Etihad Airways has launched an innovative trial of autonomous wheelchairs at Abu Dhabi International Airport, in advance of its move to the new Midfield Terminal. The trial is a partnership between Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi Airports in collaboration with personal electric vehicle supplier WHILL and information technology company SITA.
The WHILL ‘Autonomous Drive System’ wheelchairs enable guests with restricted mobility to move around the airport environment on their own, without the need for assistance from a member of staff. The introduction of the autonomous option provides guests with the choice of freedom or to have traditional assistance via a team of dedicated porters, which will remain available.
The trial, which will last until the end of the year, will involve intensive testing and mapping of the airport environment to facilitate autonomous movement. This wheelchair is a first for any airline and airport in the region and features sensors to detect obstructions, providing an automatic ‘stop’ function. Future features in the pipeline include real-time gate and boarding time updates for guests.
Bryan Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, said, “We are delighted to be working with Etihad Airways to trial the use of autonomous wheelchairs at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Enhancing the freedom of movement of those with mobility restrictions forms a part of our wider commitment to delivering a smooth and seamless passenger experience to each and every traveler through the implementation of innovative and cutting-edge technologies throughout Abu Dhabi International Airport and our upcoming Midfield Terminal.”
“Long distance travel has evolved in the past few decades, however there has been no innovation for travelling short distances. WHILL’s strength lies in the capability to provide hardware and service globally in the ‘safe, single-person vehicle’ category. We want to create a world with smart and fun transportation for everyone including those with reduced mobility, and are excited about the opportunity to trial our technology at Abu Dhabi International Airport in partnership with Etihad and Abu Dhabi Airports,” said Satoshi Sugie, Founder and CEO of WHILL.
The final stage of the trial will involve guests of the airline, with restricted mobility, self-driving the wheelchairs through Abu Dhabi International Airport, navigating through the duty-free shops and lounges to their departure gate, without the need of assistance from a member of staff. On arrival at the gate, and once the guest has boarded the flight, the wheelchairs will have the capability to return themselves to the collection point without staff involvement.
UAE companies are expected to invest up to US $7 billion in India’s food sector in the next three years as part of the UAE-India food corridor project, according to a local newspaper.
The investments are aimed at securing the UAE’s food security, Piyush Goyal, Indian Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry told Emirates News Agency, WAM.
Dubai-based Emaar Group is coordinating the investments. They plan to invest up to US $5 billion in mega food parks and similar facilities in various Indian cities, and up to US $2 billion in contract farming, sourcing of agro commodities and related infrastructure.
“Emaar Group is coordinating with the Government of India in respect of the investment relating to food security in the UAE. The investment will be made by other UAE entities, the details of which will be declared at a later stage,” said Emaar in a statement issued to WAM.
It was reported earlier that the idea of the joint food corridor for the UAE’s food security was inspired by India’s strategic petroleum reserve in Padur in south India, in partnership with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC. Likewise, the UAE could have a food reserve in India.
“They [UAE entities] have expressed their interest to invest up to $5 billion in mega food parks, logistics and warehouse hubs, fruits and vegetable hubs in various Indian cities, which would create 200,000 jobs across India,” said Piyush Goyal, Indian Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry.
The proposed projects are in various cities, such as mega food parks in Kutch in western state of Gujarat and Aurangabad in western state of Maharashtra, Goyal added.
A food park in Pawarkheda in central state of Madhya Pradesh, logistics and warehouse hub in Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh, fruits and vegetables hub in Nashik and warehousing hub in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra are other projects, he explained.
Reports in 2018 said that India had suggested to the UAE leadership it could be a partner in the UAE’s food security.
Although India grows enough food for its 1.3 billion people, 30 per cent of that food is wasted for lack of appropriate infrastructure for storage, processing and transportation, which could be built by the UAE’s investments.
The UAE can buy the food produced by the project at a cheaper price while Indian farmers will get a comparatively better price for their crops.
BEUMER Group has supplied a third sortation systems to what Hermes calls the biggest parcel distribution hub of its kind in the UK, capable of sorting over a million parcels a day.
The first stage of the Hermes UK Midlands Super Hub in Rugby, consisting of two sortation systems, was completed in 2017 and rapid continued growth in Hermes’ business saw the company placing an order for a third sortation system soon after the hub had been taken into operation.
