Supply chain visibility company FourKites has introduced a number of new air freight features.
.The include a Carrier Events View allowing shippers to compare data from carrier websites against FourKites’ milestones, events and ETAs making use of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Easy Load Creation enables shippers to generate air shipments with limited information, thereby accelerating the process.
New Transit Time, On-time Performance,, Milestone, Customer Health and Lane dashboard s allow for more strategic decision-making through insights on carrier and lane performance.
Split Shipments let customers track shipments that have been split onto different flights or routes, and monitor quantity and weight at flight level.
Booking Details — including flight number, status, origin/destination, arrival/departure time, quantity, weight and volume — provide clear visibility into the flight expectations compared to the tracking updates happening in real time.
Over the last 12 months, FourKites has experienced 150% growth in air volume, and now tracks across more than 100 airlines and 17,000 airports,
It adds that its Dynamic ETA for Air tracks nearly 100% of air freight with highly accurate and automated ETAs within 9 hours of arrival.
The air cargo market may have to wait until October for a recovery after a flood of summer bellyhold capacity on major lanes and a -4% drop in demand in April, according to the latest weekly analysis from CLIVE Data Services, part of Xeneta.
Airfreight spot rates dropped -41% versus April 2022 as a 7% rise in cargo capacity reduced load factors and led to a 14th consecutive month of falling volumes year-over-year. CLIVE’s ‘dynamic load factor, measuring global volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available, dropped -5% pts versus 2022 to 57% in April, continuing a more than year-long decline.
Summer capacity had its traditionally profound impact on the air cargo market from Europe to North America, with capacity up 26% in comparison to March 2023. Data showed a 10% pts decrease in load factor across the North Atlantic to 57% last month, compared to the 67% level recorded to major North American airports in March. This pushed the general airfreight spot rate on this westbound lane down to US$2.29 for April.
While air cargo market performance in April is normally affected by seasonality, it was particularly affected as the Easter, Eid, Pesach, and Ramadan public holidays all came together closely. However, this didn’t disguise the softening market conditions, says Xeneta chief airfreight officer, Niall van de Wouw.
“This is a market that will test companies. If you look at Europe-North America, what other industries see supply increase from one month to the next by 26%, very much outside of their control. This is a tremendous jump in capacity and, consequently, we saw a corresponding -12% fall in spot rates on these routes.
“Shippers will be happy, freight forwarders less so, while the strong return of the leisure passenger market, and signs of improving corporate travel and lower fuel prices, is making passenger airlines upbeat and providing the long-awaited boost they needed.
“Of course, we should not forget that freight rates are still elevated but the influx of belly capacity this summer means the air cargo market may have to hang on until October, when winter schedules begin and capacity is reduced, for the next signs of an upturn in volumes and yield,” he stated.
But any rise in demand in Q4 remains increasingly uncertain. “If you listen to their earnings calls, you’ll hear shippers pushing back on expectations of a big inventory replenishment later in the year. So, these are really tough times for air cargo.
“The market is in the doldrums we do not currently see this changing until much later in the year or early 2024. The air cargo market is readjusting and this will also open up new opportunities, but we see a difficult few months ahead. Right now, we don’t see any ‘ripples on the water’ to indicate more wind to give the market an uptick in volumes in the near future, ” van de Wouw added.
Emirates SkyCargo has added two leased Boeing 747-400Fs to its freighter fleet, the first instalment of a plan to double its capacity in next decade.
The Dubai carrier is expecting 15 more freighters to join its fleet from announced orders and its freighter conversion program, plus a boost in belly-hold capacity from new passenger aircraft deliveries starting with Airbus A350s in late summer 2024, followed by 777-Xs the year after.
It also expects to add over 20 new destinations to its freighter network.
Divisional senior vice president, Nabil Sultan, said: “While the current market volatility may cause others to hesitate, Emirates SkyCargo is pushing full steam ahead with our plans. The medium to long term projections for global air cargo show an upward trajectory of between 3-5%. Combine that Dubai’s strategy to double its foreign trade where multi-modal logistics will play a big role, and the economic activity happening in markets around the Gulf, West Asia, and Africa, and the opportunity for Emirates SkyCargo is clear.
“The two new 747-Fs which we have leased will give us immediate capacity, while we wait for delivery of five new 777Fs in 2024 and 2025, and 10 777-300ERs to roll out of our conversion program over the next five years.
Secured on a long-term wet-lease basis, the two Boeing 747-Fs complement Emirates SkyCargo’s existing fleet of 11 Boeing 777 freighters, and are currently being deployed to Chicago three times weekly and to Hong Kong nine times weekly.
Emirates SkyCargo has also launched two new tailor-made solutions for the global healthcare industry.
Emirates Vital will be used to transport clinical trials, human organs and tissues, cell and gene therapy, with a ‘control tower’ team monitoring every shipment and with speeded up connection times in Dubai for shipments of under four hours by utilising the bulk hold of the aircraft and dedicated vans on the ramp to move the shipments to the connecting flights.
Emirates Medical Devices transports everything from ventilators and test kits, to X-ray machines and MRIs. It ensures all cargo moved follows Medical Device Regulations and Good Distribution Practice.
DHL Aviation, the in-house airline of DHL Express, is launching a new optional GoGreen Plus service for its air cargo product. From June, it will allow customers to reduce (‘inset’) the carbon emissions associated with their cargo using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). They can also tailor the CO2 reduction they want to achieve and the amount of SAF they use. SAF is produced from waste oils and can provide greenhouse gas emission reductions of up to 80% over its lifecycle compared with the conventional jet fuel it replaces.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) has started redevelopment of its 19th Street cargo facility.
