Following the recent approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry cargo in approved storage areas in the passenger cabin, United Airlines inaugural cargo-in-cabin flight has recently commenced operation from London Heathrow (LHR) to Chicago (ORD) carrying over 4,200 pounds of mail in the passenger cabin, plus a full payload of freight in the belly of the aircraft. Initially, cargo-in-cabin shipments will be loaded on the Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft operating United’s cargo-only flights.
“At United, we are doing everything we can to keep supply chains moving and meet the demand for critical shipments around the globe. By loading our existing cabin storage areas with cargo and mail, we can move even more critical medical equipment and other vital shipments the world needs to manage through the pandemic,” said Liz Woolmington, United Cargo senior regional manager – Europe, Middle East, India and Africa.
United’s cargo-only network currently offers services between six of its US hubs and 18 airports worldwide. Since the start of its cargo-only flights program on 19 March 2020, United has operated over 1,300 cargo-only flights transporting over 44 million pounds of cargo.
Indian forwarder Premier Global Logistics recently completed an air shipment totalling 7.6 tons from Mumbai Airport to France via Turkish Airlines.
Managing director of Premier Global Logistics, Rajesh Gupta, explains: “The shipment was extremely time-critical and we micromanaged everything from the airline booking to Custom clearance and delivery to the site in France, all within a tight budget. Despite limited flights operating from India, we delivered the cargo to the destination on time.
“The team at Premier Global Logistics is very proud to meet our commitments to our client, particularly amid the national lockdown and pandemic. We are open for business!”
Their client comments, “We especially appreciate the effort put by Mr Dhaval and Mr Stevenson of Premier Global Logistics who helped deliver the material on time even in the current lockdown situation. We also appreciate the co-operation and planning done, starting in Mumbai right up to delivery at the site.”
CSafe Global, the innovation leader in temperature-controlled container solutions for the transport of life-enhancing pharmaceuticals, has once again expanded their global reach and local presence with the opening of a new hub operation in São Paulo, Brazil. This is the latest addition to CSafe’s worldwide container operations facilities and the first in Brazil.
“Pharmaceutical manufacturing has really taken off in Brazil in recent years and demand has spiked for our active containers to transport temperature-sensitive products,” explained Tom Weir, chief operating officer for CSafe Global. “With the growth we’ve seen, we need to have containers in the area for on-demand use which means setting up a hub operation where we can have containers inspected, cleaned and released for usage. We’ve partnered with Quantum Logistics to make units available at the top-of-the-line Multilog warehouse facility where we will have at least 600 sq m of space to store CSafe RKN and RAP containers.
“Right now, we’re able to easily repair and maintain containers at service centers in other locations and then move them to customers or hubs as needed. However, should the demand grow to the point that it’s more efficient to repair the containers locally, we will certainly consider expanding the hub into a service center staffed with highly-trained CSafe technicians to fully service and maintain our RKN and RAP container fleet for Latin America.”
The hub location in São Paulo provides a drop location for one-way inbound traffic coming into Brazil as well. Always quick to act in an effort to serve customers where they are, if the demand in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America increases, CSafe could expand the operation.
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx, processes thousands of medical shipments every day through its European hub based at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. In the past few weeks, FedEx Express flights, including intercontinental flights, have played a crucial role in fulfilling our commitment to containing and combating COVID-19. FedEx Express is the leading air cargo operator in France currently representing more than a third of the cargo capacity at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
Jean Muls, vice president, Air Hub Operations Europe, FedEx Express stated, “The COVID-19 situation has generated an unprecedented demand for air freight transport from Asia to Europe. In April, we increased our flights between Asia and Europe by almost 50% with our CDG hub playing a vital part. A real air connection is in place and FedEx is playing a major role.”
As the world’s largest cargo airline with a fleet of 675 aircraft, FedEx Express has the ability to flex operations in times of crisis.FedEx is one of the few companies in the world that has the network and capabilities to allow the rapid shipment of medical and vital equipment from Asia, which is currently the main production location of the medical equipment used in response to the COVID-19 crisis. With the drastic decline of commercial airline flights, 100% cargo fleets such as those of FedEx Express have an essential role to play.
