JFK sees 66% reduction in truck waiting times
That is the impressive result of a slot and dock management pilot carried out by Kale Info Solutions (Global IT provider, Kale Logistics Solutions’ U.S. subsidiary) and ground handler, Worldwide
Flight Services at John F Kennedy Airport (JFK), New York. Based on artificial intelligence, the truck module that forms part of Kale's Airport Cargo Community System (ACS), succeeded in reducing
waiting times for truckers by up to 66% for exports and 48% for imports. The pilot, which began in DEC21, included 50 organizations and over 160 individual users, among them truckers and ground
handling operatives. Kale's ACS truck and slot management module was integrated into WFS' warehouse management system, ePic, thus enabling the digital transformation of its export and import
processes, and revealing congestion causes such as truck traffic peaks, information gaps, administration blockages, for example.
Amar More, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kale Logistics Solutions, outlined: “Truck congestion is becoming a major challenge in North American airports and ports, and JFK, being a
significant one, requires a smart system to handle cargo movement seamlessly. We have helped several airport and port communities across the world in overcoming such challenges and are excited to
work with WFS and the JFK cargo community in changing the way cargo is picked up and delivered in New York forever through this initiative.”
Worldwide Flight Services’ Vice President, Rinzing Wangyal commented: “At WFS, we are looking to digitally transform processes that can enable us to handle cargo more efficiently and address
the root causes of congestion. […] Looking at the benefits delivered by the pilot phase and the encouraging feedback from the cargo community, we will soon be rolling this out across all our
facilities in JFK, and other stations in North America.”
Donna Mullins, VP, Kale Info Solutions, concluded: “Now, all the stakeholders at the airport can visually see how community platforms work and make their jobs easier. We are working with
several airport communities in North America on alleviating the pains related to supply chain disruptions.” The first air cargo community system set up by Kale in the U.S. was at
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2020. With success stories such as the most recent one at JFK, the company continues to drive ACS adoption and stakeholder collaboration across
the country.
Mega Hub Mission complete, says Lödige
Talk is of Turkish Cargo’s new and fully automated terminal at Istanbul Airport: one of the largest projects that Lödige Industries has ever tackled. It was in charge of installing the automation
technology at Turkish Cargo's terminal in the new airport. The airline now has access to more than three times the space it previously had at the old Ataturk Airport: a staggering 300,000 m² of
handling capacity, in other words, it can handle four million tons per year. Those equivalent 56 football fields are broken down into separate special cargo areas including 1.12 football fields
of temperature-controlled storage space (6,000 m²), half a football field for express cargo (2,000 m²), a live animals corner (500 m²), another football field for e-commerce and airmail (5,000
m²), and a quarter of a high-security football field for valuable cargo (1,000 m²). And it is all these areas that Lödige has now kitted out with automated high-bay warehouses totaling 17,000
storage locations, 30 stacking cranes, 15 lifts and an integrated warehouse management system with direct interface to customer and freight management systems. All of these systems designed to
keep operations at maximum efficiency, are connected to the Lödige Customer Care Center and are also permanently monitored by a team of on-site experts, to ensure continuous functionality.
Turhan Özen, Chief Cargo Officer of Turkish Cargo, explained: “Turkish Cargo's goal is to always deliver the best possible quality to its customers and industry partners. With the brand-new
cargo hub at İstanbul Airport, we are able to combine the highest quality standards with the utmost efficiency, making Istanbul the most advanced logistics center in the world. For the technical
equipment, Turkish Cargo has opted for the most powerful, reliable, and innovative solutions, and has therefore deliberately chosen the quality and experience of the leading supplier, Lödige
Industries.”
Philippe De Backer, CEO of Lödige Industries, enthused: “Turkish Cargo's ambitious plans are an impressive demonstration of what is important in future-oriented cargo terminals. With our
facilities, one of the fastest growing cargo airlines has the ideal environment to deliver top performance day in, day out, whilst being ready for the challenges of the future. We are very proud
to have successfully built this beacon together with Turkish Cargo. And we are absolutely convinced that Turkish Cargo is thus ideally equipped for further growth.”
Russia steals hundreds of Airbus and Boeing aircraft
The Moscow government is demonstrating on a large scale how to rob other people's property. Aircraft leased by Russian airlines are simply not being returned to their foreign lessors. Instead,
the Putin regime has decided to register the aircraft in Russia. This transfer of ownership represents a blatant breach of the Chicago Convention which entered into force in 1947, and was signed
by the Russian Federation on 15OCT70. It is estimated that more than 500 aircraft are affected. The leasing companies will lose billions of euros as a result. This was estimated by experts at a
video conference held on 25MAR22 by Eurocontrol, the European aviation safety organization.
Under EU sanctions against Russia, Aeroflot, S7, ABC, Pobeda, and other carriers must return leased aircraft to their owners by tomorrow, 28MAR22. However, a law enacted on 14MAR22 by the Putin
administration allows Russian airlines to register aircraft leased from foreign owners, in Russia. This allows Aeroflot et alia to use the jetliners for domestic flights, despite Western
sanctions. Abroad, on the other hand, these planes could be impounded.
