DB Schenker has expanded its charter operation with flights to South America as it looks to provide stable supply chain operations.
The weekly flight leaves Europe on a Sunday night operating on a route of Amsterdam (AMS), New York JFK (JFK) and Miami (MIA) on Monday before reaching Viracopos (VCP) near São Paulo on the same day.
The forwarder said that a direct connection can be made to Buenos Aires (EZP), and Santiago de Chile (SCL).
The flights will be operated with a B767 freighter offering around 50 tons of capacity.
Thorsten Meincke, global board member for air & ocean freight at DB Schenker, said: “To keep economies running, companies require stable supply chains. By expanding our flight network to South America, we provide a new source of reliable capacity to the market. We are happy to say that the demand is already high.”
The company added that the first bookings include a diverse range of goods, including many automotive parts.
“Temperature-controlled cargo and dangerous goods can also be transported upon request,” it said. “Within Europe, the flights seamlessly connect to DB Schenker’s land transportation network.”
In January, the company added charter flights to India to meet capacity constraints.
This follows the launch of its charter network in 2020 in response to the Covid outbreak.
Atlas Air Worldwide, a leading global provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo together with investment affiliates of J.F. Lehman & Company and Hill City Capital in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise valuation of approximately $5.2 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, Atlas Air Worldwide shareholders will receive $102.50 per share in cash, representing a 57% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average trading price per share of Atlas Air Worldwide common stock as of July 29, 2022. Upon completion of the transaction, Atlas Air Worldwide will become a privately held company and shares of Atlas Air Worldwide common stock will no longer be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Atlas Air Worldwide will continue operating under the Atlas Air Worldwide name, be led by John Dietrich and the current executive team and maintain its global presence.
“We believe this transaction will deliver immediate and certain value to Atlas Air Worldwide shareholders at a substantial premium, and we are pleased to reach this agreement with the Consortium,” said Duncan McNabb, chairman of the Atlas Air Worldwide Board of Directors. “The Board’s decision to unanimously approve this transaction follows a careful evaluation and thoughtful review of value creation opportunities for shareholders. We believe this transaction is the right next step to maximize value for our shareholders and the best path forward to accelerate the company’s ability to execute its strategic plan and achieve its long-term growth objectives.”
“Over our 30-year history, Atlas Air Worldwide has grown to become a global leader in airfreight, delivering high-quality services to our diverse roster of customers around the world,” said John Dietrich, president and CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide. “Following the closing of the sale to the Consortium, we will seek to leverage their resources, relationships and industry expertise to build on our strong financial and operational performance. Their investment in our company demonstrates their confidence in our people and our culture as we serve the growing needs of the global supply chain.”
“Atlas Air Worldwide is a market leader that continues to set higher standards for excellence within the airfreight industry,” said Apollo Partners Antoine Munfakh and Jason Scheir and J.F. Lehman & Company partner Alex Harman on behalf of the Consortium. “With the strong market demand and long-term secular tailwinds for global air cargo services, Atlas is poised to capitalize on many opportunities for continued growth as a fund portfolio company of Apollo, J.F. Lehman and Hill City. We look forward to leveraging our resources, capital and experience in the sector to support the talented Atlas team, alongside our partners in this exciting next phase.”
Agility, a supply chain services, infrastructure and innovation company, announced that it has finalized its acquisition of UK-based John Menzies PLC and will combine the business with its National Aviation Services (NAS) business to create a world leader in aviation services in 58 countries.
Once integrated, the combined company will operate as Menzies Aviation and will be the world’s largest aviation services company by number of countries and second largest by number of airports served.
Operating as Menzies Aviation, the combined company will provide air cargo services, fuel services and ground services at airports on six continents. Combined revenues of Menzies and NAS exceeded $1.5 billion in 2021. The new company will have approximately 35,000 employees and operations at 254 airports in 58 countries, handling 600k aircraft turns, 2 million tons of air cargo and 2.5 million fueling turns per year.
