Munich Airport hosted a Ukraine-registered Antonov An-124 to fly the European Space Agency (ESA)’s EarthCare climate-monitoring satellite to its launch site in Vandenberg, California in early March.
EarthCare (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) has been built by European aerospace consortium Airbus and is a joint project between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It will investigate the role played by clouds and aerosols in reflecting solar radiation into space and in capturing infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface. Launch is scheduled for May.
Swissport International is the launch customer for Champ’s Cargospot-neo handling operations and terminal management system. Cargospot-neo incorporates machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, helping to boost efficiency by an estimated 30% across the handler’s global network.
The new platform also provides an API interconnectivity solution, Swissport is already using API technology to connect mobile devices used by its cargo workforce with its warehouse databases. Cargospot-neo will take this data exchange a step further, allowing for a data flow between internal devices and direct sharing of information with airlines, forwarders and others.
A new task manager module will also allow it to dynamically assign tasks such as shipment build-up, truck loading and special cargo checks to workers’ handheld devices. A new customer portal module will infacilitate smooth slot scheduling and provide invoice access.
Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) in the Netherlands has gained Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 3 (ACA L3). The accreditation puts the airport in the top 10% of globally accredited cargo airports that have earned at least Level 3 accreditation. The ACA scheme was launched in 2009 by the Airports Council International Europe) as part of its commitment to reduce carbon emissions from aviation with an ultimate goal of making airports carbon neutral. Since 2009, 551 gateways are have earned one of the accreditation levels.
The global air cargo market’s surprisingly positive start to 2024 continued in February with a second consecutive month of double-digit demand growth and an uptick in general freight spot rates, said analyst Xeneta in its latest weekly market analysis, published on 6 March.
Following January’s 11% growth in volumes, February saw a similar upward curve for airlines and freight forwarders with demand increasing +11% year-over-year. Reflecting this improvement, in what is traditionally a slower time of year for airfreight volumes, the average global cargo spot rate in February rose +2% from the previous month to US$2.29 per kg.
This increase is unusual compared to pre-pandemic trends during the same periods, when air cargo spot rates tended to decline following the previous year-end’s peak season, and in the period immediately after the Lunar New Year, before rebounding towards the year-end holiday seasons.
Xeneta chief airfreight officer, Niall van de Wouw, said: “It’s a surprising start to the year from a volume perspective, and not something people would have expected, ourselves included, with demand much higher than it was a year ago. Generally, we wouldn’t expect to see a rate uptick at this time of year. This is likely related to the Red Sea disruption, but this is not the only factor.”
He continued: “Signals suggest inflation is not cooling because consumers are still spending. It’s not how much they are spending that’s boosting airfreight, it’s where they are spending. Trends indicate more consumers are buying on e-commerce platforms and the intercontinental nature of these businesses, as well as the speed with which they are expected to deliver, is benefiting air cargo. For some airlines, e-commerce now makes up over 50% of their revenue ex East Asia.
“We now wait to see what impact the airline’s summer schedules will have as well as what happens next in the Red Sea. We would certainly expect to see downward pressure again on rates once the summer belly capacity returns in the western hemisphere as well as China, where the travel recovery is by no means yet done,” he said.
Growth in global air cargo traffic in February, measured in chargeable weight, rose +10% month-over-month, pushing the dynamic load factor up by four percentage points to 60% in February, while global air cargo capacity remained relatively unchanged from the previous month.
The increase in the average general cargo spot rate in February, as well as the upward trend in volume for the first two months of 2024, was most likely driven by the substantial growth in demand caused by Red Sea shipping disruption and e-commerce demand from China.
Some operators even imposed short-term embargoes on import traffic ex Asia during February to help clear backlogs caused by the sudden surge as demand growth outpaced the growth of global cargo supply (+5% year-on-year) for the fourth consecutive month.
Consequently, the year-on-year decline of the global air cargo spot rate was at its lowest since October 2022 in February at -14%.
