MD11 freighter service to start at Doncaster Sheffield

Doncaster Sheffield Airport has won a new cargo contract bringing flowers and vegetables to the UK. The airport has secured a deal with Network Airline Management who begin a weekly MD11 service from Nairobi in Kenya to Yorkshire this week. It will be the airport’s first scheduled flight handling perishable goods opening up a major […]

New Finnair Cargo terminal in Helsinki on track

Implementation of a new cargo management system (CMS) late in 2016 helped stabilise Finnair Cargo in January and 2017 has started well. Head of global sales, Fredrik Wildtgrube (pictured below) says the CMS has driven customer confidence in the right direction. “In addition we have executed our roadmap relentlessly with a clear customer mindset that has further […]

Pharma investments and focus continue for Cargolux

Cargolux Airlines is seeing strong pharma traffic on routes Europe to the Midwestern US and back, manager for products, Stavros Evangelakakis (pictured below) says. He also explains demand into Asia remains high, especially in China and it is also seeing growth in the Middle East and South America. He says despite growing competition in this […]

More members set to sign up as community spreads its wings

The Air Cargo Community Frankfurt now totals 50 members with more set to join up soon as the community continues to grow. Executive director, Joachim von Winning says it is in talks with several companies that are interested in joining the community. “Unfortunately, we cannot disclose anyone right now – but I think it is […]

Hyderabad International Airport starts mango exporting initiative to Korea

GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) – the operator of Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) – has started exporting mangoes to South Korea as it looks to boost perishables traffic through the indian airport. The gateway says it is part of envisioning Indian PM Narendra Modi’s vision to increase the income of Indian farmers. It has exported an initial […]

DHL Global Forwarding to keep the Norwegian seafood moving

DHL Global Forwarding is to accelerate the supply chain for the North Norwegian seafood industry by shipping live crabs and seafood from the Lakselv Airport Banak in Northern Norway to Asia and Northern America. On dedicated weekly flights, DHL will transport fresh seafood to the DHL terminal in Oslo, from where the freight is sent to South […]

Jet Airways expands cargo capacity on Heathrow belly route

Jet Airways Boeing 777

Jet Airways is to add a third daily flight between Mumbai International Airport and London Heathrow Airport using a Boeing 777-300ER. The Indian carrier says the new service will boost cargo capacity between the UK and India by almost 33 per cent, allowing the airline to capitalise on the growing round-the-year demand being witnessed between the UK […]

Emirates helps boost perishable exports from Vietnam to UAE

Emirates SkyCargo says it has has played a key role in strengthening trade links in perishables between Vietnam and the UAE. Over the last year, the carrier explain it has facilitated a near five-fold increase in the volumes of exports of fruits including rambutans and lychees from Vietnam to Dubai. Vietnam is an important market […]

E-commerce, technology and pharma focus for Hactl

2017 has to date been a strong year for Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) as freight flies through Hong Kong and it is expanding services to meet rising demand. This follows from a record-breaking 12 months last year when Hactl handled 1.65 million tonnes of cargo, up 1.7 per cent on the previous […]

Miami keeps the perishables flowing into North America

Miami International Airport (MIA) is the main gateway for perishables into the US and accounted for more than 64 per cent of all air imports last year. In 2016, the Florida hub’s perishable imports grew from 809,952 tonnes in 2015 to 846,787 tonnes in 2016 (4.5 per cent increase) as perishables continue to be very strong at MIA. The volumes of US […]

Salmon trade lanes and a new product for LATAM

LATAM Cargo has been through challenging times and 2016 was certainly one, but the carrier is targeting more perishable volumes and will launch a specialist new product this year, Justin Burns writes. LATAM’s specialist perishables product ‘Fresh’ is part of its transformation strategy, which includes growing its product portfolio, and will also see it launch […]

Cargolux looking to open up new African markets by the end of the year

Cargolux Airlines International is looking at opening up two new markets in Africa by the end of the year, regional director for Africa Jonathan Clark (pictured below) tells Air Cargo Week. They will probably be perishable markets and though Clark cannot say where they are, Cargolux has its eyes on two potential ones in East […]

dnata acquires handling operator AirLogistix USA

dnata has reached an agreement with Lynx Holdings LP to acquire its AirLogistix USA cargo handling operations at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Houston (IAH) in the US. The 30,000 square feet facility includes the only dedicated perishable cargo facility at Houston airport. This state-of-the-art cargo handling centre is suitable for all perishable products including pharmaceuticals, […]

Virgin aims to capitalise on pharma and e-commerce growth

As an airline that has grown up on transatlantic routes over more than 30 years, Virgin Atlantic Cargo says it is perfectly placed to capitalise of two of the industry’s fastest-growing trends; e-commerce and pharmaceutical shipments. Virgin now provides some 30 per cent of all capacity on transatlantic routes, the world’s largest pharma trade lane […]

New cargo facilities to be constructed at Incheon International Airport

Incheon International Airport is adding more cargo facilities to its already impressive roster so it can meet rising local demand and increasing competition. Korea’s main cargo gateway is to extend its offering for the airfreight community in the next few years as growth continues at a fairly rapid pace. “We are currently developing additional space […]

