Crane Worldwide Logistics has chartered the Antonov AN-225 Mriya to transport 223 pallets of chemical drums, landing in Dammam Airport in Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft was chartered due to the lack of ocean vessels available, and the Crane Worldwide team co-ordinated cargo from multiple vendors in both Singapore and Malaysia to maximise the load potential of the AN-225.
Crane Worldwide Logistics country manager for Malaysia, Daniel Cheah was present throughout, monitoring and surveying the shipment.
He comments, “We handle heavy cargo on a day-to-day basis, always looking for the most cost effective and time efficient solution to present to our clients. In this case, the Antonov AN-225 presented the perfect solution and it was a great moment to see this magnificent aircraft land once again in Kuala Lumpur.”
Crane Worldwide Logistics managing director for South East Asia, Stefan Gustafsson says, “Seeing the Antonov An-225 for the first time is really impressive. Our technical experts in Malaysia have demonstrated their ability to translate a client’s need into an impressive solution involving the world’s largest aircraft, we are really very proud of their achievements.”
Agility has introduced new products including Shipa Freight, Sultan explains, “We recently launched Shipa Freight, an online freight service aimed at a market with massive potential: the small and medium-size companies that account for most of the world’s businesses.
“Shipa Freight lets them get rate quotes and book, pay and track, ocean and air shipments around the world, all online in a matter of seconds.”
Looking into the future, Sultan says Agility will improve digital services, saying: “We are rapidly introducing new digital products, aggressively piloting and pioneering new logistics models and technologies, and re-engineering our systems for speed and competitive advantage. We want to identify technology that makes logistics more efficient and lowers costs for customers.”
With the new Kuehne + Nagel App, customers are now able to conveniently track shipments handled by Kuehne + Nagel on mobile devices. Shipment statuses are directly displayed, with details available at customers’ fingertips.
Updates can be received via push notifications, and all information can be shared easily with partners and colleagues through instant messaging channels, email and SMS. The Kuehne + Nagel App will be continuously updated to support additional information, collaboration and also operational services.
The new web-based Control Center is the starting point for the roll-out of myKN, a unique suit of online information and booking services all accessible and integrated in one platform. In a first step, the platform offers quoting, booking and tracking functionalities for shipments, which will be enhanced with further dashboard, reporting and collaboration features. Using a modern, user-centric and highly configurable interface, customers can personalise the Control Center to serve their specific needs.
Combining information management and collaborative tools, the new Control Center will increase transparency, streamline processes and simplify supply chain management for all parties involved. The Control Center is optimised for desktop as well as mobile devices and can easily be accessed via www.kuehne-nagel.com.
Designed for its growing customer base in Asia, Kuehne + Nagel will unveil a mobile-based seafreight booking and service application on WeChat, the most popular multi-purpose social network across the globe with nearly one billion daily active users, as an extension of KN FreightNet, Kuehne + Nagel’s fully digitalised platform for quoting, booking and tracking of shipments. This extension will be launched in June.
Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, “Our aim is to be a data-driven value chain provider. By creating new digital services and interfaces we enable customers to easily connect and do business with Kuehne + Nagel. Moreover, we are working on seamless data exchange between different systems to drive automation and to minimize manual efforts, for our customers, partners and our own organization.”
Agility had a strong first quarter with double digit revenue growth at net profits increasing 29.8 per cent to 18.9 million Kuwaiti Dinars (KD) ($62.4 million).
Revenue was up 16 per cent to KD 371.8 million with strong growth in all areas including airfreight.
Airfreight revenue increased 22.1 per cent driven by strong volume growth, with tonnage rising 4.8 per cent, having performed well in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas.
Agility chief executive officer and vice chairman, Tarek Sultan says: “Agility continues to deliver results. Our double-digit EBITDA growth affirms the company’s momentum over the past three years.
“GIL continues to drive profitability gains through strong performance in Ocean and Air Freight, in addition to improving its efficiency. Companies in the Infrastructure group posted healthy gains and are delivering consistent with their road map.”
DHL is deploying a second dedicated Boeing 747-400 Freighter to connect the United States, Europe and Asia.
The first around-the-world air cargo service was established in September.
