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Joint effort moves urgent valve from Italy to Middle East

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Ukraine-owned heavylift carrier, Antonov Airlines and broker AirPartner delivered an urgently needed valve for an oil refinery from Italy to Middle East.

The airline’s own engineers built a low-profile cargo ramp to load and unload the 20-tonne, three metre high cargo, in combination with external cranes.

Commercial executive, Eugene Kiva explained: “Despite the cargo was not something oversized or heavy, as usual for our aircraft, this particular unit required using our special loading equipment (ramp system) and external cranes, due to very sensitive lifting and lashing points.”

The shipper also produced and weld extra shackles on the bottom of the unit to lash it securely inside our aircraft and withstand G-forces during the flight.

Globe Air Cargo Dominican Republic celebrates first two decades

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ECS subsidiary Globe Air Cargo Dominican Republic has celebrated its 20th anniversary. Over the past two decades, Globe Air Cargo has played a crucial role in shaping the air cargo landscape in the island nation with long-term partnerships including TCM contracts with TUI and Condor Airlines, collaborations with Corsair, and with United Aviation Enterprise and Cargo Logistics. The Dominican Republic is a key logistics hub, facilitating shipments between Europe, Asia, and the Americas though Punta Cana and Santo Domingo.

Managing Director of Globe Air Cargo Dominican Republic, Ivan Mejia, who has been at the company since its inception. said: “Reaching 20 years is a testament to the trust and support of our clients, partners, and employees. This incredible journey of growth and learning inspires us to continue innovating and providing value to the air cargo community for years to come.”

SATS signs cargo deal for Vietnam’s new airport

Air cargo handler SATS has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Airlines to build and operate an air cargo terminal at the new Long Thanh International Airport.

LTIA, 35 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City, will alleviate congestion at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. It is due to launch operations in phases, with Phase 1 expected to start operations by the second half of 2026. It will have the capacity to handle up to 1.2 million tonnes of cargo annually; and it will eventually expand to its full capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo by 2050.

The MoU will expand the existing cooperation between the two organisations in ground and cargo handling services across VNA’s international network and will include development of  customised airfreight and logistics solutions, such as trucking and middle mile services, through SATS and its strategic alliances.

Vietnam Airlines, the flag carrier of Vietnam, has a fleet of over 93 aircraft and currently flies to more than 22 domestic and 30 international destinations.

Global traders laugh in the face of Trump

Global trade will still grow even if all tariffs proposed during President Trump’s election campaign are implemented, and other countries retaliate, said DHL in the latest edition of its Trade Atlas, published on 12 March. However, the tariffs could significantly reduce the rate of growth, it said.

The Atlas is published by logistics company DHL and the New York University Stern School of Business.

Global trade recovered in 2024 and is forecast to grow faster over the next five years than during the preceding decade, with India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines leading the field. The countries with the fastest projected trade growth also include several in Africa and Latin America.

The evidence also suggests that the ongoing trade conflict has not substantially cut US reliance on Chinese goods, the report added.

It said that while uncertainty looms over future trade policies following US President Donald Trump’s re-election last year, global trade growth has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of recent disruptions. This pattern is likely to continue even as the US begins a campaign of tariff increases.

Recent forecasts predict goods trade will grow at a compound annual rate of 3.1% from 2024 to 2029. This roughly aligns with GDP growth and is modestly faster than the previous decade. DHL Express chief executive, John Pearson, said: “There is still significant potential for trade growth in advanced and emerging economies worldwide. It’s impressive to see how international trade continues to withstand every conceivable challenge, from the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic to tariffs and geopolitical conflicts.”

Between 2024 and 2029, India also stands out as the country with the third largest absolute amount of forecast trade growth (6% of additional global trade), behind China (12%) and the US (10%).

On a regional basis, the fastest trade volume growth from 2024 to 2029 is forecast for South and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the ASEAN countries – with compound annual growth rates between 5% and 6%. All other regions are forecast to grow at rates of 2% to 4%.

The Atlas ads that, despite widespread interest in nearshoring and producing goods closer to customers, the DHL Trade Atlas 2025 demonstrates that trade has not become more regionalized overall. In fact, it says, actual trade flows indicate the opposite trend. In the first nine months of 2024, the average distance traversed for all traded goods reached a record 5,000 kilometers, while the share of trade within major regions fell to a new low of 51%.

Despite a turn toward more restrictive US trade policies, most countries continue to pursue trade as a key economic opportunity, and US trade barriers could strengthen ties among other countries. Also, many of Trump’s tariff threats may end up being different from those originally proposed or they may be delayed to prevent a spike in domestic inflation.

