Aramex has begun testing new fully electric vehicles (EVs) in its Saudi Arabian fleet. The move is in line with the country’s Vision 2030, which has a strong focus on environmental protection.
Aramex is committed to its long-term strategy to convert its entire fleet into EVs in order to reduce emissions from its fleet.
The EVs in Saudi Arabia have been provided by First Advanced Auto. Aramex will now test them in the last-mile delivery services area.
Raji Hattar, chief sustainability officer at Aramex, said, “We pride ourselves on being a leader in sustainability across the region. Protecting the environment is a top priority and an essential part of our sustainability strategy, therefore, we continuously evaluate all options that contribute to reducing our CO2 emissions.
“We have already succeeded in reducing these emissions by more than 20% by the end of 2016, and we are taking steady steps toward achieving our goal of reducing them by an additional 20% by the end of 2020.”
With Oman Air continuing to ground the Boeing 737 MAX planes in its fleet, the national carrier has decided to cancel almost 700 flights in February.
Many destinations in South Asia are among those affect by these cancellations, with flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Colombo, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Kathmandu among those affected.
Within the GCC, flights to Medina, Manama and Salalah have also been impacted, as have scheduled flights from Muscat to Athens.
A statement from Oman Air said, “Dear valued guests, as a result of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation directives on suspending operations of Boeing 737 Max, we have cancelled the following flights in the period between 01st February to 29th February 2020.
Moreover, Oman Air is working on rebooking its guests on alternative or on next available flights to their destinations who are due to travel during the same period to check the flight status or contact their customer service agents.
Middle Eastern carriers’ freight volumes decreased 3.4 percent year-on-year in December and capacity increased by just 1.9 percent, the lowest of any region, according to data released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
This contributed to an annual result of a decline in demand of 4.8 percent in 2019 – the second greatest decline in growth rate of all the regions, said the report.
The Middle East’s annual capacity increased just 0.7 percent. Disruption to global supply chains and weak global trade, together with airline restructuring in the region, were the chief drivers of the weaker freight outcome, it said.
Iata released full-year 2019 data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight ton kilometers (FTKs), fell by 3.3 percent compared to 2018 while capacity (AFTK) rose by 2.1 percent.
This was the first year of declining freight volumes since 2012, and the weakest performance since the global financial crisis in 2009 (when air freight markets contracted by 9.7 percent).
In the month of December, cargo volumes contracted 2.7 percent year-on-year while capacity rose 2.8 percent.
Air cargo’s performance in 2019 was dampened by weak growth in global trade of just 0.9 percent. The sector’s underperformance was also due in particular to slowing GDP growth in manufacturing-intensive economies. Softer business and consumer confidence, along with falling export orders, also contributed to air freight struggles.
There are signs that confidence and orders could pick up in 2020. It is too early to say what long-term effects will be seen from the impact of restrictions associated with combatting the coronavirus outbreak.
Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO, said: “Trade tensions are at the root of the worst year for air cargo since the end of the Global Financial Crisis in 2009.”
“While these are easing, there is little relief in that good news as we are in unknown territory with respect to the eventual impact of the coronavirus on the global economy. With all the restrictions being put in place, it will certainly be a drag on economic growth. And, for sure, 2020 will be another challenging year for the air cargo business,” he added.
All markets except Africa suffered volume declines in 2019. Asia-Pacific retained the largest share of FTKs, at 34.6 per cent. The share of freight traffic increased modestly for both North America and Europe, to 24.2 percent and 23.7 percent, respectively.
Middle East carriers’ traffic share held steady at 13 percent. Africa and Latin America saw their shares lift marginally, to 1.8 percent and 2.8 percent.
Asia-Pacific carriers in December posted a decrease in demand of 3.5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. Capacity increased by 2.8 percent. The full-year 2019 saw volumes decline 5.7 percent, the largest decrease of any region, while capacity increased by 1.1 percent.
As the world’s main manufacturing region, international trade tensions and the global growth slowdown weighed heavily on regional air freight volumes in 2019. Within-Asia FTKs were particularly affected (down 8 percent compared to a year ago).
North American airlines saw volumes fall by 3.4 percent in December, while capacity grew by 2.1 percent. For 2019 in total, the region’s cargo volumes declined by 1.5 percent, compared to a capacity increase of 1.6 percent. Trade tensions and cooling US economic activity in the latter part of the year have been factors in the decline. The 5.6 percent fall in international year-on-year volumes in December was the weakest monthly growth outcome for the region since early 2016.
