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The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals No. 1,132 17 MAY 2021
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OVERSIZED CARGO: HIGH AND HEAVY
WEQARE:THE LION KING
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y helping the Warriors of Wildlife (WOW), Qatar Airways Cargo kept its promise to fly lions to their natural habitat for free. It took six months of work involving no less than a dozen departments and over 50 employees to ensure a successful operation. On April 29, the Kouga and Swinburne nature reserves in South Africa welcomed three lions, one lioness and three cubs. This involved a three-day trip from Kiev to Doha and Johannesburg so that the lions could walk on grass for the first time in their lives. All are in good health. Transporting wild animals back to their natural environment for free at the request of wildlife protection bodies is a promise made by Qatar Airways Cargo as part its “Rewild the Planet” initiative. This is Chapter 2 of the airline’s WeQare sustainability programme.
INSIDE NAM IN BLOOM FOR MOTHER’S DAY
NETWORK Airline Management has transported over 1000 tonnes of freshly cut flowers in the run up to International Mother’s Day ... PAGE 2
FINNAIR CARGO TO JOIN WEBCARGO
AS the demand for rapid, on-demand global supply chains increase, Finnair Cargo is embracing digital air cargo to provide more ... PAGE 2 INVALUABLE HUB DURING DRAMATIC TIMES
“Repatriating wild animals is a major undertaking, especially over such a great distance. But we were able to count on the Qatar Airways
Cargo teams who are 100% behind us and the work we do. They played a critical role. Without them, these seven lions would still be in captiv-
Emirates sets up Dubai-India humanitarian airbridge EMIRATES has set up a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief items to support India in its fight to control COVID-19 in the country. Emirates will offer cargo capacity free of charge on an “as available” basis on all of its flights to nine cities in India, to help international NGOs deliver relief supplies rapidly to
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where it is needed. In the past weeks, Emirates SkyCargo has already transported medicines and medical equipment on scheduled and charter cargo flights to India. Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates’ chairman and chief executive, said: “India and Emirates are deeply connected, since our first
flights to India in 1985. We stand with the Indian people and will do all we can to help India get back on its feet. “Emirates has a lot of experience in humanitarian relief efforts. With 95 weekly flights to nine destinations in India, we will be offering regular and reliable widebody capacity for relief materials.”
ity in atrocious conditions. So thank you on their behalf,” said Lionel De Lange, founder and director of WOW.
THREE days of knowledge transfer, networking and professional discussions – transport logistic and air cargo Europe online served ... PAGE 5
STOP PRESS A coalition of airlines and the US Chamber of Commerce has written an urgent open letter begging the UK and US to resume open travel. The CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, BA, Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue Airways then wrote a second letter.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
CHALLENGE Group, which consists of CAL Cargo Airlines, Challenge Airlines, Challenge Handling and Challenge Air Cargo ... PAGE 6
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FINNAIR CARGO TO JOIN WEBCARGO AS the demand for rapid, on-demand global supply chains increases, Finnair Cargo is embracing digital air cargo to provide more efficient and transparent options to logistics providers. Finnair will initially be available to WebCargo customers in the United States and Europe. “At Finnair Cargo, we have always been committed to seek new opportunities to ease our customers daily work,” said Karri Kauppi, head of revenue management and pricing, Finnair Cargo. “Through our partnership with WebCargo, we look forward to offering forwarders real-time availability of our network between US, Europe and Asia.” “Providing our forwarders with diverse airline carriers to suit their varied shipping needs has always been a priority for
WebCargo,” said Manel Galindo, CEO of WebCargo. “We’re thrilled to partner with Finnair Cargo, a carrier known for embracing digital air cargo solutions.
“Together, we’re excited about making global freight booking more efficient and reliable for carriers, forwarders, and end shippers.”
NAM transports flowers for Mother’s Day NETWORK Airline Management has transported over 1000 tonnes of freshly cut flowers in the run up to International Mother’s Day from Nairobi, Kenya into Europe. The 2021 schedule saw four B747 Freighter flights operate each week as well as an extra flight to fulfil this year’s demand.
