The Flying Whale will be twice as long as a Boeing 747 and have a rigid structure with individual pockets of helium, technically making it an airship rather than a blimp, which relies solely on internal gas pressure. It will be powered by small diesel or electric engines but require minimal power.
According to Flying Whales founder and CEO Sebastien Bougon, investors include state fund Bpifrance, which injected €25 million this month, and AVIC, China’s main producer of military planes, transport aircraft and helicopters. France’s ONF national forestry office and the Nouvelle Aquitaine region in the southwest of the country are also backing the project.

One of several attempts to build cargo airships
The company estimates likely sales at €5 billion over 10 years from a fleet of 150 machines built in factories in France and China.
The Bloomberg report noted that the Flying Whales project is not the only airship being developed for the heavy-lift market.
American defense contractor Lockheed Martin in 2016 signed a contract for the construction of 12 units of its LMH-1, which is primarily targeting the oil and gas industry. The model is a true blimp without a frame and is limited to carrying 20 tonnes of freight.

The Flying Whale is also competing with the Airlander 10 constructed by UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles, which is currently the world's largest aircraft.

No need to land
Dubbed the “flying bum” because of an elliptical profile that allows it to gain lift like a conventional plane, the model suffered setbacks in 2016, when it crashed-landed and again last year after breaking free of its mooring mast in windy conditions.
Flying Whales' Bougon said that while the rigid design of the airship allows a bigger payload to be carried, or slung beneath the airship, the elimination of the need to land also makes it safer. He added that the craft could easily be transformed into a pilot-less drone, although current plans envisage keeping at least two people on board for security reasons.

Nol van Fenema

According to a document uploaded on the civil aviation ministry’s website, Air India’s budget carrier will be completely sold in the offer, while the state will sell a 50% stake in the ground handling unit separately. The administration may also ask the buyer to conduct an initial public offering. The national carrier has five subsidiaries, a joint venture and a combined workforce of as many as 27,000.
The controlling stake in Air India comes with roughly US$5.1 billion, or some 75% of the US$7.8 billion total debt of the state-run carrier, while the proposed sale will also include a 100% stake in Air India's low-cost arm - Air India Express, and a 50% stake in its ground-handling arm - AISATS Airport Services, a joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services. AI owns 50% stake in AISATS.

Bids to be submitted until 14 May
All non-core assets, such as the Air India building in Mumbai and other offices, will not be part of the sale and become part of the special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will also house the working capital debt of the company, a government official was quoted as saying.
The successful bidder would need to retain its stake in Air India and management control of the airline for at least three years, according to the government document.
The winning bidder would also need to ensure that substantial ownership and effective control of Air India and Air India Express would continue to be vested in Indian nationals.
Bids for the assets are expected to be submitted by May 14.
Companies including low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation and the local Tata Group have expressed an interest in buying some of Air India's operations.

Various interested parties
Tata Group, the conglomerate with US$103 billion in revenue that owned Air India before it was nationalised, has also said it might consider a bid with its long-time partner Singapore Airlines. Tata and SIA have a joint-venture domestic airline, Vistara.
Another Indian carrier, Jet Airways, is also likely to take a serious look at an offer - perhaps in partnership with an international carrier. Media reports suggest Air France and Delta may be interested.
Another potential suitor, Qatar Airways Ltd. - which wants to set up a short-haul carrier in India with 100 aircraft, has reportedly denied a news report of a joint bid with IndiGo.
Air India has been unprofitable since its ill-advised 2007 merger with state-owned domestic operator Indian Airlines Ltd. The company made an operating profit of about 3 billion rupees (US$46 million) in the year through March 2017, primarily due to a slump in oil prices. It still reported a net loss of 57.7 billion rupees, junior aviation minister Jayant Sinha said in February.
Bloomberg quoted Kapil Kaul, South Asia CEO at CAPA Centre for Aviation as saying that “Selling a 76% stake is the second-best option for the government, the best option would have been to exit completely.”

Nol van Fenema

Virgin Atlantic Cargo volumes at five-year high
The UK-based carrier’s cargo organisation has recorded a nine percent revenue growth for 2017. In a statement issued by Virgin Atlantic Cargo, revenues reached almost UKP 200 million (UKP 199.6 million) and volumes carried reached a five-year high. In total Virgin Atlantic cargo carried 230.5 million kilos during 2017, which was a six percent increase on the previous year.
The increase in volumes and revenues is said to come from the continuing need for space for e-commerce and pharmaceutical products as well as an increased demand on the carrier’s westbound sectors to the United States. The carrier started a new London Heathrow to Seattle service at the end of the first quarter of 2017. The demand for cargo space on this sector has been very good, the carrier reports. Virgin Atlantic Cargo also opened their own Heathrow Pharma Zone during 2017 in a joint venture deal with Delta Airlines.

WFS gets Cathay Pacific Cargo handling in BRU & CPH
Cathay Pacific Cargo has been busy lately with tendering out cargo handling contracts throughout their network. The latest new award goes to Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), who have signed a contract with CX Cargo for Brussels and Copenhagen.
In Brussels, WFS gets a three-year contract for cargo handling of Cathay’s new Brussels to Hong Kong Airbus A350-900 passenger service which started operating at the end of March. There seems to be ample belly space available as WFS expects to handle around 7,000 tonnes of cargo per annum for this service. The handler continues to coordinate Cathay Pacific’s trucking network to and from Belgium
Cathay Pacific will commence services from Kong Kong to Copenhagen as of 2 May with flights operating three times per week. WFS has also here been appointed as cargo handler at the Danish capital’s airport.