"Most of the aircraft which are now stolen from their rightful owners, the leasing companies, are of U.S. or European origin", said Henrik Hololei, who is in charge of transportation at
the EU Commission. By allowing the planes to operate within Russia, the state authorities "have seriously violated the laws of international aviation, as well as the Convention on
International Civil Aviation, the so-called Chicago Convention," he said. "Assets of enormous amounts were de facto stolen by the Russians," Eurocontrol Director General, Eamonn
Brennan emphasized.
At stake are "some ten billion euros plus 500 aircraft seized by the Russians and re-registered by them now,“ Brennan said. This creates "a very difficult situation" for
European leasing companies as well as insurers, he added. It is doubtful whether leasing companies such as Avolon, Aircap, or GECAS will ever again lease aircraft to Russian companies in post
sanction times. According to the Russian Transport Ministry, Russian airlines operated a total of 1,367 aircraft as of 11MAR22, of which more than half (739) were registered abroad. According to
aviation analysis provider, Cirium, 515 of the aircraft used by Russian airlines are leased.
All good things are three in the case of AFKLMP’s CEIV Pharma
When it comes to the transport of pharmaceuticals, one false or shoddy move can literally cost lives. The most stringent standards apply, over and over. That is why IATA’s CEIV Pharma
certification is not a life-long award, but is reaudited every few years, to ensure that the airline continues to meet those high standards, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP), which was the
first airline group ever to become CEIV Pharma certified back in 2016, has just proven its worth a third time at its Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol hubs. The airline group intends to expand its
share of pharmaceutical cargo and has penned a three-year strategy which sees it strengthening its existing digital ecosystem and booking tools, and further expanding its cold-chain capacity and
operational quality. The renewed certification is a seal of quality that assures pharmaceutical companies of the airline group’s consistently high standards when it comes to transporting
valuable, temperature-sensitive shipments.
Nick Careen, IATA Senior Vice President Operations, Safety and Security, commented: “The European freight market is one of the largest in the world, accounting for close to a quarter of total
global trade. Having Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, one of the region’s largest cargo operators, achieve CEIV Pharma Certification at two of Europe’s largest airports, for the third time, is a
testament to the company’s reliable handling of pharma shipments.”
Adriaan den Heijer, Executive Vice President of Air France KLM Cargo and Managing Director of Martinair, added: “The IATA CEIV Pharma recertification demonstrates once again that we have the
right expertise, processes, and facilities in place. We will make additional investments this year in our facilities, (digital) services and people to further strengthen our proposition for our
pharmaceutical customers.”
Marcel Kuijn, Global Head of Pharmaceutical Logistics at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, thanked all staff, partners and customers involved in pharmaceuticals transport: “I’m very pleased
with the fact that both Air France and KLM have been IATA CEIV Pharma-certified for the third time. It’s the result of continuous focus and investment to ensure that sensitive pharmaceutical
products reach patients safely.”
cargo.one gains a five-in-one win with IAG Cargo
British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Level, and Vueling all make up IAG Cargo, “the cargo division of International Airlines Group (IAG) and the trusted partner of more than 10,000
businesses,” as its website states. And IAG Cargo is now placing its own trust in a digital platform partner, cargo.one. The two companies announced the signing of a global partnership that
will see the European cargo group publish its real-time capacities on cargo.one, for the benefit of the platform’s freight forwarding users, and the added convenience of its own customers. IAG
Cargo’s capacity opens up additional space to key destinations across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, LATAM, Middle East and Africa. In this latest win-win partnership, cargo.one gains one
of its largest ever clients with a network spanning more than 60 countries and a fleet of over 500 aircraft flying thousands of flights per week out of its three hubs (London, Madrid, and
Dublin), and IAG Cargo stands to substantially benefit from the additional market tools that cargo.one brings, such as its unique cargo.one360 platform and a team of dedicated growth managers
helping to facilitate skillfully adapting supply to demand.
David Shepherd, Managing Director at IAG Cargo, stated: “We are delighted to be partnering with cargo.one – an exciting partnership strengthening the digital development of IAG Cargo. This
partnership is the latest step in our journey to transform the way we do business, making it easier than ever for our customers to book their freight online with IAG Cargo.”
Moritz Claussen, Founder & Co-CEO of cargo.one, said: “As a partner, IAG Cargo is a powerhouse and is well known for continuous innovation. Both companies share a proven instinct for
building digital options that elevate customers and improve outcomes. IAG Cargo offers us exciting opportunities to co-innovate and hit new heights for digital efficiencies and service
delivery. With our combined expertise, freight forwarders booking with us can look forward to an outstanding end-to-end experience:”
ECS Group’s special mail and e-commerce solution
With its Augmented GSA concept, ECS Group is going where no GSA has gone before, and the latest “New Ability” revealed this week, proves its strategy: Mail & More, is the group’s
comprehensive mail solution. Not only is it the first GSA worldwide to offer such a product, but it also underpins the solution with its own digital process support, whereby it can transport mail
either as cargo or under a CN document. Airmail follows a different transportation process to other cargo; thus the commodity proves to be a headache for many airline operators. Yet it can also
bring regular baseload, especially given the recent boom in e-commerce which often flies as mail. This is the niche that ECS Group is aiming for, and in which it has a great deal of expertise:
“Mail & More offers Collection and Delivery under CN, ensures full mail-specific EDI compliance, and comes with a Track & Trace system. Drawing on years of experience, Mail & More
includes a dedicated team with the expert, technical knowledge that this commodity requires, and a far-reaching network of contacts to all global postal operators and e-commerce consolidators,
allowing airlines to maximize on the revenue potentials of this precise commodity segment,” the press release details.