The continuing Red Sea conflict continues to impact ocean container shipping, producing a positive spill over modal shift in favor of air cargo. Recent declines in ocean container spot rates were also impacted by a drop in ocean schedule reliability for Asia to Europe trades, which was 39.4% in January, the lowest since October 2022, according to Sea Intelligence. This has further contributed to the strong increase in air cargo demand on this corridor for shippers willing and able to bear the higher cost of airfreight to maintain their supply chains.
In February, the South Asia to Europe market led the month-over-month growth in spot rates. The Red Sea events caused air cargo demand on this trade to rise by +18% from the previous month, lagging one month behind the demand growth for the China and Vietnam to Europe markets. Consequently, the average spot rate from South Asia to Europe increased by +34% month-over-month to $2.15 per kg in February.
Looking at the general cargo market at a country level, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka experienced significant increases in their general cargo spot rates, which rose by +81%, +40%, and +55% respectively in the week ending March 3 compared to four weeks earlier, driven by strong demand for apparel from these countries.
Similar to the outbound South Asia market, the average spot rate from China to Europe rose by a more modest +11% month-over-month to $3.67 per kg in February – but, the week-long Lunar New Year holidays caused a -9% decrease in the spot rate to $3.47 per kg in the week ending 3 March.
The air cargo spot rate from China to the US of $4.12 per kg in February was up +15% from January as spot rate changes stabilized throughout the month. In the week ending March 3, the spot rate fell by only -2% from its peak in the week ending February 11, to just one cent below its monthly average of $4.12 per kg.
As the rise of cross-border e-commerce continues to drive demand for air cargo, particularly from Guangzhou and Hong Kong, market intelligence indicates some shippers transiting these locations are now starting to use alternative hubs to circumvent capacity constraints caused by the e-commerce boom.
Van de Wouw said: “Our conversations with shippers suggests many are looking to derisk their supply chains by avoiding hubs which are now so dominated by e-commerce behemoths. This comes down to simple math for shippers. If you’re a clothing retailer, with spring on the way in Europe, you want your seasonal products in-store for the peak demand period. If they’re stuck in a sea container because of longer lead times, and you miss this opportunity, the subsequent mark down in the product cost is likely greater than the cost of switching from sea to airfreight.
“This is shaping the market – but we also know the market will probably surprise us again in the coming weeks.”.
Compared to the other corridor, Europe to US air cargo spot rates saw the smallest month-over-month growth of +5% to $2.05 per kg in February.
Airlines, forwarders, and shippers will now be closely monitoring market trends as carriers prepare to launch their summer schedules at the end of March. This will specifically impact the transatlantic air cargo market, which normally sees a capacity increase of about +50% due to increased belly space during the peak summer months for passenger travel.
As in previous years, this is expected to put downward pressure on air cargo rates on Europe-North America corridors, as well as flows that use European hubs as transit points, such as those in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia markets to North America.
(Xeneta’s year-over-year analysis accounts for the 29-day month of February 2024.)
Qatar Airways Cargo’s Boeing 747F, registration A7-BGB, landed for the last time in commercial cargo service in Doha on March 1.
A7-BGB joined the Qatar Airways Cargo fleet on 26 September 2017 and over the past seven years, the carrier’s two jumbo freighters were deployed on over 9,000 flights and carried almost 800,000 tonnes of cargo. They were also a stalwart of the pandemic, carrying PPE and other medical equipment across the world, at a time where many other aircraft were grounded.
Qatar Airways Cargo is the launch customer for Boeing’s next generation 777-8F freighter, the most fuel efficient, lowest carbon footprint freighter in the cargo industry, with 34 of the type on firm order with options for 16 more.
Unit load device (ULD) management company Jettainer,has appointed Thorsten Riekert as chief commercial officer. In this new position, the Jettainer management team member will be responsible for advancing the company’s global growth.
He joined Jettainer in 2015 and has played a pivotal role in expanding the customer network and product offer. Before joining Jettainer, he held positions at the Lufthansa Group.
