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THE Government of India is planning to issue more licences to boost the national airfreight sector. According to an official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the additional licences for air cargo operations will be awarded following the upgrade of 35 metropolitan and non-metro airports across the country. In the meantime, the DGCA is expected to issue more licences to meet the growing demand for air cargo, according to a report from the Indo-Asian News Service. The development of non-metro airports is scheduled to be completed by 2010, while metro airports would take more time. A cargo hub will be developed at Nagpur in Maharastra. "There are many applicants who have applied for a licence to operate air cargo in India. Licences would be issued according to the infrastructure available at airports," a senior official said. Reliance Industries is one of the corporations that has expressed an interest in entering the market. Jet Airways has plans to begin cargo operations in the next 18 months, after Air India announced similar plans. lyington Freighters and Aryan Cargo Express are also expected to enter the airfreight transportation business, given that currently only 12 to 13 aircraft are dedicated to freighter services in India, the report said. This comes in the wake of a cabinet decision to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. "The aviation industry has demanded the government allow foreign investors in air cargo sector. Once FDI from foreign carriers is allowed, many major carriers will buy stakes in Indian cargo carriers," said Kuljeet Singh, partner of Ernst and Young (E&Y) in the report.
EMIRATES SkyCargo, the airfreight unit of Emirates Airlines, has expanded its capacity in Shanghai by using the bellyhold of Emirates's second daily Shanghai-Dubai passenger flight launched recently, Logistics Week reported. The new flight between Shanghai and Dubai provides 13 tonnes capacity, enabling SkyCargo to provide more space and more flexible services to customers in China, the report said. SkyCargo currently operates eight freighter flights a week to Shanghai by using Boeing 747-400 freighters and each flight can carry 120 tonnes, the report said. The carrier also uses the bellyhold of the two daily passenger flights of Emirates to Shanghai, the one operated by Boeing 777-300ER can carry 17 tonnes, while the other by Airbus 340-300 can carry 13 tonnes. SkyCargo also uses the 26-tonne capacity on two daily passenger flights of Emirates to Beijing, the report said. While in Hong Kong, SkyCargo operates 16 freighter flights a week, each carrying 120 tonnes and also uses belly of 17 weekly passenger flights. Each of the passenger flights operated by Boeing 777-300ER can be loaded with 17 tonnes each while the Airbus 330-200 can take 14 tonnes. With all the above flights, SkyCargo can export 3,500 tonnes from China a week.
MISSOURI business leaders in St Louis recently met with the Chinese ambassador to discuss strengthening ties, particularly a proposal to turn St Louis into a Midwest China trade airfreight hub. he airport is under-utilised, but in a central location, with a great deal of surrounding developable land and enjoys good highway access, reported The St Louis Post-Dispatch. Richard Fleming, president and chief executive of the St Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association, said: "It's all directed at how the Midwest is going to be served. St. Louis becomes a very compelling location for that." Lambert-St. Louis International Airport has never been a major air cargo facility, ranking 58th among US airports in cargo traffic in 2006, compared to 33rd place in passenger traffic.
BOEING looks forward to great things ahead, but mostly for freighters, says Jim Edgar, regional director, Cargo Marketing Boeing Commercial Airplanes in a company release. "These airplanes will be the key revenue generators for the air cargo industry for years to come," said Mr Edgar. "We've been on a great run with three consecutive years of record freighter orders," he said. "But that's just the beginning. This year we're anticipating a series of milestones that will bring about major improvements in fuel efficiency, environmental responsibility and operational flexibility." Boeing freighters currently account for more than 90 per cent of the world's dedicated freighter capacity, with the 747 freighters alone accounting for more than half of that, the company said. Orders for new Boeing production freighters have numbered 74, 81 and 83 for 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively, for atotal of 258 planes, accounting for 14 per cent of total Boeing commercial aircraft order value during that time, according to the company statement. Development of the 747-8F will proceed as General Electric conducts testing on its GEnx and Boeing reaches 50 per cent design release during the early part of the year. Flying test-bed runs and 90 per cent design release will be accomplished midyear and production on the 747-8F will start in late 2008, leading to a busy 2009 that features the airplane's rollout, first flight, certification and first delivery to Cargolux of Luxembourg.
IN the weakest year since 2003, US airlines saw cargo volumes grow by 1.1 per cent in 2007, according to figures from the US Air Transport Association. The sluggish growth included a 0.1 per cent drop in domestic air cargo traffic, with the business increasing by 0.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, including 0.1 per cent in December, based on cargo ton miles, reported US-based Aircargo World. International airfreight rose by a stronger 2.2 per cent in 2007 over the previous year, including a 5.9 per cent increase in December that represented the fastest growth in international airfreight volumes for US airlines in 15 months, the report said. It added that Pacific volume rose by 6.5 per cent in December while growing transatlantic traffic showed steady growth throughout the year and was up 5.7 per cent in December.
