Kenya-based cargo airline Astral Aviation, which is expanding its 14-strong fleet with three Boeing B757-200Fs and two Airbus A320 P2Fs, is also working on adding up to four B777 freighters and more Airbus aircraft.
Astral founder and chief executive Sanjeev Gadhia said the B757-200F’s will be operational from June 2022 onwards.
“The B757-200F’s will operate scheduled flights from Astral’s Nairobi hub to Johannesburg, in addition to Dubai and Tel Aviv, with plans to operate charter flights to and from China by Q3.
“The A320F will be operational from mid-July 2022 and will operate on charter basis in 2022 on routes between Africa, Middle East and South Asia. The second A320F will be delivered by the end of the year.”
Astral is looking to the future freighter additions, primarily from the Airbus stable.
Ghadia said: “In addition to the two A320Fs which have been acquired from Vaayu, which are the first converted A320Fs in the world, we have also signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to acquire two A321Fs by 2023 and four A330-300Fs (delivery between 2024-5) while we are negotiating to acquire two A330-200Fs (2023-4) and four B777-300ERFs (2024-5).
“We are very impressed with the Airbus freighter products and the support that has been given from Airbus, EFW and ST Engineering in inducting the A320F, hence we remain confident in acquiring more Airbus freighters.”
Ghadia added that while he remains confident in the African market, the plan is to continue to position Astral as a global airline, because some of the freighters will operate “beyond the skies of Africa,” to regions such as China, South Korea, India, the UAE and Europe.
Hong Kong-based China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC) has signed a contract for its first B737-800SF freighter conversion from Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. (AEI).
The aircraft will commence modification at the end of July and will be redelivered to CALC in October 2022. Touch labor and maintenance requirements will be completed by the authorized AEI conversion center, STAECO, located in Shandong, P.R. China.
CALC chief executive Mike Poon said: “We shall develop this freighter business further as it enables us to exploit in full the utility of our aircraft assets to serve the escalating demand for cargo capacities globally and meet operators’ needs via a prevalent freighter aircraft model while contributing to a greener and sustainable aviation industry.”
The AEI converted B737-800SF freighter offers a maindeck payload of over 23 tons and incorporates eleven full-height 88” x 125” container positions, plus an additional position for an AEP/AEH.
LATAM Cargo has unveiled a “significant” plan to expand its transatlantic freighter operation in the second half of the year.
The cargo business said that its expanded network will offer more frequencies and a more diversified network between Europe and US cities, and greater connectivity to Central and South America via New York and Miami.
The LATAM Group’s cargo operators will almost double their capacity between Europe and the Americas, increasing weekly flights by 85% from seven to 13.
This represents a 160% increase in weekly flights on the trade compared with 2019 levels, LATAM said.
The new routes that will be added between Europe and the US will be operated by a LATAM Cargo Colombia freighter aircraft.
These new routes will operate with a rotation of: Amsterdam (AMS) – New York (JFK)/Miami (MIA) – Bogota (BOG); AMS – JFK/MIA – Viracopos (VCP) – BOG; and AMS – Madrid – JFK/MIA – BOG.
LATAM Cargo chief executive Andrés Bianchi said: “The growth of our cargo network, coupled with the improvements to our systems through CROAMIS and the new distribution channels that make capacity available, reflect the commitment of LATAM and its cargo subsidiaries to offer more and better alternatives to our customers and to provide the solution of excellence our customers require to connect the world to South America.”
The LATAM Group currently operates 14 B767 freighters, but this will increase to 16 by the end of the year.
LATAM received its latest Boeing 767 converted freighter in May.
The company also added that it would increase its freighter service between Miami and Sao Paulo to nine flights per week.
Global air cargo volumes fell again in June, down 8% year-on-year, with additional summer airline capacity continuing to apply a downward pressure on airfreight rates, especially on the North Atlantic which has seen a 30% decline over the past three months, according to the latest weekly air cargo market intelligence from industry analysts CLIVE Data Services, part of Xeneta.
Demand in the general airfreight market in June was -7% compared to 2019 and follows the -8% drop in volumes reported by CLIVE for May 2022.
