Frank Newman, Managing Director, FedEx Services, has been appointed to the International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) Board of Directors.
Newman has over 35 years’ experience in the aviation industry, including senior roles with McDonnell Douglas and FedEx.
Based at the FedEx headquarters in Memphis, USA, he currently manages sales activities for the company’s airline and aerospace customer segment.
“TIACA has a vital role to play in bringing together all sectors of the air cargo supply chain and giving them a voice,” said Newman.
“I am looking forward to using this role to help ensure industry keeps abreast of changing demands as well as providing innovative solutions to colleagues around the globe.”
Newman takes over from Sarah Prosser, Managing Director – Legal Counsel at FedEx, who is stepping down after six years on the Board.
Newman will be taking part in a panel at TIACA’s 2016 Air Cargo Forum chaired by fellow Board member Amar More, CEO of Kale Logistics, which will look at e-business challenges.
The panel is part of three days of seminars and workshops at the ACF Air Cargo Vision 2020: An Open Sky to Innovation, in Paris, France.
Airways Aviation appoints former General Manager and Head of Training, Europe, Ian Cooper, as the new CEO, to spearhead ongoing global expansion.
Cooper played a key role developing the strategic direction of high-quality, airline-specific training, including the recent opening of Airways Aviation’s EASA-accredited fair-weather flying base in Huesca, Spain.
He takes over from former CEO Romy Hawatt, the Founder and Owner of Airways Aviation Group. Hawatt, who remains as Chairman, says, “Ian brings with him more than 15 years’ of experience in the global aviation training industry, including positions as training operations Director, Head of Training, General and Territory Manager. Prior to moving into training, Ian worked as a commercial airline pilot.
“I am delighted to hand the controls of rapidly-expanding Airways Aviation Group to such a capable and highly-respected industry professional. He enters the role following a comprehensive assessment and selection process, with the full confidence and support of the entire Airways team.”
Business outlook is strong as Ian takes the helm, with the recent launch of the Elite Pathways programme – Airways Aviations’ flagship integrated ATPL course – ongoing collaborations with universities, Asia-based cabin crew training and a growing base of Foundation Schools across Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Europe.
Cooper says, “We are fully committed to ensuring flexibility for our airline partners in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace and needs of the industry, and have some exciting plans and announcement for the near-future.
“My focus is to continue the growth and success of the business, deliver high-quality, innovative solutions for airlines and continue to be a global leader in aviation education and training.”
Asian logistics provider Kerry Logistics Network Ltd. is preparing to expand its global network with the acquisition of a US freight forwarder.
The Hong Kong-based company, which specializes international freight forwarding and supply chain services in China and Southeast Asia, recently said that it will acquire a 51% stake of an unnamed American company, and would announce the acquisition in less than two months, according to a report by the Jefferies Group investment firm.
Kerry has also identified acquisition targets in Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia, the report said.
The expansion of Kerry’s global network will better position the company to serve clients as it expands its international e-commerce capabilities for retailers. This comes as the rapid growth of online sales has third- party logistics companies scrambling to fill new logistics needs for retailers, and Kerry has been focused on building its cross-border services in Asia.
Despite its massive potential, the Middle East and North Africa ecommerce sector also has massive challenges, from payment to delivery.
In trying to overcome these challenges, Aramex and PayPal are working together with the I Shop the World (ISTW) program, which uses both party’s individual strengths to get around cross-border shipping and payments issues.
ISTW is an integrated shipping and payments platform that combines Aramex’s and PayPal’s services. It allows consumers to buy goods from merchants locally and internationally, and sort shipping in one transaction. It also allows companies to export to more than 60 cities where Aramex’s Shop and Ship service is available, and offers consumers a wider selection of products.
It should be noted that Aramex and PayPal have had a partnership since 2012. What’s new is the ISTW marketplace, which is currently available only to Shop and Ship customers.
When an order is placed, the merchant delivers the item to their local Shop and Ship hub, where, Aramex notifies the customer and ships the item to the to the customer’s Shop and Ship location.
The value of goods sold online in the MENA region is expected to reach $13.4 billion by 2020. Although the ISTW the process seems simple enough, it underscores how critical it is to get both shipping and payment right. Startups are trying to fill the gap.
“In ecommerce, buying and shipping are most important,” said Francis Barel, PayPal head of market growth. “How do you market a website to attract customers? How do you convert prospects that are on website into customers? How do you convert one-time customers into customers for life?”
“Delivering goods on time and in good condition — this is logistics,” Barel continued. “Aramex is our most strategic partner to date in the Middle East.”
The program helps merchants as well. It opens markets and eliminates cash on delivery payments and its attendant issues.
Demand for air travel in 2015 was the strongest it has been since the global financial crisis in 2010, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said recently.
