speaking live event and sports industry.
It also formed a strategic partnership with SAL Saudi Logistics Services and opened new offices in Singapore and Miami.
Lufthansa Cargo says it will begin equipping all its Boeing 777 freighters with AeroSHARK surface technology from 2023. The technology, developed by sister company Lufthansa Technik and BASF is a surface film that mimics the microscopic structure of shark skin and offers savings in fuel and emissions. Lufthansa Technik expects fuel savings of just over 1% which, across Lufthansa Cargo’s entire 777 fleet, will save 4,000 tonnes of kerosene and nearly 13,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Lufthansa Cargo’s first AeroSHARK-modified Boeing 777 freighter, took off for the first time from Frankfurt on 3 February, heading for Bengaluru in India and Chengdu, China.
Kuehne+Nagel’s Apex Logistics International will have the honor of putting the very last Boeing 747 into service.
The 747-8 freighter will be operated under a long-term charter agreement with Atlas Air, supporting customers on the volatile Transpacific trade lanes.
After a half-century production run, the last jumbo jet, christened Empower, was presented to the public at a ceremony at the Boeing Everett Delivery Center in Seattle.
Kuehne+Nagel board member for air logistics, Yngve Ruud, said: “The names we chose for the last two iconic aircraft fit their legacy – Inspire and Empower. We look forward to seeing the last 747-8F aircraft taking off to fulfil the versatile needs of our customers worldwide with unmatched capability.”
Apex group chief executive, Tony Song, added: “This aircraft will reinforce our ability to provide strategic solutions and unique alternatives with passion. Together with our Apex Logistics colleagues, we are delighted to celebrate this special occasion with Kuehne+Nagel, Atlas Air and Boeing.”
Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive, Stan Deal, said the day was “a testament to the generations of Boeing employees who brought to life the airplane that shrank the world and revolutionised travel and air cargo as the first true widebody.”
Westbound air cargo volumes between Europe and North America rose 6% year-on-year in January – despite high inflation and falling US retail sales, said CLIVE Data Services in its latest report.
However, overall global air cargo demand continued to fall, down -8%, as an earlier Chinese New Year. Economic headwinds subdued other major lanes, according to the latest weekly market intelligence from the Xeneta subsidiary.
The Europe to North America corridor stood out in terms of growth in January, although its average spot rate of US$3.09 per kg edged down 4% from last month. However, compared to the shrinking volume on ex-Asia Pacific (APAC) and inbound Europe trades, transatlantic westbound demand remained buoyant.
But growth has decelerated dramatically from the three-digit growth in rates of +124% in April 2021 when compared to the pre-pandemic level.
The signs of resilience in westbound transatlantic volumes defies the continuing economic pressures facing consumers in the US. For instance, US inflation rose above target again in December 2022 (2%) for a 21st consecutive month. It stood at 6.5%, down 2.6% points from its peak in June last year.
As the air cargo market tends to be more sensitive to economic cycles than the general market, air volume decline led the decline of retail sales by 2 months, and the market outlook remains uncertain. The total inbound US air cargo market registered its first negative growth in May 2022 and stayed in negative territory for five out of the seven remaining months of last year. In January 2023, global air cargo volumes into the US continued to fall, down 2% from a year ago.
Meanwhile transatlantic ocean spot rates increased 230% to $6,148 per 40DC in January compared to the 2019 level. In comparison, the January air spot rate was only 41% above pre-pandemic levels, which was also 14% points below the ratio for the global average air spot rate.
The economic headwinds blew even harder on the European market. Due to the knock-on effects of the Ukraine war, inflation saw double-digit growth since August 2022, hitting retail sales and general air cargo volumes hard. Inbound Europe chargeable weight fell for a 13th consecutive month year-on-year in the first month of 2023, with January air cargo volumes down 9% from one year ago.
Overall global air cargo growth continued to slow last month. The -8% fall in demand, down 10% on the same month in pre-Covid 2019, contributed to the -37% decline in the global airfreight spot rate to $2.89 per kg, narrowing the gap to the pre-pandemic level to +55%. Global air cargo capacity restored a noticeable 11% year-on-year, 2% below the 2019 level.
The global average dynamic load factor, measuring cargo load factor by considering both volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available, stood at 54% in the first month of 2023. With the capacity increase and the volume decrease, this resulted in a load factor decline of -7% pts compared to a stronger New Year in January 2022. Compared to 2019, it was also down 5% pts as the demand/supply balance started to lean towards oversupply.