European airlines experienced a 1.1 percent year-on-year decrease in freight demand in December, with a capacity rise of 4.9 percent. The fall in December was typical of the performance for 2019 as a whole, where volumes fell 1.8 percent, but capacity increased by 3.4 percent. Softer activity, including in the manufacturing-intensive German economy, combined with ongoing Brexit uncertainty, contributed to the 2019 result, which in international freight volume terms was the weakest since 2012.
Latin American airlines suffered the sharpest fall in demand of any region in December, of 5.3 percent. The region was also the only one to see a reduction in capacity (-3.1 percent). Although the region was the second strongest performer across 2019 as a whole, limiting its decline in volumes to just 0.4 percent, social unrest and economic difficulties in several key countries led to the weakest international FTK outcome since 2015. Annual capacity increased 4.7 percent.
African carriers’ saw freight demand increase by 10.3 percent in December 2019, compared to the same month in 2018. This was reflected in the strong 2019 full-year performance, which saw Africa freight volumes expand 7.4 percent.
Capacity in December grew by 10 per cent and for 2019 in total, increased by 13.3 percent. Over the year, air cargo volumes have been supported by strong capacity growth and investment linkages with Asia.
At the start of a new decade, Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, is geared up to facilitate global trade and cargo movement in 2020 and beyond through a combination of innovative product development and investment in ‘fit for purpose’ infrastructure.
“The global air cargo industry witnessed what was a very challenging year in 2019. Economic uncertainty, tensions in global trade and unrest in key markets negatively impacted cargo volumes. However, the tough market conditions were an opportunity for us to review our core offering to our customers and ensure that we remained market leaders with our specialized product offering, superior capabilities and infrastructure as well as our agility in responding to customer demand,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president, Cargo.
“The outlook for 2020 is more positive with the air cargo industry set to post a modest recovery thanks to improved economic activity and trade growth. With our commitment to ‘deliver as promised’ backed by a global network covering over 155 destinations centered in Dubai, our modern fleet of all wide-body aircraft and our state of the art Emirates SkyCentral terminals, Emirates SkyCargo is well positioned to support trade and economic growth in line with the Dubai Silk Road Project. With Expo 2020 Dubai also set to kick off in October 2020, we will see a surge in movement of goods to and from Dubai and we are working with our partners to provide specialized air freight services for this once in a lifetime event,” he added.
In 2019, Emirates SkyCargo continued to roll out specialized products catered for specific industry verticals. Emirates Delivers is a new e-commerce platform that enables consumers, both individuals and small businesses, to purchase products from any US based online retail store and have it delivered in the UAE. Emirates Delivers is part of Emirates SkyCargo’s broader strategy to promote Dubai as an e-commerce fulfilment hub for customers based in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. In 2020, the availability of Emirates Delivers will be expanded to more markets.
More than 400,000 tons of perishables were flown on Emirates’ flights under Emirates Fresh, Emirates SkyCargo’s specialized product for perishables. In November and December of 2019, the carrier operated nine charter flights from Santiago, Chile uniquely for carrying cherries. Close to 11,000 high-priority shipments were moved across six continents under the Emirates AOG product during 2019.
Emirates Safe VAL, Emirates SkyCargo’s product for the transportation of precious goods, recorded a year-on-year increase of six per cent; while Emirates Pets, Emirates SkyCargo’s product for transportation of domestic cats and dogs, saw a 12 per cent increase in demand.
In 2019, Emirates SkyCargo unveiled a new handling facility dedicated for pharmaceutical cargo at Chicago airport, one of the most important pharma stations for Emirates SkyCargo across the world. In November 2019, Emirates SkyCargo moved its pharma handling operations at Copenhagen airport to a dedicated GDP certified facility. Emirates SkyCargo also worked with ground handlers at key pharma origin and destination cities across the world to expand the number of pharma stations from 12 to 25.
In 2019, Emirates SkyCargo’s SkyCentral terminals in Dubai handled an average four pieces of cargo every second of every hour on a 24/7 basis. Over 700 staff on duty at any time of the day helped process around 360,000 individual packages daily through these terminals enabling Emirates’ fleet of over 270 aircraft move approximately 7,000 tons of cargo every day, the equivalent of more than 60 full Boeing 777 freighters, between Dubai and the rest of the world.