Behne appointed Global Sales Director at DoKaSch
DoKaSch Temperature Solutions which is based near Frankfurt Airport and offers Opticoolers for the transport of temperature-sensitive goods, has announced that Andreas Behne has been appointed as Global Sales Director. Behne, who already took up the newly created position on 1. March will be responsible for the expansion of Opticooler use in Europe as well as for newly won business outside of Europe. Mr Behne reports directly to DoKaSch Managing Director, Andreas Seitz. Mr Seitz commented on the new position stating that: “The global pharma cool chain requires a very comprehensive approach in taking care about the different stakeholders like pharmaceutical shippers, forwarders and airlines. That is why we are very happy to have Andreas Behne on board.” Behne has spent more than a decade in the international logistics branch managing sales for temperature-sensitive shipments for companies such as Dachser and the Nagel Group.

Tigers opens new Dallas facility
The Hong Kong-based Tigers Group, the global logistics and transportation company which specializes in supply chain solutions for air, sea and surface transport, has just moved into new premises in Dallas, Texas. The new facility also includes a state-of-the-art temperature-controlled area which has been erected in order to serve Tigers’ customers across the United States. The Tigers facility which offers a total of 86,000 square feet of space specializes in the storage, handling and distribution of health supplements and cosmetics.

Its membership is made up of European logistics organisations. Clecat is by far the most important lobby organisation for the logistics industry in European policy making.

Trying to remain realistic despite capacity problems
The umbrella organisation is very worried about the impact of Brexit, not in the least about border controls, says Senior Policy Manager Aidan Flanagan. “One of our greatest concerns is for the customs’ set-up to be right. The members of our associations need as smooth a Brexit as possible. But we have to be realistic as well.”
Senior Manager Dominique Willems fears there is no such thing as a smooth Brexit. “There are too many implications on trade and customs controls, like weight checks, veterinary regulations and phytosanitary and agricultural inspections that you have to deal with. There is also some misconception about these. Even though in cus-toms about 99% is digital, most checks still require actual papers and stamps.”

Brexit generates Job – at customs offices
That means an increase in capacity. According to estimates, the Netherlands aim to employ 850 additional customs officers and France a further 1,000. “We are talking about people who aren’t there yet and, even if they are found, it will need take 2 to 3 years to train them,” Mr Willems states. Belgium is apparently still waiting for the final outcome. “For meat products, you need veterinary inspections, which have to be carried out by vets. You need more of those as well, which may also be problematic.”
These issues taken together are among the many reasons why Clecat advocates a transition period, says Aidan Flanagan. “The EC has put the time limit for the total exit of the UK at December 2020, so as from the 1 January 2021 they are on their own.” During this transition period the UK will have to stick to EU regulation without the right to vote. To that date the UK is still part of the EU budget.

More than traffic rights
Air cargo is only an aspect of aviation as a whole which, in the EU, is governed by the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA). This covers more than the actual EU and has been extended to other countries as well. However, a Norton Rose Fulbright post published on 24 August 2017 reminded of the fact that the ECAA was given effect by a Multilateral Agreement signed by the EU on 9 June 2006. The Multilateral Agreement provides for certain disputes to be resolved by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Brexit would, however, bring an end of the CJEU’s jurisdiction in the UK.
This too is a concern for the European forwarding industry, says Dominique. “The rights for airlines to operate on both sides will change overnight. In the absence of an agreement there will even be no overnight right anymore.”
Aidan adds to this: “So you either need an overall agreement between the UK and the EU or different bilateral agreements. The Commission has never been a great fan of bilateral agreements, which, besides this, would take years to negotiate.”

For UK registered carriers there is trouble ahead
For airlines belonging to the IAG consortium there would be implications for their partners Aer Lingus, Iberia and British Airways. Today the majority of the shares are British-owned in an environment in which the EU ownership of airlines is one of the last restrictions in the EU policy. CargoLogicAir too has a British AOC. So to continue operating in the EU they will have to alter their shareholder structure into an EU majority.
When contacted by CargoForwarder Global, U.S.-based integrator UPS says that “as negotiations continue, we will closely monitor changes in applicable laws. Regardless of the outcome, our focus remains helping our customers manage the complexity in crossing borders so that they can focus on growth opportunities – this applies in all parts of the world where we do business. Come what may, we will be ready.”
FedEx says that it is monitoring and assessing the potential impacts that Brexit may have on their business and their customers, specifically, any changes it may bring to the movement of goods or trade into and out of the UK that could have wider implications for its international operations. “To keep abreast of any developments, we are also engaged in on-going discussions with the government at various levels through our active membership of trade associations.’’

Trading with third countries is also impacted
Transatlantic flights are based on the Open Skies Agreement between the U.S. and the EU. Negotiations on a post-Brexit aviation agreement between the U.S. and the UK are apparently underway. Last March Bloomberg reported that Washington has offered the UK an Open Skies aviation deal that would be more restrictive than the UK has as a member of the European Union.
The aviation agreements are not the only trade deals the EU has been able to seal as a block, say Aidan and Dominique. “The UK is part of 75 treaties of the EU. You will need to replace them all.”

What about security?
Another issue directly touching aviation and air cargo is security, says Aidan. “Cargo coming into the EU from the UK would be considered as coming from a third country and thus would be subject to inspection. Today anti-terrorism issues are managed by a separate agency, which also includes Norway and Switzerland. The UK would have to participate in that as well. However, on the positive side, the security issue has been led by the UK. The UK is very strict on terrorism.”
Both Clecat managers think that the real talks will start in a few weeks. In the wake of the divorce bill other agreements will be required, they stress. But, still, the biggest issue is the capacity that will be needed. It is not a matter of how much work, but of how to cope with it. This goes for both the public and the private sectors. Even today the IT systems are already at their limits, they remind.