“Demand is currently exceeding supply mainly due to the large economies performing strongly. On major trade lanes volumes are high, but capacities are low — a trend that will continue. To increase our operational efficiency and to offer our customers the best-possible solution, we thus decided to create further capacities we have direct control over,” said Tim Scharwath, DHL Global Forwarding CEO.
With a capacity of up to 100 tons per flight, the aircraft provides significant and reliable freight space on the transpacific route from Shanghai Pudong Airport to Cincinnati and back to Incheon, South Korea. Afterward it will connect Korea to Wuxi, China, continuing to Frankfurt-Hahn in Germany and going back to Shanghai-Pudong Airport.
With the rerouting of the first service to Wuxi Airport, DHL Global Forwarding will offer twice-weekly departures from Wuxi, China to Frankfurt-Hahn, Germany.
“The increasing demand for air freight capacities on Asian routes is fueled by all major industries. Specifically China’s electronics, electric motors, electrical and mechanical appliances as well as medical equipment companies are bolstering demand,” DHL said.
“The positive development of world trade and its continuation is also clearly shown by the DHL Global Trade Barometer. The index recently increased to 66 points in March from 64 points in January, when the newly created barometer was initially published. With an index value clearly above 50, the DHL Global Trade Barometer signals solid further growth for global trade for the next three months,” the company said.
Scharwath added, “The gap between the well-performing world trade with a high demand for cargo space on the one hand, and at the same time a difficult capacity situation on the other side, has encouraged us in our decision to further deploy self-controlled capacity to the market.”
The cargo aircraft has been leased from Atlas Air through an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance agreement.
Latest figures from Jafza show that over 788 Indian companies are trading from the freezone serving key markets in the region and building on historical ties that date back to 1985 when it first opened.
DP World has extensive business interests in India, including six container terminals, Inland Container Depots (ICD), warehouses and container rail freight services. Earlier this year it formed a strategic partnership with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), to invest up to US$ 3 billion in brownfield container terminals, long term greenfield container concessions, Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and expansion of existing inter-modal rail services for rolling stock. The first investment by the partnership was made in March this year when DP World joint venture Hindustan Infralog Private Limited (HIPL) acquired a 90 per cent stake in Continental Warehousing Corporation (Nhava Seva) Ltd (CWCNSL), an integrated multimodal logistics company.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World, said, “The UAE and India have an enduring relationship and we are building firm foundations for the future. DP World has been a part of India’s amazing economic growth for nearly two decades and we are reinforcing our commitment to it, enabling trade through our operations in the country. We believe our expertise in building logistics infrastructure together with our partnerships there will help India realize its full potential as a global trading power. For almost 40 years Jebel Ali Port has plays a pivotal role in supporting India’s trade with its global connectivity and world class facilities. India is our most important market and our operations support over 30 per cent of the country’s container trade.”
The UAE is India’s second largest trading partner, accounting for more than 10 percent of Indian exports. India was second largest trading partner of Dubai with USD 27 billion (AED 99 billion) worth of trade in 2017.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker recently announced that they would expand their operations in Turkey thanks to solid bilateral relations between Turkey and Qatar. “Turkey has become a major destination for people in my country, and we will open two more destinations to Turkey in June,” al-Baker told a group of journalists at the Eurasia Airshow, Turkey’s largest aviation event currently taking place in the southern province of Antalya. “We currently fly to five destinations in Turkey and this figure will increase to seven when we open our new routes to Antalya and Bodrum in June,” al-Baker said, while adding that their weekly flights will increase to 41 after adding the two new destinations.
Al-Baker also said they will start promoting Qatar in Turkey to attract more Turkish visitors. “Turkey is well promoted in Qatar but Qatar is not aggressively promoted in Turkey and we will start to do that. We will start advertising in Turkey. The people of Qatar really appreciate that Turkey has stood shoulder to shoulder with us during this very difficult time,” he said.