“Menzies and NAS will create the world leader in aviation services,” said Hassan El-Houry, who becomes Chairman of the combined company, having previously held the role of NAS CEO.
“We will have the scale and resources to expand and grow as the industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Commercial aviation is a key engine of global economic growth, and our customers need partners they can count on as flight volumes return.”
The company’s customers will include Air Canada, Air China, Air France-KLM, America Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, EasyJet, Emirates, Ethiopian, FlyDubai, Frontier Airlines, IAG, Jazeera, Qantas Group, Qatar Airways, Southwest, Turkish, United Airlines, WestJet and Wizz Air.
“With the combination of Menzies and NAS, our customers will receive world-class service, expanded product offerings, and the industry’s best safety practices at airports on six continents,” said Menzies Aviation CEO Philipp Joeinig, who will be CEO of the combined company. “Agility’s backing gives us the resources to provide innovative solutions for growing and forward-thinking customers, and to develop our talent, technology, and sustainability; critical factors for our future success. It also means we are well-positioned to support our customers in tackling supply chain challenges and labor shortages.”
Agility Vice Chairman Tarek Sultan said, “This is a new chapter for Agility, Menzies, and NAS. By acquiring Menzies and combining it with NAS, Agility has the opportunity to unlock greater value in both. Agility has a strong track record of sustainable and responsible growth over the last two decades, driven both organically and through mergers and acquisitions, and this latest deal is part of our strategy to further accelerate that growth. For Agility, this deal creates the largest owned and operated – “controlled” – business in Agility’s portfolio by revenue, headcount, and global presence. We’re looking forward to seeing the new Menzies soar with Agility’s backing.”
The boards of Agility and Menzies reached agreement March 30 on Agility’s cash offer to acquire 100% of Menzies ordinary shares, which traded on the London Stock Exchange, for 608 pence a share. The deal values Menzies at approximately £571 million on a fully diluted basis and approximately £763 million on an enterprise value basis.
Air China has commenced a new three-year cargo and ramp handling agreement with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in Liege, Belgium.
The airline operates four Boeing 777 freighter flights a week to Liege from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, the capital of Zhejiang Province, returning to China via Madrid. WFS expects to handle over 14,000 tons of cargo for Air China in the first year of the new contract, rising to over 23,000 tons with expected increases in flight operations in 2023/24.
WFS already enjoys a strong partnership with Air China through existing cargo handling operations in Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It also holds contracts with the airline in the US and Canada as well as providing fueling services in Hong Kong.
The new contract is linked to WFS’ existing handling operations in Liege for Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, part of the Alibaba Group, which is a shareholder in Air China.
Marc Claesen, Senior Vice President Commercial of WFS EMEAA, said: “Air China is already a very significant customer of WFS in Europe, North America and Asia for our cargo, ramp, and passenger handling services and for fueling. Winning this additional contract in Liege shows the strength of our business partnership and, we hope, reflects Air China’s experience of working with WFS stations across its global network. As well as complementing our relationship with Cainiao in Belgium, it also reinforces our reputation as a leading freighter handling provider in Liege and justifies our growing investment at the airport.”
WFS now handles more than 220,000 tons annually in Liege in cargo facilities totaling 25,000m² and manages over 100 freighter flights per month for airline and logistics customers.
The WACO System (WACO) has appointed Radiant Global Logistics (RGL) as its member for the USA following an extensive country wide investigation and vetting process.
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, RGL is a third-party logistics (3PL) company with over 100 locations across North America, providing a full suite of technology enabled global transportation and value-added logistics solutions.
“We have agreed with RGL that every effort will be made to support other WACO members with existing and new freight volumes at the earliest opportunity while WACO members will equally support this newly appointed WACO member,” said Richard Charles, Chief Executive Officer, WACO.
Radiant delivers both domestic and international freight forwarding services, truck and rail brokerage services and other value-added supply chain management services, including customs brokerage, order fulfilment, inventory management and warehousing to its customers around the world.
