SHORT SHOTS

Alibaba’s Cainiao inks deal with Spain’s postal service
Alibaba’s logistics unit Cainiao Network and its overseas e-commerce platform AliExpress have signed a new strategic cooperation agreement with Spain’s national postal service Correos to boost cross-border logistics between China and Europe. Under the new agreement, Cainiao and Correos will help small and medium sized Spanish enterprises to accelerate parcel delivery within Europe for AliExpress, a company statement said.

“With the fast logistics network built by Cainiao Network and Correos, AliExpress can bring high-quality goods from China and other countries to Spanish consumers in a shorter time,” Wang Mingqiang, general manager of AliExpress was quoted as saying. The cooperation agreement is also expected to boost exports of small and medium-sized Spanish enterprises on AliExpress. The agreement with Correos also includes new initiatives such as utilising residential buildings, offices and some 5,000 self-pick-up boxes across the country as delivery spots. Currently, parcels sent from China reach Spain in 10 days on average. Using big data to predict needs, Cainiao enables roughly 90% of sought-after items to reach popular destinations such as Madrid in three days. Cainiao Network has partnered with the national postal service of several countries, including China and Russia, as well as a number of international carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Emirates.

IATA Innovation Award goes to Unilode
Unilode Aviation Solutions, the Swiss-based ULD management and repair specialists, were given IATA’s Air Cargo Innovation award for 2019 at a ceremony held at this year’s World Cargo Symposium (WCS) in Singapore. The award was given to Unilode in recognition of their Bluetooth-based tracking solution which they have developed for ULDs. The jury made up of air cargo industry experts evaluated a total of 56 companies who produce or develop various systems. Unilode was one of three shortlisted companies who presented their projects to a large audience at the WCS. The company also received a cheque for US$20,000 and the sum will be used to further develop the innovation.
Benoit Dumont, Unilode’s CEO was at the ceremony and commented that: “Unilode is extremely proud to have won the IATA Air Cargo Innovation Award with its digital transformation program, which will improve control, visibility, transparency, accuracy and safety in the air cargo supply chain.”

Turkish Cargo embargo on parrot transport
The World Animal Protection (WAP) has claimed that earlier this year Turkish Airlines flew a large number of African grey parrots from Kinshasa to Kuwait via their Istanbul hub and that a total of 60 of the valuable birds were found dead upon arrival.

Turkish Cargo which as an IATA listed carrier adheres to compliances of the Animal Transportation Association and which has committed itself to the IATA CEIV Live Animal Certification process, has in the meantime issued a total embargo on the carriage of grey parrots on any of their flights. It has not been stated as to what caused so many of the African grey parrots to perish, but possibly because of too many being packed together in crates too small to carry them. Turkish Cargo which is well known for its safe handling of animals is also working closely with World Animal Protection on future means to better safeguard animals transported by air.

Cargolux signs with Sonoco Thermosafe
The Luxembourg-based all cargo operator, Cargolux has signed on a partnership with Sonoco Thermosafe, a company which provides temperature assurance packaging with their PharmaPort 360 temperature-controlled bulk shipping containers.
The lease agreement will give Cargolux access to Sonoco’s state-of-the-art PharmaPort 360 containers for the carriage of temperature sensitive shipments throughout the carrier’s network. Sonoco states that their’s is the only active temperature-controlled container in the industry that includes a fully integrated FAA telemetry system. They state further that the PharmaPort enables the provision of real time cloud-based data on payload and ambient temperature and key mechanical components, precisely synchronized with a GPS location. Cargolux will use the new containers mainly for their expanding pharmaceutical product.

easy steps up express booking procedures
Express Air Systems (easy) which is a joint venture company of DB Schenker and Kuehne & Nagel offering express airfreight bookings has now opened up their digital booking platform to other providers. The digital easy portal allows access to express freight bookings with 25 airlines and the system is said to allow users a fast and easy express booking possibility giving customers what easy calls ‘ a simple and transparent overview of the possible airlines with available flight times, product details and associated rates for different volumes.’
easy state that the platform is simple to use where an individual request made on the portal is standardized and passed on automatically to the airlines listed in the system.