New cool centre to open at Leipzig/Halle in April
Leipzig/Halle Airport’s new cool centre will start operating in April and is set to boost the gateway’s cool chain tonnage. Last year was a sterling year as the airport passed the one million tonnage mark for the first time as freight handled reached 1,052,000 tonnes. This investment is part of Leipzig/Halle’s efforts to continually and […]
Volumes grow but overcapacity hits yields at Ethiopian
As a major player in the African market, Ethiopian Airlines has suffered from declining yields caused by overcapacity, but Ethiopian Cargo managing director Fitsum Abadi (pictured below) says cargo traffic has grown strongly. He says the industry has seen huge capacity growth compared to demand, primarily due to extra space on wide-body passenger aircraft, hitting […]
UK must adapt or miss out on vital trade opportunities
While the UK waits for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) says it is its duty to help the UK grow and thrive internationally, head of cargo and business aviation Conan Busby (pictured) tells Air Cargo Week (ACW). The UK government announced its backing for a third runway at Heathrow Airport […]
Perishables the focus at shippers forum in Africa
Perishable concerns and the opportunities they bring were aired at the Air Shippers Forum at the 4th Air Cargo Africa 2017 event in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday, 21 February. The forum was attended by over 90 delegates from the shippers and forwarders community where the focus was on flowers, fruits and vegetables – key export commodities […]
Ambitious Siginon Aviation looking to grow its presence in Nairobi
Kenyan cargo handler Siginon Aviation is targeting a contract win with a European carrier in Nairobi in the near future as it looks to further expand its presence at one of Africa’s main airfreight hubs. Earlier this month it secure a cargo handling deal with Qatar Airways Cargo, adding to others it has with Cargolux, […]
Perishables centre inaugurated in Bengaluru
Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS) has launched AISATS COOLPORT at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. The facility is India’s 1st integrated on-airport perishable cargo handling centre and covers 11,000 square metres and cost INR 48 crores ($7.8 million) and was inaugurated by the Government of Karnataka’s minister for large and medium industries and infrastructure development, Sri. R.V. Deshpande. AISATS COOLPORT aims […]
Spanish market competitive but IAG remains at the forefront
IAG Cargo is one of the main players in the Spanish market and says it had a “buoyant” 2016 meeting anticipated volumes for the year. There have been challenges in Spain this winter such as the poor harvest of vegetables, which have impacted supply chains and created pressure doing business in the region. IAG moves […]
DHL to launch new domestic route in Norway for seafood
DHL is to start a new cargo route between Oslo Airport and Lakselv Airport Banak – bringing seafood exporters like Finnmark and Northern Norway closer to the Asian export markets. The route will be serviced by an Airbus A300 with a cargo capacity of around 40 tonnes. Depending on volumes and demand, the route will be serviced once […]
AENA airports post 11.2% air cargo growth in 2016
Spain was one of the fastest growing European air cargo country markets in 2016 as many gateways had a bumper year with most of the top airports posting strong growth numbers. This was due to a range of reasons including an improving Spanish economy boosting both imports and exports, increasing bellyhold and freighter capacity through […]
Ceremony held for launch of Qatar’s new Miami service
Qatar Airways Cargo has started its first freighter service to Miami International Airport (MIA) as part of a two weekly cargo-only flight schedule that began on 3 February. The carrier is using Boeing 777 Freighters fly twice a week from Doha via Luxembourg, the cargo carrier’s European hub, with stops in: Sao Paulo, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; […]
Massive 21% freight rise at Brussels in January
Brussels Airport saw a huge 21 per cent increase in cargo volumes in January compared to the same month in 2016 – which it puts down to growth in the freighter and integrator segments. The airport handled 44,952 tonnes, which was significantly up on the 36,964 tonnes in January last year and a welcome start to […]
WestJet revenue grows as expansion plans are implemented
Revenue at WestJet improved in 2016 as it continued growing and expansion plans were implemented, director of WestJet Cargo and charter operations, Heidi Grigg tells Air Cargo Week (ACW). She says revenue grew in 2016 despite economic challenges and the air cargo industry suffering from lower yields, but these should see some improvement in 2017. […]
Frankfurt Airport looks to innovate as it targets a bright 2017
A strong final quarter boosted Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to a pleasing airfreight result in 2016. Senior vice president for cargo, Dirk Schusdziara (pictured below) says after a very slow start to the year, it got better and better, handling 2.2 million tonnes in 2016 – 2.1 million tonnes of freight and 85,000 tonnes of mail. […]
Honey and lambs drive American’s new NZ route
American Airlines Cargo is targeting more growth on its Auckland (AKL) to Los Angeles (LAX) service that was started six months ago. Since the route’s mid-year launch in 2016, the carrier says it has seen consistent, rapid expansion – a developing story it explains is perfectly illustrated by the short notice shipment of a world renowned […]
Siginon Aviation named as official Qatar Airways Cargo handler in Kenya
Siginon Aviation has been appointed as the official ground and ramp handler for Qatar Airways Cargo at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. Siginon Aviation’s $10 million state-of-the-art air cargo terminal at JKIA was commissioned in 2014 has been custom designed and includes a 3,000 square metre Perishables Centre, a 5,000 square metre General […]