Marcel Schoeters in Brussels

Lazada founder Max Bittner, who has been its CEO since 2012, will assume the role of senior advisor to Alibaba Group and assist in the transition and future international growth strategies.
Current Lazada chairman Lucy Peng will assume Bittner's position of CEO to drive growth strategies. Ms Peng, who joined Alibaba in 1999 as one of 18 co-founders, is a senior partner in the Alibaba Partnership. She is the executive chair of Ant Financial (Alibaba's payments affiliate), at which she was CEO from 2010 to 2016.
Ms Peng also served as Alibaba's Chief People Officer for over a decade, and was named one of the world's most powerful women by Forbes for three consecutive years since 2013.
A Business Times report said that Alibaba's latest investment will bring its total investment in Lazada to US$4 billion. In 2016, it acquired control of Lazada with an investment of US$1 billion, and in 2017, boosted its stake in Lazada to 83% with an additional US$1 billion investment.

Unlocking the full potential of e-commerce
“The investment underscores Alibaba’s confidence in the future success of Lazada’s business and the growth prospect of the Southeast Asian market, a region that is a key part of Alibaba’s global growth strategy,” the Alibaba statement noted.
Commenting on the investment, Paul Coutts, CEO of Alibaba-backed logistics company SingPost, said: "Any investment of this magnitude can only accelerate the growth of e-commerce in Singapore and the region. We continue to focus on initiatives that unlock the full potential of the e-commerce market that these investments create, to advance SingPost's transformation into a leading Postal and e-commerce logistics company."
Apart from the Alibaba Group, Singapore’s government investment firm Temasek Holdings and the Lazada management are the other stakeholders in the e-commerce firm.
A research by Google and Temasek Holdings released last year found that e-commerce sales in the region will grow at a 32% from US$5.5 billion in 2015 to US$88 billion in 2025, when they will make up 6% of total retail sales.

Nol van Fenema

Mark Whitehead was a well known figure in the Far East, having joined Jardine Matheson as legal counsel back in 1987. He spent quite some years with Jardine Transport Services Group and was their senior representative for Indo-China from 1996 to 1999. He worked also for many years in Hong Kong as Managing Director for Schindler Lifts and as Executive Director at Hong Kong Land Company Ltd.

Mark took up the reins as Chief Executive of Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl) in 2010 and during his eight year tenure there was instrumental in further pushing the company’s modernisation and investment programmes in order to offer their customers a continued first class service. It was that despite having lost Cathay Pacific as their largest customer, that he managed to position Hactl as Hong Kong’s largest freighter handler.
 He was rewarded for his efforts by being showered with many industry awards during his eight years at Hactl.

Mark Whitehead, also a passionate sailor, retired on March 7. this year and had looked forward to spending more time on the water. He had been a member of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club for the past 35 years.

He will be sadly missed and fondly remembered by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing him.
Our sincere condolences go out to his wife Rebecca and the family who are in our thoughts in this very trying period for them.

Rest in Peace Mark.

John Mc Donagh

The pride of the Sheremetyevo managers was clearly shown in their eyes when guiding their guests through the freight facility, emphasizing that “Moscow Cargo” not only meets international ground handling standards but even exceeds the level of technical layout most other facilities are equipped with.

High automation level
In his presentation, Vladimir Fedorenko, General Director of “Moscow Cargo” stated that the terminal covers an area of 42,300 square meters, offering a yearly throughput capacity of 380,000 tons. In particular, he gave credit to German provider Lodige that delivered and installed the modern technology the building is equipped with. “The Lodige manufactured system enables production processes to reach an automation level of 60 percent,” said the manager. He further pointed out that within the terminal there are independent container and bulk storage areas, where operations are performed by unified automated systems. "At ‘Moscow Cargo’ we are capable of handling all types of dangerous goods including explosive and radioactive materials,” Mr Fedorenko exclaimed.

Thorough test period
To better serve customers, new standards have been set through a queuing system and 20 counters for shippers and consignees to obtain documents and submit their payments. By entering their personal account on the website of “Moscow Cargo,” customers can retrieve the status of their shipments at any time, print cargo tags as well as safety declarations if needed.
Actually, the freight complex went online already in September of last year, followed by a thorough trial and test period to avoid operational mishaps. From last September until January, all domestic and international freight activities were transited from the old facilities to the new building without any problems, assure the Sheremetyevo cargo managers.

Plans for doubling handling capacity
“Moscow Cargo” is a central part of the airport’s long-term development program, stretching until 2026. Due to rising market demand and the steadily growing volumes transported by SVO’s main clients AirBridgeCargo Aeroflot Cargo and Volga-Dnepr, Fedorenko and his team expect to handle 700,000 tons per year by 2024. In view of this perspective, it is no surprise that plans for building a second facility resembling the one just inaugurated are in the drawers of the local cargo executives. The construction work is scheduled for starting already this year. The airport handled more than 290,000 tonnes of cargo in 2017, which is 27,3% more compared to 2016. The volume of mail handled increased by 43,8% up to 35,000 tonnes. Thus, Sheremetyevo handled more than 60% of the overall MOW freight traffic.

Heiner Siegmund

The journey into the highly competitive express arena is triggered by customer demand, states trans-o-flex in their announcement. According to CEO Wolfgang Albeck it is the next logical step in the development of his company as well as a reaction to the changing market that trans-o-flex is keen on offering improved and tailored services in the future. 
The newly introduced package ranges from next day delivery before 8 am to evening services with deliveries taking place between 5 pm and 8 pm. Also weekend services are available as are individual time slot deliveries including pre-advice options for bulk consignees, all tailored to customer demand.

Leader of the pack, claims Albeck
This offering of speedy services “puts us in the top group in Germany when compared with competitors,” holds the CEO.
Commenting on the background of this development, he says: “When trans-o-flex was founded 47 years ago, the company set a new standard as a fast delivery service. To date, trans-o-flex, with delivery times of less than 24 hours, is still the leading provider of shipments without time guarantee.”
By rounding this up, the manager refers to the basic findings of a recently conducted customer survey, in which the majority of the company’s clients confirmed that the quality of the service rendered by trans-o-flex is very persuasive. This is particularly noteworthy since the logistics company does not focus exclusively on the distribution of parcels but transports larger shipments as well consisting of a combination of pallets and parcels. “I believe that we are already the quality market leader in this segment today,” proclaims the self-confident CEO.

