Saudia Cargo has extended its partnership with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS). The renewed contract covers comprehensive cargo handling services at eight gateways in the US and Europe, including New York JFK, Washington Dulles International, London Heathrow, Manchester, Amsterdam Schiphol, Brussels, Frankfurt and Paris CDG.
Beyond these eight locations, WFS also provides cargo handling services for Saudia Cargo at Liege in Belgium, Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, India, as well as in Bangkok, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles.
Emirates and Dubai Humanitarian have set up an airbridge to Sri Lanka to transport aid to people affected by Cyclone Ditwah. For the next two weeks, the Dubai-based carrier will offer over 100 tonnes of cargo space free of charge on its daily passenger flights to Sri Lanka.
The first shipments departed Dubai International Airport on Tuesday 9 December on the three non-stop Emirates flights connecting Dubai and Colombo. On-ground, the shipments will be sent to a government disaster management unit.
As the largest humanitarian hub in the world, Dubai Humanitarian streamlines relief missions and, through its longstanding partnership with Emirates, is able to mobilize swiftly and efficiently across the airline’s network.
Hong Kong Air Cargo Industry Services Limited (Hacis) – Hactl’s wholly-owned, value-added services subsidiary – has signed a partnership with logistics and supply chain technology expert, Flexport, to establish the gateway as the latter’s transit hub.
Hacis initially provided mail handling services to Flexport, and gradually expanded its offerings to include Merge-in-Transit (MiT) solutions as well as Airport Direct import and export services. Hacis is now providing a fully integrated one-stop-shop suite of services that enables Flexport to route cargo through Hong Kong as a key transit hub.
Through its MiT solution, Hacis merges shipments from multiple origins in Hong Kong under forwarder control before onward delivery. Under its Airport Direct services, Hacis handles cargo collection, delivery, documentation, on-airport storage, containerisation and fulfilment, with operations located immediately beside the apron at SuperTerminal 1 for maximum speed and efficiency.
Hacis executive director, Ringo Chan, said: “With our fully integrated, one-stop-shop service, we enable Flexport to route cargo via Hong Kong with greater reliability and efficiency.”
Flexport head of APAC, Daniel Sanvicente, added: ”With its one-stop-shop approach and direct air-side access facility, partnering with Hacis enables Flexport to provide highly efficient, consolidated air services across a broad network. Utilizing Hong Kong’s strategic location as a key gateway for South China origin cargo, this collaboration expands our connectivity and service offerings, fueling Flexport’s continued growth in South China and our expanding presence across Southeast Asia and beyond.”
Rhenus Logistics and carrier Avianca Cargo have transported crated civil helicopters from Miami International Airport to Vitória–Eurico de Aguiar Salles International Airport, the first time that a shipment of this kind has landed in the Brazilian gateway. Over 35 similar shipments are expected to be completed by end of the year for a manufacturer using an Airbus A330F aircraft, with further phases continuing beyond 2026.
Flying the choppers eliminates the need for customs clearance on road movements.
The door-to-door solution includes inland transport from California to Florida, handling and compliance at the Rhenus Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in Miami, air freight by Airbus A330F from Miami to Vitória and customs clearance and delivery in São Paulo.
Rhenus Logistics regional head, Christian Luque, said: “Historically, helicopter shipments into Brazil would land at Viracopos, requiring complex bonded trucking to Vitória for customs clearance, then returning to São Paulo for final delivery. This was time-consuming and operationally inefficient. By flying directly into VIX, we’ve eliminated multiple legs and created a faster, leaner, and more cost-effective solution. This operation sets a new benchmark for the airspace high-value cargo in Brazil and the ability to streamline delivery directly through Vitória represents a major step forward in efficiency and service excellence.”
São Paulo is home to one of the largest helicopter fleets in the world, increasingly used for crop monitoring and operations in Brazil, one of the leading global producers and exporters of coffee, sugar and soybeans.
Dafret, a specialist in digital solutions for freight forwarders, is to integrate CargoAi’s Quote & Book API from the CargoConnect suite into its NaviRate multimodal quotation tool. NaviRate is generates door-to-door freight quotes from all available sources including contracted rates, spot offers and real-time tariffs. The integration enables Dafret members to instantly access live airline pricing and booking capabilities within their NaviRate digital environment. It gives real-time access to 105 airlines, 680 schedules, and 2.5 million dynamic rates.