Despite the challenge, Qatar Airways has sought new alternatives and expanded its travel network with new international partnerships. The company recently announced that they became Air Italy’s new shareholder and also signed other agreement with JetBlue Airways in the US. In addition, Qatar Airways owns stakes in several airlines, including Cathay Pacific and British Airways-parent International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG). However, al-Baker said they are not planning to invest in Turkish Airlines. Responding to a question regarding whether they plan to cooperate with Turkish Airlines, al-Baker said cooperation is technically not possible since the two airlines are part of different alliances, though he did say they might expand their ongoing cooperation with Turkish Technic.
A new fee has been introduced for manual handling of baggage that do not conform to standard size and weight at Dubai International Airport.
It has been introduced by Dnata, which provides ground-handling service for airlines operating at Dubai International Airport.
At least one airline, Air India, has said the fee is Dh45 per piece of such baggage but the fee may vary for other carriers depending on their contracts with Dnata. In a notification to travel agents, India’s national carrier explained in detail the types of baggage that will be charged because they are ‘out of gauge’.
“Dnata has updated its standard ground-handling terms and conditions with carriers, to cover the additional manual handling services for ‘out of gauge’ baggage — a policy that is now being strictly enforced at Dubai International Airport,” it said.
Aviation sources said OOG baggages are too large, too light, too heavy, too fragile, or not having a flat surface. These include TVs, flat panel displays and baggage that can damage or slow down the baggage system.
“This is different from the excess baggage fee charged for carrying baggage above the allowance per tickets’ class,” said one source.
Sources said airlines operating to some of the Asian countries reportedly receive a higher quantity of OOG, ranging from blankets and broomsticks to huge TV sets. They said Dnata had to put in place additional infrastructure and manpower to handle OOG baggage, which eventually forced the company to charge for the service of manual handling of such baggage.
Dnata said carriers might decide to ask Dnata to collect the associated charges directly from their passengers.
“It’s up to carriers to decide whether they want to pass on the cost or not and how they want the payment to be collected. Passengers should check their carrier’s website for further details.”
Sources said the fee will be charged from passengers of various airlines as and when the carriers’ contracts come up for renewal.
Dnata did not provide the charges it is taking from different airlines and added that it cannot comment on behalf of the carriers. However, Dnata insisted that passengers would be charged only if the carriers elect to do so.
Since airlines operating to same destinations have to renew their contracts at different times, passengers flying airlines that do the renewals early will be the ones to be affected first, sources said.
flydubai becomes the first UAE-based airline to operate flights to Finland
Airline offers first year-round service between Helsinki and Dubai
A Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with will operate the new route flat-bed in Business Class and enhanced Economy Class offering
Dubai-based carrier flydubai has announced during the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) the launch of direct flights to Finland’s capital, Helsinki. The daily service from Dubai International (DXB) to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL) will start from October 2018. flydubai becomes the first UAE national carrier to operate direct flights to Finland and the first airline to offer a year-round service between Dubai and Helsinki.
Speaking at ATM, Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer of flydubai, said, “flydubai will be the first UAE national carrier to offer direct flights to the capital of Finland. We remain committed to opening up previously underserved markets and to providing more travel options to fly to Dubai and beyond.”
Arabian Travel market is the largest travel exhibition in the Middle East. This year, flydubai is participating at ATM for eighth time, showcasing its new Business and Economy Class offering available onboard its Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President Commercial Operations at flydubai, added, “Helsinki is the 10th destination we announced this year as we open up destinations for passengers from across our network. We are confident that the high level of our service and the comfort of our new aircraft with a flat-bed in Business Class will make flights between Dubai and Helsinki a popular choice for passengers.”
Emirates will codeshare on the Helsinki route and as part of the Emirates flydubai partnership, passengers from the hundreds of destinations spanning six continents in over 80 countries, including from Far-East and India, will have an opportunity to travel to Helsinki via Dubai. For bookings under the codeshare, Emirates passengers will receive complimentary meals and the Emirates checked baggage allowance on flights operated by flydubai in Business and Economy classes.
Mr Teemu Ahola, Account Manager – Asia & Middle East at Visit Finland, said, “Finland is a great destination both in summer and winter. The pleasantly cool and endless summer days with the midnight sun create a perfect setting for either a relaxing family holiday or an action-packed itinerary with activity options ranging from golf and sailing to canoeing and hiking in the pure nature. Winter season in Finland is a wonderland for people in search for unique experiences such as husky and snowmobile safaris, ice driving experiences and viewing the Northern Lights. Finland is also home to the one and only Santa Claus.”