Established night route network
Backbone of the upcoming express services are overnight transports which trans-o-flex already implemented two years ago when a night route network was shaped. The company states in their release: Express must become a standard that encompasses all processes: how long should it take to make an offer? How long should it take to clarify a customer request? How long should it take to clarify and respond to queries about bills? How fast do we answer the phone?
According to Albeck, all customer processes will be closely monitored to find out how processes can be accelerated and sources of error eliminated. Last but not least, this includes "reducing bureaucracy, automating documentation, eliminating duplicate or superfluous checklists, standardizing and simplifying processes wherever possible," the manager states.

On the way to filling the TNT gap
From his point of view, the situation for the company’s step into express couldn’t be any better, as the market is currently going through a consolidation phase. “With the acquisition of TNT by FedEx more than one year ago, one competitor has practically exited the market.” Albeck holds that trans-o-flex has the potential to fill this gap and establish itself as an express delivery company with special industry solutions, especially for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, electronics and cosmetics as well as other sensitive products.
The trans-o-flex Group’s core competence focuses on the provision of logistic solutions for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and consumer electronics industries. For the transportation of pharmaceutical products, Germany-based trans-o-flex has built a domestic network that includes active temperature control and full documentation.
In 2017, annual sales of the trans-o-flex Group, which has a headcount of approximately 2,060 employees, amounted to roughly €459 million.

Heiner Siegmund

Will the AAICLAS set-up work?
One has to admit that the air passenger growth has not suffered that much. Despite Air India’s precarious financial situation, the passenger business has grown and new regional carriers have been successful, contributing to what some say has be-en a year-on-year 20% growth rate.
But, is this the case for air cargo?
It was in 2016 that the Indian government, after having to admit that air cargo development was lacking way behind, had the idea to form a new subsidiary company under the Airports Authority of India (AAI). This was aptly named the AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company (AAICLAS). This new set-up with the rather long name, was formed in order to take care of air cargo business development at over 30 Indian airports as well as other Indian airports which might show cargo potential for the future. The new organisation which started by looking at setting up so called Common User Domestic Cargo Terminals (CUDCTs) at various Indian airports, has set itself a hard task for the coming years.
Bureaucracy is commonplace in many countries, but India’s bureaucracy, handed down from British colonial days, beats them all. Many in India would agree that if bureaucracy were to be cut down by at least 20-30 percent, then the economic machine would turn faster.
However, India is still a country with a huge population and still holds much potential for both the import and export air cargo business. This includes the country’s future involvement in the e-commerce trade.
It was reported lately in India journals that GDP growth in India is expected to exceed that of China this year and internal experts are telling us that air cargo will grow by 10-15 percent in 2018 and reach a 20 percent growth per annum in the next years. Hard to believe when considering that both countries have populations of around 1.3 billion and that already China’s economic machine is five to six times higher that that of India. Although, on the face of it, why not?

Infrastructure and slow processes are putting the brakes on
All very well being so positive - but how can this come about with the present airport handling and customs procedures. It’s no secret that larger airports such as Mumbai and Delhi have cargo infrastructures which are almost falling apart. Long truck waiting times, masses of paperwork and customs officials who live in their own world. This, and much more puts the brakes on future development. In all fairness, we see that Indian officials are trying to put more emphasis on moving international cargo volumes through other airports which are being developed for this purpose. But, are things not moving far too slowly considering the continued boom in air freight as well as the importance of e-commerce business for the Indian nation?
China has been fast to react on planning and developing the necessary airport handling infrastructures in order to push e-commerce traffic up front. They have seen the necessity of the supply chain factor which dictates flawless service from start to finish.
How will or can Indian airports, old or new, be in a position to do all of this if they are continually to be hampered by their lack of infrastructure and civil servant type of working.

Big clean-up is needed
In this sense, the AAICLAS has one hell of a job in front of it. One can only hope that they will not get themselves bogged down by the above mentioned and really clean out and modernize the Indian air cargo scene.
It’s a strange dilemma that the Indian airports are in. The country has so much young business potential, many of whom are IT orientated and come up with many new processes which in the meantime are used around the globe. Where are they in the air cargo scene? Or, are they not that interested when they see the many official hurdles they have to overcome?
One interesting example - India has 21,000 miles of roads which have been resurfaced by using the massive amounts of discarded plastic bottles and containers. After having been collected these are recycled in special containers which are financed by the government and a new road surfacing material is produced which is said to be better and cheaper than tarmac and last much longer.
The guys at AAICLAS have some bridges to cross and their emphasis must also be on the country’s pharmaceutical industry which accounts for almost 80% of India’s air cargo exports. This could be seriously endangered if processes are not brought up to scratch and do not work in the supply chain as shippers demand.

John Mc Donagh

In a statement, SF Express said: “This means that China’s drone logistics distribution is entering the legal operation phase. It is a milestone in the development of China’s logistics drones and it is also a recognition of SF’s logistics distribution and operation capabilities.”
Company shares reportedly jumped 5%, with the State Post Bureau stating that more than 40 billion parcels were shipped in mainland China last year - an estimated 110 million packages a day - and volumes are expected to reach 49 billion parcels this year.
Package delivery is key in the world’s biggest consumer market, where the rise of e-commerce and mobile payments has shifted shopping for everything from groceries to factory parts online.

Different types of drones
Drone use in Chinese logistics has been on the cards since 2015, when e-commerce giant Alibaba partnered with Shanghai YTO Express Logistics in a one-time test - delivering packages of ginger tea by drone.
Rival online retailer JD.com, which has its own delivery service, was reported to have started making drone deliveries last year after testing the service in some rural areas in 2016.
SF Express said that to gain the license, the company had to complete a four-stage process: preparation, initiation, implementation and validation.
“SF Express will use aviation drones to connect aviation logistics networks through our three-stage air transport network,” the operator said. “This consists of aircraft, large-scale drones and final-mile drones, which will allow us to achieve 36-hour access nationwide,” the delivery firm concluded.

