American sees room for more growth at its key US hub
Miami International Airport (MIA) represents a key hub for American Airlines Cargo due to its extensive links into the Americas and perishables unsurprisingly make up much of the cargo volumes. The carrier runs about 340 flights out of MIA on a daily basis to 132 destinations and it is the airline’s largest international gateway. American […]
Air France-KLM, Virgin, Delta and China Eastern expand strategic partnerships
Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic and China Eastern have announced plans to grow their strategic partnerships through various equity investments. As part of the agreement penned, Air France-KLM will acquire Virgin Group’s 31 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic for around £220 million ($287 million) with the transaction set to take place in 2018. Air […]
Heathrow posts revenue and cargo rise in 1H2017
Revenue was up 4.1 per cent and cargo volumes up 9.1 per cent to 820,000 tonnes in the first six months at Heathrow Airport. For the results ending 30 June, the gateway says revenue was £1,374 million, up on the £1,320 million in 2016. Adjusted EBITDA (net income with interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation added […]
IAG Cargo to fly Constant Climate shipments under its Critical product
IAG Cargo has announced Constant Climate shipments are now able to fly under its Critical product, enabling emergency medical shipments to benefit from its highest priority service. The new enhancement means shippers sending urgent pharmaceuticals now have access to the non-off loadable status and performance guarantees offered under Critical. Less than a year since its […]
ACI: stronger global economy drives May growth of 11.1%
The strengthening global economy fuelled growth of 11.1 per cent in airfreight in May, according to the Airports Council International (ACI). ACI says after a period of economic uncertainty regarding US trade policy and risks related to the UK’s vote to withdraw from the European Union, global commerce is “no longer sidelined”. The association says […]
Digital innovations and flowers high priorities for AFKLMP
Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP) is focussing much of its energy on digitisation and innovation. The launch of myCargo is contributing to its ambition to innovate customer service by offering relevant and improved digital services. A personalised toolkit for customers, namely employees working at freight forwarders, myCargo is a portal where customers can make bookings, quote […]
Government sets out vision for future of UK aviation
The UK Government’s Department of Transport has launched plans to develop a new UK aviation strategy to help shape the future of the aviation industry to 2050 and beyond. Shaping aviation to help boost economic growth, connectivity and skills will be at the centre of a new strategy to prepare the industry for the next three decades […]
Community approach and cargo initiatives paying off at Schiphol
E-commerce, pharmaceuticals and perishables helped propel Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to year-on-year (YOY) tonnage of 8.5 per cent in the first five months of 2017. In May alone, there was a YOY uplift of 12.3 per cent and head of cargo, Jonas van Stekelenburg (pictured below) says the gateway is happy with the progress as various […]
BIFA names Mark Bromley as new national chairman
The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has elected Mark Bromley (pictured above) as its new national chairman for a two-year period – succeeding Fred Osborn who becomes immediate vice-chairman for a two-year term. Woodland Group group director and company secretary, John Stubbing was was also elected vice-chairman by the board. Sir Peter Bottomley, MP, remains as BIFA president. Bromley […]
AIA Cargo appointed as GSA for Cobalt Air
Cobalt Air has appointed Airbridge International Agencies Ltd (AIA Cargo) as its worldwide cargo general sales agent (GSA). This marks another positive milestone in the development of Cobalt Air, Cyprus’ fastest growing airline, and will enable it to generate additional revenues across its growing network by maximising its capacity. Cobalt Air operates scheduled services using […]
Swissport The Netherlands awarded IATA CEIV Pharma
Swissport The Netherlands has been awarded the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) CEIV Pharma certificate at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The cargo handler says the certification reflects Swissport’s “dedication to offer excellent life science & healthcare shipment handling services” and will increase its contribution to the Pharma Gateway Amsterdam. The subsidiary of Swissport International says the […]
Volumes grow 7% in 1st half of 2017 at Panalpina
Panalpina recorded robust airfreight volume growth of seven per cent in the first half-year (1H) of 2017, but it says “higher freight rates and margin pressure persisted in a continuously challenging market environment”. The freight forwarder volumes reached 473,100 tonnes in the six months, which was largely driven by the strong growth of Far East […]
LUG to handle cargo for Emirates at Frankfurt Airport
LUG air cargo handling has won a contract to handle belly and freighter cargo for UAE carrier Emirates at Frankfurt Airport from October this year. Emirates runs three Airbus A380s and Boeing 777 belly services a day and eight 777F flights a week to Europe’s busiest cargo gateway. LUG runs freight facilities at Frankfurt Airport and […]
Upgrades to Ireland’s biggest runway at Shannon Airport
Ireland’s longest runway at Shannon Airport is being upgraded this week and proving a triumph of logistics as the equivalent of one football pitch is re-laid between dusk and dawn each night, the airport has revealed. Shortly before midnight, following the last arrival/departure at Shannon, a team of 90 vehicles and 70 people roll in […]
Qatar flies Holstein cows from Europe to meet dairy demand
Qatar Airways Cargo has transported the country’s first two shipments of 230 Holstein cows from Europe on a Boeing 777F as part of a project to set up a new dairy industry in Qatar. These initial shipments are part of a 4,000-head herd that will be making their way to Qatar, as it looks to get […]
