Hong Kong will be a three-runway airport by 2023

Hong Kong's government has approved a third runway for the city’s international airport.
Expected to open by 2023, it will help the island maintain its status as the world’s busiest air cargo hub and help Hong Kong maintain its position against other Asian rivals in China and Singapore.
The HK$141.5bn (US$18.2bn) scheme will be funded from internal funds, borrowings and user fees, including a HK$180 (US$23.20) additional passenger fee.
The new runway would be to the north of the airport and will be for landings only. It is expected to boost the airports capacity from 68 flights an hour to 102.
The news was welcomed by local carriers. Cathay Pacific chief executive Ivan Chu said his airline “reiterated its unequivocal support for the development of a third runway which it believes is necessary to maintain the long-term competitiveness of Hong Kong as a premier aviation hub".
Chu said the announcement was “a remarkable milestone" in the third runway project and welcomed the endorsement by the Executive Council.
He added: "Building third runway is the only viable way for our airport to keep pace with future growth and to continue to support Hong Kong’s pillar industries in tourism, international trade, logistics, and finance and professional services.”
Joe Ng, vice chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives in Hong Kong, which represents 76 airlines, said he believed the third runway would “strengthen Hong Kong’s status as one of Asia’s premier aviation hubs.”
He added: “Aviation is an industry that contributes some  eight per cent to Hong Kong’s GDP and accounts for eight per cent of employment in the city; the third runway is urgently needed to maintain the airport’s competitive strength and to ensure continued growth for the benefit of Hong Kong.”

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/hong-kong-will-be-a-three-runway-airport-by-2023.html

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Cargojet network expansion

Canada’s Cargojet is expanding its domestic air cargo network from the beginning of April.
Cargojet, operating overnight services across North America plus global charters, has a total freighter fleet of 24 aircraft, including the recent introduction of five B767-300ERFs, three B767-200ERFs and one B757-200ERF.
The carrier did not outline in detail the extent of the network expansion.
Ajay Virmani, Cargojet’s president and chief executive, said “With additional overnight frequencies; more direct flights; and wide-body freighter service to ten major Canadian cities, this new enhanced air cargo network will provide our customers with the consistent operational reliability that they demand.”
Dr Virmani added: “As demand for premium air cargo services continues to grow, especially in response to e-commerce business activity, Cargojet will continue to expand our range of value-added services and overall capacity available to our customers.”

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/cargojet-network-expansion.html

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WCS: Shippers slam poor service