Global passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), rose 6.5 per cent in 2015 when compared to 2014, according to data released in an emailed statement. It was also above the 10-year average annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent.
The Middle East was the strongest market in 2015 with an average annual traffic increase of 10.5 per cent with carriers from the region carrying 14.2 per cent of all international passengers. North America carriers carried 13.4 per cent of all international passengers. Capacity among the Middle East carriers was more than demand, rising by 13.2 per cent, which pushed the load factor, or average number of seats filled, down by 1.7 percentage points to 76.4 per cent.
“While economic fundamentals were weaker in 2015 compared to 2014, passenger demand was boosted by lower airfares,” IATA said in the statement.
Globally, annual capacity rose 5.6 per cent and the load factor increased by 0.6 percentage points to a record annual high of 80.3 per cent.
By comparison, the air freighter market grew by just 2.2 per cent in 2015, according to IATA data released recently. This compares to the 5 per cent growth seen in 2014.
The Middle East carriers bucked the global downward trend with a reported air freighter growth of 11.3 per cent, the strongest out all regions. For the month of December Middle East air freight traffic grew 4 per cent.
Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, recently participated in the recent Saudi Aramco Travel Fair, which was held at Saudi Aramco’s worldwide headquarters in Dhahran between Feb. 28 and March 3.
Alongside over 50 travel and hospitality exhibitors, Bahrain’s national carrier showcased and promoted some of the airline’s key products and services, its attractive flight schedule to/from five destinations in Saudi Arabia, and its flexible and convenient travel proposition.
Gulf Air A/Chief Commercial Officer Ahmed Janahi, said, “Participating in the Saudi Aramco Travel Fair offers us an ideal opportunity to showcase the distinctive Gulf Air offering to the Saudi Aramco team. Saudi Arabia is one of our key markets in which we have had a strong presence dating back to 1950, when Gulf Air launched its Dammam operations. Events such as these allow us to further consolidate our position in the market.”
Gulf Air operates one of the largest networks in the Middle East, with direct flights to five destinations within the Kingdom: Madinah, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Qassim, and double daily flights or more to 10 regional cities, in addition to select destinations in the Indian Subcontinent and Europe, from its hub at Bahrain International Airport.
Statistics revealed by Qatar Airways Cargo recently show that the world’s third largest international air freight carrier increased its tonnage by 37.5 per cent in 2015. Highlighting the airline’s continued growth and expansion, year-on-year figures show that the carrier increased its tonnage from 1,104,000 tonnes in 2014 to 1,520,000 tonnes in 2015.
The airline also revealed that import cargo into Doha increased by 29 per cent, exports out of Doha increased by 10 per cent and transit cargo at the hub increased by 39 per cent in 2015.
“At a time when international air cargo traffic grew only 2.5 per cent in 2015, it makes us very proud that our year-on-year figures from 2014 to 2015 show that we have grown our tonnage by 37.5 per cent,” said Mr. Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo. “We have achieved this phenomenal growth through a combination of fleet and network expansion, creative interline agreements and by deploying capacity on expanding or untapped markets.”
Further tonnage growth is expected for 2016 as more aircraft join the expanding fleet and more destinations are added to the route network. An A330F and a new Boeing 747F nose loader were received by the airline last December, and an eighth A330F recently joined the fleet. Three more Boeing 777 freighters are scheduled to arrive by the end of 2016. The airline splits its cargo capacity across its freighters and passenger aircraft with 51 per cent of shipments carried on freighters compared to 49 per cent in the belly-hold.
Etihad Cargo has taken delivery of a new Boeing 777 freighter which will enable the freight arm of Etihad Airways to continue its expansion plans into 2016. The aircraft becomes the 11th freighter in the fleet and has entered into commercial service since 1st March 2016.
Kevin Knight, Chief Strategy and Planning Officer for Etihad Airways, said, “The additional freighter gives us the opportunity to expand our specialist cargo services and grow our market share. Over the last year, we have been expanding into South America, Africa and Asia and the new aircraft will enhance capacity and enable us to increase frequency across our scheduled network, but importantly also increase our charter opportunities to growth areas of the world.”
In its existing fleet, Etihad Cargo currently operates three Boeing 777Fs, three Boeing 747s and four Airbus A330s. The Cargo division of the national airline carrier of the UAE currently serves 14 freighter-only destinations worldwide from its Abu Dhabi hub and has freighter capacity on Etihad Airways’ fleet of over 100 passenger aircraft.
The Etihad Cargo division generates over US$1 billion in revenue annually and reported strong cargo volumes for 2015, with 592,090 tonnes of freight and mail flown in total, a four per cent increase over 2014’s figures. The cargo division also accounted for 88 per cent of cargo imports, exports and transfers at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
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