The second stage required BEUMER Group to carry out the installation during regular working hours, with no interruption to the operations of the hub, using creative engineering solutions and a rail-based crane system to install heavy components atop a two-tiered structure.
The new BEUMER sortation system in Rugby is similar to the system already installed by BEUMER in Hermes’ hub in Warrington, which ensures close similarity in operational processes, allowing Hermes to continue to operate a highly proficient operation to best support the UK’s retail industry.
Each of the feed-ins to the main sortation system incorporate the latest scanning, volumetric and weighing technologies to ensure accurate identification and accurately profiling of each package.
Each parcel is also automatically checked to ensure correct labelling before being transferred onto the sortation system.
Parcels weighing up to 30kg can be sorted in a maximum of three minutes infeed door to outfeed door, exiting the sorting system at any of 60 outfeed boom conveyors or loading into roll cages or pallets.
“For the last few years we have witnessed double-digit growth due to our commitment to invest in our world-class network and infrastructure, our innovative fleet and our industry-leading portfolio of services solutions,” said Martijn de Lange, CEO at Hermes UK. “In addition, our in-house engineering team is constantly optimising our equipment to ensure it is best in class and we will soon be introducing further automation to support our returns process in the coming months.”
“Last year, we enjoyed our most effective and busiest peak season to date, whilst, at the same time, achieving record service levels and I’m absolutely confident the third sortation tier in Rugby will put us in the strongest possible position to further support the retail industry over the coming years,” he added.
Zebra Technologies Corporation recently showcased its portfolio for omnichannel fulfilment and its prescriptive analytics solutions at GITEX to help retailers make smarter, more informed decisions.
Among the solutions on display at GITEX 2019 were Savanna Prescriptive Analytics for retailers including solutions from Profitect, now part of Zebra.
Savanna Prescriptive Analytics and Profitect use machine learning and prescriptive analytics to identify opportunities to positively impact sales and margin for some of the most recognised retailers globally.
Powered by SavannaTM Zebra’s data intelligence platform, Zebra MotionWorks is a portfolio of flexible, customizable end-to-end location solutions that integrate operational and edge data from multiple sources including Ultra-Wideband (UWB), UHF RFID tags, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons and cameras.
Zebra also presented the ultra-rugged Android-based MC9300 mobile computer which enables businesses to modernize their mobile solutions to keep up with the growing demands of e-commerce while shortening training time, improving fulfillment speed and accuracy.
The recently announced high-performance L10 Android ultra-rugged tablet, built with over 20 years of experience and insight following Zebra’s acquisition of Xplore Technologies, provides full-shift, around-the-clock power on a single charge.
Moreover, Zebra also showcased the ZQ630 mobile printer available with RFID options, enabling businesses to print and encode RFID tags as well as standard labels and receipts at the point of application to reduce errors.
Dubai’s DMCC and DP World subsidiary Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) have signed a collaboration agreement that will offer warehousing and logistic services to DMCC-registered companies, the two entities have announced.
“Since its establishment almost thirty-five years ago, Jafza has played a crucial role in making Dubai the global center for trade it is today,” said DMCC executive chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Sulayem. “Under our agreement, DMCC member companies will gain access to all of JAFZA’s state-of-the-art warehousing and logistical services at no extra charge through a single point of contact.”
Bin Sulayem added, “this collaborative agreement provides a strong incentive for DMCC-based companies to leverage the facilities available at Jafza, while streamlining our business processes to support our customers.”
As part of the agreement, DMCC member companies will also be fully except from registration and licensing fees related to the new service.
“Collaboration is an essential part of growing together for our nation’s economy,” said Mohammed Al Muallem, the CEO and managing director of DP World, UAE region and CEO of Jazfa said. “Jebel Ali Free Zone is pleased to be offering a new benefit which will increase commercial activities through our facilities.”
Al Muallem added that Jafza has “excellent multimodal connectivity which will be a boon for member companies at DMCC wanting to import and export goods in and through Dubai.”
“This, in turn, plays a key role in Dubai’s growth and both organisations show a strong commitment to reinforcing the UAE’s economic and commercial strength,” he said.