A fleet of 49 trucks, including 12 refrigerated trucks, made an average 175 trips daily in 2019 to connect the two cargo terminals. Overall, more than 307,000 tons of cargo were transferred by the trucking system between the two airports in 2019 and more than 1.6 million tons of cargo over the five years since the start of trucking operations in 2014.
Emirates SkyCargo’s unwavering commitment to ‘Delivery as Promised’ has since 2018, been reinforced by applying the Cargo iQ framework. In 2019, the carrier monitored over 1.5 million shipments using Cargo iQ guidelines ensuring that cargo having a direct impact on the lives of people around the world, was transported and delivered on time.
El Al has re-entered the freighter market with Atlas Air operating a Boeing 747-400F on the Tel Aviv to Liege route.
The flag carrier signed an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) agreement with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings for flights that began last month.
Liege is Belgium’s main air cargo facility and bucked the downward global trend last year by reaching a new record of 902.480 tonnes of transported goods in a 3.6% increase over 2018.
John Dietrich, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Air Worldwide., said: “This new agreement will allow El Al to capitalise on the state-of-the-art service solutions provided by our aircraft.
“We welcome El Al as a new customer and look forward to supporting El Al as it continues to capture market opportunities and enhance its position as a leader in Israel’s cargo industry.”
Ronen Spira, head of El Al’s cargo division, said: “We are committed to providing our customers with a variety of cargo solutions.
“This strategic initiative with Atlas Air enables us to provide our customers with a stable and high-quality operation for all types of cargo. Atlas Air’s fleet of 747 aircraft is well-suited to support El Al’s operations and schedules.”
The new service is in direct competition with ACE Belgium Freighters, which runs on 747F between Liege and Tel Aviv.
El Al’s cargo history goes back to 1988 when it flew 150 giant support columns for the construction of maritime oil rigs to Alaska.
Royal International Cargo and Logistics is a new member of the UK-based Cargo Connection network in Egypt. The company offers a complete range of freight forwarding services by air, sea and land as well as Customs clearance, breakbulk and project logistics, covering all major airports and ports in Egypt. They were recommended to Cargo Connections by current members, says the network.
Elhoussieny Abdulhameed (CEO) says, “At Royal International, we understand the necessity of smooth freight forwarding and clearing services. We also understand local rules and regulations and the challenges of global business and we use this knowledge to offer a variety of tailored and individual solutions while keeping costs to a minimum.
“Our experienced and dedicated team, adept in international freight forwarding procedures, offer a 360° service – from documentation to firm delivery commitments, be it import or export, we ensure attention to detail in every shipment.”
Air Tanzania has commissioned Swissport to handle its entire hub operation at the airports of Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. The agreement includes a comprehensive service catalogue for airport ground services, air cargo handling and aviation security.
Swissport, a leader in air cargo handling, has been awarded a contract for hub management services for Air Tanzania, the national carrier of the East African country. Starting this month at the airports of Dar es Salaam (DAR) and Kilimanjaro (JRO), Swissport will provide passenger, aircraft movement, cargo loading and aviation security services for 21 flights daily.
“We are delighted that Air Tanzania has chosen to rely on Swissport’s high quality, reliable and efficient operational services at its hub airports in Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro,” says Jeroen de Clercq, head of Sub-Sahara and Israel, at Swissport International. “With their fast-growing fleet of modern aircraft, Air Tanzania is the undisputed leader in the Tanzanian aviation market and we are excited to support them.”
Swissport staff will be servicing Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Airbus A220s and Bombardier Q400 aircraft for Air Tanzania, which the carrier operates to ten Tanzanian and six international destinations.
The global utilization of air cargo capacity is 35% higher than the traditional industry indicator suggests, according to a new data services company introducing the ‘dynamic load factor’ analyses.
They say refreshing the way air cargo capacity usage is measured to reflect modern-day reality will strengthen the airlines’ voices with all stakeholders, not least airports, slot coordinators, legislators and aircraft manufacturers.
Underpinning this new way of thinking by CLIVE Data Services’ award-winning ‘Selfie app’ is the realization that air cargo load factors based on weight utilization now paint a misleading picture of how full flights really are.