Air Canada Cargo has won Cargo iQ’s Team Up award, one of two new prizes at its Quality-Rally (Q-Rally) held in November in Madrid, Spain.
The award recognises members who have worked to improve a chosen aspect of their operations in collaboration with another organization or an internal team.
Air Canada aligned cross functional teams, including operations, commercial, and IT, to deliver measurable improvements together, achieving a 7% increase in delivery as promised performance.
The carrier achieved significant gains in data completeness across its network, demonstrating that re-enforcing the quality management system and providing tools to the relevant staff, drives improvements, making operations more robust and performance more reliable.
The second new prize, the Scale up award, went to Kuehne+Nagel, explored the work done by a single company in conjunction with multiple partners to drive improvement on a chosen topic. The forwarder identified root causes behind shipments failing to generate valid air waybill route maps.
Working closely with partner airlines, it implemented Participant Identification and Messaging Address (PIMA) updates, and aligned internal processes to resolve the issues. The updates allow for more of Kuehne+Nagel shipments to be evaluated according to the standard, allowing for better evaluation of the carriers and providing better visibility for shippers.
Dnata is investing over €25 million in a cargo facility at Milano Malpensa Airport (MXP) through its wholly-owned local subsidiary, Airport Handling.
It follows a competitive tender process by the SEA Group, the operator of Linate and Malpensa airports.
The new facility will be located in the Cargo City area of the airport and will span 10,000sq m, with an annual handling capacity of over 100,000 tonnes, including perishables, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods, live animals, aircraft engines and vehicles.
Energy-efficiency measures will include photovoltaic panels, advanced thermal insulation and LED lighting. The building is scheduled to become operational in September 2027.
Airport Handling currently supports over 60 airlines with ramp and passenger handling, managing 80,000 flights annually across Milan’s two airports and recently expanded into Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
ECS Group has promoted Yousra Khalihamou to commercial director of its EFIS Maroc arm in Morocco, North Africa. She began her journey with EFIS Maroc seven years ago, gaining extensive operational and commercial experience, and was promoted to Supervisor in January 2024. In her new role, Yousra will lead EFIS Maroc’s commercial strategy and elevate EFIS Maroc’s role within Morocco’s cargo market.
IAG Cargo is collaborating marine aquaculture company Cooke España to boost exports of Spanish seafood.
Cooke España’s Sea Bass, Sea Bream and Meagre can reach international markets in under 48 hours on IAG Cargo’s temperature-controlled Constant Fresh service.
Spain is currently Europe’s leading aquaculture producer 1, producing around 243,000 tonnes of farmed fish and shellfish in 2023, representing 23% of the EU’s total aquaculture output 2.
Alongside the traditional markets in North America and Asia, Spain’s aquaculture trade with Latin America is rapidly expanding. In 2024, IAG Cargo recorded a 38.5% year-on-year increase in goods shipped from Spain to Latin America.
IAG Cargo recently invested €1.5 million in expanding its perishable goods facilities in Madrid, increasing its capacity by 45%. The M hub now features 1,340sq m of space dedicated exclusively to temperature-controlled perishable cargo.
Regional Commercial Manager for Spain and Portugal, Idoia Martinez, said:
“At IAG Cargo, fish and seafood are among the most temperature-sensitive products we handle. That is why we have prioritised investment in dedicated infrastructure and services that ensure consistent quality in shipments to markets worldwide.
“The success story of Cooke España is a great example of how logistics can unlock global opportunity for regional producers, securing jobs, strengthening local communities and creating new trade routes for Spain’s world-class produce.”
Cooke’s freshly harvested fish is transported from Aguilas to Madrid to be loaded into aircraft holds and flown to international destinations, either directly from the Madrid hub or via London Heathrow.
It offers expanded dock doors and floor space to accommodate parcel and freight shipments.
SpeedX has opened 50 US facilities in the past year.
SpeedX founder and chief executive, Chris Zheng, said: “Chicago is both a prime global air gateway and one of the most important hubs for US e-commerce and freight. By investing here, we’re strengthening our operational control and enhancing the efficiency of our network. This superhub is also central to our strategy of connecting SpeedX facilities nationwide through transcontinental linehaul, creating a more resilient and scalable delivery network for the future.”