Available cargo capacity in June rose 6% over the same month of 2021 but remained -11% down on the 2019 level. The ‘dynamic load factor’ for the month – based on CLIVE’s analysis of both weight and volume perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available to produce a true indicator of airline performance – was 59%, 9% pts lower than in 2021 and 2% pts adrift of June 2019.
General airfreight rates in June were 129% higher than in 2019 and 13% higher than in 2021. Although this continues the decline seen on a global level in recent months, the drop slowed relative to May.
“In our analysis of air cargo market performance in May, we said the North Atlantic market could provide ‘a test case for the direction of other markets once they also return to their pre-Covid levels.’ This is still true, and we may see the consequences sooner than we anticipated a month ago. General North Atlantic airfreight rates dropped by around 30% between the first week of April to the last week of June. This brings these rates very close to the 2020 levels. If we just look at the Spot market, the rates are already lower in the last two weeks of June 2022 compared to 2020 by around 5% and the market has yet to bottom out. This will be causing some interesting soul-searching for airlines and forwarders,” said Niall van de Wouw, founder of CLIVE and now Chief Airfreight Officer at Xeneta.
“While flights ex Asia to the US and Europe remain relatively full, we are seeing a subdued North Atlantic market, largely due to more capacity. We have to consider what will be the knock-on effect of a softening air cargo market? Will carriers deploy their freighters to other markets in Asia Pacific, Africa, or South America? We are already seeing some freighter redeployment in the market.It will also be interesting to see the reaction of forwarders that have secured air cargo capacity directly with airlines or through charter brokers or ACMI providers because, in a softening market, more options are available. They were willing to pay a price for reliability and their own control, but they may now be considering how much cheaper it could now be to use commercial airline capacity. And, has the ‘cost of living’ crisis even started to kick-in yet?” he continued.
Rising cases of Covid will be another market concern, he said, as is the continuing struggle to tackle the people drain in the aviation and logistics industries. He pointed to reports of restrictions on freighter operations at Frankfurt Airport due to labor shortages as well as the recent study by IRU, the international road transport, which shows 2.6 million truck driver vacancies went unfilled in 2021 and forecasts a worsening situation in 2022. Relatively low wages and poor working conditions for some workers on the frontline of supply chains, van de Wouw said, means “we won’t see this struggle disappear anytime soon.”
Rock-it Global has signaled its close support for the Airforwarders Association (AfA) by maintaining a leading presence on its Board of Directors following Sasha Goodman’s term, which expires at the end of 2022.
Although unrelated to Goodman’s departure, Jacob (Jake) Fisher, vice president and general counsel to AfA Platinum member Rock-It Global, will join the AfA Board, effective immediately.
“Jake brings a wealth of industry experience and legal expertise to the AfA board,” said Kirk McCann, AfA chairman of the board, and executive director of North American development, Scan Global Logistics.
“Please join the board of directors and me in congratulating Jake on this prestigious appointment. We look forward to working with him in advancing the agenda for AfA.”
Longstanding and esteemed member of the AfA board Sasha Goodman, chief administration officer, Rock-It Global, will remain an active AfA member continuing on the planning committee for the AfA AirCargo Conference, at which she will take a leadership role in the women’s networking event.
“Sasha has done a tremendous job not only representing our company but also advocating for women in our industry,” said Paul Martins, CEO, Global Critical Logistics, the parent company of Rock-it Global, Dietl International, Dynamic International, Cosdel, and CargoLive. “It is fantastic that our company will continue to be well represented on the AfA Board by Jake Fisher. Thank you again Sasha and congratulations, Jake!”
Fisher was elected to fill an interim slot created by the departure of Brendan Akamu, who recently accepted a position with Hawaiian Airlines.
Airline members are not eligible to hold a seat on AfA’s board.
Akamu’s former seat term expires this Fall, at which time Fisher will be required to run for re-election for a four-year term.
New arrival at time:matters Singapore Ltd.: Jon Norvald Haugen has been named Managing Director for the expert in high-performance and special speed logistics effective July. In this role, the 38-year-old will be responsible for the target markets of Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Jon Norvald Haugen succeeds Wolf-Dieter Schwarz, who has successfully led time:matters Singapore Ltd. (founded in 2008) since 2013, in the role of Managing Director since 2018. Following 45 years in the logistics industry, Wolf-Dieter Schwarz is taking a well-earned retirement.
