Last year’s 535,000 tonnes of cargo have brought BRU back to the figures of 2007, when DHL Express moved its intercontinental hub business to Leipzig, Germany Mr Feist said. “This figure also demonstrates the obvious synergy between passengers and cargo, thanks to our increasing number of destinations offered to travellers and cargo clients.”
“The opening of DHL Express’ new facility will also most certainly double or even triple the throughput capacity,” he stated. Brussels is the number two logistics hub of Belgium, next to the port of Antwerp. “This evolution is an important signal to the market, demonstrating the potential of Brussels for Belgium and Europe.”

Cargo flights will be lost
Mr Feist also announced a more than €100 million investment in Brucargo, without going into specifics. On the other hand he express a profound feeling of uneasiness due to the noise fines imposed by the Brussels Region. Mr Feist recalled his speech of last year in which he had addressed the politicians to finally solve this issue once and for good before the electoral campaigns for the 2019 scheduled national elections start. 
However, “one year later, this solution is nowhere in sight,” he regrets. “This will only cause more problems for both our night and day flights, hence for passengers and cargo alike.” As for the latter, he estimated that the traffic shift from Amsterdam to Brussels is precarious and temporary. “I am convinced that Amsterdam will find a solution very fast.” If so, BRU will inevitably lose cargo flights if no lasting noise solution is found, he concluded.
The federal transport minister François Bellot planned to commission investigations concerning the impact of noise on the surrounding areas of BRU Airport to a consultancy bureau. But as of now the politician failed to do so.

Marcel Schoeters in Brussels

JD.com co-led the financing with Vietnamese entertainment and social media firm VNG Corp, which is an existing investor, JD.com said in a statement. The company did not specify the size of the funding, but it noted that following the deal, it would become one of Tiki's largest shareholders alongside VNG.

Raising large funds
In a related development, JD.com last week invited a select group of investors to raise funds for its logistics unit with a target of at least US$2 billion. According to insiders, the company eventually plans to list the business overseas.
The Reuters report pointed out that the move comes as China’s major e-commerce companies are looking to bulk up their logistics businesses to support their global expansion ambitions and boost revenues by offering services to third-party entities.

Gaining more independence
Chinese investment firm Hillhouse Capital Group and Sequoia Capital China will likely be lead investors of JD Logistics’ funding round, while a number of state-owned and international investors have also shown strong interest in the deal.
The fundraising and any ensuing spin-off would give JD Logistics - set up as a separate entity within the company last April - some independence and help it offer services to third-party clients as well as to compete with Alibaba’s logistics network Cainiao and delivery services firms such as SF Express.
JD.com posted net earnings of 1 billion yuan (US$151 million), its highest-ever quarterly profit, in the three months to September 30.
The company has a current market cap of $66 billion.

Nol van Fenema

Air freight - in the meantime its own worst enemy?
Airlines and airports were only too happy to take up the slack left by less sea freight and more air freight. But things changed rapidly during the second six months of 2017. Air freight boomed further, rates went up, backlogs became daily occurrence and pharmaceutical and other temperature sensitive cargo was more and more happy to fly instead of sail.
Complacency is a dangerous factor in any business. This is no different for air freight.
The peak season started already in June last year and to-date has still not tapered off. Some analysts are of the opinion that due to the continued cargo boom and buoyant western economies, that 2018 will be a twelve month peak season.
Carriers presently cannot handle the volumes on offer, airports are facing totally congested freight areas and road feeder services are failing due to long waiting times at airport warehouse doors as well as lack of drivers due to demand. Is all of this falling back into the ocean going vessels hands?
Airline cargo bosses can basically sit back and pick-and-choose what cargo they’ll accept. Two years ago, they were fighting to keep their feet on the ground. Nobody seems worried at the present time that the boom will slow down or that supply will dry up.
It was Hong Kong-based Hactl’s CEO, Mark Whitehead who made a point at last year’s Munich air show when he told his audience not to be complacent as market changes can happen quickly and be quite very damaging for the industry.

Hanjin demise gave ocean freight a setback
It’s all history now, but when the massive Hanjin shipping line went bankrupt there was an upheaval in the ocean trade lanes and since then many shippers are still very wary about further disasters. So far, so good, nothing more has happened and ocean vessels, despite continued low yields, are filling up again.
Ocean freight has also suffered somewhat from a shift by some shippers to overland (train) transport from the Far East. Not a danger (yet) for air freight, but somewhat worrying for the sea freight industry in the long run.
Everyone knows that the air freight market is a cyclical and one where the downdraught has always happened. However, so far during the past 24 months, this has not come about. On the contrary, it continues to rise in leaps and bounds and capacity is becoming very short with yields going up.
Is this leading to complacency? Hopefully not.

John Mc Donagh

"Our service offerings must include more than simply transporting containers from port to port," the manager emphasized his strategic view.
Recognizing this, H-L is currently increasingly looking at providing dedicated hinterland services for their customers, be it by road, rail or inland waterway, including insurance and customs clearance. Danish competitor A.P. Moeller-Maersk, the world’s number one, has already taken this path through a door-to-door offer to their clients, Habben Jansen confirmed. But “in comparison, our share of this kind of value added services rendered is already higher.”

Broad range of business opportunities
Simultaneously with expanding the service range beyond pure port-port transports, there are further occasions for achieving higher revenues and strengthening customer loyalty, indicated the executive. For example, one such step would be to introduce time-definite maturities contrasting the booking of storage positions for containers on board a given vessel. "The difference is: we guarantee dispatchers a certain time for transporting their shipments; conversely, customers leave it to us to decide whether to load their goods on board our "Chicago Express", "Colombo Express" or "Guayaquil Express," the manager exemplified. This gives his company greater shipping flexibility and options for better utilizing the capacity. 

