Crane Worldwide Logistics has named Stefan Boehler as vice president of operations for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa.
In his role, Boehler will manage operations in the region and report to vice president EMEIA Marco Nazzari.
The company has growth significantly in the region, opening new offices in Rotterdam, Frankfurt, Brussels and Dubai, with expansion of the Tilburg contract logistics site planned for the fourth quarter.
Boehler, who will be based in Frankfurt, has over 15 years of experience in the freight forwarding industry, having previously worked at Schenker and Kuehne + Nagel.
Nazzari says, “Stefan brings with him a wealth of experience in the industry and will make an impact on improving our operations throughout the region, in growing our product portfolio and developing future leaders.”
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain 30 July 2019: Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in line with its Bahrainisation programme and its efforts to promote local Bahraini talents and human assets has appointed Mr. Wael Mattar as Senior Manager Cargo based in the airline’s hub in Bahrain. With a long experience in airline sales and having managed Gulf Air’s stations in the GCC and Egypt, Mr. Mattar will transfer his years of knowledge and practice to manage one of the airline’s main revenue generating departments that has big growth potentials.
The airline operates an average of 1,000 flights on a weekly basis to approximately 50 destinations and it continues to grow its fleet and network with more passenger seats and cargo space. With this appointment, Mr. Mattar will take on the challenge of further strengthening Gulf Air’s cargo growth globally.
“I feel proud to be assigned in charge of the Cargo department as the airline has an opportunity to grow its cargo sales and operations and I am glad the management showed confidence in me to lead this.” Mr Mattar added at the announcement of his promotion, “I joined the airline in 1995 as a Security & Safety Supervisor, then into a Reservation & Ticketing Agent and continued to progress through my career to a Retail Sales Manager and a Country Manager for two stations in the Middle East. Throughout this period, Gulf Air monitored my hard work and helped me develop my skills by experiencing different divisions to let me achieve my dreams in being an aviation professional. Our airlines development program along with the encouragement and guidance of my superiors allowed me to work my way up to senior management roles and lead a strategic department like cargo.”
Gulf Air is committed to invest in its Bahraini workforce and their career development and as such, it continues to provide opportunities for Bahraini nationals to take over senior positions in the company. Earlier this year Gulf Air welcomed the return of its Country Manager UK to its headquarter in Bahrain to take on the role of Senior Manager Sales managing the entire Europe and Asia Pacific regions. With 90% of employees that are based at the headquarters in Muharraq being Bahraini along with nearly 70% of its pilots, Gulf Air is a leader in the Bahrainisation programme in the Kingdom as it provides the opportunity for local talents and experienced personnel to work in its various areas of the airline’s business.
Silk Way West Airlines is delighted to announce the appointment of Mrs. Jenny Zhao as its new Vice President Asia Pacific region (APAC) effective 1 August 2019.
In the new role, Mrs. Zhao will be responsible for providing strategic and tactical direction for further enhancing of business operations in Asia-Pacific region. She will take over from Nurid Aliyev, who has stepped down for personal reasons.
Mr. Wolfgang Meier, President/CEO of Silk Way West Airlines, expresses his confidence in this decision, “Thanks to her long experience in the air cargo industry,
Mrs. Jenny Zhao will be able to give a new impulse to the activities of Silk Way West Airlines in Asia-Pacific region, which operates in a highly competitive environment. Her expertise and capability in the sector would further increase customer satisfaction. I wish Mrs. Zhao success for her new assignment”.
Mrs. Jenny Zhao comes along with a vast experience in air cargo industry, holding senior management positions at various cargo airlines for the last years. For the past 2 years, she was Silk Way West Airlines CCO APAC and Head of SWW Rep Office in Shanghai.
Mrs. Jenny Zhao holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis-Olin Business School and B.A. degree from Shanghai University of Engineering Services and has more than 15 years of experience in the cargo industry.
Jost Lammers will take over as president and CEO of Munich Airport, succeeding Dr Michael Kerkloh who is retiring on 31 December 2019.
Lammers, who is CEO of Budapest Airport will start his five-year term on 1 January 2020 and has had a long career in the aviation industry.
He has a long career in aviation having previously served as CEO of Flughafen Dusseldorf Ground Handling and as an asset manager at Dusseldorf Airport with Hochtief AirPort, and as a project manager for Athens Airport.
In addition, Lammers was elected president of Airports Council International Europe in June and is a member of the supervisory board of Hamburg Airport.
Albert Furacker, Bavarian minister of finance and the chairman of the Flughafen Munich supervisory board says Lammers in an excellent choice, having led Budapest through a period of growth and development.
He says: “We have therefore selected a candidate whose experience, skills, personality and age make him the ideal choice to lead Bavaria’s Gateway to the World into the future and successfully master the many challenges that lie ahead.”
Cargo Community System Japan Co. (CCSJ) operates the only cargo community system in Japan and connects the Japanese air cargo stakeholders to the international aviation community. It is using a new cloud-based air cargo electronic distribution system, provided by CHAMP Cargosystems, which has successfully processed millions of digital transactions from year-to-date.
The CHAMPS platform is the the biggest air cargo community system and it is operated on a state-of-the-art data-exchange and integration platform.