“This is caused by the methodology used,” says CLIVE’s Managing Director, Niall van de Wouw. “Traditionally, the amount of cargo flown in kgs is divided by the level of cargo capacity in kgs. But, the reality for the vast majority of widebody and freighter flights is that it’s the cargo capacity in cubic meters which is the limiting factor, not the cargo capacity in kgs. Consequently, existing load factors, based only on weight, underestimate how full planes really are, and thus give a distorted picture of how the industry really is performing.
“The fact that flights nearly always ‘cube out’ before they ‘weigh out’ is a result of the aircraft’s higher capacity density (available kgs per cubic meter) than the average density of the goods moved by air. Looking ahead it is very likely that this discrepancy in capacity density and cargo density will further increase. On the capacity side, we have new planes entering the market which can lift more kgs of cargo per cubic meter than ever before. And, on the cargo side, the surge in e-commerce traffic will further decrease the average density of the cargo flown.”
CLIVE’s analyzes shows the real utilisation of air cargo capacity on a global level is 35% higher than the traditional indicator suggests, he adds.
“We, therefore, believe it is time for a new yardstick: the dynamic load factor. To support this change in thinking, we will now be publishing this dynamic load factor analyses each month. It considers both the volume and the weight perspective of the cargo flown and capacity available. The analyses are based on flight data shared by a representative group of airlines operating to all corners of the globe. We strongly believe that this new yardstick will create a better understanding and more appreciation for the industry at regulatory and governmental levels.
“Going forward, in the first week of each month, we will be reporting an overview of the load factor trends for the previous month to ensure the industry has access to both the most accurate and most recent data,” Niall van de Wouw stated.
The results of this new analysis will paint a more realistic picture of how air cargo capacity on a global level is being used.
LATAM Cargo Group recently opened in Guarulhos, Brazil, its $3.5 million perishable hub, a controlled-temperature cooler facility that will protect the quality and freshness of perishable products while en route to other destinations in South America, North America and Europe.
The company has gained recognition for its expertise transporting fresh products, which account for 45% of all goods carried during a year. In this context, Guarulhos occupies a place of relevance because 85% of all cargo connecting is perishable. This, together with the strategic decision to position Guarulhos as the Group’s main hub, explains the reasons behind the company’s decision to make the multi-million dollar investments.
The facility occupies an area of 1,637 sq m, of which 50% are equipped with variable temperature cooling chambers that offer refrigeration ranges of 0 to 2 °C and 2 to 12 °C for storage and re-palletising. The system also gives the option of raising the temperature of any of the chambers up to 22 °C. Thanks to the new perishable hub, the LATAM Group has increased its perishable storage capacity at Guarulhos by 33%.
“Our new cooler is a clear example of our commitment to being strategic partners for our customers. We know Latin America is a major producer and exporter of perishables, and that its economic development largely depends on the international recognition of the quality of its products. Faced with this reality, and as the leader in air transportation in the region, we took on the challenge of providing excellence in service and execution and investing in leading-edge infrastructure to protect the freshness of the products carried, with the high standards our value proposal is well known for,” commented Andrés Bianchi, CEO of the LATAM Cargo Group.
SATS Ltd (SATS), Asia’s leading provider of food solutions and gateway services, has announced that its subsidiary, SATS Saudi Arabia Company, has won a 25-year cargo terminal concession in King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Riyadh cargo terminal will be the second cargo operation in Saudi Arabia for SATS, after its first win in King Fahd International Airport in Dammam in 2016.
Construction of the SATS Cargo Terminal in KKIA will take place over two phases with the first phase expected to be completed in mid-2022. Upon full completion, this cargo terminal will have the capacity to handle up to 600,000 tonnes of cargo annually. There will also be a purpose-built cold-chain facility for the special handling of temperature sensitive perishables and a dedicated lane for pharmaceutical products.
Alex Hungate, president and CEO of SATS said: “KKIA serves Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, and handles close to 40% of air cargo volume in the Kingdom. Connected to our stations in Dammam and Oman, and our extensive Asian network, KKIA will extend SATS’ network of quality cargo corridors to offer our customers greater connectivity and quality assurance, while supporting Saudi Arabia’s rapidly growing cargo market and logistics infrastructure.”
SATS operates 10 cargo terminals in Asia in Beijing, Dammam, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Oman and Singapore.
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