Boxes traveling “First,” “Biz,” or “Eco”
Another novelty H-L is going after, is the introduction of booking choices for stacking steel boxes on required positions in the ship’s holds. The tool resembles the well-known seating options “Eco,” “Business,” and “First,” in aviation, with their corresponding price differentiation. According to this model, boxes with first-class status would be loaded last, placed in top position on board the vessel and unloaded first after arrival at the port of destination, true to the motto: last on, first off. Conversely, a box booked as “Eco", is stowed at the bottom of a ship’s freight hold.
This different positioning of containers on board the H-L fleet results in running time advantages of up to a full week for containers booked in "First." To introduce such stowing options based on different price levels, "is not really rocket science," Habben Jansen emphasized.

No major merger on the horizon
Currently, in-house professional groups are working on complementary business services that add value to the customer, increase H-L’s revenues, and differentiate the Hamburg, Germany-based shipping line from its competitors. The results produced by these think tanks will be tabled later this year.
Asked about the consolidation process in the shipping industry, Habben Jansen said that he does not expect further mega mergers to happen. The synergies to be achieved nowadays from big mergers are only marginal, he stated. Due to the oligopoly in shipping, with five or six big lines dominating the seven seas, among them H-L, regulators have become increasingly critical, authorizing mergers only under extremely strict conditions.

Youngest fleet
Turning to the 2018 outlook for his company, the manager is cautiously optimistic. The demand for sea freight is very satisfactory and rates are on the upswing after a slight slump in Q4, 2017. In contrast, fuel has become more expensive lately, putting margins under pressure. 
The manager does not expect overcapacity to put pressure on fares this year. This is because in 2017 only a few large container ships were put into service, adding to the world fleet. Conversely, older ships have gone out of service or have been scrapped.
That is not an issue bothering Hapag-Lloyd much. Thanks to the 2017 accomplished merger with the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), H-L operates one of the youngest fleets in all ship classes. Investments in new vessels are not on his company’s 2019 and 2020 agenda, said the Dutch national. Instead, the focal point for the coming years is to reduce the debt of US$7 billion, Rolf Habben Jansen pointed out.
The results of the 2017 financial year are to be announced in March.

Heiner Siegmund

The move comes as the conglomerate is facing rising debt pressure with six units of the HNA Group, including Tianjin Tianhai, HNA-Caissa Travel Group, Hainan HNA Infrastructure Investment Group, Bohai Capital Holding, HNA Investment Group and flagship Hainan Airlines Holding, having suspended their shares from trading in Shenzhen this month, pending major disclosures on the situation in the coming weeks. Another unit, CCOOP Group, has been halted from trading since November, pending the disclosure of some asset purchases.

Sale of Hong Kong Airlines considered
Highlighting the conglomerate's rising debt pressures, Adam Tan, the chief executive officer of HNA Group Co reportedly cancelled plans to attend this week’s World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Although the company declined to provide further details, Bloomberg quoted an internal memo from Tan saying that the company would cut costs “dramatically” and urged employees to cut down on unnecessary expenses because 2018 will be HNA’s “Year of Efficiency.”
As financial pressures have been piling up at HNA, one of the world’s most indebted companies, after the conglomerate spent tens of billions of dollars in an acquisition spree in recent years, the Group reportedly is considering the sale of Hong Kong Airlines, one of the flagship units in the group, Sydney-based consultancy CAPA reported.

Swissport IPO
CAPA noted this week that there has been "speculation that HNA has too much pride to sell Hong Kong Airlines, unless for an exceptional price. Then again, selling Hong Kong Airlines could be easier: unlike HNA's airlines in mainland China, Hong Kong Airlines has no government ownership, and the local market has a more open regulatory environment."
In a related development, Reuters reported this week that HNA is considering an initial public offering (IPO) or sale of cargo handler Swissport as the cash-strapped conglomerate seeks to fix its finances, people close to the matter said.
The Reuters report added that a process to list or sell Swissport could start as early as the second quarter with HNA hoping to secure a valuation of at least 2.7 billion Swiss francs (USS$3.71 billion) for the firm, the price they paid for it in 2015. Rothschild was advising HNA, the report said.

Financial pressure mounts
However, HNA was expected to wait until its IPO of Swiss caterer Gategroup was executed before proceeding with any Swissport deal, Reuters quoted sources as saying, adding that Swissport also needed to close its acquisition of Australian ground handler Aerocare, expected by the end of the first quarter.
HNA planned to float Gategroup in Zurich around March or April in a deal valuing the firm at about 2 billion Swiss francs including debt, sources close to that deal said.
Swissport has annual sales of 2.7 billion euros and provides ground services for more than 230 million passengers, handling 4.3 million tonnes of cargo a year for 835 aviation clients.
Reuters also quoted HNA Group chairman Chen Feng as saying last week that he was confident China's aviation-to-financial services conglomerate would manage its cash crunch, and would continue to receive support from banks and other financial institutions this year.
With the latest decision by Chinese banks to freeze HNA’s accounts because multiple loans have been tied to the same collateral, makes that assumption rather contradictory.

Nol van Fenema

Fleet describes itself as an “online marketplace designed to make the complex world of international shipping easier to navigate.” Big words, but apparently not lacking in substance. Or else it would be absolutely inexplicable that LH Cargo together with UPS, Hunt Technology Ventures, and some other players invested a total of US$10 million in Fleet’s second round of fund raising, hence in a company that is only four years old.

Sharp increase in users
Since its launch, Fleet has raised a total of US$14 million, with the now accomplished second round of funding, enabling the company to hire additional IT experts, increase features and functionality of their product, and drive business development forward, reads a company statement. 
Meanwhile, a growing number of forwarding agents, Fleet speaks of more than 500, manage their shipments via the IT provider’s portal. Other user groups are importers and exporters. They all can save thousands of dollars when booking their transports online, holds Fleet, “reducing the time spent getting quotes, setting up accounts, managing paperwork and checking on the shipment status.”

Steep learning curve expected
Comments LH Cargo CEO Peter Gerber: “Fleet is a perfect match for us as the company combines innovative and visionary thinking with a strong intrinsic motivation to improve air cargo booking and shipping efficiency and, finally, our customers’ overall experience.” The manager goes on to say: “We expect substantial learnings with regard to our product and service portfolio. Thus, we are sure that Lufthansa Cargo and Fleet will mutually benefit from sharing concepts and ideas.”
His airline’s communications people remained tight lipped when asked about the precise spending in Fleet. All a press release reveals is that it is “significant.” This one might expect, otherwise their COO Alexis von Hoensbroech would hardly not have been granted a seat in the digital company’s expanded Board of Directors.