“We are privileged to power the only cargo community system in Japan,” said Arnaud Lambert, CEO at CHAMP Cargosystems. “This stage of technological development and transition to cloud-based systems was the next step of CCSJ’s air cargo mission in driving digitization across the Japanese air cargo community. CHAMP is honored to be a part of it and it strengthens our integral relationship with the Japanese market.”
“CCSJ is pleased with the results,” said Nobuki Onishi, president of CCSJ. “CHAMP has shown to be an effective driver of change in air cargo technology – we are pleased that it has brought CCSJ’s transition to a cloud-based system to a smooth and successful fruition.”
Rhenus Logistics is implementing a number of initiatives in its air and ocean business to help meet changing customer demands and to head off competition from disruptors.
The most recent investment is in its Rade warehouse in Hamburg, Germany, where the forwarder has rolled out the latest Bluetooth, wireless and IoT technologies. In addition, Rhenus is currently investing in the development of its own bespoke transport management system (ROCS), due to be rolled out across its UK hubs in the coming months.
Rhenus UK Air & Ocean commercial manager, Jonathan Rayton, said: “Air and ocean is experiencing an unprecedented period of change – one in which automated systems and customer service are becoming ever more important. Although customer demand is a key factor driving this change, the entry of smaller, more ‘disruptive’ companies into the marketplace is also contributing to a significant shift in air and ocean.
“The automated system at Rade is just one of many new technological advancements for Rhenus. Indeed, the proactive nature of the company is allowing us to build an excellent portfolio of solutions across Air & Ocean, Road, Warehousing, Contract Logistics and Home Delivery. It’s certainly an exciting time for both the company and industry.”
However, Rayton said that the company would not lose its human touch: “Among the constant flow of new technologies, customers’ desire to liaise with a person instead of a machine remains constant. Whether it be trust, dealing with customer apprehensions or explaining complex systems, person to person interactions matter.”
Oman Air Cargo has successfully launched the mobile App to all Oman Air Cargo customers including Shippers and Freight Forwarders. This is in collaboration with QuantumID Technologies, which is Oman Air’s cargo system solution provider for ‘SmartKargo’ platform.
The mobile App was officially launched in the pilot station Oman (home market) back in January 2019 at the annual event of Oman Air Cargo held in Muscat to felicitate and reward the best performing Cargo clients and agents in Oman. The Mobile app will be released for the rest of the markets across the world in stages this year.
This Mobile App, available to download on both Apple and Android App stores, is the first step on Oman Air Cargo’s journey to 100% digitally transform their business and builds on the successful deployment of SmartKargo cloud-based Cargo Management solution that was launched back in September 2017.
This Mobile App opens a whole new Sales and Distribution channel for Oman Air Cargo business. At the same time, it empowers Shippers and Clients by providing them with self-service and mobile capabilities (access any-time, from anywhere) for their most-used requirements to interface real-time with Oman Air Cargo, including quotes, flight schedules, and capacity queries, to real-time bookings and tracking notifications.
Some of the additional benefits that come with the use of this mobile App are the improved accuracy of the shipment information and facilitation of shipment readiness when it reaches the airline warehouse, ability to book shipments on the go, provision of easy-to-access “Guest” mode that allows non-registered customers to check schedule, track shipment & get a quote, enhanced security with touch ID access as well as real-time synchronisation and availability of all information and bookings done through the App on SmartKargo main ERP solution and also on the cloud instantly.
Paul Starrs, Chief Commercial Officer, Oman Air, said, “We are happy to announce the successful launch of our Cargo Application that provides easy access and excellent functionalities for our clients and freighters. We are committed to continuing leveraging the latest technologies and innovations to digitally enhance our business and provide the best possible solutions for our clients. We have ambitious plans to grow our Cargo business and remain competitive and our collaboration with ‘SmartKargo’ allows us to do so with state-of-the-art technology that is fast to deploy and easy-to-use”.
Mohammed Al Musafir, SVP – Commercial Cargo, Oman Air added – “Oman Air Cargo App has been very well received by our clients and shippers. We are thrilled to bring to the market this pioneering mobile App that allows our clients to access our schedules, capacity, get a quote and execute real bookings, in addition to offering various other useful unique features. There are many Cargo Mobile Apps out in the market but while they provide information, they do not allow bookings. SmartKargo technology is the first platform to provide this enhanced Customer Experience. Additionally, the SmartKargo platform is 100% cloud-base, operating on the scalable and robust Microsoft Azure infrastructure platform”.
Emirates Flight Operations has developed a new navigation technique that allows the airline to carry additional cargo into Kabul International airport, reports AJOT.
The innovative missed-approach procedure developed by the airline has replaced an older technique that required cargo bound for Kabul to be offloaded in Dubai during low-cloud or poor visibility weather conditions at destination.
The new solution has enabled Emirates SkyCargo to carry an additional 250 tons of cargo into Kabul during low-cloud conditions in the first three months since it was adopted.
Emirates operate a daily flight into Kabul International airport on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
In addition to increased facilitation of trade to and from Afghanistan, the procedure has also resulted in more streamlined cargo operations to Kabul, increased customer satisfaction, and enhanced fuel efficiency.