Jonathan Fredericks, Mail & More Managing Director, underlined: “We understand that airlines often find dealing with mail shipments and customers difficult because of the difference in
processes, and not all of them can allocate a separate team to the task. That is why, with Mail & More, we provide fully outsourceable, commodity-specific assistance ranging from commercial
responsibilities all the way through to digital support. To date, we have implemented a flexible EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Mail solution for 3 airlines which enables the tracking and
tracing of CN documents, and the conversion of CN documents to Postal Air Waybills (PAWB) when necessary. Our holistic service-offer and long-standing experience in airmail is what sets us apart
in the market. We always want to make things simple for our customers.”
“In the first quarter of this year, we have already completed 10 charter flights carrying, in total, more than 130 tons of mail & e-commerce. And there is more to come,” Adrien
Thominet, ECS Group Executive Chairman, illustrated: already a good increase on the 25 dedicated mail & e-commerce charters, and 200 tons of mail & e-commerce transported in the second
half of last year.
Challenge Group ticks all of TIACA’s member boxes
“Challenge Group brings pan-industry representation to TIACA,” is the title of the press release announcing that the group has an air cargo association member. “We joined as a
non-voting member in October 2021,” Yossi Shoukroun, Challenge Group’s CEO, detailed, “because we are keen to contribute proactively and tangibly to the future of our industry. Challenge
Group has more than four decades of air cargo airline experience, we've been involved in air cargo handling for almost 25 years, we provide extensive road feeder services, and can offer other
aviation expertise, too, so I believe that, as a group, we can bring valuable input to the broad TIACA community: a motivated community that has a clear direction for the future of our industry.
There is strength in numbers, and it is this strength that will drive change. Together with other supply chain stakeholders, we can make significant progress on the many changes that are
necessary for a cleaner, more efficient, and collaborative air cargo industry."
Glyn Hughes, Director General of TIACA, is delighted at gaining such a multifaceted industry representative: “It is with great pleasure that we welcome the Challenge Group to the TIACA
membership family. They have a wonderful vision for sustainable growth and transformation, and we are excited about supporting the Group in their journey.” Challenge Group’s Sustainability
focus is based on TIACA’s sustainability guidelines combining People, Planet, Prosperity, published in 2020, and the group’s involvement in the association's sustainability working group.
Challenge Group is currently working on its sustainability strategy, a key strategic focus it has set itself for 2022.
Dronamics attracts experts, prepares for commercial launch
“2022 will be a key year for growth as we mark our first commercial flights with the Black Swan - our proprietary drone powered by clean and energy-efficient technologies,” Svilen
Rangelov, CEO and Co-Founder of DRONAMICS emphasizes, and the company is now ramping up to fully prepare for the commercial launch. “As a fast-growing technology company on the path to
net-zero, that is looking to change the status quo in the cargo mobility sector, Paul's valuable experience and knowledge will be vital as we prepare for our next round of funding and scale up
our operations,” he continues, referring to DRONAMICS’ first appointed CFO and a new member of the Executive team: Paul Morton. Based in the UK and report to Svilen Rangelov, the new Chief
Financial Officer, who counts twenty years of financial and commercial expertise (with DAZN, Perform, and Deloitte), will be preparing the company for its Series A funding round set to launch
later this year. He has this to say: “I am absolutely delighted to have started as CFO at DRONAMICS at such an important point in its journey. What Svilen Rangelov, Konstantin Rangelov, and
the team have built and achieved to date, is so impressive, and I look forward to helping the business scale and fulfil its undoubted potential.”
Meanwhile, “Down Under”, the former Civil Aviation Safety Authority Chairman and aviation veteran (45 years of experience across a number of airline boards and as a qualified commercial pilot),
Tony Mathews, has joined DRONAMICS as its Strategic Advisor. Together with Svilen Rangelov and the company's growing team in Australia, Tony Mathews will assist preparations for DRONAMICS’
commercial launch and operational scale-up in Australia and beyond.
“Tony is a true industry leader who has built a 360-degree view over his accomplished career, and he understands both the big picture and the nuts and bolts of aviation. We are privileged
that he shares our ambition to reshape cargo mobility and we believe he will be instrumental in helping us achieve this goal.” Svilen Rangelov, stated. Tony Mathews commented: “I am
excited to play a role in Dronamics' innovative, technology-driven solution. The introduction of drones carrying larger payloads with fast, regular and affordable movement of all types of freight
will be a great positive step forward, and will be especially meaningful for communities in Australia. I look forward to working with the team to advance their vision in Australia and
beyond.”
Brigitte Gledhill
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