Wide spectrum of users
Since Fleet provided services can be utilized by different industrial actors, it brings up the question whether LH Cargo doesn’t risk conflicts with forwarders, their key clients. There is reason for concern that agents could be sidelined, should a growing number of shippers book their transports themselves, thus making traditional services rendered by forwarders, such as customs clearance or tailored pharma transports, superfluous in future times.

Forwarders react differently
Not really, comments Quentin Lacoste confidently, Group COO of French agent Clasquin:
“Being passionate about client-centricity, we at Clasquin develop specific digital offerings to meet their expectations and therefore do not see a significant threat in such initiatives (like LH Cargo + Fleet).” The executive further states: “Since years, there is an acceleration of initiatives to facilitate direct dealings between end clients and carriers, via digital & online platforms. As such, the expectations of learning by Lufthansa through the collaboration with Fleet will surely be fulfilled. They can be suited to a particular range of clients, yet the consulting and solution design by forwarders provides a different level of value proposition.”
In contrast, Bastian Trapp, Frankfurt-based Gateway Manager at EMO Trans reacts cautiously skeptically:
“This development requires critical monitoring in the times ahead,” he states. “Time will tell, whether a cargo airline is well advised to liaise with an online marketplace. To me this kind of close cooperation is at least contentious. One outcome might be that competition is intensified, making the business for smaller and mid-sized forwarding agents even tougher.”
Whether such concerns are justified, or rather not, will become apparent in a few years.

Heiner Siegmund

“One industry voice - one global association”
That’s the target set by Jon Conway, ASA’s Director General who took over the reins from Samim Aydin early last year. Samim, after a lengthy tenure as head of ASA, decided to hand over responsibility and retire from the association. Mr Conway has also been busy in what he calls “adopting a back to the basics approach” to the handlers needs. Not an easy task these days considering the present atmosphere between carriers and handlers on the costing side.
One of ASA’s main objectives is still to be recognised as an equal partner by the mightier IATA, ICAO and ACI organisations. Also not an easy task as maybe these three may well feel endangered by ASA’s presence and closeness to the ground handlers and their problems. Much of ASA’s work is centred around setting up a viable networking platform among the handlers where all can share and exchange (within relevant competition rulings) ideas along with other industry stakeholders on how to better their decision making as a whole.
The strategic objectives laid out by ASA are many and need constant updating and involvement by its members. For example, new services and products are tabled at regular meetings as well as data exchange especially in the area of aircraft ground damage reporting and the suchlike.

More involvement in cargo matters?
At first glance air cargo does not seem to be that high on ASA’s working programme. This is not the case, however, as there are nine additional board members, some who are active in air cargo areas. It would may be of benefit to the air cargo handlers if ASA were to increasingly lobby the airlines with regards to the much published drawbacks cargo handlers are experiencing at present. Our recent reporting on the above has shown that staffing problems and finding adequate handling potential is becoming a nightmare for almost all handlers.
In this respect, ASA could surely use their experience and contacts to try and get the carriers and handlers representatives around the table in order to finally draw up a plan to alleviate the problem before it gets too late.
 
John Mc Donagh

Old school trucking was yesterday. With Cargonexx appearing on the scene, the truck business is undergoing a profound transformation, abandoning beaten tracks, venturing off to new shores. Or else, how could be explained that more than 3,700 transport companies operating 60,000 trucks have already registered with Cargonexx, one might ask.
With the startup’s appearance, artificial intelligence penetrates the trucking market rather sooner than later, offering partnering companies a digital platform for allocating their transport capacities more efficiently compared to traditional habits. Their proven technology automates tedious processes and optimizes truck runs, evidenced by an average quality rate of 99 percent, applying for all orders placed, states their founder and CEO Rolf-Dieter Lafrenz. In Germany alone, about 3,700 registered road hauliers are collaborating with Cargonexx, making the capacity of no less than 60,000 trucks available to multi parties for digitalized freight booking via the service provider’s site.

Looking into the future
After the company’s promising start, the team of currently 28 staff is working on extending the firm’s reach, spanning the network all across Europe. The risk seems to be manageable. Thanks to a self-adapting algorithm the tours can be fine-tuned day after day, increasing the load factor constantly, avoiding empty runs thus benefitting the customer and the environment thanks to less greenhouse gas emissions. Based on the growing stream of inflowing data and their being matched with existing statistics, “we will even be able to forecast truck loads on many routes,” announces the manager. This accounts particularly for daily system traffic – say, between Hamburg and Frankfurt or Dusseldorf and Munich. “The driver receives his information via smartphone or tablet where to pick up shipments next while being on the road,” says Mr Lafrenz.

Quintupling cargo volumes
The electronically controlled system, based on high-performance data transfers and real-time message streaming, steers the entire capacity provided by trucking companies. “Our partners only provide their vehicles; the rest we take care of thanks to our self-learning algorithm and our platform that allows us to automate and smartly manage the trucking business from A to Z,” Herr Lafrenz states. He expects the shipment volume booked by customers to quintuple this year, making it necessary “to double our staff in 2018.” Not an unrealistic aim, it seems, given the fact that, statistically, one out of three trucks traveling on German autobahn is empty. 
However, a major problem cannot be solved by Cargonexx’s smart IT-tool: the lack of drivers. Currently, German trucking companies are short of 40,000 drivers. And the situation is deteriorating because 500,000 will retire within the next decade. Due to the high employment rate in Germany, low pay and unattractive working conditions truckers are facing, the retirees can only be replaced by drivers coming from eastern Europe, particularly Poles, Ukrainians or Belarusians – if at all!

