IN BRIEF - THE LATEST AIR CARGO INDUSTRY NEWS
EC opens Amazon investigation
The European Commission watchdogs are to investigate whether Amazon’s use of data supplied to them from so called independent retailers, is in breach of current EU competition rulings.
The move was initiated by the European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager who would like to have more clarity as to how and to what purpose Amazon might use such data in the future.
Therefore, she will open an inquiry into Amazon’s business practices and its retailer role to ensure that there is compliance with EU competition rules. Part of this inquiry will be to look into
agreements between retailers and Amazon, whereby Amazon is said to be able to use such data in a sense that this might be seen as unfair competition.
U.S. worried about China’s Polar Silk Road
America’s Department of Defense (DoD) issued a report the U.S. congress a couple of months ago in which they (DoD) expressed their concern at China’s increased activities in the Arctic region.
The report terms this as China’s new Polar Silk Road whereby China is going access to many natural resources in the region as well as opening up new lines of communication through the Arctic
seas. This, the DoD states, has been happening since China got an observer seat status on the Arctic Council.
The Arctic States is made up from eight countries - The United States, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Russia and Sweden. They are all said to have concerns about Chinese inroads into
the area and the possible plan to open a Polar Silk Road through the region by gaining access to natural resources, which the eight claim are not available for Chinese investment.
Loedige wins Istanbul tender
Turkish Cargo has selected Loedige Industries as supplier for technology to store, sort, and dispatch air freight shipments, including inventory at the Turkish carrier’s brand-new distribution
center at Istanbul’s new airport.
The equipment to be installed in the new cargo terminal includes several automated high-rack facilities with 2,000 storage bins for cargo containers, 17,000 pallet storage spaces, 52 storage and
retrieval machines, 26 container and pallet lifts as well as integrated stockpile management. Direct interfaces to the customer’s freight management systems are part of the setting. A special
Loedige squad will stay on-site to oversee and maintain the system. It is connected to Loedige’s Customer Care Center in Germany whose task is to remedy system errors 24/7 within a very short
period of time.
Once completed, the Istanbul freight terminal offers a handling capacity of two million tons p.a. Including the new warehouse in Istanbul, Loedige has meanwhile equipped more than 40 air cargo
terminals worldwide and claims to be the market leader in this segment.
Budapest Airport: Schnitzler to follow Lammers as CEO
Dr Rolf Schnitzler has been appointed as new CEO of Budapest Airport with immediate effect. The doctorate in Law has a wealth of experience in aviation and airport matters. He has been more than
fourteen years in leading corporate management positions at AviAlliance, Budapest Airport’s majority stakeholder (55%). As member and Chairman of Budapest’s Supervisory Board, he is very familiar
with the Hungarian Airport through the provision of support and legal advice on numerous key projects.
Schnitzler takes the BUD chair from Jost Lammers who has headed the Hungarian Airport “Ferihegy” since 2007 and has now been appointed CEO of Munich Airport. His tenure begins next January.
At MUC he follows long-time Chairman and CEO Michael Kerkloh (66) who heads the Bavarian airport since 2002 and retires in December for age reasons. Under Kerkloh’s leadership, Munich developed
into a best-in-class passenger and cargo gateway. MUC has been awarded the title “Five Star European Airport” nine out of eleven times by the independent, London-based Skytrax Institute.
National to add three B747Fs
Orlando, Florida-based National Airlines which runs a fleet of two B747-400 freighters and two B757-200 Fs, has announced that they are in the process of reaching an additional three ex- Cathay
Pacific Cargo B747-400Fs. The first aircraft is planned to go into operation as of August or September this year and the other two by late 2019 and early 2020.
National Airlines has a long-term contract with the United States military for the movement of cargo between the various U.S. military bases throughout the world. It remains to be seen whether
National will utilize the extra aircraft for military transports or enter into commercial cargo operations.
Sustainability Programme opened by TIACA and CHAMP
The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) has as part of its sustainability programme, opened up entries for their first Sustainability Award. The Sustainability Programme
(cargoForwarder Global reported) centres around recognizing companies who address challenges in economic, social and environmental fields.
The first prize in the Sustainability Award will be US$15.000 and US$3.500 for each of the two runners up. The deadline for submitting entries on TIACA’s website is September 30th. It will be
handed over at this year’s TIACA Executive Summit which will be held in Budapest from November 19th to 21st. The award is being sponsored by CHAMP Cargosystems.
Concurrently, IT manager CHAMP announced that the electronic platform Cargo Community System Japan (CCSJ) is operating a CHAMP-powered new cloud-based air cargo electronic distribution system.
The scheme delivers a full stack solution for cargo electronic data exchange. CCSJ operates the only cargo community system in Japan and connects the Japanese air cargo stakeholders to the
international aviation community.
“We are privileged to power the only cargo community system in Japan,” says Arnaud Lambert, CEO of CHAMP Cargosystems. “This stage of technological development and transition to cloud-based systems was the next step of CCSJ’s air cargo mission in driving digitization across the Japanese air cargo community. CHAMP is honored to be a part of it, and it strengthens our integral relationship with the Japanese market,” comments the executive.
time:matters adds Africa to its global network
The Frankfurt-based expert for time critical and high-speed logistics solutions offers the market rapid transports to 16 African stations. The step follows the company’s recently announced
expansion in China. Cornerstone of the advance is a transport arrangement with Brussels Airlines followed by the decision to establish a time:matters hub in the Belgian capital.
With immediate effect, the company offers its customers tailored transport solution for spare parts, express goods and other urgently required items on 81 weekly direct flights between Brussels
and the African destinations served by the airline. These are Abidjan (ABJ), Accra (ACC), Banjul (BJL), Bujumbura (BJM), Conakry (CKY), Cotonou (COO), Douala (DLA), Dakar (DSS), Entebbe (EBB),
Freetown (FNA), Kigali (KGL), Luanda (LAD), Lomé (LFW), Yaoundé (NSI), Ouagadougou (OUA) and Monrovia (ROB).
In Brussels, time:matters customers enjoy services such as individual pick-up and delivery of shipments upon request, prioritized loading and the usual customer service support around the clock.
Furthermore, there is no weight limit in respect of shipments ex Brussels – everything can be accommodated, from a few kilograms to several tons.
Silkway West Airlines appoints Jenny Zhao
Jenny Zhao has become new VP Asia-Pacific (APAC) effective 1 August 2019, announced the Baku, Azerbaijan- based airline. In her new role, she will be responsible for providing strategic and
tactical direction for further enhancing of business operations in APAC. She took over from Nurid Aliyev, who has stepped down for personal reasons.
Mrs. Zhao comes along with a vast experience in the air cargo industry, holding senior management positions at various freight airlines during the last couple of years. For the past two years,
she was Silkway West Airlines’ CCO APAC and Head of SWW Rep Office in Shanghai.
Wolfgang Meier, President/CEO of Silk Way West Airlines, expresses his confidence in this decision: “Thanks to her long experience in the air cargo industry, Mrs. Zhao will be able to give a new
impulse to the activities of Silkway West Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region, which operates in a highly competitive environment. Her expertise and capability in the sector would further
increase customer satisfaction.”
John Mc Donagh / Heiner Siegmund
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