Jafza and Jebel Ali Port contributed 33.4 percent of Dubai’s GDP in 2017, with the free zone generating trade worth $93 billion in 2018.
DMCC for its part, welcomed 1,868 new companies to its free zone in 2018, marking a 12 percent growth compared to 2017. Collectively, DMCC member companies contribute over 10 percent to Dubai’s GDP.
flydubai recently reported Dh196.7 million in losses for the first half of 2019 as it was ‘significantly impacted’ by the grounding of some of its aircraft.
The loss in the first half is still lower than the Dh316.8 million in losses in the same period in 2018. Flydubai’s revenues for the six months between January and June were flat year-on-year, at Dh2.8 billion.
The carrier said the earnings are ‘not representative’ of what it expected to report, having earlier in the year forecasted ‘significantly improved’ performance.
“We had reported in our 2018 full-year results that we were cautiously optimistic at the start of 2019,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer of flydubai. “We had seen positive results as our routes matured, and during the first few months of the year we saw strong demand across the network.”
“Our performance has, however, been significantly impacted by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft…”
Flydubai has 14 of Boeing’s 737 Max in its fleet, and has had to ground them since early March when regulators across the world, including in the UAE, announced a ban on any commercial flights of 737 Max aircraft. This followed two fatal crashes of an Ethiopian Airways flight and a Lion Air flight involving that very Boeing model.
Al Ghaith in late April said that he did expect a ‘significant impact’ on financial performance of the carrier if the grounding were to last much longer. Flydubai is currently seeking compensation from Boeing for the grounded aircraft.
flydubai also reported that the groundings also hurt its passenger numbers, which dropped by 7.5 percent year-on-year to five million passengers as a result of the reduction in capacity.
The carrier said it is in ongoing discussions with Boeing, which it described as a ‘long-standing partner,’ to resolve the issue of the grounding and the impact it has had.
“If the grounding continues until the end of the year, we expect our performance to continue to be impacted,” Al Ghaith said.
He added, “In our 10th anniversary year, we had expected to grow our fleet and continue with our plans to expand our network. Without any deliveries of new aircraft and no visibility of the timelines, we will see our operating fleet reduce in size to what it was in 2014. This is disappointing.”
The airline said that it has been taking effort to minimize flight cancellations as a result of the reduced fleet capacity, but it has nonetheless not been able to “fully exploit demand opportunities.”
It did benefit, however, from a 17 percent decrease in fuel costs, which fell to Dh740 million in the first half compared to Dh895 million last year. This was due to lower fuel prices and reduced capacity.
Flydubai said it will continue to explore opportunities for short-term and medium-term leasing of aircraft, and that it will continue to optimize its schedule. It has already extended the lease on two Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which were due to leave the fleet in 2020 but will now leave in 2022.
Omani budget carrier Salam Air has added a new direct service from Chattogram (Chittagong), Bangladesh’s second largest city, to Muscat.
It becomes the carrier’s second destination in Bangladesh after Dhaka, which was launched in September 2018.
The new service was launched in October and will operate four times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, departing Muscat at 13:55pm local time and arriving in Chattogram (Chittagong) at 20:45pm local time.
The flight will depart Chattogram (Chittagong) at 21:30pm local time, arriving in Muscat at 00:35am local time.
Captain Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of SalamAir said, “Based on demand from passengers from the sector, we are excited to add Chattogram (Chittagong) to our increasing list of destinations. The new flight route will represent convenience to the large Bangladeshi expatriate population living in Oman.
“The route will contribute to enhance Oman’s ties with Bangladesh and will also boost tourism and trade between the two countries. We will continue to create more affordable connectivity for our passengers, while offering convenient and efficient travel experience.”
Bahrain International airport will open its new $1.1bn terminal in March next year, according to the kingdom’s Crown Prince.
The airport’s new terminal, billed as one of the biggest developments ever undertaken in Bahrain, was thought to be ready to open in December this year – to coincide with the country’s national day – but the opening has been pushed back to the end of Q1 next year, according to Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince.
“There is no chance for mistakes with an airport and we will be operational in the first quarter of next year, after all checks are complete,” he told Bahrain newspaper Gulf Daily News.