Heiner Siegmund

LATAM Cargo becomes certified CEIV Pharma handler in MIA
The Latin American cargo carrier obtained the Center of Excellence of Independent Validators (CEIV) Pharma certification from the IATA. This way, LATAM Cargo expands its network of CEIV approved station after becoming the first carrier in the Americas to achieve this labelling. 
This achievement is the result of a joint and coordinated effort of different departments across the company –Product Management, Operations, Quality, HR, Infrastructure and Procurement, among others– and ensures its commitment to become the industry’s air freight of choice for the transportation of pharmaceutical products, guaranteeing all its processes adhere to the most stringent international standards.
“This recognition encourages us to continue improving our processes at each station, adopting global quality standards to guarantee that all our sensitive shipments will reach their destination in perfect condition,” stated project manager Rodolfo Marre.

FedEx Express announces management change in Europe
David Binks, FedEx Express Europe president and CEO of TNT, will retire in June. He will be succeeded by the U.S. integrator’s current VP of finance – international, Bert Nappier effective June 1, 2018.
Binks started with FedEx in 1983 following an acquisition in the UK. In his long-lasting career he held executive positions in Durope, the Middle East and Canada. Since 2016, he was responsible for the compition of the TNT integration into FedEx Express.
His successor Nappier, a U.S. national, joined FedEx in 2005 and has served the package delivery company in a variety of leadership roles.
Helena Jansson, a more than 20-year FedEx veteran and native of Sweden, will succeed Nappier as FedEx Express senior vice president of finance - international.

LH Cargo Started Serving Osaka
Lufthansa Cargo has added Kansai (KIX) to its global network, offering customers two weekly freighter flights since a few days. The new route is operated from Frankfurt via Novosibirsk to Osaka on Wednesdays and Fridays, complementing the already existing daily freighter services from and to Tokyo-Narita as well as the Lufthansa passenger flights to Kansai, Tokyo-Haneda, and Nagoya.
“These new flights to Osaka are strengthening our position in Japan. It is a further investment into the very important Japanese airfreight market,” states Frank Naeve, VP Asia-Pacific at LH Cargo.
“We are proud to have long-standing connections with customers in the Japanese air cargo industry since 1969. Our aim is to build on this and expand into the future,” said Alexis von Hoensbroech, CCO at Lufthansa Cargo on the occasion of the first flight that took to the air on 18 January.

Hellman appoints Lieb as chairman of the Supervisory Board
Thomas Lieb, the former CEO of Schenker and member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bahn AG was appointed Chairman of the seven-member Supervisory Board of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics. The decision follows the change of Hellmann’s legal form last December. Since then, the company, based in Osnabrueck and Hamburg, Germany,  operates as Hellmann Worldwide Logistics SE & Co. KG. The transformation of the company’s legal form results in a dual management structure, consisting of a Management Board plus a newly formed control body, the Supervisory Board. “His many years of experience in the logistics business make him a valuable partner for Hellmann Worldwide Logistics,” announced Thomas Knecht, Chief Executive Officer of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics SE & Co. KG.
“The newly formed Supervisory Board is not just a formal control body for the SE & Co. KG, but also an important sparring partner for the Management Board. I am delighted that the senior figures on our Supervisory Board are going to contribute their expertise on future strategic development of our family-owned company,” explains Jost Hellmann, Chief Commercial Officer of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics SE & Co. KG.
Former Schenker Chief Thomas Lieb exited the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary suddenly in March 2015, following prosecutor investigations into activities of Schenker managers in Saint Petersburg. The group was suspected of having continuously paid bribes to corrupt Russian officials to conduct business largely unhampered.

AMS adapts truck parking rules
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has upgraded its truck parking facilities in the freight zone Schiphol Zuid. Consequently, new rules will apply. Starting on 29 January Truck Parkings 1 and 2 will be accessible to season ticket holders only. This April the upgrade of Truck Parking 3 will also be completed. This will be accessible on an hourly rate base. This site also provides facilities for drivers. To maintain safety and traffic flows in the Schiphol Zuid area, public road parking will no longer be possible. The parking ban will be enforced.

Heiner Siegmund  /  Marcel Schoeters

CFG: What’s your position on involving CGN in developing e-commerce traffic further, your bread-and-butter business together with passenger traffic?

AT: The buoyant global economy is fuel for the industry and – hand in hand with this - also the cargo business. This applies in particular to e-commerce, which according to all indicators will continue its double-digit growth rate in times ahead. As a matter of fact, Cologne/Bonn Airport benefited from this trend considerably since we are a hub for express freight, chosen by integrators such as UPS, FedEx and DHL as gateway. This puts CGN in an extremely strong position in a market that is extremely competitive. To grow this segment constantly, we are in permanent talks with the integrators to leverage the e-commerce potential even further. This worked out well so far, proven by the record result of 840,000 tons handled at our airport in 2017, up 7 percent to the previous year.

CFG: Lufthansa’s low cost subsidiary Eurowings increased their number of intercontinental flights from / to CGN lately. Does this traffic have a relevant effect on freight flows via CGN?

AT: As of today, belly-hold freight is still a segment that needs to be improved, as seen by the throughput of 5,500 tons. We still see considerable business potential for growth in the future.

CFG: One hears that CGN is not so interested in handling general cargo but concentrates on express shipments instead. What’s your position on that?

AT: This assumption is inaccurate since we do our utmost to provide optimal support to airlines, sales agents and forwarders alike, wherever possible, to drive this segment forward. The traffic results are evidencing this, and since last year 31,000 tons of standard freight were flown via Cologne/Bonn. This is a remarkable increase of 25% compared to the previous year. In 2015, we transferred the handling of general cargo to an external service provider. In addition to the paramount role of express freight, standard shipments will remain a key pillar of our cargo business.

CFG: Are there any plans in your drawer to expand your cargo handling facilities, not just for integrators?

AT: Not really, because all existing freight facilities are optimally utilized.         Therefore, we don’t have any expansion plans for the time being. Should additional needs arise, we will of course respond to market demands

CFG: Which growth and tonnage are you anticipating for 2018?