Nol van Fenema

Robert van de Weg rejoins Volga-Dnepr Group
Having left the Volga-Dnepr Group in 2017 in order to pursue other interests, Robert van de Weg is now back on seat with the company in the position of Vice President for Sales and Marketing.  In a release from the VD-Group it is stated that: “His responsibilities cover the commercial activities of all the Group’s airlines, namely AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Atran Airlines, with responsibility to strengthen and develop the Group’s ‚cargo supermarket strategy, which is based on using the synergies of its scheduled and charter businesses to provide unique customer benefits.“
Robert, who will be based in London, UK, stated “It is my pleasure to be part of Volga-Dnepr Group’s international team of airfreight professionals. My decision to rejoin the Group stems from us both taking a well-considered and balanced view of what we want to achieve.“

Dutch aviation industry scorns government’s ‘locking up’ of AMS
The Dutch aviation sector, supported by the logistics and travel industry, seems to be bewildered over the recent cabinet decision to ‘lock up’ Schiphol Airport until 2020. They are angry about the fact that the government has not waited for the independent figures on nuisance control which should be provided this summer. Hopes had been high that these would allow to raise the present overall limitation of 500,000 movements a year. “Locking up the aviation sector in the Netherlands is both premature and careless,“ the aviation sector says. “The surrounding countries will certainly welcome the Dutch passengers and air cargo with open arms.“ The complaining parties also point to a passage in the coalition agreement stating that the sector would be able to create space for the growth of the number of flights by deploying more eco-friendly and intelligent aircraft.

AirBridgeCargo starts Rickenbacker operations
Rickenbacker International Airport situated in the U.S. city of Columbus, Ohio, is getting a new top all cargo airline as a scheduled service. AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) the Russian based all  cargo carrier started operations to Rickenbacker as of 5. April.Rickenbacker which was founded back in 1942 as was then primarily used as an army airfield, has positioned itself during the past years as a “friendly and dedicated cargo airport.“ ABC will operate a weekly service into Rickenbacker from their global hub in Moscow on Thursdays and return the same day to Moscow with an intermediate stop in Liege, Belgium. One of the reasons for ABC to chose Rickenbacker was its close proximity to various distribution centres in the area and its good ground handling infrastructure. ABC now joins quite an impressive list of cargo operators who serve Rickenbacker. These include Cargolux, Cathay Pacific Cargo and Emirates SkyCargo.

DHL to charter in B737 freighter
DHL Aviation South Africa, the mother company of DHL Express operations in the country, has made a deal with Johannesburg based Safair to use the company’s sole Boeing 737-400 freighter for their express operations to Zimbabwe and Zambia. The aircraft is planned to operate five weekly rotations from Johannesburg to Harare and onto Lusaka. The B737F which has payload of around 21 tons offers more capacity than the ATR 72-200 freighter which has been used on this route until now. This new variant will offer DHL Express faster loading and unloading times as well as eleven pallet positions on the main deck. This will be the first time that DHL will operate with a B737-400 freighter in South Africa.

Latam Cargo moves two weekly flights from AMS to BRU
As of 5. April Latam Cargo has moved two weekly flights from AMS to BRU. This move is another consequence of the slot restriction problem in Amsterdam. A B767 freighter coming from Santiago de Chile to Brussels will position on Thursdays from Brussels to Sao Paulo and on Sundays from Brussels, via Frankfurt to Santiago. For Brussels Airport this is the first longed-for connection to South America. Latam’s GSA in Brussels is Air Logistics. The aircraft carry between 40-45 tonnes per flight, thereby adding a additional 180 tonnes per week to the airport’s cargo volume.

FLEET NEWS
Atlas Air is said to be acquiring a further six B747-400 freighters in the very near future in order to combat capacity restraints in their present ACMI and normal freighter operations. The carrier presently operates 38 B747Fs along with 38 B767Fs.
Brazilian carrier Azul Air which is based in Viracopas, will take delivery of the first of two B737-400 converted freighters in the near future. Both are meant to be delivered by the end of this year.
Caracas based Venescar International which operates on regional routes from Caracas is reinstating a pair of parked B737-400 freighters into commercial service for DHL. The carrier has three freighters on their books - the two B737-400Fs and a single ATR 42-300F.

John Mc Donagh / Marcel Schoeters

2018 shows robust growth
Dr. Van de Voorde heads the Department of Transport and Regional Economics of the Faculty of Applied Economics. “Air cargo has become very important for our de-partment as it is a kind of real-time laboratory for industrial economics,”, he ex-plained.
Citing the most recent figures he said that the beginning of 2018 has shown a ro-bust growth of 8%. Yields however, do not follow suit. After a downward evolution up until 2015, they seem to be climbing again. Yet, yields remain volatile. “Only in 2017-2018 they were above zero line” said Dr. Van de Voorde.
The evolution of the air cargo industry is set against a background of multiple fac-tors.  “Technology and business models developments are unfolding with increas-ing speed. Frequent market entries alternate with exits due to mergers and bank-ruptcies. On the governmental side, there are ecological and legal obstructions such as night bans.”

Commercial viability in jeopardy
All these elements added up, jeopardize the commercial viability of cargo airlines, the professor pointed out. “The yields are coming down through pressure from for-warders and integrators as well as competition from ocean carriers and road hauli-ers.”
He pointed out that it is the cargo-only airlines that usually have poor profit margins, whereas the other parts of the air cargo supply chain seem to be highly profitable or bring an important contribution to the revenues. Therefore it is very important to look at the importance of the chain as a whole.