“We look forward to working closely with WACO members and are ready to do business immediately,” said Arnie Goldstein, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), RGL.
“We particularly look forward to meeting all WACO members at the forthcoming Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in November.”
WACO’s 2022 EGM will take place in Dubai between the 6th and 9th of November.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has ended its approval of cargo-in-the-cabin flights.
Use of the passenger cabin for cargo, known as cargo-in-the-cabin flights, has been authorized since 2020, after the EASA issued approvals and exemptions for the transport of cargo in passenger cabins on a case-by-case basis.
However, these approvals and exemptions ended on July 31 after the EASA said it would put an end to the practice in April.
The approvals and exemptions were time-limited. The EASA extended the rules in August 2021, but said in April it would not extend the timeframe again.
The decision to allow cargo-in-the-cabin flights followed the grounding of passenger aircraft at the start of the pandemic and the subsequent high demand placed on freighter aircraft.
In addition to the use of cargo-in-the-cabin flights (with seats in place and seats removed) the pandemic also saw a number of airfreight stakeholders invest in passenger to freighter aircraft conversions.
However, passenger operations – and therefore the availability of bellyhold capacity – are beginning to ramp up while the need to transport urgent pandemic-related cargo such as PPE has eased.
The EASA said in April that it “has concluded that the logistical challenges that arose in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 crisis no longer exist to the same extent”.
While the EASA has ended cargo-in-the-cabin flights, it’s not clear what authorities elsewhere are planning.
James Wyatt, general manager of Leipzig, Germany-based aviation consulting business aeroconcept, recently told Air Cargo News that the organization was “not seeing that many passenger flights operating with CIC”.
Earlier in the year, it appeared that some companies were still investing in CIC solutions.
For example in April, AELF FlightService announced its fifth Airbus 330-200 was flying in PAX-freighter configuration with seats removed.
However, other airlines had begun to wind these operations down. In May, Air Canada operated its final cargo-in-the-cabin preighter flight with the plan to return its temporarily converted fleet of B777s and A330s to passenger service.
Neutral Air Partner (NAP) has welcomed IAG Cargo, the cargo division of International Airlines Group (IAG) as an airline partner with an aim to support its members grow their business and further develop co-operation in all areas relevant to the air cargo logistics sector.
The partnership will see IAG Cargo and NAP work together jointly in various initiatives to support small and medium sized forwarders. IAG Cargo operates across in key strategic markets including Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.
“SME Forwarders and consolidators represent over 45 % of the global airfreight volumes and our network is comprised of leading and independent air cargo sales agents and consolidators worldwide. Through our NAP Global Airline Partner Program, we aim to significantly increase our cargo volumes to IAG Cargo, and to access cargo capacity on key trade lanes.
“We are confident that working together with partners like IAG cargo will drive direct value to our global customer base”, said Christos Spyrou NAP CEO.
Darren Peak, Head of Sales, at IAG Cargo added: “Small businesses are a core part of the supply chain, and an important part of our business. They play a vital role in our communities and I am delighted that we are partnering with NAP to provide support to the wider SME market.
“We’re proud to partner with organizations like NAP to enable SME businesses to gain access to our extensive network, industry knowledge and specialized products, as well as our loyalty program – FORWARD.REWARDS.”
NAP will present their objectives during the NAP 6th AGM and conference, which will take place at the Ritz Carlton Bali Indonesia on 19-23 September 2022. At the event IAG Cargo will be giving a key note speech.
Perishables forwarder PML has appointed Iain Bruce as the company’s new finance director.
Bruce joins the business following a career that features a range of senior financial positions within various prestigious high profile operations including McLaren, Johnson & Johnson and PepsiCo. A law graduate and chartered accountant, although not from a traditional logistics background, Bruce has prior direct experience of the day-to-day challenges of a major distribution center having previously worked at PepsiCo’s Southern Distribution Centre.
Commenting on his new position, he says: “PML represents a really exciting proposition. The business has not only ridden out the challenges associated with Covid and Brexit, but has thrived under the entrepreneurial vision of the current senior management team.”