While the US share of world imports currently stands at 13%, and its share of exports is 9% – enough for US policies to have substantial effects on other countries  – it is not enough to unilaterally determine the future of global trade.

“While threats to the global trading system must be taken seriously, global trade has shown great resilience because of the large benefits that it delivers for economies and societies,” said Steven Altman, senior research scholar and director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at NYU Stern’s Center for the Future of Management. “While the US could pull back from trade – at a significant cost – other countries are not likely to follow the US down that path because smaller countries would suffer even more in a global retreat from trade.”

The DHL Trade Atlas 2025 said that while trade between blocs of close allies of the US and China declined in 2022 and 2023 relative to trade within these blocs, those were minor and did not continue in 2024.

The US and China have reduced their shares of trade with each other, but not enough to constitute a meaningful “decoupling.” Direct US–China trade has fallen from 3.5% of world trade in 2016 to 2.6% over the first nine months of 2024. However, the US still brings in as high a share of its imports from China as the rest of the world does. Also, there is evidence suggesting that US imports from China are underreported. Moreover, data that also considers Chinese inputs in goods the US imports from other countries suggests no meaningful drop in US reliance on goods made in China.

dhl.com/tradeatlas

Hactl is Hungary for growth

Independent cargo handler Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) has signed its first carrier of 2025, Hungary Airlines.

The carrier has started scheduled services between its Budapest hub and Hong Kong, using 62 tonne capacity A330F aircraft.

Hactl will provide cargo terminal operations, aircraft loading and unloading, and documentation.

Budapest is a growing e-commerce hub for Eastern Europe. As more aircraft are added to the Hungary Airlines fleet, the carrier plans to add services to the US and Middle East.

Mercedes-Benz places Schenker’s largest green jet fuel order

Car maker Mercedes-Benz has place the largest single order for Sustainable Aviation Fuel by a DB Schenker customer. The agreement for 13,000 tons of SAFwill reduce the company’s CO2e emissions by 40,000 tons and will be accredited towards export air freight shipments from Frankfurt to Beijing and Shanghai.

DB Schenker and Mercedes-Benz have partnered for many decadesfor land, air, and ocean transport as well as warehouse management. When DB Schenker launched the world’s first regular cargo flight covered by SAF in 2021, Mercedes-Benz was among the initial customers.

DB Schenker says that while SAF alone cannot fully eliminate emissions from air transport, it is a tangible step in reducing the environmental impact of aviation and a well-tested alternative to conventional jet fuel. Produced from waste materials such as used frying oil, it reduces lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 80% compared to fossil fuel.

Global board member for air and ocean freight, Thorsten Meincke, said: “Achieving carbon neutrality is a long-haul journey. Our new biofuel agreement with our trusted partner Mercedes-Benz sets a new benchmark for sustainability commitments. By working together, we are actively and immediately reducing emissions in intercontinental supply chains. This contract represents one of the largest-ever SAF deals in the entire automotive and logistics industries globally. I look forward to seeing more customers join us.”

Mercedes-Benz head of supply chain management, Elke Pusskeiler, added: “As part of our ‘Ambition 2039’ for Mercedes-Benz Cars, we aim to reduce CO2 emissions in logistics by 60% compared to 2021. Our sustainability strategy focuses on CO2 avoidance and on the reduction of emissions for all modes of transport in inbound and outbound. Utilizing Sustainable Aviation Fuel for air freight allows us to cut emissions. Together with DB Schenker, we made another significant achievement in our efforts for sustainable logistics.”

((Pix – SAF))

ACS appoints time critical chief

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Air Charter Service has promoted Andreas Spies to head of time critical services for the EMEA and APAC regions, based in Frankfurt, Germany. He joined ACS seven years ago after more than a decade of onboard courier experience and will now further develop the broker’s OBC and Next Flight Out offerings, working in close conjunction with Robert Alleman, who was recently appointed chief executive of time critical services in the Americas, based in Houston.”

CMA CGM to open Chicago freighter hub

CMA CGM Group is to capacity with a new hub in Chicago, where it will deploy five new Boeing 777 freighters, flown by US pilots. The move is part of a plan by the shipping, airfreight and logistics group to invest $20 billion in its US and Americas network over the next four years.

The group is also investing in its US ports along with warehousing and automotive logistics platforms across the country.

In addition, CMA CGM will open a new logistics research and development hub in Boston, focusing on advanced robotics and automation in collaboration with leading US technology partners.