Kabul airport is situated in a wide valley at an elevation of 5,800 feet and is surrounded by mountains that are over 11,000 feet tall.
The airport has a number of constraints associated with it because of the challenging terrain, Air Traffic Control (ATC) and other security requirements.
Kabul airport’s primary Runway 29 has two established missed-approach procedures with one of them requiring that an aircraft be able to climb at a steep angle when cloud cover is lower than 1,200 feet.
Previously, whenever meteorological reports predicted cloud cover below this level at Kabul airport, cargo was offloaded in Dubai to make the aircraft lighter to ensure that in the event the aircraft had to execute a missed-approach at Kabul airport, it could achieve the required climb gradient.
However, this measure often resulted in cargo not arriving on time at Kabul leading to other associated costs for both Emirates as well as the customer.
In order to optimize cargo loads without compromising on safety, Emirates Flight Operations Support developed a new missed-approach navigation procedure with an easier climb gradient for Kabul airport’s Runway 29 taking advantage of the Boeing 777 aircraft’s superior navigational accuracy.
The team worked with a specialist flight design agency, DFS Aviation Services, with regulatory credentials to analyse the terrain around the airport and develop a new procedure that could be implemented without delays in working with the local ATC.
German postal, transport and logistics giant Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL) posted a 3 percent second-quarter revenue gain to EUR $15.4 billion (US$17.3 billion), with a 2.9 percent rise in operating profit to EUR 769 million. However, net profit, and basic and diluted earnings per share fell precipitously due to restructuring charges at its supply chain and e-commerce units.
For the quarter, total earnings came in at EUR 769 million, up 2.9 percent from EUR 747 million in the second quarter of 2018. Deutsche Post reports its bottom-line results in earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT.
The Bonn-based behemoth also raised the low end of its 2019 profit estimate to EUR 4 billion from EUR 3.9 billion. The high end of the range remains the same at EUR 4.3 billion. The company reported EUR 1.9 billion in EBIT for the first six months, nearly half of its original minimum target for the year. It expects EBIT to exceed EUR 5 billion in 2020.
Net profit in the quarter declined 11.2 percent, while EPS dropped 9.5 percent and diluted EPS fell 12.2 percent, the company said. A 32 percent year-on-year drop in EBIT at the supply chain unit weighed down the overall results.
DPDHL CEO Frank Appel said the business units performed “as planned” despite “challenging” macro conditions. Appel said he was confident that the company will perform well during the fourth quarter, traditionally its strongest.
Of DPDHL’s five primary businesses, the e-commerce unit showed the strongest year-on-year growth at 6.2 percent, though the unit posted an EUR18 million loss, compared to zero in the prior-year quarter. E-commerce, which was separated from the parent’s German postal and parcel business in January and had never before reported as a stand-alone segment, accounted for 6.4 percent of the company’s total revenue in the second quarter. DHL Express, the global express carrier and the parent’s largest revenue-producing unit, reported revenue of EUR4.24 billion, a 4.8 percent gain. However, the unit’s earnings rose less than 1 percent.
The parent’s air and ocean freight forwarding unit, known as DHL Global Forwarding, posted an 18.1 percent gain in EBIT on revenue of EUR3.79 billion, a 2.5 percent gain. The unit reported higher gross margins in airfreight though the macro environment worsened throughout the quarter. The unit also benefited from cost-efficiency steps, the parent said.
Last October, DHL sold its Chinese supply chain business to SF Holdings, China’s largest parcel delivery company, for an upfront payment of US$792 million and 10 years of fee-based revenue. The proceeds from the sale were used in part to restructure DPDHL’s supply chain business in various locations, particularly in the United Kingdom. The restructuring charges hurt the unit’s profit.
Noon.com is looking into using driverless technologies in its delivery fleet in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and has partnered with Chinese technology company, Neolix, reports a local newspaper.
Noon.com is planning to trial autonomous vehicles built by Neoflix over the next few weeks to see if they sufficiently enhance its last-mile delivery in key areas of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The driverless vans are being customised to suit the region’s weather conditions, and are being integrated with noon’s logistics platform.
As well as being reliable and speedy, driverless vehicle technology claim to remove up to 90 per cent of the cost associated with the last mile of delivery.
“Introducing new technology to the region that will improve the e-commerce experience for customers is something we’re incredibly excited about,” says Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Noon.com parent company Emaar.
“Noon is very proud to bring driverless delivery vans to streets in our cities. We look forward to bringing many such innovations over the next few months. We are a hungry, talented and ambitious nation. I hope it will inspire our tech-driven youth to dream big and to achieve those dreams because everything is possible here,” he added.
The partnership between Noon and Neoflix follows the recent announcement of a new resolution that regulates autonomous vehicle testing in Dubai.
The new resolution is part of the first phase of a legislative framework being created to ensure the highest efficiency, reliability, and security of smart mobility.
The UAE is among the world’s top 10 countries that are best prepared for driverless vehicles, according to KPMG’s 2019 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index.
The Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy, in particular, aims to make 25 per cent of all transportation autonomous by 2030.
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