SEKO Logistics has named Kai Lincoln as its first global VP of Sustainability, taking a major step forward in its ongoing drive and commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). Particularly, in 2022, SEKO will be declaring an ambitious goal to have all their owned and controlled facilities and activities, including road linehaul and parcel final mile, be carbon neutral by 2050. In his new position, Lincoln will oversee all efforts in support of this goal.
Based in Sydney, Australia, Lincoln joined SEKO in January 2014 as managing director of SEKO Omni-Channel Logistics, where he spearheaded the growth and development of SEKO’s international ecommerce capabilities for brands, while also introducing their first sustainable packaging options for brands looking to reduce their carbon footprint within ecommerce.
As part of his work directing ESG efforts for the global company, Lincoln will call upon the expertise of SEKO’s newly formed ESG committee and regional business leads in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. To date, this group developed SEKO’s sustainability roadmap, which contains set milestones and timelines with key targets in the coming years.
“Our clients want to work with responsible partners who do more than talk about making a difference – partners that actually show progress against their commitment to ESG. In fact, we see sustainability as a growth generator. It will take strong focused leadership, which Kai has repeatedly demonstrated over the past six years, to achieve success, but creating a more sustainable global supply chain is a non-negotiable,” said James Gagne, president and CEO, SEKO Logistics. “This is going to be the ‘reality check’ for future client relationships. While we do not have all the answers yet, we are taking steps forward with tangible goals, and we have the ambition and determination to achieve them.”
SEKO has been taking progressive steps to accelerate their sustainability commitment since completing their first “Green Audit’ a decade ago. SEKO’s sustainable procurement policy works to build partnerships with like-minded airlines, shipping lines and road freight vendors. It also provides clients with carbon calculator tools to improve the visibility of shipping impact and increase carbon offsets.
In addition, five SEKO facilities in North America and Europe are now operationally equipped to capture and use solar energy. Plus, across their facilities worldwide, SEKO is now measuring energy and emission impacts to help identify operational areas for reduction.
SEKO has also joined industry-led initiatives such as the Sustainable Air Freight Alliance (SAFA) to learn and contribute within its partner community, and sourced home compostable ecommerce packaging which breaks down in less than 180 days into completely non-toxic elements. In 2022, SEKO also introduced sustainability training internally for its more than 2,000 employees.
Lincoln noted that logisticians must become actively involved to reform the industry and reduce their direct and indirect use of fossil fuels.
“Better utilization of supply chain capacity, working with ‘greener’ vendors, utilizing home compostable packaging, implementing energy saving solutions within facilities, and driving growth in ecommerce are all practical steps to begin reducing the logistics industry’s carbon footprint,” said Lincoln.
“This isn’t an overnight journey, but one that will require sustained commitment beginning with myself, our executive team and every employee at SEKO, to ensure that we see continued material improvement over the short, medium and long-term. I am excited and grateful to be given this opportunity to redirect my efforts, knowledge and passion toward the changes that absolutely need to happen.”
Cargo handler Swissport is testing an unmanned, automated guided vehicle (AGV) at its new cargo center at Frankfurt Airport to reduce manual handling.
The Loedige industries’ AGV measures 10 ft and has a load capacity of 6,800 kg.
It can transport a variety of ULDs, including 15 ft containers.
Swissport said the AGV reduces the need for manual handling and frees up staff for more complex and value-creating tasks.
“The AGV is highly mobile thanks to an omni-directional drive system with secure laser scanning to avoid any collision,” the handler said.
“It has the potential to connect all areas of the cargo facility, such as the Pharma Centre, truck docks, castor decks and the ULD storage area.
“The AGV communicates with gates and other automated equipment, can cover large distances and is fully compatible with Swissport’s state-of-the-art material handling system.”
Dirk Goovaerts, global cargo chair at Swissport, said: “The AGV has the potential to increase the efficiency, flexibility, and safety of Swissport’s air cargo handling services and to take our service delivery to the next level.”
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