“Electronic baggage handling, luggage security and data entry procedures are being looked into carefully, among other technical aspects.”
In the meantime, the Crown Prince said the Bahrain Airport Company will need “10,000 to 14,000 volunteers to test the airport in every aspect, from A to Z”, to ensure all aspects are working as planned.
The new mega development, 207,000sq m in size, includes 104 check-in counters, 36 passport control booths and 24 security screening points. It will quadruple the size of the airport’s current terminal operations, and will have capacity to handle 14 million passengers a year.
Earlier in September, a batch of salmon arrived in Dubai in the cargo hold of Emirates flight EK 28 from Glasgow. The shipment of Scottish salmon, destined for restaurants and consumers in the UAE, was the first that was being transported for Seafood Souq, a Dubai based start-up working on transparent and efficient sourcing of seafood, by Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates. The shipment marked the culmination of a round of discussions and the start of a fruitful partnership between the two companies.
Seafood Souq has created an online B2B marketplace application that helps seafood buyers procure products from all over the world. In addition to streamlining the traditional model of sourcing seafood, the application also allows for improved quality and traceability of the produce being transported. Better information sharing facilitated by the platform means that there are likely to be fewer instances of mis-labelling and expiry of seafood.
Seafood Souq have entered into a partnership with Emirates SkyCargo for transporting their seafood shipments rapidly from source markets to customers. Although the initial focus is on delivering fresh seafood from markets such as Norway, Cyprus, Chile, USA and Scotland to customers in the UAE and the Middle East, the start-up has plans to harness the potential of Emirates SkyCargo’s global network to reach a global clientele.
“The core aim of Seafood Souq is to provide access to fresh products in the quickest possible time by connecting customers to suppliers and allowing produce to be dispatched on the day that the order is received. Working with Emirates SkyCargo was the naturally obvious choice for us because of the network and frequency of flights offered by them,” said Sean Dennis, CEO and Co-founder of Seafood Souq. “Not only does Emirates SkyCargo have a good frequency of flights into all the key global origin and destination markets for seafood but they also have the cool chain infrastructure and capabilities that allows seafood to retain its freshness during the journey,” he added.
“We are excited to be working with Seafood Souq and to be supporting an innovative Dubai-based start-up having the potential to transform the supply chain for the seafood industry,” remarked Dennis Lister, Emirates VP Cargo Commercial Development. “Our Emirates Fresh product is designed for the rapid and efficient transport of seafood and other perishables. With our modern aircraft and other equipment including dedicated Emirates Fresh Cool Dollies, Emirates White Covers and a state of the art hub in Dubai with extensive cool chain facilities, we are well positioned to support Seafood Souq as they continue to grow.”
Etihad Cargo recently announced its winter schedule with new weekly freighter services marking an increased presence in the United States of America and other strategic global cargo markets starting September.
Leading Etihad Cargo’s annual refresh is the enhancement of its freighter services between the Abu Dhabi International Airport and Columbus, Ohio. An extensive road feeder network between the LCK and other US destinations, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia, now via Europe to Ohio’s Rickenbacker International Airport, LCK, will support a weekly service. Etihad Cargo also plans to introduce a second weekly flight to LCK.
Etihad Cargo’s updated freighter network will also introduce a weekly Boeing 777 Freighter service into Johannesburg’s Tambo International Airport from 5th October, which establishes the South African city as a seasonal African gateway hub for the trade flow of perishable and other goods to and from Europe and Asia.
Additional bellyhold capacity has been introduced through increased flights between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow Airport with a fourth daily frequency confirmed from 27th October, as well as tactical aircraft changes from A380 to Boeing 777 on the second daily frequency to Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris.
Etihad Airways will also replace its current Airbus 330 operations on routes to Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport and Johannesburg, with a Boeing 787 to further increase additional cargo capacity.
“This season’s network review has allowed us to make key changes to our schedules and routes in response to the evolving market conditions and trade patterns. The refresh ensures we can adequately support demand from our growing and valued customer base. The network expansion has been achieved through efficient route streamlining, resulting in minor service reductions on some routes without any route cancellations,” Shadid said.
Following the network refresh, Etihad Cargo anticipates more demand for its FreshForward service, a dedicated product for perishables movement.
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
