Dear Air Cargo Professional:
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Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying a good summer! The news in our industry has recently become more encouraging as cargo volumes at airlines and airports around the world continue to grow, and the industry pushes ahead with its agenda of digital transformation.The growth of e-commerce around the world is pushing the air cargo industry to deliver more transparency, predictability and trace-ability, as tech savvy shoppers take more of their business online, to the dismay of brick and mortar stores. We can foresee the creation of many new products and services to cater to this new business opportunity, and we intend to host each of these offering on our encyclopedic digital platform for the world to see and adopt. |
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UNITED AIRLINES: Last month, I listened to a presentation from Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines as he begins a 'transformation journey' to change the minds and hearts of 87,000 employees at United, while changing the conversation from what's wrong to executing what's next. An intensely focused leader, Oscar's top financial priority is building net margin, and over the last year United's stock has soared over 84%, while operating performance is at a record. In his previous assignment as head of CSX, he grew revenues from $6 billion to $45 billion; a stellar performance in a very conservative business. His secret- 'listening and learning'. People will open up to you if your question is a genuine one.
PILOT SHORTAGE AFFECTS SMALL & MEDIUM SIZE COMMUNITIES IN THE USA:
In a press statement released by the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association, RACCA's chair Tim Komberec is quoted as stating that "The pilot shortage is now critical". Airlines need far more pilots than can be produced annually by all the colleges and with military separation. During a recent World Training Conference, chief pilots and airlines from legacy carriers to cargo operators reported on the deterioration of pilot skills that happens during the time between college graduation and being hired by an airline, confirming concerns that the 1,500 hour rule actually had a negative impact on safety. Meanwhile, as part of the Federal Aviation Administration re authorization legislation, Congressional legislators are moving to expand training options for pilots as part of an effort to improve safety and address the crisis facing small-and medium sized communities.
ULDCARE & ACH JOIN FORCES IN BUDAPEST:(18th-21st September, 2017 at the Corinthia Hotel) : Following their successful collaboration in Bangkok in 2015, the Air Cargo Handling Conference is once again teaming up with ULDCARE and the Cool Chain Association to present a comprehensive joint program that will appeal to all air cargo professionals. In a world of shrinking travel budgets, the idea of combining three air cargo industry events within a span of less than a week is becoming increasingly popular, while the roster of speakers and registered delegates reads like a 'who's who' of the global air cargo industry. Having attended each of these events organized by Parveen and her team at EVA International, we can highly recommend them as we continue to see them grow each year. We will be covering these events, and hope to see you in Budapest this September.
This September, we will also be attending the US Air Cargo Industry Summit in Washington, DC on September 6th, and the FREIGHTERS WORLD CONFERENCE in Chicago, on 24th, 25th & 26th September. While the former event serves as a great meeting point between industry and government, the latter event will highlight the growing importance of main deck freighter aircraft in a changing air cargo environment with e-commerce being one of the main drivers in the utilization of freighter capacity.
All the best
D.J. Ghosh
President & Publisher
AIRCARGOPEDIA
WWW.AIRCARGOPEDIA.COM
”The Complete Encyclopedia for the Air Cargo Professional & Investor”
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Kale Logistics Solutions announces to set-up of a 'Centre for Innovation for IT in Air Cargo Industry' at its annual Thought Leadership event - Clear View 2017
Mumbai, July 18, 2017:
With an initial seed investment of USD 25,000, this Center of Innovation is an outcome of the Kale’s Air Cargo
Thought Leadership Summit -Clear View 2017 that took place in Athens, Greece earlier in July. The objective
of this Center of Innovation is to ground groom the Air Cargo industry in adopting Information Technology for
an agile, effective and equipped Air Cargo business.
The second edition of Clear View
– A Kale Thought Leadership Summit for Air Cargo took
place in Ath
ens, Greece on 6th & 7th July. This is a first of its kind
interactive platform (unlike other normal Air Cargo
events), which had encouraging participation from IATA,
leading Airlines, Cargo Handlers, Industry Associations,
Regulators and Prominent Industry Consultants from
North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Clear View
debuted in February 2016 at Dubai. It was met with an
overwhelming response from industry leaders who
believed that forums like Clear View were imperative to
bring industry players together and catalyze discussions
for the growth and development of the Air Cargo industry.