AT: According to forecasts, air freight and particularly e-commerce volumes will continue to grow in 2018, provided the economic circumstances remain as they are. This will be of benefit for us, although at this stage it would be premature to mention any precise growth figures.

Interview: Heiner Siegmund

Some movement in the pipeline
Let’s not be too pessimistic however!
It looks like there is positive movement in this direction, even at first glance if it is seen to be geared towards land and sea transport.
So why not for air transport as well? Four different organisations got their heads together and decided to try and come up with improved safety by what they see as a better focus on cargo integrity. The four are the Global Shippers Forum (GSF), World Shipping Council (WSC), International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA) and the TT Club. They have met together during the past months aiming at what they see as a wider promotion on use of the so called Cargo Transport Units (CTU) Code for enhanced and better and safe packaging for cargo transport. Here, the transport of Dangerous Goods (DGR) has a prominent position.
As stated above, the emphasis at the congress was on safe transport in containers. Here the group is calling for a “better and more effective interaction between the shipper, who is responsible for specifying requirements for the type of equipment suitable for the cargo intended to be carried, and the container operator in providing units that satisfy such requirements.”
A good start and maybe and hopefully one which the air transport industry might like to take note of for the future. Or, even join forces with the mentioned organisations in looking at combined efforts to increase safety awareness.

John Mc Donagh

CCS-UK join forces to resolve the problem
It was back in early December that the CCS-UK Cargo Community User Group realised that it was necessary for a joint-effort on the part of all participants in order to try and alleviate this problem and find a suitable solution going forward.
The CCS-UK group stated at that time that due to heavy congestion at the Heathrow Cargo Terminals, the access to which had to be closed for a few days, “that there is a need for a universal advance information system that will alert handling agents to arriving vehicles in order to speed up their processing.”
There is no overnight solution for unworkable congestion being experienced at many airports as cargo volumes continue to grow and e-commerce traffic is adding considerable volumes on top of what is normally handled as ‘hard cargo.’ The CCS-UK User Group plans to hold a series of road shows during early 2018 in order to attract attention to the problem, but more importantly, get valuable feedback from the industry. The CCS-UK User Group is formed from representatives out of the UK Air Cargo Community which include airlines, ground handlers and freight forwarders.

How about a joint European information flow?
In the previous issue of CargoForwarder Global we highlighted the issue of the negative service aspects being faced by cargo ground handlers due to lack of staff and what they see as airlines not willing to shoulder more of the extra cost for qualified staff and systems.
The truck waiting times issue is part of the above problem and one which will not be easy to solve. Road Feeder (RFS) reliability has almost broken down within Central Europe and is probably no better in the UK which has for years had to face an additional influx of trucks, many of which originate in Eastern Europe.
Would it then not be of advantage for all if the German, Dutch, French and UK cargo terminals management were to get their ‘experts’ together to gather and assimilate information which could hopefully lead to a positive exchange of ideas on alleviating the truck congestion?
At the end of the day, one cargo warehouse is basically the same as the other. Having the same congestion problems within and outside in the truck staging areas.

Brexit may well increase the problem
In a recent news release on this problem, the CCS-UK User Group Chairman, Steve Parker, pointed out to his members that the truck delivery problem is a nationwide issue and does not just affect London Heathrow Airport. He stressed the point that his problem may well increase dramatically once the UK leaves the European Union.
There are still far too few airports which have any form of effective ‘Call Forward System’ for air freight truckers. In order for this to become reality across Europe, there is surely the need, where possible, for a common solution. The benefit at the end of the day is for all and the result would be that shippers and consignees alike gain back confidence in the air cargo ground handling arena.

John Mc Donagh

222nd Cologne flight
It was anything but spectacular last week at Cologne-Bonn airport when a CJT operated Boeing 767-300 freighter took to the air, bound for Hamilton and heading thereafter straight to Atlanta, Bogota and Lima. Although noticed only by a few experts, it was a memorable flight, reminds Pauline Dhillon, EVP, Marketing, Government and PR at Cargojet: “According to data, it was exactly our 222nd service to CGN since we landed first at the German airport six years ago,” she commented. 
The new flight adds to the existing weekly service, linking Cologne with St. John’s, Newfoundland and Halifax, Nova Scotia. “On the eastbound leg roughly 70 percent of the loads consists of seafood, mainly lobsters,” illustrates Richard Cromwell, Halifax Branch Manager and responsible for Cargojet’s business in Eastern Canada. Westbound it is machinery, tools, automotive parts, and particularly bulky cargo to optimize the load factor.

Who then is Cargojet?
The decision to double B767F capacity on the Cologne route was mainly triggered by market demand, reasoned Gord Johnston, Senior VP Sales in his address to roughly 50 forwarding agents attending the road show organized by CJT in cooperation with Cologne-Bonn Airport. “When we first started six years ago, customers kept asking: who the hell is Cargojet?” he recalls. “Meanwhile a lot of them know!”

Bread-and-butter business
And for those who still are not very familiar with the details and history of the freight airline he added: “We exist since 15 years, are a publicly traded company, operate 14 domestic Canadian routes, and control 90 percent of the time sensitive overnight business in Canada.” This is Cargojet’s bread-and-butter business, Gord emphasized, mainly based on operational deals with UPS, DHL and Amazon, accounting for 750 tons each night on average.

More main deck capacity
The transatlantic and Latin American services, conducted on the carrier’s own account, add to their revenues generated through their North American activities and broaden the business platform, thus lowering commercial risks. Manager Johnston left no doubt that the international segment will keep growing, referring to upcoming fleet changes. These concern the replacement of three aging B727Fs with two Boeing 757Fs and one 767-300F, thus upping the carrier’s main deck capacity beginning the second half of this year.
In total, CJT operates ten B767-300Fs, one B767-200F, seven B757Fs, and the aforementioned three B727 freighter aircraft.