Finland is popular both as a winter destination, offering a unique opportunity to watch the Northern Lights and visit Santa Claus’s home in Lapland, and as a summer destination, with its numerous lakes and forests. Helsinki is perfect for a short break, with a variety of sightseeing attraction including the UNESCO heritage site Suomenlinna, a fortress island that is a 20 minutes ferry ride from the city.
flydubai’s route network in Europe includes 27 points in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.
flydubai flights FZ783/FZ784 will operate daily between Dubai International, Terminal 2 (DXB) and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL).
Emirates has introduced Home Check-in, a new service which allows customers to check in for their flights from anywhere in Dubai. The service is available for customers across all classes travelling on Emirates flights.
The new service enables Emirates passengers to complete the security check and check-in from the comfort of their home, hotel or office and have their luggage transported to the airport prior to their flight. An Emirates check-in agent will arrive at the preferred location to weigh and tag the bags as well as check-in the customers and issue boarding passes. Customers can then make their own way to the airport and head directly to immigration, bypassing the check-in desks at the airport.
The service is available for AED 350 per trip for up to 7 pieces of luggage. AED 35 will be charged for each additional piece of luggage. Customers can book the service on emirates.com up to 12 hours before flight departure time. This latest initiative is part of the Emirates’ ongoing commitment to provide world class products and services for a more convenient travel experience.
Emirates has been running trials for its Home Check-in service since October to ensure that the customer experience and security checks are faultless. The service seals each bag and stores them in a separate hold in the van. Emirates Home Check-in will be operated with a new fleet of vans.
The new Home Check-in offering complements other luggage handling services already available for Emirates flights in Dubai. For a seamless travel experience, customers can pay for a concierge service to handle their luggage at the airport, enjoy preferred rates for pre-paid excess baggage, and bag wraps to protect their luggage.
For passengers arriving in Dubai, there is a luggage storage facility for those who wish to leave their bags and explore the city. Emirates also offers a Home Delivery service where luggage is retrieved, cleared at customs and delivered to the customers for a hassle free travel experience.
Etihad Airways and Egyptian national airline EGYPTAIR, have announced a significant expansion of their successful codeshare partnership, widening their horizons to cover more destinations in Africa, North Asia and Australia for the benefit and convenience of their customers.
The initial phase of the agreement was launched in March 2017 and saw both Etihad Airways and EGYPTAIR place their codes on each other’s flights operating between Abu Dhabi and Cairo. The second phase of expansion of the current codeshare partnership will see Etihad Airways place its ‘EY’ code on EGYPTAIR flights to a number of African destinations including Ndjamena in Chad, Nairobi in Kenya, Khartoum in Sudan, Entebbe in Uganda, Johannesburg in South Africa, and subject to government approvals, on flights to Nigeria, Eritrea and Tanzania, through the Star Alliance carrier’s Cairo hub.
Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer, said: “EGYPTAIR is one of the oldest and most experienced airlines in the region with a major presence in cities across the African continent. The forging of closer codeshare ties between our two airlines means unprecedented access to many new gateways for Etihad’s customers while bolstering our services to markets we already serve, such as Kenya and Tanzania, by connecting easily through Cairo onto EGYPTAIR’s African network.”
The expanded partnership will also see EGYPTAIR place its ‘MS’ code on Etihad Airways flights from Abu Dhabi to Seoul, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, and subject to government approvals, on flights to China.
Safwat Mussalam, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EGYPTAIR HOLDING, said: “One of EGYPTAIR’s strategy pillars is successful cooperation with our partners to enhance and expand our reach beyond our network. The expansion of cooperation between EGYPTAIR and Etihad Airways will give our customers seamless access to major cities in Australia and South Korea.”
Etihad Airways has been serving the Abu Dhabi – Cairo route since 2004, and currently operates five daily flights between the two capitals. EGYPTAIR operates up to three daily services on the route.
Technology has made the world smaller and faster.Real time communication with people from all over the world at different time zones through phones and gadgets