The Clear View summit endeavors to ensure that a collective voice of the industry gets collated and the
industry itself can assemble a charter for enabling possible realistic strategies and viable solutions to the
issues discussed during the summit. With an intention to take this endeavor a step further, Kale has decided to
invest an amount of USD 25,000 towards setting up a “Centre of Innovation in IT for Air Cargo” to provide a
platform to build, discuss and make dialogues that take place in the Clear View, a reality.
The Clear View summit is an interactive platform to discuss industry issues in a round table format and this
year the session revolved around; Innovation in the Air cargo domain, Measuring Performance for
Transformation, e-Commerce and its implications on Air Cargo business and Digital Disruption. Delegates
present at the summit, debated on the modal shifts that are being experienced in the Air Cargo industry to
comprehend threats and opportunities associated with it. Apart from the debate, one of the key point of
discussion was the impact of booming eCommerce industry on the cargo sector. Issues like, achieving global
reach, ensuring implementation of technology in process and operations, ensuring customer satisfaction and
loyalty, reducing turnaround time and introducing concepts like Internet of Things and recognizing KPIs were
discussed in course of the summit. The sessions were extremely insightful and informative with new
perspectives being exchanged amongst the present dignitaries.
Glyn Hughes, Global Head of Cargo, International Air Transport Association (IATA), said, “Clear View is the
forum where leaders from the industry meet and talk about some of the challenges, and most importantly, the
possible solutions. It is a wonderful forum for brain storming and coming up with actionable ideas that we can
all work on because innovation is everybody's job and that’s really what clear view is all about. The biggest
challenge that the industry is facing now is the challenge of avoiding getting too relaxed, too lethargic about
the current increase in volumes. Last 9-12 months have been fantastic in terms of increased volume. But now is the time when the industry really needs to embrace that if we want to keep this kind of growth growing, we
need to innovate because one of the biggest risks we got is stagnation. Events such as Clear View and any
other forum where the supply change partners come together, challenge each other which is critical, debate
the issues and formulate an action plan for the future, is absolutely vital for the industry.”
Speaking on the occasion, Vipul Jain, Chairman, Kale Logistics said, “The Logistics industry has undergone
severe transformation in the last year. Globalization, Digitization, innovation, eCommerce and the growing
importance of customer centric approach are some parameters that have led the industry to undergo a
paradigm shift. The main aim at Clear View is to facilitate a discussion to understand the scope of challenges
and opportunities that await the Air Cargo domain. Conducting such discussions on a platform such as Clear
View, gives us an edge on comprehending the Air Cargo business holistically. The ultimate objective of this
summit is to gain industry insights to create a sustainable model with cognizance of the present and future
business trends.”
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DGXML STANDARD AVAILABLE
Lelystad, the Netherlands, 17 July 2017
Electronic exchange of dangerous goods information made easy!
Digitalization of the logistics chain requires clear and open standards. Therefore, we developed and
implemented our new DGXML dangerous goods data sharing standard. This version controlled XML
standard can be used for any mode of transport (multimodal), and is made available for public use.
Impact on your company
It is very common for data to be recopied many times along the logistics chain of one shipment. This
inefficient working method can result in copy errors, which in turn can cause serious problems, such as
noncompliance, accidents, lost cargo or high fines. With the use of just one simple DGXML standard, there
is no more need for data to be copied from copies multiple times. The standard allows one correct
information source to be available for whomever needs to have access to it, internally as well as externally.
All necessary information is included, which can be used for any mode of transport along the logistics chain,
including multimodal transport. By using this electronic standard for any of your dangerous goods
shipments, inefficiency and copying errors can be prevented.