Jon Norvald Haugen, a native of Norway, has had a successful track record in the air freight sector for more than a decade. Prior to his new position as Managing Director of time:matters Singapore Ltd., he held various management roles within Lufthansa Cargo. These included Country Manager Norway and, since 2018, Director Sales and Handling Middle East, based in Dubai. His appointment as Managing Director marks another milestone in time:matters’ growth strategy in the Asia-Pacific region. In recent months, the company has already established local network management and invested in both sales and customer service.
The time:matters customer service team for the region, based in Bangkok under strategic partner Lufthansa Services (Thailand) Ltd., looks after all steps along the transport chain. These include shipment pick-up, delivery and customs clearance at the customer’s request. In this way, the team ensures maximum control over the entire transport process.
Alexander Kohnen, CEO of time:matters, stated: “Together with Jon Norvald Haugen and his team, we want to continuously develop high-growth markets in Asia in the future as well and further expand our broad range of transport services in the Asia-Pacific region and intercontinentally. This will allow us to meet the specific requirements and needs of our global customer base for fast and highly efficient transport solutions.” He further emphasized: “We would like to thank Wolf-Dieter Schwarz for his enormously successful work on behalf of our company over more than 15 years and wish him all the best with his future projects.”
Customers of time:matters Singapore Ltd. include global players from the automotive, aviation and aerospace, hightech and semicon, life and health, medtech, machinery and component, and logistics sectors. With its comprehensive range of services, time:matters Singapore Ltd. is in a position to offer transport solutions for time-critical and sensitive shipments that are tailored to each customer’s individual needs. Its portfolio of services ranges from the provision of advice and execution of bookings, including the issuance of air waybills, through to local invoicing.
Hermes Logistics Technologies (HLT) has appointed Helen Arrowsmith as Senior Project Manager and Abhijeet Misra as Service Delivery Manager, to strengthen its senior leadership team as part of an ambitious growth strategy.
With these appointments, HLT is fulfilling its objective to further enhance the team with a balance of IT domain expertise paired with extensive air cargo industry experience.
Joining the UK office to head up the project management team, Helen Arrowsmith brings an extensive background in the IT sector in business operations and project management roles, including 13 years at Cisco, managing diverse projects, events, and product launches.
“I have always had an interest in the airline industry and since Covid this industry has seen many changes,” said Arrowsmith.
“I am excited to have joined the team at Hermes Logistics Technologies and look forward to driving projects to deliver the Hermes solution to our customers.”
Abhijeet Misra joins as the new head of service delivery, responsible for managing HLT’s New Delhi office.
Misra brings 17 years’ experience in the IT service industry to the position, having spent the previous three years in service delivery and operations as Senior Delivery Manager at Orange Business Services.
In his previous role, Misra was accountable for complete Cloud Infrastructure Services for clients, focused on client satisfaction as well as managing projects and the implementation team, resolving reliability and capacity issues, release management, and tracking service metrics.
“I am learning from the best in the logistics industry, gaining an understanding of this complex and valuable industry, and have been enjoying expanding my knowledge,” said Misra.
“What brought me to the cargo world is its fast growth and I anticipate that this sector will continue to grow in the coming years.”
Working with the Product and Technical teams, Misra will be looking at HLT helpdesk processes, Services Level Agreements, and documented procedures to allow HLT to support customers in a structured, seamless way.
HLT continues to drive the expansion of its global workforce and has significantly increased the size of its team in the last five years across its offices in the UK, Israel, and India, in line with its strategy for international growth.
South Korean start-up airline Air Premia has gone live with IBS Software’s iCargo Management solution for its air cargo business.
The mid- to long-haul start-up from South Korea was founded in July 2017 and started operations in Aug 2021. With operations based at ICN airport, Air PREMIA flies to Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Los Angeles (US) by Boeing 787-9.
Air PREMIA is using the entire suite of iCargo Sales and Operations from IBS Software, with US Customs capabilities to help streamline its cargo booking and operations processes.