Turkish Cargo starts seafood freighter service from Izmir to Tel Aviv

Turkish Cargo has added a freighter route to its growing network and started a scheduled service from Izmir to Tel Aviv on 29 April using an Airbus 310 Freighter. The freighter will be carrying payloads of seafood to meet increasing demand for exports as  it says three of the four fishes in the world’s total export of fishery products are […]

Panalpina to acquire Kenyan specialist perishables freight forwarder

Panalpina is to acquire Air Connection – a Kenya-based forwarder which specialises in the export of flowers and vegetables. The move comes after Panalpina’s acquisition of Airflo in Kenya in 2016 and only two weeks after the company formally announced the launch of its global Perishables Network. Panalpina will acquire the family-owned Kenyan company Air […]

Emirates rose freighter flies to Barcelona for The Day of the Rose

Emirates SkyCargo’s rose decal freighter made a special appearance in Barcelona for Day of the Rose celebrations on 23 April, when locals gift roses and books to one another. The Boeing 777 Freighter A6-EFL, nicknamed Rosie was unveiled on Valentine’s Day, highlighting Emirates’ contributions to the global floriculture industry, having transported over 70,000 tonnes of […]

WorldACD: March growth not seen since 2009/10

An American Airlines Boeing 767 gets loaded at Heathrow Airport

The month of March will be remembered in air cargo for a year-on-year (YOY) percentage growth not seen since the recovery years 2009/2010, according to the latest report by WorldACD Market Data. The worldwide YOY numbers impressive the market analyst says “by any standard” and included a 14.6 per cent increase in chargeable weight (origins Asia Pacific […]

Revenues in Q1 at C.H. Robinson boosted by APC acquisition

C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s total revenues increased by 11.1 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 compared to Q1 in 2016 – reaching $3.41 billion. The company says performance for the first three months of the year was driven by volume growth across all transportation services, while total net revenues rose by 0.9 per cent […]

Perishables fuelling Saudia Cargo surge in Africa

The African market saw a major improvement in 2016 for Saudia Cargo with 14 per cent growth helped by extra capacity out of Nairobi – led by the perishables market. Saudia Cargo regional director Africa, Ken Mbogo says the carrier increased Boeing 747 Freighter frequencies from Nairobi from seven a week to eight. He says […]

ECS Group grows its global footprint with Americas moves

French-headquartered general sales and service agent (GSSA) the ECS Group continues to grow its network with the latest expansion being in the Americas. ECS Group chief operating officer, Adrien Thominet (pictured) explains it has been focusing heavily on South America and indeed the Americas in general. “We already had Brazil, and Mexico and have opened […]

New cool chain warehouse opens at Leipzig Halle Airport

Leipzig Halle Airport has opened a new refrigerated warehouse to store temperature-sensitive cargo at its World Cargo Center. The facility has direct access to the apron area and therefore guarantees short transport routes to and from aircraft and trucks. The configuration of the refrigeration centre enables parallel storage of pharmaceutical items and perishable goods as well […]

Profits slip at Kuehne + Nagel but revenue grows

Profits for Kuehne + Nagel dipped 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 despite revenue increasing by 7.2 per cent. The company made a profit of 165 million Swiss francs ($165.4 million) in 2017 compared to CHF169 million during the same period of 2016. Net turnover was up from CHF4 billion in the […]

Pharma trade at Miami on the up in 2016

The amount of pharmaceutical cargo handled at Miami International Airport (MIA) in 2016 surged by 48 per cent year-over-year to $4.4 billion. And since 2010, the total value of pharma shipments was $1.8 billion, and MIA’s pharma trade has grown by 140 per cent. MIA says the sector helped boost the total value of international freight originating from […]

Navitrans hopeful perishable focus will pay off in 2017

US air charter firm Navitrans had a challenging year in 2016 but is hopeful a move into the perishables market and a global focus will lead to a better 12 months in 2017. The company operates a round-the-world freighter service connecting the US, Europe and China, which chief executive officer, Shen Hong (pictured above) says […]

Emirates SkyCargo focuses on fresh with new perishables service

Emirates SkyCargo has launched Emirates SkyFresh – a service to help maintain the freshness of perishables and fresh consumables during transportation and a new cool dolly product. Emirates SkyFresh brings together the carrier’s state-of-the-art infrastructure at its hub in Dubai, a modern fleet of widebodied aircraft, and innovative cool chain services including the brand new ‘Ventilated Cool Dolly’ […]

2017 looks promising after challenging year in 2016

2016 was a challenging year due to the 22 March Brussels Airport terrorist attack, but Brussels Airlines vice president global cargo, Alban Francois (pictured below) tells Air Cargo Week’s staff writer, James Muir that 2017 is looking promising. He says the airline saw some growth in 2016 despite the effect of the attacks in March, […]

Cool chain remains an important sector for American Airlines

The cool chain remains an important part of business for American Airlines (AA) Cargo, and new routes means it can offer the service to more destinations, acting managing director – cargo sales, Roger Samways (pictured below) tells Air Cargo Week. AA added Tokyo Haneda and Auckland to its network in 2016, with additional flights to […]

Rocky 2016 for the UAE’s heavyweight players

2016 was a topsy-turvy year for Middle East airfreight. August saw just a 1.8 per cent increase in demand, the slowest since 2009 as the region was hit by weak volumes on Asian and North America routes. Increases in airfreight capacity, sea freight and world trade volatility were contributory factors. The year ended strongly and […]

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