Celebrating airfreight’s high-fliers

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As the world marks Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day in March, Air Cargo Vision asks Eliska Hill, Senior Vice President of Cargo at broker Air Partner about gender in the industry – and how it has changed over the years.

Thirty-five years ago, Eliska Hill wanted to be a pilot. Coming from an aviation family, it was only natural that she would want to follow in her relatives’ footsteps – or should that be wingtips?

Airline selection processes being what they are – many are called but few are chosen – that dream didn’t work out, but she was sufficiently bitten by the aviation bug to take a Transport Management course at Loughborough University in the UK.

Post-university, there came the small matter of finding an aviation job. “I started out in the industry working for MK Airlines, who were operating DC8’s into Africa at the time. I joined MK knowing very little about air cargo and, back in 1996, there were very few women in the industry,” she recalls. “It was a great introduction to the air cargo world – I learned everything from scratch.”

Being the only woman at an air cargo conference could be daunting, but it was an experience that made her stronger, says Hill.

“It’s hard now for those who didn’t experience it to envisage how male dominated air cargo was. Today, of course, things have changed immensely. However it’s still not quite where it should be, but nevertheless, it has evolved.”

Several factors have changed hearts and minds in the industry. One, Hill believes, was digitization. “Airfreight used to be seen as very hard, tough work with a lot of heavy lifting – literally. But that has changed.” Three decades ago, a woman working in the sector was expected to adapt to the then industry norms, “in the way I dressed, the way I spoke – in everything.”

But machines and computers are taking more and more of the strain – physical and mental – and that has opened up more doors for women. Digitization is even removing some of the 24/7 nature of air cargo, which again might make it somewhat more female-friendly, though Hill quickly points out that there are hundreds of women in the industry who do work shifts.

Technologically, the airfreight industry generally still has a great deal of work to do before it can say it has fully caught up with the passenger sector. (Hill herself has spent time outside cargo, in passenger charters, incidentally.)

“Even in 2015, I found that the amount paper involved in the industry was incredible.”

Perhaps because the industry has always been like that, people don’t see the need to change, but the growth of e-commerce with its need for speed and to closely track all consignments will surely change everything forever.

Hill, by the way, doesn’t buy the argument that airfreight is in some way unique or “too complex” to digitize effectively. “However, I think we are getting there slowly, although different regions, and countries are moving at different rates. Air cargo is a global industry, and at the moment we’re just not connected enough.”

Turning to the human aspect: “It’s also important that there are now more female role models at the top of the industry—leaders like Gabriela Hiitola (Senior VP, Finnair Cargo) and Kirsten de Bruijn at WestJet, who are strong role models at the pinnacle of their careers.”

Hill found a welcome shift away from traditional industry standards in a somewhat unexpected place—the Middle East. “I was general manager of Chapman Freeborn in Dubai in 2006 and then joined Emirates SkyCargo in 2015. I think it’s a misconception that Dubai is a male-dominated society. In reality, it is more culturally open than many other places, and there is a strong recognition of women’s contributions. Perhaps it’s because women there often have to work significantly harder to succeed, earning them a high level of respect in the industry.”

There are many other reasons why there are relatively few women in air cargo, some of them what might be termed involuntary rather than active discrimination. One is that the industry does tend to be a relatively closed shop. Once people find a place in it, they tend not to leave it again, and perhaps that militates against diversification of the workforce in many ways.

But really, the debate should not be about whether the freight industry should recruit more women but rather that it should recruit the best people of either gender to do a particular job. “Certainly, I would always recruit whoever was best for the particular role; you need a diverse workforce.” Arguments about whether women are better at multitasking, or that, for women, families and children will always come first are, frankly futile: “You shouldn’t be recruiting on the basis of a stereotype.”

We asked: what is next for women in the industry? “I think we need to do a lot more generally to get people thinking about logistics from an early age, at schools and colleges – there is a lot of work that needs to be done in that respect.”

