IN BRIEF - THE LATEST AIR CARGO INDUSTRY NEWS
Unilode to fully digitalise LATAM fleet
Zurich-based ULD management company Unilode has been supplying South American carrier LATAM with all of its ULDs and the management thereof since 2016. The cooperation between both Unilode and
LATAM seems to be going very well.
Both companies made it known last week that they have extended the cooperation, whereby Unilode will install their ULD digital tracking solution into LATAM’s entire ULD fleet. LATAM decided in
2016 to outsource their entire ULD management to Unilode, saving cost for the carrier as well as allowing it to concentrate more on its core business activities. This resulted in Unilode opening
an own ULD repair centre in Santiago de Chile. LATAM Cargo CEO, Andres Bianchi stated that: “at LATAM we are focussing on reinforcing LATAM Cargo’s competitiveness in order to maintain our
leadership in Latin America. Unilode’s digitalisation program will provide LATAM with opportunities to enhance our product offering.“
Cargolux passes 7th IOSA audit and goes Pink
Luxembourg-based all cargo airline, Cargolux, has announced that the carrier has successfully passed their 7th IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) with what they term as ‘exceptionally good
results.’
The IATA IOSA audit program is a widely known evaluation system which was put into place in order to assess operational management and control systems of airlines.
As a member of IATA, CV is obliged to undergo and pass an IOSA renewal audit every two years. The audit takes a week to complete and in Cargolux’s case around 900 different standards were checked
and audited. This is CV’s 7th audit, all of which have been passed successfully.
In other news the carrier has pledged support to the Fly Pink initiative which raises funds in order to help the fight against breast cancer. The campaign which takes place every year encourages
flight crews to swap their traditional shoulder golden stripes for pink ones in order to show their support for the campaign. CV’s crews have ‘shouldered‘ their pink stripes on flights operated
from 21 to 28 October.
UPS reports good Q3 earnings
Atlanta, Georgia-based United Parcel Service (UPS) has announced that their third quarter earnings rose sharply. This is the second straight quarter where record earnings have been achieved by
UPS.
The Q3 earnings reached a total of US$18.318 billion, a 5% annual rise. Net income amounted to US$1.750 billion - an increase of almost 10% compared to the previous year. The company also
announced that share earnings rose to US$2.01 per share, a 9.5% increase which was higher than Wall Street analysts had predicted.
International package revenues rose slightly by 0.5% to almost US$3.5 billion, whereas U.S. Domestic revenues went up by 10% to US$11.455 billion. However, Supply Chain and Freight revenue fell
by 4.5% to US$3.369 billion.
Analysts are reported as being happy with the UPS Q3 results which were boosted by a strong third quarter rise in the U.S. package volume sector.
DoKaSch’s Kaminski retires
Peter Kaminski, founding member of the DoKaSch Corporate Group which in the meantime is one of the leading developers, manufacturers and repair specialists for specialised air cargo equipment, is
to go into retirement after 30 years with the company. Peter has been with DoKaSch since day one and as Managing Director was responsible for the running of the company’s technical department. In
1989 he, Werner Dommermuth and Manfred Schneider started their air cargo equipment repair business and since then have not looked back.
DoKaSch now operates two main business units. One of them is their temperature controlled solutions unit where they have successfully developed and marketed their “Opticooler“ range of
containers. The other unit offers a wide range of special air cargo equipment along with repair solutions.
Peter Kaminski will retire on 31. October and is being succeeded by Akin Demir who as an engineer has been with DoKaSch for the past twenty years.
Jettainer manages ASL Airlines‘ ULDs
Liege-based ASL Airlines Belgium has appointed Frankfurt-based ULD supply and management company Jettainer with the management of all of the fleet’s ULDs. The contract which runs for a period of
five years will commence immediately, both parties stated.
ASL Airlines Belgium is a member of the ASL Aviation Holdings Group and operates international and European regional freight services with their fleet of B747-400F, B737-800F and B737-400F
aircraft. The carrier presently has a total of around 1,500 ULDs and pallets on stock. The new deal will give ASL better ULD access and control as well as giving the carrier notable financial
savings over the contracted period.
DHL Global Forwarding expands digital roadmap
The Deutsche Post DHL Group member DHL Global Forwarding has been offering a wide portfolio of digital services for some time to their air and ocean customers. They have now launched their latest
digital platform which is called DHLi Analytics. This, the company says, offers their customers a ‘smart service to access and analyze their business data 24/7.‘
DHL claims that the new DHLi platform displays all the relevant invoicing details for their customers as well as Service Quality and Customs Activities. The data is gathered together on one
screen in order for customers to have a fast and easy access to the information they need.
WFS gets GDP certification in JNB and CPT
Paris, France-based Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has been awarded the Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certification for their Johannesburg and Cape Town pharmaceutical facilities. They are
the first air cargo handler in South Africa which has achieved GDP certification which is aligned to ISO9001:2015 standards.
The handler recently completed investments in upgrading their JNB and CPT pharma handling operations and have reported a 15% increase in volumes of these products through their facilities during
the past two years. WFS handles more than 65,000 tons of air cargo annually at their Cape Town and Johannesburg airport warehouses. Pharma handling continues to play an important role
for WFS as seen by their large investments in pharma facilities in Copenhagen, Paris CDG, New York and Miami airports.
AF-KL-MP Cargo winter schedule expanded
Air France-KLM- Martinair Cargo have announced their winter operating schedule which started on 27.October and runs until the end of March 2020. The three carriers offer combined capacity on 187
long-haul passenger aircraft as well as their 6 freighters from their two main hubs in Paris CDG and Amsterdam Schiphol.
New services are being offered to freight clients from Amsterdam to Bangalore, India three times a week. Also new from AMS is a thrice-weekly operation to Liberia and a four per week to San Jose,
Costa Rica. Three weekly Miami flights will also be reinstated from AMS this winter.
Paris CDG offers three new weekly services to Quito, Ecuador as well as reinstating the Air France flights to the Maldives twice a week and three times weekly to the Seychelles. Paris also offers
increased frequencies to other destinations, among them Dubai, Bangkok, Mauritius and Delhi.
FLEET NEWS
Garuda Indonesia has announced that they have reached a lease agreement with GECAS for two B737-800 freighters. The aircraft which are being converted from passenger to cargo
configuration (P2F) by Boeing, are expected to join Garuda’s fleet in mid-2020.
Turkish Cargo has received their sixth B777 freighter which is capable of carrying up to 102 tons of cargo. This brings their total freighter fleet up to 24 units. The carrier
also announced it will start a new Istanbul - Kuala Lumpur B777F service as of late October.
Israel-based CAL Cargo Airlines (CAL) has added a twice-weekly B747-400F service from their base in Liege, Belgium to Los Angeles. The flights depart LGG on Wednesdays and
Saturdays, returning to the Belgian airport on Thursdays and Sundays. CAL operates a total of three B747-400 freighters.
John Mc Donagh
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