American Airlines Cargo has started offering customers full access to its US network when booking on WebCargo and 7L Freight platforms.
The airline, which operates more than 5,000 daily departures from the US, said it now provides a larger network for flights in and out of the US on WebCargo than any other carrier.
WebCargo users can book on American’s US originating routes, with access to more than 100 international destinations.
Since late April, users have been able to book on American out of Germany, Italy the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, soon followed by the addition of France, Portugal and Switzerland. The airline currently operates more than 35 direct routes to the US from these markets.
“This inclusion of our US network is pivotal as we grow in the digital booking space and in our partnership with WebCargo,” said Roger Samways, vice president of commercial for American Airlines Cargo.
“It’s crucial to us at American that we are where our customers need us to be and that our network is positioned to best serve the industry. We are excited to see how our expanded presence on the WebCargo platform will enhance the way our customers can do business with us.”
Manel Galindo, chief executive of WebCargo by Freightos, said: “With a 10x increase in air cargo bookings conducted by US-based freight forwarders this year, it is clear that they share our unequivocal preference for digital air cargo. American Airlines Cargo has been an ideal partner and we’re proud to continue our global expansion with them across our WebCargo and 7L Freight platform.”
American now has more than 2,800 widebody flights a month available for general freight and expedite freight product bookings on the WebCargo platform. The airline said it also has plans to continue expanding its presence on WebCargo in the months to come.
Cargo iQ has initiated a pilot study to enhance shipment visibility and increase speed in the road freight segment of an air cargo shipment’s journey, with Emirates Airlines, Jan de Rijk, and software company CargoHub co-operating for the trial.
The pilot will test new Cargo iQ Road Feeder Services (RFS) specifications for practicality, ensuring that the message standards to be exchanged between CargoHub, the trucking company and the airline work in practice.
The main objective of the pilot is to close the communication gap between the truck driver, the trucking company’s head office, and the airline.
“Cargo iQ is setting the milestone requirements for status updates, indicating which messages the trucking companies have to send, and CargoHub will standardize the content of the messages by ‘translating’ it for the airlines,” said Lothar Moehle, Executive Director, Cargo iQ.
“Ultimately, the RFS specification will be integrated into the Cargo iQ Master Operating Plan and the potential IT service solutions will be standardized to fit the Cargo iQ requirements, allowing members to choose one of the potential providers.”
Pilot participant CargoHub is providing the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) platform, which provides transparent and predictable information on truck movements to handling agents and/or airlines and provides capacity and cargo availability information to trucking companies.
Truck movement information includes all air shipment data relating to trucking planning information and start and end loading and unloading dates and times.
“The goal is to minimize loading and unloading times, thus increasing the speed of air cargo transportation by road,” said Raoul Paul, Chief Executive Officer, CargoHub.
“At the same time, airlines will benefit from end-to-end supply chain visibility of air cargo shipments subjected to road transport.
“Our team has worked hard over the past two years to build an innovative platform based on the latest technologies to provide end-to-end digital logistics and transport supply chain visibility.”
With the creation of the data model to ease communication between the trucking CDM platform and the airlines, all stakeholders involved in the transport of an air freight shipment can plan and monitor the transportation status of their shipments combined with all related truck movement information, whether messaging or API technology is being used.
Emirates Airlines is also part of the collaborative effort to standardize operational status updates for air cargo carried on trucks.
“We recognized that not all trucking companies have equal system capabilities and to make the standards openly available and attractive to use for all truckers, we had to provide an easy way for all to participate,” said Laurent Lebouille, Chair of the Cargo iQ RFS sub working group and Manager Process, Planning and Project Delivery at SkyCargo, Emirates Airlines.
“That meant we had to find software-as-a-service companies that could deliver the kind of status updates in the formats that we were looking for from an industry perspective.
“After a collaborative extensive market search, we found several providers that offered the kind of services that are needed to support the smaller trucking providers without their own system.
“Now we just have to show that it is possible in practice.”
CargoHub, Emirates Airlines, and Jan de Rijk are currently performing various air cargo shipment scenarios with live shipments carried on trucks, with a second pilot to include additional participants already in the planning.
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