If the air cargo community was under any illusion that its efforts to speed up door-to-door delivery and eliminate paper documents are winning over shippers, it may have to think again, writes Martin Roebuck.
Two major shippers tore into the industry for its poor service quality and communication in a no-holds-barred session at the World Cargo Symposium (WCS) in Shanghai.
Of more than 330 shippers who responded to a recent global IATA’s survey, 94 per cent ship some product by air, explained Tom Windmuller, the association’s senior VP airports, passenger, cargo and security. Scoring the industry from zero to 10, they gave the industry an average performance rating of 7.08.
Asked to give his own satisfaction rating, Robert Mellin, head of distribution logistics at Ericsson, awarded the industry a five. Alex Xu, associate supply chain director at Lilly Suzhou Pharmaceutical, said that five years ago he would have rated airfreight at seven or eight, but now it would be between six and seven.
It is not so much that standards are deteriorating, but the industry is perceived as struggling to keep up with customers’ evolving demands.
Windmuller said seven per cent of survey respondents were unhappy with their air freight service provision on some level. “That’s $4bn at risk [in terms of potential lost revenue],” he said. “But it’s more. We all know what unhappy customers do - they talk.”
Ericsson has reduced its use of airfreight “quite drastically,” but still flies up to 80,000 tonnes of freight per year to more than 160 destinations, Mellin said.
“We don’t it for fun, but because it’s essential.
“Speed and agility, the ability to act the right way when things happen, is vital for us. We are very keen to have better service but we haven’t seen so much happening in the last 10 years.”
While the slow migration to e-air waybills (e-AWBs) was welcome, Mellin said that “at the same time we’ve seen surface transportation moving rapidly forward. Everybody knows the problem – crucial information doesn’t go through, documents are missing - it’s so old fashioned, somehow. We’re totally disconnected. The technology is there, but information sharing is not. We’re protectionist.”
Xu said that air is Lilly’s major international transport mode, and as the company develops new bio-medicines, more products will be temperature sensitive.
“New regulations are controlling the external business environment, pushing us to try and find the most effective ways to manage quality control and logistics. But talking with air freight forwarders, they say ‘I don’t understand, we don’t have this information’ when there is a temperature excursion between Europe and China.”
Lilly discovers whether there has been a problem on the truck, in the aircraft or while awaiting loading only when it interrogates the shipment afterwards, Xu said. “We have other modes we can choose, such as shipping, which can provide a more stable temperature.”
Fellow panellist Chris Welsh, secretary general of the Global Shippers Forum, said that recent conversations with retailers and automotive, pharmaceutical and electronics shippers mostly only use airfreight when they really have to.
“It’s a distress purchase and if can ship by another mode, they will do it for reasons of cost or sustainability. The airfreight supply chain needs to be so much slicker than it is,” Welsh said.
Airfreight forwarders see pharmaceuticals as a major opportunity, but shippers have told Welsh that the industry is trying to sell a product without understanding the pharma industry’s requirements.
“Road and even rail offer total integrity in terms of temperature control. There are gaps in the air cargo supply chain when it goes from the warehouse on to the ramp. That’s where you get the product failures,” Welsh claimed. But an industry that is highly dependent on airfreight – “or was” – is discovering that suppliers “can’t get their act together”.
Asked if shippers were prepared to pay for better supply chain data, Mellin said a cloud-based IT solution in the next 12 to 18 months was necessary if air freight was to maintain its transportation share. Greater efficiency would “drive cost down, not up,” he said. “But we are part of the problem too. We need to collaborate, we’re not optimising.”
Third-party logistics providers were not happy to let shippers have three-way dialogue, so Ericsson had very little contact with airlines, Mellin said. Astonishingly, he admitted: “The first time I walked through an airport and saw the whole process was last Friday. The 3PLs hate that, because they worry what else I will see.”

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/wcs-shippers-slam-poor-service.html

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FedEx sees peak season bounce

US parcels giant FedEx saw third quarter revenues up four per cent to $11.7bn.
“We had a very successful peak season as volumes grew across all transportation segments, and our profit improvement programs are moving ahead as scheduled,” said Fred Smith, FedEx Corp chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Operating results for the third quarter ended February 28 improved due to volume and base yield growth in all three transportation segments of ground, freight and express.
There was also a “significant net benefit” from fuel, benefits from profit improvement program initiatives, a lower year-over-year weather impact and reduced pension expense.
These improvements were partially offset by higher variable incentive compensation accruals.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/fedex-sees-peak-season-bounce.html

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DHL right in the heart of Texas

DHL has opened a service centre facility in Houston, Texas, mainly to serve the oil and gas sector.
The $2.5m, 28,000 sq ft facility can process more than 2,500 shipments per hour, nearly double the existing capacity and will allow for earlier delivery times and later drop off times.
DHL Express says it has seen an uptick in emergency shipping of machinery parts and replacement tools.
The facility will handle anything from international small parcels to palletised and container freight.
The new facility is to the west of the city centre. DHL Express also has a Service Center north of the city in Humble, Texas, an aircraft ramp at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and its US Customer Finance Support Center.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/dhl-right-in-the-heart-of-texas.html

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UPS extends pharma network

UPS customers can now ship biological substances, dangerous goods in excepted quantities and shipments using dry ice to more than 20 additional international destinations.
The US-based global express and logistics’ operator says that the expansion is a direct response to a growing demand from biopharmaceutical manufacturers, diagnostics companies, laboratories and distributors.  
“The UPS global transportation network has been enhanced to move biological specimens to and from more than 50 countries around the world,” said John Menna, UPS vice president of global strategy, healthcare logistics.
“The expanded programme was guided by our customers to include the locations that are most important to them.”
UPS is now able to pick up and deliver packages under regulation UN3373 (Biologic Substances, Category B, Diagnostic Specimen and Clinical Specimen) as well as UN1845 (Carbon Dioxide, solid or dry ice) in Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Panama, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey and Ukraine.
UN3373 and UN1845 are guidelines issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to regulate the safe transportation of goods using air transportation modes.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/ups-extends-pharma-network.html