Tonnage growth of 4.1% at Halifax Stanfield in 2016
Halifax Stanfield International Airport saw cargo growth of 4.1 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015. The Canadian gateway handled 33,329 tonnes and says much of that freight was Nova Scotian lobster It estimates $187 million (Canadian dollars) of seafood and lobster exports were shipped from Halifax Stanfield in 2016 up approximately $40 million from 2015. As […]
Uncertain 2017 in store for the Middle East – but region set to grow
2016 was a tough year for Middle East airfreight with regional growth dragged lower by economic and capacity concerns. Back in July, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) demand in the region grew by 6.7 per cent year-on-year. Pretty strong compared to most of the rest of the globe but much lower than […]
22% growth in perishables, but Qatar expects more in 2017
Perishable trade grew by 22 per cent in 2016 and Qatar Airways chief officer cargo, Ulrich Ogiermann (pictured below) tells Air Cargo Week (ACW) staff writer, James Muir that he expects the numbers to keep growing in 2017. Qatar Airways Cargo launched six new freighter services in 2016 to Dallas, Budapest, Ho Chi Minh City, […]
IAG boosted in the US from Aer Lingus acquisition
The US is more important than ever for IAG Cargo after its acquisition of Irish carrier Aer Lingus. IAG Cargo’s vice president for commercial in North America, Joe LeBeau (pictured below) says the takeover of the Irish carrier has given cargo a boost in a “hugely important market” and it is now moving more shipments […]
Kenya Airways Cargo to export flowers into Australia
Kenya Airways Cargo (KQ Cargo) is now exporting Kenyan cut flowers to Australia after partnering with Qantas Airways. The new service was introduced after market research identified Sydney and Melbourne as being key markets for Kenyan flowers. The Kenyan carrier is targeting to lift more than 30 tonnes of flowers into Australia every month as part of […]
The gateway from North America to China
Edmonton International Airport (EIA) is focusing on trade with Asia taking advantage of being home to the only freighter between mainland China and Canada, writes Air Cargo Week’s staff writer, James Muir. The airport says developing itself as the gateway to and from North America and China/Asia is not an accident, telling ACW: “EIA is […]
Record tonnage year for Amsterdam Schiphol
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ended 2016 with a record as it handled 1.66 million tonnes, up 2.5 per cent on 2015. Europe’s third largest air cargo hub had a strong end to the year, with December figures up 10.4 per cent on the same month in 2015 at 149,000 tonnes. Cargo until November was up 1.8 per […]
Freight tonnage rise of 1.1% in 2016 at Brussels Airport
Cargo traffic at Brussels Airport rose by 1.1 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015, despite the impact of the terrorist attacks. The gateway handled 494,673 tonnes, a 1.1 per cent increase on the 489,303 tonnes in 2015 as the second half of the year made up for performance in the first half. Full freighter cargo […]
WorldACD: best peak season in years
Air cargo had its “best peak season in years” and is shaping up to be one of the better ones in a long time, according to WorldACD. In its report for November, the data market analyst says the USD-yield has gone up with a much larger percentage than in previous years, while the month showed an acceleration […]
Qatar Airways adds four new freighter routes in the Americas
Qatar Airways Cargo has launched freighter operations to four new destinations in the Americas starting from 2 February 2017. The Boeing 777 Freighter will fly twice a week to Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Quito (subject to government approval) and Miami in the US. The twice weekly freighters will depart from Doha via Luxembourg, the cargo carrier’s […]
Air battling with sea for increased market share
Getting food to a customer’s plate as fresh, tasty and nutritious as possible has been the mantra of retailers and growers for hundreds of years. Where in the past this may have involved a quick cart ride from farm to village market, today’s globalised world means making the best use of freight options either by […]
Growing demand from customers for ‘visibility’ of perishables
A major issue and demand in airfreight is for operators to provide customer visibility throughout the entire supply chain for perishables. Panalpina’s regional business development manager for perishables, Quint Wilken says showing temperature deviation is vital in keeping product quality. He notes: “Customers want to see what is changing in their supply chain at a […]
Increasing perishables to Asia the main focus for Kenya Airways
Kenya Airways (KQ) is looking to develop new Asian markets for the Africa countries flower-led perishables industry, acting general manager of cargo Peter Musola tells Michael Mackey. Some 70 per cent of the perishables market is Europe-bound Musola tells Air Cargo Week and the Nairobi-headquartered carrier is looking to do something similar in China by […]
Tough business environment in Brazil as weak economy takes its toll
2016 has been a challenging year for RIOgaleao Cargo as it has been for most Brazilian airports, which it says is due to the “unprecedented economic and political crisis” that has impacted all sectors of the Brazilian economy. The gateway says as a result, imports and exports volumes have dropped quite significantly versus the previous […]
More excellence programmes on the radar of IATA
The International’s Air Transport Association’s (IATA) senior manager for special cargo, Andrea Gruber said the association is looking into anymore potential excellence initiatives like CEIV Pharma. Speaking at IATA’s Cargo Media Day on 7 December, she explained it is investigating opportunities within air cargo where it can strive for excellence. Possible programmes could include for […]