Asia Pacific Airlines see 2014 revival in cargo demand

  Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) preliminary figures for 2014 show an “encouraging revival” in cargo demand after three consecutive years of decline. An upsurge in exports from manufacturing hubs in the region led to a rebound in international air cargo markets in 2014, with demand in freight tonne km (FTK) growing by...

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TNT's express trucking link to Istanbul

TNT has launched a daily scheduled road service to Istanbul, linking the Turkish capital city to Sofia, Bulgaria, and on to all countries in Europe via the express company’s trucking network. The Amsterdam-based parcels company says that it is currently the only express operator to run a scheduled road connection between all of Europe and Istanbul, “offering an...

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LOT Cargo starts flights to US and Canada

LOT Cargo has launched a New York – Warsaw – New York freight route with a special all cargo Boeing 767-300 aircraft operated by a Canadian company Cargojet Airways. This year, flights are scheduled for January-April and October-December. For January and March, the company has planned weekly flights departing from New York (JFK) on Saturdays and from Warsaw on Sundays. For February, two flights per week have been scheduled with an additional flight from Warsaw on Thursdays. The ...

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Dreamliner ticket for lionesses Maggie and Sonja

  Lioness sisters Maggie and Sonja made an epic journey home to Africa on the inaugural Kenya Airways Dreamliner flight from London Heathrow via Nairobi to Johannesburg. The two rescued circus cats were waved goodbye at the start of their 6,000 mile journey by singer celebrity and Born Free Patron, Peter Andre. Maggie and Sonj will begin...

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BIFA awards: winners step forward

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has revealed the winners of its Freight Service Awards 2014 at a ceremony in London. Robert Keen, BIFA’s director general, commented: “In a neat twist to celebrate the 26th staging of the awards, it was fitting that 26 different BIFA Member companies were in contention, plus our young freight forwarder finalists.” The air freight award – sponsored by IAG Cargo – went to DSV Air & Sea. The judges thought this company stood out from...

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Ethiopian Cargo adds Brussels B777F quartet

Ethiopian Cargo has returned to Brussels airport with four B777 freighters per week to Addis Ababa. The freighters will provide onward connections out of Africa, direct to Dubai, Shanghai  and Hong Kong. The flights will carry mainly flowers, while exports will be general freight. Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Starbroker have actively contributed to bringing the...

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Panalpina goes into Africa again

Freight forwarder Panalpina has opened new bases in Morocco and Kenya as part of a drive to expand its presence in Africa, a continent in which it was once a dominant player in the oil and gas project sector. Offices in Casablanca in Morocco and Nairobi, Kenya, and will spearhead a drive for energy and infrastructure business. Regional chief executive for the Middle...

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FIATA welcomes all-in freight rates

FIATA has joined the air cargo industry chorus calling for the elimination of fuel and security surcharges in airline freight rates. The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations said: “The simplification of rate structures will be a significant benefit to forwarders and shippers alike. "Forwarders have for a very long time desired these surcharges be removed as they are opaque and complex and thereby making it difficult to quote a definite price for air cargo transportation,...

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Vietnam and Cambodia lead air cargo surge for emerging markets

Asia’s Vietnam and Cambodia provided the fastest-growing airfreight trade lanes between emerging and developed markets. US-Vietnam volumes surged 42.7 per cent by volume, and Cambodia-European Union airfreight increased by 41.9 per cent. That was one finding from the comprehensive 2015 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, now in its sixth year, a data-driven...

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IAG’s Cargo Connector is going to San Francisco

  IAG Cargo has extended its Cargo Connector service to San Francisco, the tenth city for the local pick-up service. It offers freight forwarders at or near the airport a free collection for consignments up to 300 kilos and IAG Cargo estimates that 95 per cent of its customers are based within a five-mile radius of the airport. This means...

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TNT helps customers cut the carbon

TNT is offering CO2-neutral delivery of all express domestic consignments in Germany at no additional charge. The carrier measures how much CO2 is produced in transporting consignments and then ‘neutralises’ them with an equivalent amount of CO2 credits. TNT uses CO2 credits only from renewable energy projects that meet Gold Standard requirements. External auditor...

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Shanghai sets freight record

Shanghai Pudong International Airport has set a new cargo record, handling a total of 1.5m tonnes of freight in 2014, with growth of 16.15 per cent year-on-year. Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal Co Ltd. (PACTL) - a joint venture handling operation between Shanghai Airport, Lufthansa Cargo and JHJ Logistics Management – says its domestic cargo...

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China lifts price controls on 24 commodities, services

China will lift controls on prices of 24 commodities and services, said the National Development and Reform Commission on Sunday. Market will decide the price of tobacco leaves, the last agricultural product to be freed from government price control, but a minimum price will be set to protect farmers, said a statement on the commission website. Prices of railway bulk cargo, parcels and privately funded cargo and passenger transport will also be allowed to float. Railway passenger and cargo prices...

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French forwarders slam fuel surcharges

French freight forwarders have called on airlines to end separate fuel surcharges, which they argue are no longer relevant. TLF Overseas, the French freight forwarders organisation representing 95 per cent of general air cargo transactions, expressed its “incomprehension” of a situation that requires “more transparency and real positive economic signals from the carriers”. The strongly worded statement comes after Middle East airline Emirates SkyCargo last week confirmed that it is...

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Customs tips for the unwary shipper

Customs regulations can be a minefield for the unwary shipper, be it edible insects in Europe, chewing gum in Singapore and rubber gloves in the US. So parcels giant FedEx has come up with eight “surprising” Customs rules for small businesses setting out to conquer the world of exports. It was compiled by Harald Schoenfelder, managing director global trade services for FedEx Express Europe, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa. Says Schoenfelder: “We decided to compile some of the...