Riekert to fill COO role at Jettainer
Unit load device (ULD) management company Jettainer,has appointed Thorsten Riekert as chief commercial officer. In this new position, the Jettainer management team member will be responsible for advancing the company’s global growth.
He joined Jettainer in 2015 and has played a pivotal role in expanding the customer network and product offer. Before joining Jettainer, he held positions at the Lufthansa Group.
Swissport Tanzania has been awarded IATA CEIV Fresh certification for its operation at Dar es Salaam International Airport. It is the second Swissport location on the continent to receive the status, following certification in Nairobi, Kenya.
Currently, 21 of the handler’s warehouses, including four in Africa, are certified for pharmaceutical logistics by IATA’s CEIV Pharma, the UK’s MHRA or other recognized industry associations.
Swissport provides ramp handling, passenger services and manages three air cargo centers at Dar es Salaam, handling cargo including general, special and temperature-controlled goods.
Saudia Cargo, Worldwide Flight Services and Cainiao Group have officially launched their cooperation to create to create a dedicated eHub at Liege Airport in Belgium, announced in November 2023.
The eHub is currently leased by WFS, with Cainiao investing in logistics procedures, and facilities.
The collaboration has also bolstered the logistics capacity of the eHub, with three temperature-controlled facilities for perishable and pharma cargo products. The eHub has also obtained BCP certification for transport of fresh goods.
Earlier this year, Cainiao launched its international express shipping service, Global Five-Day Delivery, in collaboration with AliExpress, now available in ten countries worldwide.
The collaboration between Saudia Cargo and Cainiao includes specific freighter flights from Hong Kong to Riyadh and Liege while WFSn is contracted ton handle over 50,000 tonnes.
The eHub is a response to increasing demand for cross-border e-commerce, particularly in the Middle East and European markets.
The Airforwarders Association (AfA) has revealed the winners of its 2024 Industry Awards. They include: include:·Preferred Industry Vendor: Veroot;·Domestic Airline of the Year: Southwest Cargo;·International Airline of the Year: Lufthansa Cargo; and Surface Vendor of the Year: Forward.
Winners are selected by AfA members based on outstanding achievement in service quality, performance, and overall value. The awards were made at the annual AirCargo Conference, which welcomed more than 900 delegates on February 11-13 in Louisville, Kentucky.
AfA also presented the Jim Foster Memorial Award to Vaughn Moore, chairman and chief executive of AIT Worldwide Logistics. The Award, named after the founder of the AfA, honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to the industry, organization, and membership.
Pictured left to right: Brandon Fried, executive director, AfA; Vaughn Moore, chairman and chief executive of AIT Worldwide Logistics, and recipient of this year’s Jim Foster Memorial Award; and Kirk McCann, AfA board chairman and vice president of domestic product at Scan Global Logistics.
NEO Air Charter and customer Blue Water Shipping pulled out all the stops to deliver urgent heat pipes needed to keep the heat on in Iceland.
Some 20,000 households on the Reykjanes Pensinsula endured -15 degree temperatures without heating, after earthquakes and volcano eruptions damaged underground heating pipes.
Blue Water Shipping of Billund, Denmark and NEO staff worked through a Sunday to locate and book a suitable aircraft – a Bluebird Airlines B737F – to operate the emergency flight from Cologne to Keflavik.
They also arranged ground transport for the 90-minute journey from the pipe manufacturer to the departure airport.
Despite cargo handler- and Customs staff shortages caused by the local Rose Monday public holiday, and an error in the declared size of the packages, NEO succeeded in having the pallets broken down, the 1000 boxes of pipes individually X-ray scanned and re-packed onto 41 pallets, and then the shipment loaded onto the waiting freighter.
NEO staff were on hand in Cologne to oversee the whole ground handling and loading process and flight took off less than 24 hours after the initial booking. The goods arrived in Keflavik the same evening.