Same-day service
Behind this background, the doubling of the Cologne flights fits into the airline’s broader picture. A decision, no wonder, much welcomed by the airport management, the German forwarding community, Oliver Hellwig of local ground handling agent Wisskirchen, who partners with CJT for years, and particularly Cargojet’s European sales agent Skyline Air Services. Their managing director, Hassaan Aglan states: “Thanks to the new flight that links Cologne directly with South America, we can offer the European exporters a premium product.”
He thereby refers to the fact that the new service enables same-day deliveries, since the aircraft takes off in Cologne every Sunday morning at 9 a.m. CET and arrives in Lima at 11:50 p.m. local Peruvian time.
Cargojet is one of Skyline’s main mandate airlines, accounting for roughly ten percent of the agent’s current sales. With the additional cargo flight in place, Mr Aglan expects this figure going up to at least 15 percent in the months to come.

Andreas ante portas?
According to information obtained by CargoForwarder Global, Andreas Otto, former Lufthansa Cargo Head of Sales and Product at Lufthansa Cargo and current Austrian Airlines‘ Chief Commercial Officer stands high on the list of candidates to become the new CEO of Cologne-Bonn Airport. Andreas comes from the region and is still familiar with the local conditions, despite being based in Vienna since 2014.
CGN’s top position is currently vacant after long-term Chief, Michael Garvens felt he should quit the job last December following a shady political campaign. Other interested candidates in taking the CGN chair seem to be Thomas Weyer, Munich Airport’s Head of Finances and Infrastructure, Nuremberg Airport’s Helmsman Michael Hupe, former BER Boss Karsten Muehlenfeld and former Hahn Airport Chief Markus Bunk. It is unclear at this stage if the Airport’s Deputy Chief and COO, Athanasios Titonis will throw his hat into the ring as well.
The final outcome of the beauty contest is expected to be announced by the Supervisory Board on 19 March.

Heiner Siegmund

For Christina Foerster, currently Brussels Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer, a transitional time has begun, ending on 1 April when she becomes CEO of the Brussels-based carrier. Frau Foerster succeeds Bernard Gustin who leaves the carrier that same day after serving in this position since 2012. Together with him, CFO Jan De Raeymaeker will also leave by March 31 while Thibault Demoulin will take on the role of COO. In an announcement, Brussels Airlines said that two further management board members will be named shortly.  

Integration model beats hybrid plans
The management shake-up is anything but surprising. It ends a lengthy dispute between Brussels Airlines’ CEO Gustin and parent Lufthansa over the Belgian carrier’s future strategy that required a final decision to avert any damage. While Gustin together with some top-ranking SN executives favoured a “hybrid business model” of appealing both to business and low-cost passengers, Lufthansa intends to integrate Brussels Airlines deeper into its budget carrier Eurowings.

According to information obtained by CargoForwarder Global, all of Brussels Airlines’ operated intra-European point-to-point connections will become part of the Eurowing network, managed from their German headquarters, while long-haul flights will be conducted under Brussels Airlines’ own responsibility, as is presently the case. 

No foreseeable changes in cargo
After the Brussels Zaventem-based carrier achieved rather sobering financial results in 2017, CEO Gustin lacked the arguments to continue along his previous course. 
It is expected that more information on the future role of Brussels Airlines will be given after another Board meeting this Wednesday 7 February.
According to cargo chief Alban François the air freight business will not be affected by the forthcoming management changes.

Heiner Siegmund  /  Marcel Schoeters

Almost 18 years of expansion
The HNA Group of companies stems originally from Hainan Airlines which was incepted by Mr Chen Feng back in 1993. It was in the year 2000 that he then founded what has become today’s HNA Group. A large conglomerate which has dealings in Aviation, Logistics, Tourism, Real Estate and many other areas. Today’s owners are the Hainan Traffic Administration with 70% and the remaining 30% are held by Jianyun Investments.
On the aviation side, HNA Group has affiliations with over 14 Chinese airlines, among them, Hainan Airlines, Suparna Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines. They also have holding in various carriers outside of China. MyCargo Airlines, a Boeing 747 freighter operator is one of those. It is just a few years ago that the HNA Group took a serious interest in air cargo or cargo logistics as a whole. It is today almost impossible to keep track on which new logistical acquisitions or affiliations have been added into the pot.

Air cargo is being treated seriously
When HNA took control of Swissport, one of the world’s largest ground handling set-ups, it became apparent that there was an interest in cargo handling and extended airport ground handling services. This was expanded mid last year to taking the majority share of Germany’s Hahn Airport, which is seen as the start of regular air cargo services into Europe. But - not just only Europe. HNA is putting quite an emphasis on air cargo handling in China for the future.

They, along with other Chinese aspirants, are investing heavily in logistics distribution centres for the expanding e-Commerce trade and which are being modeled on the very successful FedEx set-up in Memphis, USA. HNA for example is putting their cards on this type of model in the central Chinese city of Xi’an, whereas others are concentrating on Wuhan in the Habei province. The HNA logistics daughter company, Modern Logistics Group, has already initiated flights from Xi’an to Amsterdam and to Anchorage and Chicago. These can be seen as a test model for HNA in their aim of establishing Xi’an as their “new Memphis.” Modern Logistics is also working hard on finding a suitable partner in order to set up HNA’s own cargo IT system. Talks are said to be continuing with iTran Systems, a Shenzhen-based IT specialist company which can maybe join forces to plan and develop a common HNA IT logistics Platform.
Across the water in Europe, it’s Hahn Airport which will probably take the leading role as an air cargo centre. There is a lot to be done there in the form of investment for new handling systems and probably HNA would want to have their finger on the button there as far as decisions on cargo handling expansion goes.
Suparna Airlines now operates at least four weekly cargo flights into Hahn and the aim is surely to increase these into a daily operation. In order to be successful, HNA will have to relook the present Road Feeder services (RFS) on offer and enhance these to fit in with new customers’ wishes.
There’s still a lot to be accomplished before the HNA Group can be happy with their future East - West and West - East air cargo logistics platform.

John Mc Donagh

Popular Science magazine, which described the drone as “akin to a medium-sized manned cargo plane,” said the carbon-fiber, double-bodied drone carries the payload module between the two fuselages. “It is being built at Tengoen’s facility in Chengdu, and it’s supposedly taking flight in 2020.”