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Lieb to quit DB Schenker Logistics

Thomas Lieb, management board chairman of Schenker AG, will leave the German logistics company at the end of this month “by best mutual agreement”.
The 56 year-old will take on new responsibilities outside the German railway parent company, Deutsche Bahn Group.
Dr Lieb has resigned “immediately” as head of business unit at DB Schenker Logistics and as management board chairman of Schenker AG, the company said in a statement, adding that Dr Lieb and DB group had decided this “by best mutual agreement”.
Karl-Friedrich Rausch, member of the management board of DB Mobility Logistics, responsible for transportation and logistics, said: “Dr Lieb achieved a lot for DB Schenker.
“Under his leadership the Business Unit DB Schenker Logistics enlarged its global network of today 2,000 locations in more than 140 countries and became a leading provider of global transportation and logistics solutions as well in future markets.”
In late February, Deutsche Bahn dismissed a claim for damages against three airlines in its billion dollar lawsuit relating to an air cargo cartel between 1999 and 2006.
DB added at the time: “Schenker will continue to pursue its claims against other air carriers and seek damages relating to the air carriers’ anti-competitive conduct alleged in the US cartel lawsuit, based on the legal principle of joint and several liability. Schenker plans to pursue its rights vigorously.”
Until a decision about Dr Lieb’s succession is made, Lutz Freytag, member of the management board of Schenker AG for finance/controlling, will take over the position as  management board chairman of Schenker AG on an interim basis.

Source :  http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/lieb-to-quit-db-schenker-logistics.html

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TNT launches Tel Aviv freighter links

TNT has launched a Monday to Friday B737-400F service between Israeli capital Tel Aviv and the express operator's European hub in Liege, Belgium.
The new service "answers increasing demand" and allows TNT to shorten transit times for express shipments to and from Tel Aviv by one day.
The flight arrives in Tel Aviv in the morning for same day deliveries, and departs in the evening, allowing for close of business pick up and same day export
Martin Sodergard, managing director network operations at TNT, said: "With this flight operated by TNT, our customers will benefit from improved delivery reliability, as well as later cut-off times for pick-ups thanks to improved departure times.
"It also gives us additional capacity to further grow our business in and out of Israel.”
The European Union is the first trading partner for Israel, with total trade amounting to approximately €29bn in 2013. 
Typical TNT shipments to and from Israel include machinery, electronic products, medical equipment and textiles
Under the company’s outlook strategy, TNT is working to combine its European road network with a stronger international air network.
TNT has recently upgraded its road express services to Turkey and the Balkan countries, and added Hannover and Venice to the European air network. 

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/tnt-launches-tel-aviv-freighter-links.html

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Pharma helps K+N airfreight outpace the market

Kuehne+Nagel beat 2014 airfreight market growth with a 5.3 per cent increase in volumes to 1.2m tonnes for the full year.
The Switzerland-based logistics giant’s air cargo increase is more than twice last year’s global market benchmark average of between three and four per cent.
K+N, the world’s second largest airfreight forwarder by tonnages, said that the key success factors in the business unit were “industry-specific airfreight products, which led to significant business wins in the pharmaceutical, automotive and industrial goods sectors”.
There was also increased demand for KN EngineChain product – launched in 2013 - a special service for the transport and handling of aircraft engines.
The new online portal KN FreightNet, which was brought to market in 2014, “underlines K+N’s innovative power while setting a new standard in the airfreight industry” it said.
In comparison to the previous year, airfreight EBIT improved by 7.2 per cent to SFr 238m. The conversion rate developed positively from 25.3 per cent in the previous year to 27.0 per cent.
In it container ocean freight arm, K+N handled over 3.8m teu in 2014, which represents an increase of 242,000 containers or seven per cent more than in the previous year. In maritime, K+N once again grew significantly faster than the global seafreight market, which gained around four per cent.
Detlef Trefzger, K+N chief executive, commented: “In a volatile economic environment with fluctuating currencies, we were able to simultaneously expand our market share and increase results in 2014.”
Dr Trefzger added: “For the first time profits were reported over four consecutive quarters. I would also like to emphasise the continuously excellent performance in airfreight and the further improvement of results in contract logistics.
“In seafreight we grew volumes and held margins stable, despite the high volatility of rates and negative currency impacts.”
Total K+N group net turnover of SFr17.5bn was 1.9 per cent (in constant currencies 5.1 per cent) higher than in the previous year.
Gross profit rose by 0.5 per cent (in constant currencies 2.9 per cent) to SFr6.288m and the operational result (EBITDA) increased by 4.5 per cent (in constant currencies 7.8 per cent) to SFr1,005m.
Earnings for the year improved by 6.1 per cent (in constant currencies 9.7 per cent) to SFr644m.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/pharma-helps-k-n-airfreight-outpace-the-market.html