Shanghai spot rate slump could be taste of things to come

The game of ‘cat and mouse’ between some of the world’s biggest trading nations may have taken its first nibble at international e-commerce volumes in February’s global air cargo market data with spot rates from Shanghai to the US dropping -29% month-on-month to US$3.23 per kg, according to the latest industry analysis by Xeneta.
Even allowing for the earlier Lunar New Year and the seasonal e-commerce slowdown at the start of the year, the fall in Shanghai-US spot rates, following the US’ temporary removal of the de minimis exemption on Chinese shipments, may be one of the first indicators that “the regulatory and political conversations are starting to affect the air cargo market,” said Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, Niall van de Wouw.
He explained: “When the e-commerce boom took off, it very quickly clogged up the Hong Kong and southern China market because of so much outbound demand. So, the e-commerce market started to venture eastwards to Shanghai, even though it was less desirable due to additional cost.
“If a fall in e-commerce volumes means there’s currently more available capacity to do business out of Hong Kong and southern China again, we would expect Shanghai to be the first market to feel this impact, and that’s what we saw in February. This may be short-term, but the uncertainty around e-commerce is impacting the market.”
In comparison, the Shanghai-to-Europe spot rate saw only a modest -2% month-on-month decline to $3.86 per kg.
Overall, global air cargo demand grew by +4% year-on-year in February, marking a continued slowdown from the double-digit growth seen in every month of 2024. By calibrating the earlier Lunar New Year this year, the combined air cargo demand for January and February rose by a modest +3% compared to the previous year.
In addition to the US de minimis change, other factors likely influencing the monthly performance included a high comparison base in 2024 and the diminishing impact of Red Sea disruptions on air cargo volumes, as supply chains continued to adapt to longer transit times.
Global air cargo capacity supply in February also stayed flat compared to a year ago. The combined January and February capacity edged up by just +1%, while the dynamic load factor for the first two months of 2025 remained unchanged from a year ago at 59% in February. Dynamic load factor is Xeneta’s measurement of capacity utilisation based on volume and weight of cargo flown alongside available capacity.
The global air cargo spot rate (valid for up to one month) in February increased at its slowest pace year-on-year since June 2024, rising by +10% to $2.53 per kg. In contrast, the global seasonal rate (valid for longer than one month) dropped -1% year-on-year to $2.21 per kg, reflecting the market’s changing supply/demand dynamics.
In terms of month-on-month development, the global air cargo spot rate declined -5%.
Among the major global corridors, the Northeast Asia to Europe market saw a +10% increase versus a year ago, to $4.32 per kg, but fell -2% month-on-month, while Northeast Asia to North America spot rates experienced the steepest month-on-month decline, dropping -17% to $3.79 per kg.
Meanwhile, the Transatlantic market remained buoyant. Spot rates from Europe to both Latin America and North America recorded high single-digit growth month-on-month, maintaining levels over +20% higher than a year ago. This elevated spot rate reflects limited passenger belly capacity during the winter flying season as well as freighter capacity shifting away from the corridor.
On the other hand, ample backhaul capacity led to the largest spot rate declines in both the North America and Europe to Northeast Asia markets, both registering year-on-year falls exceeding -10%.
Heading into 2025, Xeneta was forecasting a year of +4-6% growth in the global air cargo market, after its strong performance in 2024. Growing trade tension since then now place a big question mark over the outlook.
“With general cargo demand in the doldrums in recent years, the surge in e-commerce has been the saviour of the air cargo market performance. If this now takes a significant hit, if that happens, it will have a profound effect on airfreight rates around the world,” van de Wouw said.
For now, the big e-commerce players and general cargo shippers are buying time instead of cargo capacity to avoid commitments which might bring added financial risk.
“From the conversations we are hearing, some shippers are clearly looking for ways to minimise the impact of US tariffs, while others will be anticipating lower airfreight rates if e-commerce volumes show a sustained dip.”
This is also going to have a knock-on impact on other markets, van de Wouw said, adding: “If I was shipping ex Vietnam to the US right now, for example, I’d be concerned about the impact on rates if more shippers descend on this corridor to lessen the impact caused by tariffs on direct shipments from China to the US,” he added.
Further complicating the matter are proposed US port fees for Chinese built ships, which could throw ocean schedules into disarray, in the short-term driving up container freight rates and even prompting a shift from sea to air.

What’s next? Uncertainty and trade tension
The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in the US and the awaited international response are causing increasing ripple effects across the global air cargo market, prompting strategic adjustments from key stakeholders.
With upcoming summer schedule changes and ongoing trade tensions, airlines are currently reassessing their freighter capacity strategies. Many may opt to shift routes toward Southeast Asia rather than China or reposition capacity to the Transatlantic.
Uncertainty in the market has led to freight forwarders delaying their block space agreement negotiations with airlines as they await more clarity on demand and pricing.
Meanwhile, some shippers are postponing annual contract negotiations from Q2 2025 while opting for shorter-term agreements in the first half of the year.
Van de Wouw says it’s a hard market to call: “This is a situation completely outside of the control of the air cargo market and there’s a great deal of noise, which is adding to stakeholders’ anxiety. The issue is no one knows what the end game is and what’s going to happen from a regulatory perspective, and how this will impact consumer confidence.”