Lessons from ocean shipping
Dr. Van de Voorde did not hesitate to point to the similarities between what hap-pened in ocean shipping, in this case the Port of Antwerp, and what is going on in the air cargo industry today.
“When MSC moved 200,000 teu (transport equivalent units, 1 teu equals 1 20-foot container, ms) from Felixstowe to Antwerp we were unable to measure the effect on the port as a whole. That goes just as well for the choice by a particular airline for a specific airport. Important is: who leads the decision making process about the transport mode, the consignee, the agent etc.”
As for global trends in airfreight, Dr. Van de Voorde warns that the growth pattern will not be the same for all airlines. “There are influencing variables both at the de-mand and the supply side, like the growth of global trade and technological progress and specialisation. Dr. Van de Voorde: “What will be the impact of 3D production? Or the impact of near sourcing on globalisation?”

Some developments may impact the whole game
According to Dr. Van de Voorde the days of thinking in terms of global alliances are gone. They have been substituted by bilateral alliances. Another observation is the frequent feeding of freight towards larger intercontinental hubs and the fierce com-petition between airports due to relatively easy access to price information.
“More than belly operators, full freighter carriers are confronted with geographical imbalances. Air cargo has a very footloose nature and few cargo airports have a unique catchment area. Do not forget that airlines have a very strong negotiating position.”
“There is also a constant shift in the value chain, he said referring to integrators en-gaging in forwarding, freight forwarders operating aircraft of their own, airlines and agencies  bypassing the forwarders and the ‘Amazon case’.
For airports the presence or lack of an integrator and/or a home carrier is very im-portant, as both have a generating effect. When all of this is taken into considera-tion, there is no such thing as a single unique airfreight model. It is a heterogene-ous and multi-various market.

Possible scenarios
A possible scenario that will govern the further development of the air cargo indus-try, is the business model of the average airline collaboration with other airlines or with freight forwarders freight handlers.
Looking back again to what happened in ocean shipping, Dr. Van de Voorde sees a market dominated by a limited number of large companies or alliances. “In ocean shipping  the top 7 container lines move 98% of the teu volume. This has had an effect on the stevedores. In the Port of Antwerp only 2 major players have remained. So in air cargo as well, a degree of concentration may be discerned among freight handlers.”
Referring to what has been going on at Amsterdam Airport, Dr. Van de Voorde warned that giving long-haul passenger flights priority in slot allocation and slot trading bear the risk of crowding out of full freighter operators.

Forecast models are wrong
Past forecasts always turned out wrong, the professor said. Weighing the air cargo growth rates against GDP growth, is certainly not the way forward. “The growth path of merchandise export and airfreight is much higher than GDP’s and industrial pro-duction’s. GDP includes services and air cargo should be linked to flows not to ser-vices.”
So, as a conclusion, he urged the various players in the industry to make their own analysis. “Observe, calibrate and adjust. Avoid the creation of ‘black boxes’ in your forecasts that prevent the identification of the variables.”
Other elements to think about are the chances for airfreight to become more than the way to survive for an airline and the crowding-out effect mentioned above.
“Calculate the consequences of scale increase for the actors involved in the airfreight chain. And observe the changes in the airfreight decision making pro-cess.”

Marcel Schoeters

Ready to take necessary measures
Speaking in Hong Kong after the company issued its 2017 annual results last week, Ma Xulun, China Eastern’s chief executive officer, underlined it would take whatever measures necessary if the spat escalates, which could include switching its allegiance from Boeing to Airbus when it buys new aircraft. The SCMP report quoted Ma as saying that there were “no winners in any trade war“, adding “ultimately its a lose-lose situation.“
“China does not want to fight a trade war - but is not afraid of doing so.“ “If the US-China trade war becomes increasingly worse, market conditions will certainly affect our passenger numbers, cargo volumes and the introduction of new aircraft,“ Ma said.

2017 -best profit for 20 years
China Eastern last week released its best profit in 20 years of 6.35 billion yuan (US$1 billion), boosted by the soaring demand for travel worldwide, and the yuan’s strong performance against its US counterpart.
However, the carrier still faces pressure from steadily rising fuel costs, which may be further squeezed by the threat of a US-China trade war. Aircraft fuel made up 25% of the airline’s 2017 operating expenses. Eastern currently has around 20 Boeing 777 aircraft in its fleet, with each carrying 314 to 396 passengers, but Ma’s suggestion could mean they are replaced in time by the slightly smaller Airbus A330-200s, of which the carrier has about 45 in its fleet.

In the tit-for-tat trade war, Reuters last week reported that China plans to place a 25% tariff on certain US aircraft, in a move expected to affect some older Boeing narrow body models, according to documents from China’s Ministry of Commerce and the US manufacturer. These include aircraft with an “empty weight“ of between 15,000 kg and 45,000 kg, or 15 to 45 tonnes, the Reuters report said.
Depending on how “empty weight“ is defined, this leaves a question mark over the fate of Boeings new big-selling 737 MAX 8 jet - though the larger MAX 9 and MAX 10 could be spared. Analysts also suggested that the weight range appears designed to give protection to Chinese airliner types. While attention has been focused on the application of the tariffs to Boeing aircraft, particularly the 737NG, the weight range exactly covers China’s own indigenously developed commercial aircraft.
The US exported US$ 15 billion of aircraft to China in 2016, ranking equally with agricultural products like soybeans as the biggest category of goods.