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Panalpina launches 'Brazil Wings' freighters to São Paulo

 

Panalpina is adding a B747-400 freighter service to São Paulo, Brazil, aimed at manufacturers of heavy machinery and equipment for agriculture and mining.
The direct service from US hub Huntsville to São Paulo, called Brazil Wings, has been designed for customers in the mid-west and in parts of the s south eastern US.
As of March, global forwarder Panalpina will operate scheduled charter flights from Hong Kong to its Huntsville and from Huntsville to São Paulo.
The extended service is part of the renewed long-term agreement between Switzerland-headquartered Panalpina and ACMI lessor Atlas Air. It offers scheduled main deck capacity to South America from the US and a transit time of less than 40 hours from Hong Kong to São Paulo.
“Our customers in the US have a need for fast and efficient connections to Brazil. The new set-up with Atlas Air, where we switched one of our wet-leased aircraft to 200 scheduled charters per year, allows us to meet this demand effectively,” explains Lucas Kuehner, global head of Air Freight at Panalpina.
As of March 3, Panalpina will initially operate two flights per week from Huntsville to Viracopos airport, São Paulo, with dedicated scheduled charters using Atlas Air B747-400 freighters.
Roberto Schiavone, head of air freight for the region Americas at Panalpina, says: “The new service is tailored to companies that manufacture heavy machines and equipment for agriculture and mining.
“Brazil, with its large agricultural and mining industries, is an interesting market for these companies, but getting the goods there can be challenging. So far, the companies had to export via large, congested airports with limited freighter capacity.
Schiavone adds: “We offer an alternative – scheduled main deck capacity to Brazil from an uncongested airport that puts high priority on cargo.
“Export cargo can be easily trucked to our unique air freight gateway in Huntsville. There we offer an airside facility and short distances. This allows for fast expediting and full control on the ground. In addition, customers benefit from cargo consolidation and customs clearance services.”
Panalpina provides daily road feeder services from more than ten major US cities to Huntsville. From the Chicago area, with its important manufacturing base, transport to Huntsville takes as little as 16 hours. Panalpina also manages import customs clearance and delivery to the final destination in Brazil.
The freighter flights from Huntsville to São Paulo connect with the freighter flights coming in from Hong Kong.
“We can fly cargo from Hong Kong to Viracopos via Huntsville in less than 40 hours,” says Matthias Frey, global head of Panalpina’s controlled air freight network.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/panalpina-launches-brazil-wings-freighters-to-sao-paulo.html

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Volvo renews TNT international delivery contract

 

Swedish truck and bus maker Volvo has renewed a three-year contract with express operator TNT for ‘inbound to production’ and aftermarket delivery services in Europe.
TNT will continue to handle Volvo’s European emergency production movements.
TNT collects automotive components and parts from more than 800 different suppliers in Europe and delivers them to production facilities in Sweden, Belgium, France and Poland.
“The service builds on TNT’s integrated road and air network in Europe. It combines scheduled and special services to ensure all production delivery needs are met,” said the express company.
It added: “The need to maintain low inventory levels while keeping assembly lines running smoothly make guaranteed reliable deliveries essential. TNT provides a door-to-door transit monitoring service for shipments from its Automotive Control Centres, with 24/7 availability.”
Under the contract, TNT handles parts distribution to Volvo dealers throughout Europe to support Volvo’s aftermarket offering. Most parts are collected at Volvo’s central or support warehouses in Europe.
Another contract sees TNT managing the delivery of parts from suppliers in Europe to Volvo Trucks’ manufacturing plant in Hagerstown, Maryland, US.
TNT said that its ‘Inbound to Production’ and aftermarket services will be available to more customers in the automotive, high tech and industrial sectors in 2015.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/volvo-renews-tnt-international-delivery-contract.html