Network’s Nairobi office oversees the complete operation with each aircraft loaded to max payload with 100 tonnes of fresh-cut flowers bound for Liege, including roses and carnations, ready for onward trucking across Europe into various destinations such as Berlin, Copenhagen and Helsinki.
Sam Lindsey, senior commercial manager of Network Airline Management commented: “We are pleased to have successfully supported our key clients during the International Mother’s Day rush and are extremely happy to maintain our role in supporting the Kenyan flower industry.”
London City becomes first airport with digital control tower LONDON City Airport has become the first major international airport in the world to be fully controlled by a remote digital air traffic control tower, following intensive testing and live trials of the revolutionary technology during lockdown. All flights on the summer schedule are being guided to land or take off from the heart of the London Docklands business district by air traffic controllers based 115km away at NATS’ air traffic control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, using an ‘enhanced reality’ view supplied by a state-of-the-art 50m digital control tower. The technology marks a step-change in global air traffic management and will help the airport meet an expected surge in demand for flying during the summer season as COVID19 restrictions are eased from May 17. The multi-million-pound investment in the proven remote digital technology marks a major milestone in City Airport’s investment in its future, following the completion of new aircraft stands and a full-length parallel taxiway which became operational in December 2020. Alison Fitzgerald, chief operating officer at London City Airport, said: “We are immensely proud to become the first major international
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airport to adopt this pioneering technology. This investment in smart infrastructure will help us meet future growth in passenger demand, improve air traffic management and give us enhanced capability as aviation bounces back from the pandemic. It is also a demonstration of the commitment to innovation in the UK aviation sector and to being at the forefront of defining the future of flight. Since going operational at the end of January, the technology has worked really well and is ready for the expected increase in demand for flights as Brits book their well-deserved summer getaways.” Juliet Kennedy, operations director at NATS, said: “This is the UK’s first major digital control tower and represents a significant technological and operational achievement, especially against the backdrop of COVID-19. Digital tower technology tears up a blueprint that’s remained largely unchanged for 100 years, allowing us to safely manage aircraft from almost anywhere, while providing our controllers with valuable new tools that would be impossible in a traditional control tower.”
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Intradco brings home the bacon SOME 1,030 pure-bred breeding pigs made the approximately 7,000-mile journey from Stansted, London to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in a Boeing 747-8F aircraft. China is in need of imported pigs due to losing half of its native population to African swine fever since 2018, which accounts for approximately 30% of the global pig population. The pigs were transported on behalf of Genesus, the largest independent producer of pure-bred swine globally, with registered populations of Landrace, Yorkshire and Duroc pigs. Pigs are weighed and electronically IDtagged at birth, enabling extremely detailed data to be collected about the pigs from the start. A custom-made software package records the pigs’ performance, which informs what and how much they are fed based on their gender and breed.
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hree days of knowledge transfer, networking and professional discussions – transport logistic and air cargo Europe Online served as an invaluable information hub during these dramatic times. A total of around 8500 people took advantage of this unmatched opportunity: some 87 conference presentations with talks and discussion groups, including 30 company sessions with the leading companies in the industry. The major focal points of the conference programme were sustainability, new business models and the impact of the pandemic. Stefan Rummel, the managing director of Messe München, said the good reception and positive feedback generated by transport logistic Online underscored the value of the trade fair’s concept: “This online version of transport logistic was a valuable contribution to the industry in a difficult time. “Of course, the online version could not replace the real trade fair. But we were still able to provide the industry with an opportunity to get together once again, to network and talk about current business topics. “The industry was grateful for this opportunity, as demonstrated by the strong attendance and numerous discussion comments during the sessions. I would like to thank our partners and the participating companies that backed the project from the beginning. “In 2023, we will get together once again in person at the exhibition grounds and apply the best of the digital world as well.”