Plans to customize their unmanned aerial vehicle
While the military market is lucrative, Tengoen also plans to go after the commercial and civilian market by redesigning their military drones to carry more benign cargo. The company says that the drone can also be customised for missions like search and rescue, space launch, fire fighting, emergency relief, aerial refueling and intelligence gathering.

Manufacturing an enhanced ‘Scorpion’ drone
Tengoen Technology, which was formed in January 2016 and currently has an independent research and development facility and two assembly facilities in its Sichuan complex in Chengdu province, has also partnered with Chinese delivery company SF Express to build an enhanced version of the TB-001 Scorpion, Tengoen's flagship vehicle, for cargo delivery.
The original version, a twin-engine, double-tail drone with a maximum takeoff weight of 2.8 tonnes, has been increased to a vehicle with a MTOW of 3.3 tonnes and a 1.2-tonne payload.
In December 2017, the modified TB-011 showed off its capability by para-dropping supplies to a Huawei repair crew fixing a cell tower in the mountainous Yunnan Province.
According to one estimate, China’s military UAV market will be worth 24 billion yuan (US$3.66 billion) between 2016 and 2025, with further export potential of 5.4 billion yuan (US$850 million).

Nol van Fenema

UPS keeps Boeing 747 line open
The Boeing 747 production line in Seattle becomes emptier day by day as orders for passenger variants of the B747-8 have dried up and the present backlog is mostly for the B747-8 freighter. United Parcel Service (UPS) ordered 14 B747-8Fs in 2016, of which three were delivered to the airline during 2017. The order placed in 2016 also stipulated an option for a further 14 aircraft of the same type. UPS surprised the market and Boeing last week by firming up the option for the aircraft, bringing the total to 28 B747-8Fs.
This will ensure that the B747 production line stays open for some time to come with the hope that maybe other orders will follow. UPS also placed an order with Boeing for four B767Fs. These along with the remaining 25 B747-8Fs will all be delivered to UPS by 2022. Actual book value of the UPS order is said to be just over US$ 6.5 billion.

QCS expands consolidated cargo routes to North & South America
The Frankfurt based Quick Cargo Service (QCS), one of Germany’s top IATA agents has announced that they will expand their BUP consolidation units within the North and South American area. A series of new routes will be added to the portfolio already on offer to QCS clients. In North America, Chicago and Atlanta will come on line as well as Sao Paulo, Lima, Mexico City and Bogota in South America. Apart from the above, QCS also plans to greatly increase capacity offers on their present routes in the area.
QCS generates approximately two-thirds of its revenue with sales in consolidated traffic for both air and sea freight. Until now the company had placed more emphasis on BUP traffic to Asia and Australia. However, a strategic decision was taken to place just as much emphasis on North and South America due to the unabated high volume of traffic from Europe to these regions. QCS CEO, Stephan Haltmayer stated: “As a professional operator that places the needs of its customers first, it is essential that we adjust quickly to the changing market situation and be in a position to offer our clients more cargo capacity on these routes.”

First car carried in Eurowings belly
Eurowings, the low-cost Lufthansa owned passenger carrier whose long haul fleet is made up of Airbus A330 aircraft and which is presently still based in Cologne, has carried out their first commercial transport of an automobile in the belly of one of their A330 passenger aircraft. The car was a SEAT Arona model and was transported from Cologne to South Africa. Lufthansa Cargo along with its partner Aircargo Consulting are said to have developed a special process which includes the use of a ‘loading simulator,’ whereby cars can be carried in the bellies of the Eurowings fleet.
Joachim Binte, Director Sales and Handling for LH Cargo in Cologne stated: “We have started with destinations in southern Africa and are planning to expand to other Eurowings destinations. As of next October, Eurowings will base their long-haul fleet in Dusseldorf, abandoning Cologne-Bonn Airport. 

Volga-Dnepr carries White Rhinos
Two very valuable and rare Southern White Rhinos have been transported in a Volga-Dnepr IL-76TD-90 freighter from the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv to Russia and are now on show in one of the country’s largest zoos in Rostov-on-Don. White rhinos are now a specially protected species after facing complete extinction by illegal hunting over the past few decades. This has been the fate of their close relatives, the Northern White Rhino.
The IL-76 freighter was chosen for the transport because of special pressurized and temperature controlled cabin which was essential for the comfort of these rare animals. Volga-Dnepr is no stranger for transporting large and rare animals around the globe. Dr. Gillad Goldstein, curator of the Israeli zoo stated: “Everything went quite smoothly. The aircraft team were very experienced and efficient.”

CEVA opens new Spanish warehouse
CEVA Logistics, the supply chain management company which has operations across the globe, has opened a new multi-user warehouse in central Spain. It is situated in Alovera, which is an industrial centre 50 km northeast of Madrid. The new warehouse offers 16,000 sqm of handling space along with 400 sqm of office facilities. The new multi-user facility will house various customers after a new CEVA team has set up operations there. The Alovera facility is the latest of a number of CEVA multi-user centres in Spain.
CEVA also announced last week that they have appointed Eddie Aston as new Managing Director for the UK, Ireland and Nordics. Mr Aston joins CEVA from Northgate, a commercial van hire and leasing organisation, where he also served as UK Managing Director. He will be based in the company UK cluster head office in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in the Midlands. Aston succeeds Michael O’Donoghue who has been promoted as head of CEVA’s North American cluster.

Hactl picks up YTO Cargo Airlines
Hong Kong-based Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) has added yet another new customer to their handling portfolio. YTO Cargo Airlines which is the airline operating arm of the Chinese courier company YTO Express, started operations from Wuxi to Hong Kong at the end of January utilising a B757-200F which can carry up to 30 tons of cargo. YTO will operate four flights per week on the route. Hactl offers YTO Cargo Airlines a so called one-stop-shop ramp and terminal handling service for their operation. Hong Kong is YTO’s first international destination and the company states that there are plans to add scheduled flights to Russia, South Korea, Japan, Macau and the Philippines in the future.