Nol van Fenema

IndiGo not interested in AI’s domestic operation
Press reports from India were quoting IndiGo as saying that it was pulling out as it was not interested in taking over Air India’s domestic operations.
Last year, IndiGo had made it clear it was primarily interested in Air India’s international business and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express, which operates in West Asia.
“From day one, IndiGo has expressed its interest primarily in the acquisition of Air India’s international operations and Air India Express. However, that option is not available under the government’s current divestiture plans for Air India,“ said Aditya Ghosh, president and whole-time director, IndiGo. “Also, as we have communicated before, we do not believe that we have the capability to take on the task of acquiring and successfully turning around all of Air India’s airline operations.“

Indian carriers bids may be restricted by lack of funding
Analysts described the move as a setback for the government’s disinvestment process as no other Indian airline has the capability to fund the process. In a research report SBI Caps pegged Air India’s value at US$2.5 billion (approximately Rs 162 billion).
“While most Indian carriers are eligible to bid, arranging funds could be a challenge. Airlines with strong balance sheets, like IndiGo, or those with strong sponsor support, like Vistara, are better placed,“ SBI caps said in a statement. News reports are now naming Naresh Goya-led Jet Airways (India) Ltd, Qatar Airways Ltd - perhaps in partnership with an international carrier - and the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines joint venture Vistara as potential suitors for Air India’s airline business.
Separately, Turkey’s Celebi Aviation Holding, Bird Group, Menzies Aviation Plc. and Livewel Aviation Services Put. Ltd have shown interest in acquiring Air India’s subsidiaries.
Media reports suggest that Air France and Delta may also be interested.

Nol van Fenema

Despite his decision to exit the Qatari carrier already last December, Ogiermann’s contract with QR Cargo expired only at the end of March, which explains that not much was heard of the manager during the last four months.
But now the 58 year-old reappears from what seemed to many in the industry as early retirement. This is what Uli told us when we asked him about his new role: ”I can confirm that as a consultant, I am advising CargoLogicAir to set up an AOC in Germany. Location is half Leipzig for me, the other half in London.” He added to this that it is a temporary assignment, ending when the AOC is granted by the German regulator. 

Brexit is casting its shadow
 With Ogiermann focusing his activities on Leipzig it can be concluded that CLA intends to concentrate their operations at the East German airport as soon as Brexit has become reality. Given these preconditions it remains to be seen how many of the carrier’s activities will remain in London. Some market observers even believe that CLA will pack their bags and move their entire administration over to LEJ. This however, remains a matter of speculation for the time being.

VD-Group feels home at LEJ
Be as it may, fact is that Leipzig has developed into a hot spot for Volga-Dnepr activities since some time now. There, the Moscow-headquartered company runs a major technical shop and has permanently based some of their AN-124 freighters operating on behalf of most NATO states and EU members. Also, its line-haul daughter AirBridgeCargo uses the airport frequently for their scheduled freight flights.
Interesting to note is that the German government in close coordination with the state of Saxony is very eager to grow Leipzig’s freight activities further, supporting corresponding initiatives. The airport, which is best known as largest global gateway of package delivery company DHL Express offers 24/7/365 ops and has plenty of space to expand further. Therefore, it is no surprise that former Cargolux CEO and QR Cargo chief Ulrich Ogiermann will be seen in Leipzig frequently in the months ahead to accomplish his news mission.

Heiner Siegmund

It seems that VietJetAir’s management is not just content to carry cargo in the bellies of their fleet and there are reports that they are looking to add at least two to three Boeing 737 freighters as well. These are said to be the B737-400 type which can carry up to 21 tons spread over eleven main deck positions and in their bellies. Things are moving fast because VietJetAir would like to have these freighters in operation before the end of this year. The question is whether they will consider purchasing two converted passenger aircraft or rather go for a so called ACMI or Dry Lease operation by leasing in other carriers and their crews or even using their own.
The main cargo flow routes which may be of interest for VietJetAir Cargo are those within the country, between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, as well as operations to Thailand (BKK), Tokyo and Hong Kong. it seems that the main demand for space is on the aforementioned routes.There were some rumours a few months ago that the carrier was looking at purchasing or leasing in the longer range Airbus A330-200 freighter in order to expand into the international market.
Things have gone quiet on the A330F and maybe VietJetAir wants to see how a freighter operation can be best run by starting with a smaller aircraft type.
Probably a wise decision.

John Mc Donagh

A challenging new task for Alexis von Hoensbroech
The German carrier’s cargo arm will not have to look far for a suitable replacement for Alexis von Hoensbroech. The board has decided that Dorothea von Boxberg, a long-time Lufthansa employee, will take over the position of Executive Board Mem-ber Product and Sales at Lufthansa Cargo.
It can be assumed that there will be enough time between now and 1 August for Mr von Hoensbroech to bring his successor up-to-date on the present and future commercial planning and activities of LH Cargo. He will take up his role as Chairman of the Executive Board of Austrian Airlines also on 1. August. The move comes somewhat as a surprise for many in the industry as von Hoensbroech was seen as being a guiding light in pushing LH Cargo’s activities further up front during the past couple of years. It seems that Lufthansa’s Executive Board has noted his achievements and sees him as the suitable overall head of Austrian Airlines.

New CCO comes from within the carrier
Dorothea von Boxberg is no stranger to the internal workings of Lufthansa, having joined the carrier in 2007 where until 2009 she headed the Strategy and Investments division of the Lufthansa Passenger department. Prior to joining Lufthansa she was with the Star Alliance Group from 2005 to 2007 where she was responsible for the Alliance Department.
Dorothea von Boxberg has an engineering background, having studied industrial engineering in Berlin and Paris. She also worked for The Boston Consulting Group in Stuttgart from 1999 to 2005.
The 44-year old manager presently holds the position of Vice President Global Sales Management at Lufthansa Cargo, being responsible for Global Performance Management, Product Management and Sales Processes as well as Airmail and Pricing. In her new position as LH Cargo’s Chief Commercial Officer, von Boxberg will be responsible for the external organisation of sales and handling, revenue management, pricing, network planning and sales management worldwide.

John Mc Donagh

A total of 9.92 billion parcels were shipped during the period, up 30.6% from a year ago, part of which were created by online sales worth 1.5 trillion yuan. Over 3.94 billion parcels were delivered in March alone, and the SPB expects 4 billion deliveries to be shipped in April.
Boosted by China’s Belt and Road initiative and expanding cross-border e-commerce, cross border express services have been growing at a faster pace than the average growth of the sector for 10 consecutive months. With average annual growth of 42% in the past decade, the country’s express sector has topped the world for four straight years in terms of business volume.
The Xinhua report said that as the sector grows quickly, government oversight has been reinforced. A new regulation on express delivery services, the first of its kind, will go into effect on May 1.

