American Airlines Cargo has appointed Greg Schwendinger as president. It follows the departure of Jessica Tyler in May who moved to another leadership role within the airline. Schwendinger has held various roles across the airline and most recently led the finance team at health care services provider, AccentCare.
Hactl gains IATA training cert
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) has become the first cargo terminal operator in Hong Kong to achieve IATA’s new Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) Center Certification.
Hactl has been an IATA Accredited Training School (ATS) since 2003, offering training both for its own staff and those of third parties including airlines, freight forwarders, industry organisations and educational institutions.
Following an agreement by the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel in September 2019, IATA Dangerous Goods training has been evolving from traditional learning to the new, skills-based competency-based training and assessment format, which becomes mandatory from 1 January 2023.
Having received both CBTA Corporate and CBTA Provider accreditations, Hactl is certified to continue providing DGR training to employees, as well external clients.
India is the new jewel in the crown for DHL Supply Chain
DHL Supply Chain is to invest €500 million in India over the next five years to increase its warehousing capacity and workforce and in sustainability initiatives. It plans to own and operate wholly-owned large multi-client sites in India, adding 12 million sq ft of warehousing space to its existing portfolio.
The capacity will be targeted on sectors such as e-commerce, retail, consumer, life sciences, technology, engineering, manufacturing and automotive and will include technology including robots and intelligent process automation.
The new sites will be in major cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, the National Capital Region and Pune while multi-client sites are being built in fast-growing state capitals and tier two cities such as Ambala, Baddi, Cochin, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Sanand, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Hosur, and Visakhapatnam.
DHL Supply Chain India will also open two new business support centers in Bangalore and Pune within the next 12-18 months, adding to the three it currently operates in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Chennai. They provide 24-hour services including domestic and international transport control towers, business analytics to support decision-making and freight bill audit payment.
DHL Supply Chain also plans to double its workforce to 25,000 employees by 2025 and is setting up skill development and resourcing centres to induct and train employees. The first has been opened in Bangalore with more to follow in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.
It will convert its entire intra-city fleet to green fuel or battery electric by 2025 with the entire two-wheeler fleet due to be renewed by the end of 2022. All new sites will have green features, including solar panels for electricity, rainwater harvesting, LED lights and smart meters.
DHL Supply Chain chief executive, Oscar de Bok, said: “Despite the current, economic and geopolitical uncertainties in the world, we see enormous growth potential in the Asia Pacific region, with India making a significant contribution. As a dynamic, stable and fast-growing economy, the Indian nation plays a key role for the global economy.”
“With a rich pool full of highly qualified young talents and innovative digital entrepreneurs India is a favourite hub for our global contract logistics business in DHL Supply Chain and one of our priority markets.”
Managing director of DHL Supply Chain India , Vikas Anand, added: “Building up large multi-client sites with efficient end-to-end transport solutions along with value-added services run by highly skilled employees allows us to maximize operational efficiency and puts us in a strong position to scale according to what our customers need, across various sectors. As one of the best places to work in India, we will continue to invest in our people, to deliver the best service quality to our customers.”
Asia Pacific currently accounts for about 15% of DHL Supply Chain’s global revenue but is among the fastest growing regions, with India being a key contributor to this growth. The Indian logistics market, worth over US$200 billion now, is expected to grow at about 10% per year in the next five years to reach around US$330 billion.
The government has also increased efforts to improve the country’s logistics performance and boost trade. Expenditure on logistics is expected to reach US$500 billion annually by 2025.
Two new VPs for Sterling Transportation
Airfreight trucking company Sterling Transportation has appointed Scott Klever as executive vice president of sales and Jaye Fenner as vice president of sales. Together they bring more than a half-century of experience in the transportation and logistics sector.
Earlier, Sterling promoted Craig Carter to vice president of operations.
Air Canada renews CEIV Live Animals
Air Canada renews CEIV Live Animals
Air Canada Cargo says it has become the first airline to be re-certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for transport of live animals. IATA awarded Air Canada Cargo with the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators for Live Animals Logistics (CEIV Live Animals) recertification following successful completion of the verification process. Air Canada was the first airline to receive the CEIV Live Animals certification in 2018, a standardized global certification program to improve and reinforce the safety and welfare of animals travelling by air.
Etihad adds Guangzhou flights
Etihad Cargo will add 30 tonnes of belly capacity on two new weekly direct Boeing 777 passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to Guangzhou from 10 October, subject to regulatory approvals. In July, the carrier announced the introduction of direct passenger flights to Beijing and also operates six Boeing 777-200 freighter flights to Shanghai and five dedicated freighter services for Hong Kong per week, giving a total of 1,520 tonnes of capacity per week.
Smart Aviation sets up cargo arm
Aircraft and private jet charterer Smart Aviation has launched a cargo chartering division. Jos Jacobs joins the company as head of cargo bringing 15 years of experience in cargo operations and global chartering.
Smart Aviation’s managing director Mark Hawkins said: “Now is the perfect time for us as a business to be expanding our operation within cargo. Throughout Covid-19, cargo remained resilient in the aviation industry and with our unparalleled knowledge of chartering large groups and equipment across the world, this is the logical next step for the company.”
Smart Aviation was founded in 2005 and over the last 17 years has arranged successful charters for leading sport fixtures, transported thousands of passengers on their annual pilgrimages to Lourdes, and flown VIPS on exclusive private jet charters on a weekly basis around the world.
Single brand for ACS urgent services
Air Charter Service has consolidated its urgent cargo products under a new sub-brand – ACS Time Critical. Its 24-hour team can deliver a range of specialised services, alongside ‘go-now’ cargo aircraft charters, including onboard courier and ‘next flight out’, as well as integrated trucking solutions, for a premium door-to-door service for their clients’ urgent shipments.
Group Cargo Director Dan Morgan-Evans, said: “We continued to expand and improve upon our services before realising that part of our business had evolved into a time critical services provider. We have completed more than 10,000 OBCs in recent years and added the next flight out service during the pandemic, when travel restrictions limited our couriers’ ability to always accompany the packages.
“So we felt that our name, Air Charter Service, no longer reflected everything that we offer to time critical customers. Our forwarder and manufacturer clients often require multiple services and a complete door-to-door solution, so bringing these services under the new ACS Time Critical sub-brand means that it is clearer to clients that we have a team specialising in the full range of solutions for the most urgent freight and offer more than just charters.”
Turkey’s MNG takes delivery of second converted A330 freighter
Turkey’s MNG Airlines has completed conversion of a second first passenger-to-freighter (P2F) aircraft. MNG became the first Turkish company to convert an A330 aircraft to a freighter in December 2020 and a second has now been delivered from EFW in Germany. The aircraft is scheduled to begin commercial operations in mid-September.
Avensis offers freighters with flexibility
Passenger-to-freighter converter Avensis Aviation has been awarded a permanent freighter aircraft Supplemental Type Certificate by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for its fully reversible Medius cargo modification.
Applicable to Airbus A330, the solution transforms passenger cabins into full Class E cargo compartments, giving airline customers the freedom to quickly adapt to industry demand. The modification also introduces a separate supernumerary crew cabin.
Avensis says its solution is the industry’s first to feature a Class E cargo compartment without a cargo door.
Launch customer is Portugal’s TAP Air Cargo and there are ten other customers for 10 committed conversions in 2022-23.