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The Year in Supply Chain 2014

 The economy underlying our supply chains started weak in the US and ended strong, with Q1 real GDP falling 2.1% - largely blamed on bad weather - and ending with signs of strength, with the latest estimate for Q3 GDP growth of a robust 5%. It does feel better economically right...

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Ethiopian Air cargo plane skids off runway at Ghana's Kotoka Airport

Ethiopian Air cargo plane skids off runway at Ghana's Kotoka Airport ACCRA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- An Ethiopian Airlines cargo aircraft on Saturday skidded off the runway at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on landing, Ghanaian airport officials said. "All three crew people on board the aircraft survived the accident and are currently responding to treatment at the 37 Military Hospital," the Ghana Airport Company (GAC) said in a statement. The Boeing 737, ET-AQV (Ethiopian Airline...

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Thumbs up for Emirates' all-in freight rates

Shippers and forwarders have welcomed Emirates SkyCargo’s move to introduce an all-inclusive freight rate that does away with separate pricing components based on weight/volume plus fuel and security surcharges. “It is the best start to 2015 that I could imagine,” said Joost van Doesburg, airfreight policy manager with the European Shippers’...

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Demand for global air freight likely to rise by 4.5 pc in 2015

Demand for global air freight grew 4.2 per cent in November last year as compared to same period in 2013 and is expected to rise by 4.5 per cent this year, driven by growth in cross-border trade, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. The most significant growth was recorded by carriers in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions at 5.9 per cent and 12.9 per cent respectively. Carriers in these regions captured the vast majority of the global increase (93 per cent). "More...

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US port chaos boosts ex-Asia Pacific air cargo revenues

Inbound US west coast container port congestion provided a November boost for transpacific air cargo revenues out of Asia to North America, although ex-US revenues fell. WorldACD’s latest monthly market data found that the transpacific was the best of the large markets in November. The Netherlands-based research house posed the question: “Did the problems in the...

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Sodexi opens Paris airport warehouse

Aéroports de Paris and Sodexi have opened a 7,600 sq m express freight warehouse at Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport. The warehouse, with a €22m investment, will be used to manage and process flows of air freight and mail for express specialist Sodexi, which is 65 per cent  owned by Air France-KLM and 35 per cent by Geopost. Construction...

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AF-KLM adds combi flights to Dubai

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo will this month add three B747 Combi frequencies from Amsterdam Airport-Schiphol (AMS) to and from Dubai International Airport (DXB). Starting 10 January,  the European carrier says that the upgrade offers “increased flexibility to carry main deck commodities to our hubs, Dubai International...

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Kerry Logistics boosts network

Asia-based Kerry Logistics has bought a controlling stake in Dubai’s Able Logistics Group and a majority stake in the sea and air arms of Canada’s Total Logistics Partner (TLP). Able Logistics is an international freight forwarder with offices across UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and China. Total Logistics Partner Ocean Consolidators and Total Logistics Partner Air Express are two freight forwarding companies focused on the Asia-Canada trade. The acquisition has added Montreal and Toronto to...

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Cologne cargo up 2% in 2014

Cologne Bonn Airport saw record air cargo growth in 2014, handling 753,000 tonnes, a two per cent increase on 2013. The German airport handled 9.5m passengers in 2014 – a “significant rise” over prior year. “2014 has exceeded our expectations. We have developed better than the German passenger market, partially with growth rates above five per cent,” says Michael...

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Indian air cargo export surge hit by US$ yield decline

India’s booming air cargo market has registered a 13.5 per cent surge in outgoing volumes since 2011, although coupled with a “dismal yield” fall of 20 per cent in US$, says research house WorldACD. The Netherlands-based consultancy, which uses primary data from the airlines themselves, said that India’s yield change looked a lot better...

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Transportation Logistics Trouble Wind Energy Industry

There are now more than 45,000 wind turbines in operation in the U.S., and the installed capacity continues to grow quickly. The wind energy industry is, however, experiencing logistical issues that impact the bottom line and wind energy deployment.Although policy uncertainty continues to plague the renewable energy industry, overcoming transportation issues...

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Indian govt extends 24x7 Customs clearance at more ports

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), under Department of Revenue, India’s Ministry of Finance, has issued a circular announcing extension of 24x7 Customs clearance facility at 13 more airports in respect of all export goods and at 14 more sea ports in respect of specified import and export goods.   “Board has decided that with effect from 31.12.2014 the facility of 24x7 Customs clearance for specified imports viz goods covered by ‘facilitated’ Bills of Entry and specified...

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China approves three new foreign courier firms

China has permitted three new overseas courier firms to offer domestic delivery services, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday, as part of government pledges to further open up the fast-growing market. The State Post Bureau has approved Yamato (China) Transport Co Ltd, the China unit of Yamato Holdings Co Ltd, OCS Overseas Courier Service (Shanghai) Co Ltd and Kerry Logistics Co Ltd, Xinhua said. The government said in September it would ease restrictions on foreign couriers seeking to...

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Canada bans lithium metal cargo on airliners

Canada is to ban transporting lithium metal batteries as cargo on passenger flights. Earlier this year, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a ban on the shipment of lithium metal batteries as cargo aboard passenger aircraft after growing concern that if ignited, they can cause any nearby batteries to overheat and catch fire. While most passenger airlines in Canada have already voluntarily banned lithium metal batteries as cargo, the ban comes into effect on January...

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