Nol van Fenema

Airbus looks at A330neo freighter
Recent reports state that the Toulouse-based aircraft manufacturer is looking at the possibility of offering the market a freighter version of the A330neo aircraft. There is said to have been interest shown for this type by Amazon International and UPS Airlines. This would basically mean that Airbus would deliver with a stretched A330-900 fuselage which would enable UPS and Amazon to carry more cargo on short to medium haul routes. Both carriers have so far not confirmed their interest in this new A330F type, but if it came on line then it could be a future replacement for some of their older Boeing 767 freighter fleets. Airbus has been lagging behind Boeing in their freighter production. So far only about 40 A330-200 freighters have been delivered compared to the numerous B777F and B767F variants.

French air cargo industry creates ACFA as umbrella organisation
The French air cargo community has set up its own umbrella organisation named Air Cargo France Association (ACFA). Its aim is to promote French air cargo and to reinforce the attractiveness of the national airports. The parties involved are the Paris airport group ADP, Air France Cargo, the professional organisation of transport and logistics - TLF Overseas, the organisation of French cargo airlines SYCAFF, WFS, SODEXI, Cargo Information Network France (CIN France), the customs organisation of Roissy, the Civil Aviation Authority and the ‘airport prefecture’ of Roissy-Le Bourget. They aim for joint efforts to support all air cargo related projects. One of the ACFA’s aims is in strengthening cooperation concerning competition legislation. Another is in the adoption of Pharma CEIV at Paris-CDG. The participation of CIN France is meant to speed up digitalisation and paperless data exchange. ACFA also hopes to develop quality services, operational resilience and land-side tarmac security through geolocation technology. Last but not least, the umbrella organisation wants to invest in air cargo training to support employment.

China's express sector earns US$20b in 1Q
China's express sector maintained strong growth in the first quarter of this year lifted by booming e-commerce, a Xinhua report said referring to official data from the State Post Bureau (SPB).
The sector raked in more than 127.1 billion yuan (US$20.2 billion) of revenue in the January-March period, up 29.1% year on year, SPB said.
A total of 9.92 billion parcels were shipped during the period, up 30.6% from a year ago, part of which were created by online sales worth 1.5 trillion yuan.
Over 3.94 billion parcels were delivered in March alone, and the SPB expected 4 billion deliveries to be shipped in April.
Boosted by China's Belt and Road Initiative and expanding cross-border e-commerce, cross-border express services have been growing at a faster pace than the average growth of the sector for 10 consecutive months.
With average annual growth of 42% in the past decade, the country's express sector has topped the world for four straight years in terms of business volume.
A Xinhua report said that as the sector grows quickly, government oversight has been reinforced. A new regulation on express delivery services, the first of its kind, will go into effect on May 1.

Johannes Riege hands over to younger generation
Riege Software founder Johannes Riege has stepped into retirement after 40 years at the helm of the successful provider of software solutions and services for the cargo industry. The company which in the meantime provides its services to more than 350 clients across around the globe, was founded by Johannes in 1985 in a small office in Germany. Today, Riege Software has branches throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. He now feels it is time to step down and hand over the reins as CEO to his eldest son Tobias who until now was acting as COO. He will be supported by his brother Christian who has also spent many years with the company as SVP Software Development.
Johannes Riege is going into retirement, but that does not mean that he’ll disappear from the scene altogether. He’ll always be on hand to advise the new generation when and where needed.

FRA Airport launches Smart Air Cargo Trailer project
In a move aimed at increasing process efficiency at Frankfurt’s CargoCity South, the airport has launched what they term as a “Smart Air Cargo Trailer” project. In their word this is “a project to provide solutions for autonomous needs-based shipments and minimize wait times at ramps.” The problem to be solved lies with the amount of single shipments which are transported within CargoCity South, hence putting extra pressure on processing capacity and the internal transport system. The research now in progress is aimed at finding a solution with different partners to optimize the use of resources and in the future be able to handle so called short-distance shipments automatically by using a cloud-based platform. On the face of it, a rather complex issue. However one which Fraport is taking seriously by using what they call ‘smart trailers’ equipped with a camera system which records how full a trailer is and once a certain loading level has been reached a message goes out  for it to be taken to a pre-assigned ramp position for handling by a freight agent or handling company. Relevant information can be found on the airport’s website.

The AN-225 returns to service
The massive Antonov AN-225 Mirya transporter which has six engines has been in the air for almost the past 30 years, transporting very heavy and bulky machinery across the globe. Flown by Antonov Airlines, the only remaining aircraft of its type in service has recently returned to the skies after having undergone major maintenance and modernization of many of its cockpit and other components. The aircraft positioned on 3. April from Kiev to Leipzig where it took on a load of cargo destined for Athens, Greece.  The An-225 can carry up to 250 tonnes of cargo over long distances and among others, is in great demand from the mining and heavy machinery industry for the speedy transport of equipment. There is hope within Antonov that after the cancellation in 2015 of the cooperation contract with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), that a deal can be done with China in order to restart production of the type.

Kale Logistics launches RIGEL
At the recent WINGS INDIA 2018 event in Hyderabad, the Indian branch of Kale Logistics Solutions launched what they term as India’s first online e-Booking platform for the air cargo industry. It has been dubbed RIGEL and Kale Logistics state that the new system is a one-stop online booking platform in India which is meant to gradually replace cumbersome manual air cargo booking processes which exist in the country.
The new e-Booking platform is said to give users a much faster access to routes, rates and schedules for cargo bookings and also ensures that compliances for further processing of shipments are taken care of at the point of booking. Prior to officially presenting the new system, Kale said they ran a successful pilot project with one of India’s largest freight forwarding and customs brokerage companies as well as with a leading airline in the country.

John Mc Donagh / Marcel Schoeters / Nol van Fenema