Given the earlier Lunar New Year in 2023, January is not the best month to judge APAC market performance. While the average spot rate from APAC to Europe dropped 11% month-over-month to $4.18 per kg, it remained 72% above pre-pandemic levels, partly due to the rate impact of rising operating costs caused by the Ukraine war.
The average spot rates on the APAC to North America corridor slid 13% from last month to $4.74 per kg in January, 48% above pre-pandemic levels. For ex Southeast Asia trades, average spot rates fell more noticeably, -17% to $4.06 per kg, only 24% above pre-pandemic levels.
Xeneta chief airfreight officer, Niall van de Wouw, commented: “The early Chinese New Year might be causing some noise in the January air cargo data with factories there closing ahead of the New Year, contributing further to a weak global market producing load factors at a level we haven’t seen for some time.
“So, there is still a high level of uncertainty but, if rates haven’t yet reached the 2019 level in value in the current climate, and with an expectation that inventory levels will need restocking at the end of Q2 and Q3, then it’s unlikely we will see spot rates return to the pre-pandemic level unless this happens soon. But this, of course, partly depends on consumers spending in a similar fashion as we have seen recently.”
Elsewhere, although Latin America to North America airfreight volume was down 7% year-on-year in January, this was 29% higher than the 2019 level. Its average spot airfreight rate of $1.43 per kg in January also dipped 7% on the previous month, leaving the January 2023 air spot rate only 13% above the pre-pandemic level, the lowest among all corridors after having been one of the high-growth trade lanes evolving from the pandemic. Capacity on this lane in January rose 36%.
As one of the world’s leading carriers of livestock, IAG Cargo has carried some interesting creatures over the years but surely none as impressive as the Patagotitan Mayorum ‘titanosaur’. This, the largest known land animal ever, roamed what is now Patagonia in Argentina, around 100 million years ago, weighing an estimated 69 tonnes and measuring 37 metres (121ft) long.
Knowledgeable FBJ readers will realise that this is actually longer than most commercial aircraft – it actually about the same length overall as an Airbus A320.
In fact, what IAG Cargo actually flew from Buenos Aires to London was a plaster cast of a complete Patagotitan Mayorum skeleton,in the bellyhold of two British Airways B787-9 passenger aircraft.
The cast is destined to go on display at the Natural History Museum’s exhibition Titanosaur: Life as the biggest dinosaur, for whichIAG Cargo is the official logistics partner. It will be the first time the magnificent titanosaur will be displayed in Europe.
American Airlines is to switch to M&G Packaging’s biodegradable BioNatur Plastics in its cargo operations. The carrier has already begun replacing its current plastic products with the brand at most major hubs, allowed it to reduce its long-term plastic waste in landfills by more than 130,000 lbs or the equivalent of 6.4 million water bottles, in 2022 alone.
While regular plastic can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in a landfill, BioNatur biodegradable plastics disappear in only 5 to 10 years and the end products are fully recyclable in normal waste collection streams.
The material includes 1% of an organic, food-safe proprietary additive that allows anaerobic bacteria to digest the plastic in a landfill. Outside of a landfill, the plastic has an indefinite shelf life and performs exactly like traditional plastic products. Indeed, thanks to their added strength, the plastics can be used in thinner amounts, minimizing the quantity of plastic use overall.
The biodegradable plastic is currently in use at cargo operations in Dallas/Fort Worth, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago O’Hare, Philadelphia and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and American plans to continue adopting the plastic across its network.
Air Canada Cargo unveiled its renewed London Heathrow customer reception area, the first part of a wider project to modernize many parts of its largest European hub.
The reception includes a living wall featuring three types of locally-sourced mosses to help purify the air as well as improved workstations for customer service agents.
Senior director for Europe, Middle East and India, John Lloyd, said: “This improvement to our London Heathrow facility is the first of many investments in both customer-facing areas and our operations. The new space better represents the Air Canada Cargo brand and is a clear sign of the airline’s commitment to London as a hub facility as it continues strategically expanding the business.”
UPS reported revenues down 2.7% from last year at $27.0bn in its fourth quarter 2022 earnings. However, for 2002 as a whole, revenue increased 3.1% to $100.3 billion. Diluted earnings per share were $3.96 for the quarter and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.62, 0.8% above the same period in 2021.
UPS said it expects revenue in 2023 to be between $97.0 billion and $99.4 billion and consolidated adjusted operating margin of between 12.8% and 13.6%. It also expects capital expenditures to be about $5.3 billion, dividend payments to be around $5.4 billion, subject to Board approval, and share repurchases to be around $3 billion.