Safair gets a dedicated B737 freighter
Johannesburg, South Africa-based Safair which has a fleet of almost 20 aircraft has just taken delivery of a single B737-400 freighter which was converted from a passenger/freight combi version. The aircraft which is 25 years old was converted in Tampa, Florida and will join Safair’s single B737-400 Combi aircraft and its fleet of six Lockheed Hercules freighters. The carrier also operates twelve B737 passenger aircraft on scheduled regional routes in southern Africa for the FlySafair low-cost operation.

John Mc Donagh

A report in Singapore's Today newspaper explained that a startup company embarks on series C funding when it is past its beginning, improvement and development stages, and is looking to build and scale-up fast. Investors are usually bigger players in the market, such as investment banks, private equity firms and hedge funds.

Multiple financial backers
Among the investors for Ninja Van’s latest round of funding was Europe’s DPD Group, a parcel delivery network belonging to France-based GeoPost. Other investors included Japan’s corporate venture group YJ Capital, United Arab Emirate’s private equity investor The Abraaj Group, and early stage venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures.
Ninja Van, which was established in 2014, is a Southeast Asian logistics startup, which manages parcel delivery networks in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The company is planning to expand its network to serve customers in the wider SEA region.

Supporting Ninja Van’s growth
Its chief executive Lai Chang Wen, 30, said the money will go towards “further improving technology and operational capabilities to help Ninja Van continue our drive in offering hassle-free delivery solutions to businesses of all sizes”. The company currently employs more than 1,000 staff across the region.
According to GeoPost president and CEO Paul-Marie Chavanne the investment in Ninja Van "will give us insight in one of the fastest growing logistics markets of the world and create many opportunities for cross-border connections with our many existing own or partner operations in Europe, Africa, Turkey, Russia, Brazil or India.”

Nol van Fenema

Walmart could acquire a 15-20% stake in Bengaluru-headquartered Flipkart, the main challenger to U.S.-based e-commerce giant Amazon, which is in the process of setting up operations in India. The Economic Times report said the deal may involve primary and secondary sales by some longstanding investors.
A Reuters report on the potential deal between Walmart and Flipchart said that last year, Japan’s SoftBank Group invested nearly US$2.5 billion in Flipkart through both primary and secondary investments. Flipkart also secured US$1.4 billion from China’s Tencent, online marketplace eBay and software giant Microsoft.

No official comment
SoftBank owns roughly a fifth of Flipkart, while U.S. hedge fund Tiger Global Management owns a stake of slightly less than 20 percent, a source told Reuters.

Spokesmen for Flipkart and Walmart declined comment, saying the firms do not respond to market rumors or speculation, but the Economic Times reported that then Walmart chief executive officer Doug McMillon led a delegation that visited Flipkart's Bengaluru office in late January. The other members of the team included Walmart e-commerce CEO Marc Lore, founder of Jet-.com that was acquired by Walmart in 2016, and Judith McKenna, who since February 1, has taken over as president and CEO of Walmart International.
Amazon's main rival in India, Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial has a combined shareholding of 62% in Paytm Mall, as well as a less than 5% stake in Delhi-based online marketplace Snapdeal.
If the link-up with Flipkart is successful, it will put Walmart directly in competition with rivals Amazon and Alibaba for a share in the Indian digital commerce market, which is expected to grow to US$69 billion by 2020.

Nol van Fenema

The new service, operated by a total of four 1,200 TEU vessels, will be offered weekly, connecting H-L’s central regional hub Jeddah in Saudi Arabia with Kenya and Tanzania. According to H-L spokesperson Monika Gabler, containers arriving with larger ships from Europe or the Far East at Jeddah and destined for East Africa, are quickly transited in the Saudi Arabian port for onward sailing to Mombasa or Dar es Salaam.

Fast transits a Jeddah
The same applies to the reverse direction shipments run. Once the new East African Services (EAS) commence, Jeddah’s role as regional transit hub for H-L’s shipping activities will be strengthened by connecting to Hapag-Lloyd’s existing global network. 
With Jeddah becoming the main transshipment port, Lars Christiansen, Senior Managing Director Region Middle East emphasized that Hapag-Lloyd gains a competitive advantage by offering customers fast transit times significantly below those of its competitors.

Rising volumes into Africa expected
Their African venture follows the merger with the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), which strengthened the combined liner shipping company’s market position in the Middle East and the countries bordering the Indian Ocean. Against this background, the management decided to significantly expand the company’s regional network. So far, “we have shown little presence on the African continent,” admits spokesperson Monika Gabler. However, this white spot will be filled in April once the H-L operated 1,200 TEU vessels start calling at the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

The hinterland benefits
Asked about the business prospect, the management emphasizes that Africa is in particular a strong import market. “We expect import volumes to continue rising as growth expectations in the East Africa region range from six to ten percent annually.”
But not only Kenya and Tanzania will benefit from the new offer. This applies also to the fast-growing economies of countries further inland from Kenya and Tanzania, which lack their own seaports since they will be linked to the global market. “Via the EAS, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi and Zambia will gain direct access to markets worldwide,” reads a company release.
H-L will operate its East Africa Service in an entirely independent manner, without partnering with other shipping companies.

More vessels are being recycled
Following previous scrapping programs, the company announced to recycle seven aging container ships each of 4,101 TEU in line with environmental regulations in certified shipyards located in China and Turkey.
“The recycling of these ships is part of the restructuring of our fleet,” says Anthony Firmin, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Hapag-Lloyd. “Since the merger with UASC, we boast one of the youngest fleets in the industry on average.”

Management changes
In addition to this, H-L announced staff changes in North America, with long-time regional president Wolfgang Freese retiring after serving the Hamburg-based shipping line for almost five decades. He will be succeeded by former Maersk manager Uffe Ostergaard who takes on his new role on 1. April.
On the occasion of this personnel change H-L CEO Rolf Habben Jansen stated: “We owe very sincere thanks to Wolfgang Freese,” Over decades, he made a major contribution to the success of our company with his hard work and high degree of personal commitment.”

Heiner Siegmund