FedEx Express was recently asked by the French authorities to support the delivery of nine million facemasks to supply the distribution circuit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In response, FedEx Express mobilised its network to help with the effort, and support SMEs as they work to rebound after the pandemic.
Mathilde Goffard, vice president Ground Operations France, added: “FedEx Express teams are proud to be actively involved in managing this crisis and are redoubling their efforts to adjust routing processes and prioritize deliveries of medical equipment. We have implemented procedures such as special labels to identify and prioritize medical and COVID-19 related shipments. This supports the control processes of government authorities and also helps to ensure the best possible service by our teams.”
FedEx Express has globally transported 17,100 tonnes of personal protective equipment since February 1, to help combat COVID-19. Around 45% or the equivalent of 7,800 tons are mask shipments. Some of our daily relief efforts include the shipment of 300,000 masks for a temporary field hospital in Madrid, the shipment of breathing equipment to eight hospitals in Northern Italy from the Netherlands, and five shipments underway with Direct Relief, totaling four million facemasks and 50,000 face shields from China to the United States.
Deutsche Post DHL Group maintained its profitable growth trajectory in Q1 2020 despite the noticeable impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenue improved by 0.9% to €15.5 billion, and operating profit (EBIT) came in at €592 million. Adjusted for a pandemic-related negative earnings impact of €210 million as well as negative effects of €234 million incurred in the first quarter to realign the Group’s StreetScooter activities, operating profit stood at approximately €1 billion. This result came in around €200 million over the prior-year figure adjusted for non-recurring items. The Group has with this confirmed the preliminary quarterly figures published in April.
“We are making an essential contribution to managing the crisis, with 550,000 employees in every country of the world and our unmatched global logistics network. Our mission involves transporting protective equipment and medicines, securing industry supply chains and helping to deliver supplies to local populations. We are proud of our teams, who make the impossible possible every day. They also form the basis for Deutsche Post DHL Group performing so well in the first quarter, despite the challenges seen across the globe,” said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
All five divisions report first-quarter profits. Thanks to the Group’s extraordinarily broad geographic footprint and comprehensive portfolio of logistics solutions – ranging from international express services, global air and ocean freight transport to warehousing, e-commerce solutions as well as post and parcel solutions in Germany – Deutsche Post DHL Group is more robustly positioned than other companies and thus well situated to navigate crisis situations. Since the coronavirus began spreading around the world, various activities in the different regions performed better and in some cases worse than originally planned.
“The crisis once again demonstrates the value of our broad and resilient portfolio,” said Appel.
For example, while parcel volumes in the Post & Parcel Germany division increased significantly at the end of the quarter, letter mail registered pronounced declines. While the DHL divisions felt the effects of the standstill in many regions and customer industries, business in China experienced a recovery in March after the drop in February. Globally, the Group saw a strong increase, especially in the food and health care sector. Furthermore, thanks to its own fleet of cargo aircraft, Deutsche Post DHL Group proved to be one of the few providers in the world still able to transport urgent deliveries.
“Thanks to our good balance sheet and liquidity situation, we were again able to invest almost half a billion Euros in the first quarter, despite Covid-19. We have thus strengthened our global network and prepared ourselves for further profitable growth in the future,” said Melanie Kreis, CFO of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
DHL Express also succeeded in increasing revenue and generating very good earnings in the first quarter despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenue improved by 4.5% to €4.2 billion. The availability of its own fleet of cargo aircraft proved to be a key factor for the division, allowing it to still offer urgent delivery to customers despite the virtual standstill in passenger flights resulting in the loss of freight capacity in many regions of the world.
Revenue of Global Forwarding, Freight decreased by 4.1% compared with the previous year to €3.6 billion. The division is confronted with a severe shortage of available market capacity due to the pandemic, owing for example to the cancellation of passenger flights. With declining volumes, the capacity shortage led to a positive gross-margin development in air freight.
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