TNT customers continue to feel the affect of cyber-attack
FedEx says TNT Express customers are still “experiencing widespread service and invoicing delays” three weeks after the cyber-attack on 28 June, which had significant impact on TNT’s worldwide information systems. FedEx says the attack has affected its financial performance, but it is “still evaluating the financial impact of the attack”, but it is likely it will be material. […]
FTA says Brexit talks must make rapid progress to prevent disaster
As the second round of Brexit talks got underway today – the Freight Transport Association (FTA) says negotiations must move ahead with speed to compensate for delays caused by the general election. Reports claim EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will stray from the official agenda this week to discuss import quotas. FTA says negotiators on […]
EFW targets more P2F conversion programme orders
The conversion market is buoyant and Elbe Flugzeugwerke’s (EFW) Airbus A330-300 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion programme is hitting the right notes. The A330P2F programme was launched in 2012 as collaboration between ST Aerospace, Airbus and EFW. It includes the A330-200P2F, which Egyptair Cargo was the first to sign up for in December 2014, and the A330-300P2F, […]
Freighter conversions demand coming from Asian market
Asia continues to be most in-demand market for PEMCO World Air Services’ (PEMCO) various conversion programmes. In April, PEMCO launched its passenger-to-FlexCombi and passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversions for the Boeing Next Generation (NG) B737-700 aircraft, which has been well received in the marketplace. These add to the full-freighter and quick change programmes for the B737-300, a […]
Heathrow Airport 3rd runway expansion vote postponed again
A vote by Members of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons on whether a 3rd runway will be built at Heathrow Airport has been postponed again – to the first half of 2018. In October last year the government formally gave its approval to building a new runway at the UK’s biggest port, but […]
Customs plans not fit for Brexit purposes, says FTA
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has raised serious concerns about the National Audit Office (NAO)’s report on the progress of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) programme. The FTA also says suitability to handle the anticipated levels of Customs declarations at British ports post-Brexit and has grave doubts that the new system, currently in development by HMRC, will be […]
Leipzig/Halle Airport posts 5.5% growth in 1H 2017
Cargo volumes at Germany’s second-largest freight hub Leipzig/Halle Airport continue to grow. In the first six months of the year, the Eastern German gateway handled 540,984 tonnes, a 5.5 per cent increase on the same period in 2016. Europe’s fifth-largest cargo airport after Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Heathrow, has now posted increases in tonnage for 13 […]
Strong surge in freight tonnage at Frankfurt-Hahn
In the first half of 2017, Frankfurt-Hahn Airport saw a strong increase in its cargo business – as it recorded record growth of more than 50 per cent. The German gateway handled 49,000 tonnes of freight from January to June – a gain of 52 per cent compared with the first six months of 2016. In […]
Europe’s airports call on UK to set detailed Brexit position
The European airport industry today once again warned about Brexit and its potential impact on European air transport, connectivity and the wider economy during a public hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels. The Airport Council International (ACI) Europe says more than a year on from the UK’s vote to leave the European Union (EU), the uncertainty as to what will happen when the UK will […]
Gatwick Airport posts 20.6% tonnage rise in June
New long-haul belly connections continue to drive cargo figures at London’s Gatwick Airport. The UK gateway handled 7,835 tonnes in June, a 20.6 per cent increase on the same month last year when Gatwick handled 6,494 tonnes. On a rolling 12-month basis from July 2016 to June 2017, tonnage is up 18.2 per cent to […]
ACI Europe: impressive freight performance in May
Freight traffic posted impressive monthly year-on-year (YOY) growth of 12.2 per cent in May, according to the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. The airport trade body say this surge was on the back of improved economic conditions globally and a rebound in international trade. Big movers YOY in May included London Heathrow Airport at 10.7 […]
AMI UK passes 1 million spot-rate milestone
AMI has provided its one millionth cargo spot-rate quote in the UK. The trade-only airfreight and express wholesaler opened its Spot Rate desk – specialising in live market quotes – in 2007. The Spot Rate team is based in London and Manchester and handles 60 per cent of AMI’s total airfreight business in the UK. The success […]
Schiphol targets more pharma community members
Pharma Gateway Amsterdam (PGA) is looking to add members to further improve cooperation, collaboration and transparency in the pharma supply chain at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. AirBridgeCargo Airlines was the latest to join last month and the second airline to sign up to the 14-member quality pharma initiative, which was set-up in March 2016. Head of […]
UK freight forwarders welcome Customs fallback system
The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has welcomed news that an electronic back-up system that would prevent the impact of a systems failure by the HMRC CHIEF (customs handling of import and export freight) system has received approval from the UK Government. BIFA Director General, Robert Keen says: “Although the back-up system has been in […]
Virgin Atlantic Cargo makes senior sales team appointments
Virgin Atlantic Cargo has made two senior appointments to its sales team, which it says comes at a time it is seeing soaring volumes, most notably from its home market in the UK. Ryan Ellis (pictured above left) takes up the position of head of global accounts while Ray Wood (pictured above right) joins the […]