It says it will apply state-of-the-art technology that addresses labor shortages, airport congestion, and sustainability while increasing safety, efficiency, and security across the cargo ecosystem.
The project is slated for completion in late 2024 and will add about 350,000sq ft of new warehouse space and seven ADG VI (large cargo aircraft) parking positions.
DFW has also “tentatively selected” Menzies Aviation and Dnata USA to operate new cargo warehouses. , subject to final approval by its board of directors, who will join a future design-build contractor to create and operate the facility.
DFW’s executive vice president, global strategy and development, John Ackerman, said: “We selected these tenants for their commitment to excellence in cargo handling and their long-term business strategy, which supports our business priorities in developing DFW as a transit hub in the global supply chain connecting Asia and Latin America.
“This will also support our goal of being a hub for the fastest growing markets, including pharma and other perishables, as well as cross-border e-commerce.”
Menzies Aviation executive vice president of cargo, Robert Fordree, added: “We are looking forward to partnering with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on this new cargo initiative, increasing our footprint at the airport as we already have a well-established cargo business. This new cargo opportunity will allow us to showcase our investment in innovation and make the new DFW cargo facility one of the most technologically advanced in North America.”
David Barker, Dnata’s regional chief executive officer Americas, said: “We are proud to have been selected to partner with DFW as they embark on this extensive redevelopment project. Dnata continues to invest in cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technologies and digitization, to further enhance efficiencies across our operations.
“This includes the use of innovative autonomous drones in our existing warehouses at DFW. Our long-term commitment to sustainable operations, including the construction of new, LEED-certified buildings, also aligns with DFW’s plans for the 19th Street Cargo redevelopment. We look forward to working closely with DFW to ensure the project’s long-term success.”
Virgin Atlantic Cargo has launched myVS, an expansion of its digital platform, which enables customers to quote, book, manage, and track their cargo shipments online. It is part of the airline’s overall digitisation program and will initially be launching in the UK and South Africa, for General, Pharma, and Fresh services. Further rollouts to customers in the US and other regions will be coming soon.
UK all-freighter airline Cargo First has launched a service between its Bournemouth Airport based and Chengdu Shuangliu International in China, in partnership with Shenzhen Sharing Express Logistic-Tech.
The new service is operated by European Cargo A-340 wide-bodied freighters, with a capacity of 70 tonnes.
Initially, there are three flights per week, with plans to gradually increase the frequency to five flights per week in the future as SSELT strengthens its global network.
The new route is supported by the China Council for the Promotion of National Trade and China Post, and aims to help China’s cross-border e-commerce sellers to reach the UK market. SSELT is also targeting UK exporters on return legs.
Cargo First says that with only 90 minutes from the capital, shipments can get to customer warehouses in half the time of going through a London hub airport.
Bournemouth Airport managing director Steve Gill, added: “We can save customers a lot of time in a time-sensitive market. Working with European Cargo we’ve proven Bournemouth as a viable alternative gateway to London and the South East for commercial air cargo. Cross border e-commerce continues to experience strong growth and we are seeing a lot of providers like SSELT scouting for alternatives to the London hubs because they want airports that can handle that growth into the future.”
European Cargo’s chief executive David Kerr said: “We have extensive experience of the China market and this new route from Chengu to Bournemouth establishes an exciting new trade corridor that ensures the timely delivery of e-commerce goods from south west China to UK consumers. It also creates significant opportunities for UK exports back to China and is among a range of potential routes that we are looking to grow.”
European Cargo has been converting its Airbus A340 long haul freighters with a bespoke in-cabin pod containment system to add to belly capacity. It expects up to six conversions this year with more in the pipeline in 2024, making it the largest UK-based wide-bodied carrier.
In the last few months the freighters have received certification from both EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK.
Hong Kong Air Cargo Industry Services (Hacis), the value-added logistics arm of Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl), has opened a new Cool Zone climate-controlled facility to cater for increasing volumes of perishable and temperature-sensitive e-commerce traffic. Hacis’ new Cool Zone – located within its E-commerce Fulfilment Centre – provides a total, climate-controlled handling solution for goods such as fresh fruit and chocolates, speeding up the handling process and avoiding the potential cost and delays of transferring goods to downtown facilities for processing, before delivery to the agent’s warehouse or the final customer. Cargo arriving in Hong Kong can be processed and delivered to local customers the same day.
It offers a handling area with temperatures down to 15°C, and is equipped with storage racks, and work tables for pick and pack and labelling. Cool Zone can integrate with agents’ own IT systems to feed direct status updates and stock information.
Hacis also provides storage for chilled, fresh and frozen commodities ranging from +25°C to -25°C.
The Cool Zone is directly linked to Hactl’s SuperTerminal 1 automated Box Storage System (BSS), enabling it to cater for loose cargo, while minimising transit times.
Early users of the facility have been importers of fruit, yoghurt, snowy mooncake and chocolates, with most traffic inbound from Asian counties. Typical shipments comprise 100 pieces weighing between 1 to 5 kilos each.
Chapman Freeborn has appointed Roy Linkner as vice president cargo ACMI leasing. He brings over 35 years of valuable industry expertise in passenger operations and commercial air cargo with companies including British Airways, Delta Airlines, Martinair, Southern Air and Airborne Global Solutions. In his new role, Linkner will work with Chapman Freeborn’s ACMI teams globally to develop the ACMI business with a focus on cargo.
Etihad Cargo has added weekly freighter flights from its Abu Dhabi hub to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. The airline also operates five passenger flights to Shanghai, Beijing Daxing and Guangzhou each week. The flights to Wuhan, in Hubei Province in central China, also improve access to other destinations, including Shenzhen, Dongguan, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Nanjing, via SF Airlines’ road feeder service trucking network.