GLOBAL express giant FedEx is reportedly in talks to buy all or part of Deutsche Post's DHL delivery business in the United States in a deal that would help it challenge rival UPS, Dow Jones Marketwatch reported. Deutsche Post is said to be considering such a deal to cut US losses without abandoning the business completely. It is also said that such a deal would be in the works by May if it is to occur at all. Local concerns have been expressed in the Californian capital newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, which asked if its Mather Airport could survive if its sustaining DHL operations were consolidated at Sacramento Airport where FedEx operates. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported that the parent company Deutsche Post's CFO, John Allan, said that a total sale of DHL in the US was "very, very unlikely." MarketWatch said Memphis-based FedEx would not return calls. The newspaper also reported that UBS analyst Rick Paterson felt that FedEx doesn't need DHL's US delivery assets, and that waiting for the company to fall behind would give FedEx its domestic market share. But he also said FedEx would gain from DHL's large package inflow from Europe and Asia. Mr Paterson said FedEx would have the whip hand in talks because restive Deutsche Post shareholders have been demanding greater value from DHL. A DHL-UPS tie up is unlikely because of the "more contentious relationship" between the two giants overseas, he said. DHL is one of the world's largest delivery companies with 4,000 offices.
OHIO-BASED cargo airline, ABX Air Inc, the primary provider of domestic airlift to DHL in the US, is being ordered by the express package delivery giant to prepay a US$93 million note. The DHL demand was made on the contention that ABX Air's recent acquisition of Cargo Holdings International Inc. constituted a "change of control" of ABX Air under the terms of the note, reports the Cincinnati Business Courier. It said the note was issued as part of DHL's spin-off of ABX Air in August 2003. However, ABX Air is disputing DHL's demand, saying in a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that in the company's opinion a change of control has not taken place. ABX Air is cited saying in the report that it earlier made arrangements to borrow up to $61 million from "certain former significant shareholders" of Cargo Holdings, whose identities were not disclosed, in the event that its take over of Cargo Holdings prompted DHL to demand repayment of the note. According to the ABX filing, DHL's request for prepayment of the note will not constitute an event of default under a $345 million credit facility entered into in connection with the Cargo Holdings deal, if certain conditions are met within five business days of the payment demand. ABX has requested an extension of the five-day requirement to 15 days or more, the report added.
EXPRESS and logistics heavyweight, DHL, has increased the capacity and frequency of its Manila-Hong Kong air service to meet growing cargo demand and strengthen its Asia air network. The move comes amid forecasts that cargo volumes between Manila and Hong Kong will rise significantly. Citing figures from the Economist Intelligence Unit, DHL pointed out in a statement that exports from the Philippines to China grew by an average of 43.8 per cent between 2000 and 2005, while imports from China to the Philippines rose on average by 30.5 per cent over the same period. Tom Murphy, senior vice president, Aviation, DHL Express-Asia Pacific, said, "The enhanced service is to meet continued anticipated strong trade growth between the Philippines and Hong Kong." DHL said the Manila-Hong Kong service is operated by an Air Hong Kong Boeing 727-200 freighter to provide a larger cargo carrying capacity of 24 tons, up from 19 tons previously. The flight frequency has also been increased from four to five times a week. This represents a total payload capacity of 240 tons or a 58 per cent increase in payload capacity for the service. Air Hong Kong is a 60/40 joint venture between Cathay Pacific and DHL. DHL's Asia air network currently comprises more than 30 destinations in 16 countries and territories, served by over 20 aircraft in dedicated air operations. Internationally, the DHL network links more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. DHL is a Deutsche Post World Net brand. The group generated revenues of more than EUR60 billion (US$86.57 billion) in 2006, the release added.
SCANDINAVIA's SAS Cargo Group has announced the appointment of general sales agent Vector Aviation to help the company develop a foothold in Vietnam's emerging air cargo market. Vector Aviation is expected to shorten SAS Cargo's lead time for air cargo transport between Vietnam and Scandinavia, a company statement said. "The growing production of textiles, footwear and foodstuff in Vietnam has created a market for air cargo, which we would like to develop," said SAS Cargo vice president Nils Pries-Knudsen. Under the new arrangement, air cargo will be transported via Bangkok to connect with SAS' daily departures to Copenhagen and Stockholm. This route will shorten the airline's transit time from Vietnam to 24 hours.
FEDEX Express recently announced the expansion of its customer portfolio of services with the launch of FedEx International Economy service in China and nine other Asia Pacific markets. Markets include mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and from March the service will extend to Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, the report said. FedEx International Economy is cheaper, day-definite, customs-cleared, door-to-door service and features transit times that are two days longer than the premium service, a company statement said. The service addresses needs of those who need reliable budget intra-Asia, and Asia-to-US/Europe shipping, the statement said. FedEx International Economy is designed for customers with less urgent shipments under 68 kilograms. Offered on competitive list rates and backed by a money-back guarantee, FedEx International Economy typically delivers intra-Asia packages in two business days, and shipments to the US and major markets in Europe typically in three to four business days, the statement said. According to the statement, small-medium-sized enterprises are among those that will benefit from FedEx International Economy service, as they require express solutions that are both cost-efficient and reliable. The Asia Pacific region has the largest concentration of SMEs worldwide. With FedEx International Economy service, these SMEs can now enjoy the convenience of door-to-door pick-up and delivery, including customs clearance at an economical price, the statement added.