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Airfreight bolsters Expeditors’ figures

A ten per cent year on year increase in airfreight net revenues contributed to a strong 2014 fourth quarter for US forwarder and logistics company Expeditors.
The Washington-based company said its net earnings had increased 19 per cent in the quarter, to almost $99.4m, compared with $83.5m in the same period of 2013.
Ocean freight net revenue was also up, by 11 per cent, while overall net revenue increased by nine per cent.
Senior vice president and chief financial officer, Bradley Powell, described the results as “a great affirmation of our efforts to date. We’ve worked steadily to improve our performance throughout 2014.”
President and chief executive Jeffrey Musser added that the double digit growth in air and ocean freight net revenue had come “at a very opportune time,” “particularly…in light of a global economy that still struggles to gain traction.”

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/airfreight-bolsters-expeditors-figures.html

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Losses mount at dampened Damco

Damco, the global logistics arm of Danish shipping group AP Moller Maersk, more than doubled its annual losses to $293m for the full year 2014.
The ocean giant parent said that Damco's losses were due to “significant” impairment hits  in 2014 and “reduced profitability” in its ocean and airfreight segments.
Netherlands- headquartered Damco, which recorded an $111m loss in 2013, saw air freight volumes nosedive by 16 per cent in 2014 over prior year. Ocean freight also fell, by six per cent.
Margins in both airfreight and ocean were "under pressure and declined through 2014".
Restructuring at Damco will see the subsidiary back to “profitable growth” in 2015, said AP Moller Maersk.

Source :  http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/dampened-damcos-losses-mount.html

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Kale breaks into Iraq Market

Iraqi ground-handler Azmar Air has gone live with Kale’s Galaxy International air cargo management system.

Azmar, based at Sulaymaniyah International Airport in the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq will use the system for e-freight compliance, warehouse management and vehicle management, and it will be able to offer real-time updates to customers’ trade partners and EDI messaging, says Indian-based Kale.

It added that Galaxy is already in use by handlers including Bahrain Airport Services, Mumbai International Airport and leading international airports in India, plus Lusaka and Ndola in Zambia amongst others.

Indrajit Marath, Azmar’s general manager- cargo village said: “We are now able to automatically capture all data, do better flight planning and plan the operations in advance.

“Our customers including airlines, forwarders, GSAs are happy to see online updates and track shipments. More importantly, we attained this without having to increase our staff count.” 

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/kale-breaks-into-iraq-market.html

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DHL refines risk management system

DHL's Resilience360 risk management tool can now be integrated with customer's transport management systems, allowing them to view shipments affected by disruptive incidents.
Customers can then scan the latest position and status of all their shipments worldwide and identify corrective actions.
Recent incidents monitored by Resilience 360 included the ash cloud from the Bardarbunga Volcano, the economic fall-out from Russian sanctions and the Ebola crisis.
In the case of the volcano, Resilience360’s near real-time information and global mapping device made it possible for customers to anticipate and avert knock-on disruptions elsewhere in the supply chain, such as flight disruptions in other regions, says DHL.
Resilience360's new country-specific risk page also gives with an overview of supply chain risk scores and incident trends, together with a free weekly supply chain risk intelligence bulletin.
Resilience360 is described by DHL as an end-to-end supply chain risk management platform that alerts customers about global incidents and risks to their global supply chain in almost real time, allowing customers to respond immediately to incidents and pre-empt or minimise business interruption.
Since its launch, Resilience360 has been used by customers across Asia, Europe and the Americas, particularly by the automotive, chemicals, life sciences and technology sectors.

Source : http://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/dhl-refines-risk-management-system.html

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