How it works
The DGXML standard is open to anyone who wants to use it, under shared commons. If you are interested
in using it, visit our website via the following link
www.dgm-sdg.com/dgxml and sign up. Then, the DGXML
documentation and DGMIDs become available for you to download and use. The documents are version
controlled, so once new files are added or when files are updated, you will be notified automatically.
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Russi Batliwala celebrates 30 years with Chapman Freeborn
13 July 2017
This summer, Russi Batliwala celebrates his 30th anniversary with the world's leading aircraft charterer broker.
Growing up in an aviation family, it was clear from a young age that a regular nine-to-five office job was never on the cards for Russi, and he was naturally drawn to pursue the activity he loved.
Arriving in Germany at the age of 21, he began his career working for a number of commercial airlines before an intriguing job advertisement in a newspaper caught his attention with its headline ‘Aviation company needs a pair of hands to help’.
The year was 1987, and just a few days after spotting the ad Russi had joined Chapman Freeborn, paving the way for a successful career which has spanned three decades – and has taken him all the way from being a trainee charter broker to the head of a global aviation company.
In Russi’s early years with Chapman Freeborn, the charter business was focused on automotive cargo.
Recalling a transportation strike in Spain at the end of the 1980’s, he said: “This was the first challenging situation in my career. We stayed in the office 24 hours a day for several weeks arranging charter flights. My father was a pilot for a cargo airline appointed by Chapman Freeborn to operate a Boeing B-707 charter to Valencia.“
The formula for success
Russi continued to develop his career with Chapman Freeborn and he has been a key driver in the company’s growth.
He took over the management of Chapman Freeborn Germany in 1990, followed by the group’s worldwide cargo product in 2000. During his 30 years with the company he has been involved in setting up a number of key global charter operations - including subsidiary businesses in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
Since his appointment as CEO of the Chapman Freeborn Group in 2009, Russi has been instrumental in developing a strategy for the company’s global expansion.
In addition to the group’s core aircraft charter and leasing activities, Russi has overseen the strengthening of the company’s portfolio of subsidiary businesses which include hand-carry specialist Chapman Freeborn OBC, animal transport company Intradco Global, and flight operations provider Wings 24.
The group was further enhanced earlier this year with the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Magma Aviation – a specialist air cargo company operationally managing B747-400F aircraft.
He describes himself as someone who is constantly moving, always looking for the next opportunity and developing new ideas. He added: “Diversity and innovation are crucial to the survival of a business - standing still has certainly never been an option.”
Milestones and memorable movements
In his time with Chapman Freeborn, Russi recalls one particularly special flight that has remained a fond memory to this day:
“In the early 1990’s we received a request from a relief agency to deliver aid goods via Djibouti to Somaliland. I personally accompanied this relief flight which was operated on a Hercules aircraft. When we landed on rough terrain in the middle of the desert, we were welcomed by hundreds of adults and children who unloaded the cargo straight from the aircraft. They organised a human chain and transported the urgently needed goods to its destination. This was a very moving moment for me, to experience their fate that closely and on to be part of the project and witness their joy and gratefulness.”
Today, Russi is still actively involved in the day-to-day business of the group and remains passionate about the industry and its people.
Since 2015 he has also served on the TIACA board of directors and helps the association to promote the interests of the air cargo sector as a whole.
He said: “I learned a very important lesson from my former supporter Bob Thomson that I internalised as a formula for success: ‘If you don’t know how to give you cannot take’. Business is give and take and based on a partnership with all employees, business partners and clients. This is key for a long-term successful cooperation.”
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Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal goes live on Kale’s Galaxy – Air Cargo Management System.
Mumbai, July 11, 2017
Celebi Delhi Cargo terminal went live with Kale’s Galaxy (Domestic module) Cargo Management system as part of the phase wise implementation of the entire suite of Galaxy Air Cargo management software system comprising of EXIM operations, Warehouse Management, UD, Invoice and Accounts and Domestic Operations. The new age domestic module incorporates next generation features like Mobile App, Customer Portal, Hand-held based app and EDI with Airlines.
Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt. Ltd., is a Joint Venture between Delhi International Airport Private Ltd (DIAL) and Celebi Ground Handling Turkey which along with domestic operations also provides cargo handling and warehousing services to approximately fifty international schedule carriers. Celebi Delhi is the largest operations in Air Cargo for Celebi worldwide. In order to keep pace with the ever-increasing domestic cargo demands, Celebi Delhi has partnered with Kale Logistics Solutions to automate their Air Cargo and terminal operations.
Air Cargo industry has reached a crucial point where a fast-track approach to digitalization is required to keep
pace with competitive modes of transport. It is undergoing a tremendous transformation – moving from legacy
systems to agile technologies in order to streamline its operations, reduce costs and optimize efficiencies.
Mr. Ramesh Mamidala, CEO of Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management quoted, “Modern day freight
challenges need technology to enable innovative practices to move businesses forward. With our domestic
operations going live on Galaxy, we look forward to greater automation of our operational processes and
getting quick and comprehensive information on consignment and cargo tracking. This significant development
will help to speed up shipment times, improve efficiency and reduce costs.”
Being the capital of the country, Delhi has maximum number of flight operations and Celebi - Delhi operates
one of the largest volume of domestic cargo movement out of Delhi airport. Topographically, Delhi is
surrounded by many states and with a boom in e-commerce business, there is additional domestic freight
movement which makes Delhi a top e-commerce hub of India.
Speaking more on this scenario, Mr. Mamidala added, “Celebi - Delhi’s current domestic handling system was
challenged by an increased load of cargo and connectivity issues. Hence we decided to move forward with the
latest technology solution to cater to this demand. Kale’s Galaxy is the perfect solution, which, with minor
customizations fulfilled all our requirements. We would soon be going live on our international operations”.
Mr. Amar More, CEO, Kale Logistics Solutions says, “We are delighted to partner with Celebi and are
extremely confident that our system will address all their concerns and realize the benefits of GALAXY in near
future. Galaxy is a global application that is being used by worldwide airports that incorporate global best
practices and prepare the industry to manage the demands of e-commerce”.
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ATSG Subsidiary PEMCO Names GAMECO as New Passenger-to-Freighter Aircraft Conversion Provider
WILMINGTON, OH – July 6, 2017
The global leader in Boeing 737 passenger-to-freighter aircraft conversions PEMCO World Air Services (PEMCO), a division of Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services (AMES) and wholly owned subsidiary of Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG), has announced an agreement with China-based MRO Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co., Ltd. (GAMECO) to perform B737-700, -400 and -300 passenger-to-freighter conversions in the Asia-Pacific region. The agreement follows the launch of PEMCO’s B737-700 FlexCombi (tm) and Full-Freighter conversion programs announced April 25, 2017.
“With the continued success of PEMCO’s B737-300 and -400 conversion programs and the launch of the -700 programs, it’s imperative that we expand capacity to meet customer demand,” said PEMCO Director of Conversion Programs Mike Andrews. “This new partnership will benefit our conversion customers and is another example of PEMCO’s truly global reach.”
GAMECO General Manager Norbert Marx shared, “PEMCO is a key player in the conversion market, especially in the Asian-Pacific region, and GAMECO is one of the leading MROs in China. We bring a huge capacity, vast structural experiences and broad capabilities into this partnership. Together we will deliver cost effective and comprehensive one-stop solutions to our customers. We are very pleased to be adding a new chapter to our passenger-to-freighter conversion business in these very promising times.”
GAMECO, the fifth PEMCO conversion partner and third in China, will join China-based STAECO and TAECO, Costa Rica-based Coopesa, and Canada-based KF Aerospace in providing conversion services for PEMCO’s customers. PEMCO has been converting B737 aircraft in Asia since 2006, when it delivered the very first B737-300 converted freighter in China. PEMCO’s 60-plus customers select the company’s passenger-to-freighter conversion for its superior cargo door and system, superior operating functions, on-time turnaround, and a track record of 2 million hours of safe, reliable operation.
Andrews added, “We’re committed to serving our international customers and are prepared to grow with the rise in freighter demand in China.”
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IATA: Air Freight Market Analysis - May 2017
Released 5th July 2017
Key points from our report on air freight markets in May:
• Global freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) grew by 12.7% year-on-year in May, up from 8.7% in April.
• Having made a mixed start to 2017 in seasonally adjusted (SA) terms, freight volumes grew strongly in May compared to April. That said, industry drivers suggest that the best of the cyclical upturn may have passed.
• International FTKs grew at a double-digit annual pace in May in all regions except Latin America.
• Demand growth outpaced that of capacity in May, lifting the SA load factor to its highest level since July 2014.
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The Oracle “Operational & Connected Innovation” Award goes to Liege Airport
OSCARS GIP4Airport solution will feature at the next Oracle Open World
Liege Airport, the eighth largest cargo airport in Europe, handles a total of almost 660,000
tonnes of freight a year; OSCARS, one of its service providers, specialises in Oracle Spatial
technology, and is based in Andenne: together, they have just won two joint awards from the
Association of French-speaking Oracle Users (l’Association des Utilisateurs Francophones
d’Oracle: AUFO). They have won the “Operational & Connected Innovation” award, as well as
the overall prize of all the winners in the different categories, the “Trophy of Trophies”,
awarded by the jury.
Every year, AUFO traditionally awards prizes to the best projects presented by companies or
bodies using Oracle solutions. This year, the theme chosen for the Oracle award was digital
transformation.
Liege Airport decided to enter the competition to highlight the success of its project to optimise
airport operations via a coordinated and comprehensive management approach.
This project
was developed and implemented by OSCARS, a company based in Andenne, which specialises
in Oracle Spatial and Oracle Stream Analytics, and which developed and unrolled its
GIP4Airport solution for this purpose.
Up against some big hitters (including SNCF, Inserm, and Generali), this airport management
project from Liege, based on the concept of real-time data collection and processing, won the
joint award of “Operational & Connected Innovation” and the “Trophy of Trophies” awarded by
the jury.
“The Jury Prize is rather like the Palme d’Or”, states Olivier Dubois, the founder and CEO of
OSCARS. “It is great recognition of Liege Airport’s investment and the work done by OSCARS.
The jury rewarded a solution which tracks airport movements and events through real-time
geolocation, monitors an enormous mass of environmental and contextual data, and merges
all of this to transform big data into fast & efficient data. The objective is to make this data
flow more relevant and significant, simplify the distribution and the understanding of raw data
and enable more fluid communication between teams.
This award is also important for us as it means we are recognised partners of Oracle, which
potentially opens doors to new airport clients internationally.”
As well as winning a symbolic award - a fresco designed by a pair of artists illustrating the
strong points of the project - the Liege Airport-OSCARS partnership has also won two places to
the next world users conference, Oracle Open World, in San Francisco from 1-5 October. For
this particular occasion, the Belgian duo will form part of the French delegation.
Liege Airport and OSCARS were also offered membership of the Oracle Club community of
their choice for a year, and will be able to sit on the jury for the next AUFO Awards in 2018.
GIP4Airport
In setting up this project, Liege Airport’s aim was to make its operations management centre
(APOC) more efficient by centralising all information relating to each aircraft and its cargo, and
by redistributing the relevant information to everyone involved in the complex process of
managing an airport, whether airport operations teams, or contractors and partners.
“The first objective is the data collection of airside operations, but the solution goes much
further as it means we can follow approaching aircraft movements. We need to know the
exact position of an aircraft well before it begins its descent and final approach so that we can
best anticipate and prepare operations within the airport,” explains Daniel Sluysmans, Airport
ISD. “There are many advantages to this virtual operations centre: increased reactivity, more
operational efficiency, a clearer vision of airside situations. This enables us to take important
decisions more quickly. And that benefits all the operators on the site.”
GIP4Airport ensures the collection, coordination and harmonisation of all data flow relating to
the wide range of activities and movements of goods, of ‘objects’ (aircraft, rapid response
vehicles, and so on), and people within the airport.
Liege Airport uses GIP4Airport as SaaS through secure access.
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