air cargo Europe
ACW’s Yasmin Turner tuned in to some key webinars across the first day. The first seminar was Air cargo of tomorrow: Shaping the future of the industry. On the panel was Guillaume Halleux chief officer cargo, Qatar Airways; Thomas Mack global head of air freight, DHL Global Forwarding; Wilson Kwong; chief executive officer, HACTL; and Celine Hourcade, managing director, Change Horizon. Though no one can look in to a crystal ball and know exactly what will happen when we come out the other side of the pandemic, there are varying predictions within the industry of how businesses will fare. For the cargo industry, which has seen a boom in business thanks to e-Commerce and increased pharma operations, much of returning to normality relies on passenger operations and bellyhold capacity returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. Is the digital twin the new beauty of the skies? How digitisation can be beneficial for the air cargo industry. Reji John, editor of STAT Media Group, moderated the webinar on digitisation. The panel featured: Turhan Özen, chief cargo officer, Turkish Airlines; Dirk Goovaerts CEO, Asia Pacific, dnata; Suraj Nair, founder, SPEEDCARGO Technologies; Pramod Rao, CEO, Nexshore; Moritz Claussen co-founder and MD, Cargo.one; and Luca Graf, head of digital innovation, DSV. Airfreight capacity constraints and rate volatility – how serious are they and when do we see an end to them? Moderated by TIACA’s director general, Glyn Hughes, the panel also consisted of: Russi Batliwala, chairman of the board, Chapman Freeborn Group; Yashpal Sharma, managing director, Skyways Group; Max Conrady, senior vice president cargo, Frankfurt Airport; Konstantin Vekshin, chief commercial officer, VolgaDnepr Group; and André Delarue COO, Airfreight, Asia, Rhenus Logistic. Preighters, as they have come to be known, have proved extremely valuable this past year as cargo demand was up and passenger volumes were down. The question as to whether this trend will continue post-COVID-19 was offered to the panel.
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Review & WACA winners We would like to thank ... ECS Group General Sales Agent of the Year 2021
Air Charter Service
Qatar Airways Cargo
Air Cargo Charter Broker of the Year 2021
Cargo Airline of the Year 2021
Air Cargo Industry Marketing & Promotional Campaign Award 2021
Sponsor: SAVE Group
Sponsor: ECS Group
We are extremely delighted to have won these two awards General Sales Agent of the Year 2021 and the Air Cargo Industry Marketing & Promotional Campaign Award. Winning this year feels even more special in light of the circumstances, and this victory belongs to each and every ECS Group employee. These awards are real recognition of their hard work and their constant commitment to serving the airlines we represent in the best possible way. I would like to share the pride we feel at the industry’s praise for our fantastic teams – thank you to everyone who voted for us
It is always a pleasure to win this particular award, as it is voted for by the industry, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers and suppliers that took the time to vote for us this year. After what has been a difficult year for the whole world, our cargo division has been lucky enough to be able to thrive and to pick up this award for the ninth time is an amazing feeling.
Sponsor: Azura International
Adrien Thominet CEO of ECS Group
Dan Morgan-Evans group cargo director Air Charter Service
Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Air Cargo Industry Customer Care Award 2021
Airport of the Year 2021 Sponsor: GEODIS
Air Cargo Industry Achievement Award 2021 Sponsor: PayCargo
I dedicate these awards to every staff in our company. They have worked tirelessly and dedicatedly during the pandemic. Even with all the challenges and obstacles faced, the team spirit prevailed. A big thank you to our customers for voting for us. Guillaume Halleux chief officer cargo Qatar Airways Cargo
cargo.one Information Technology for the Air Cargo Industry Award 2021 Sponsor: Air France / KLM / Martinair
WE are very honoured to win such a prestigious award: Air Cargo Industry Customer Care Award 2021. Although the aviation enterprise is in its toughest and struggling time to survive, winning this Award at this challenging time is a testament to the hard work of our people and Global Cargo Customers/Partners. This splendid achievement encourages us to remain focused on our customers and ensure them the absolute best experience when they choose Ethiopian.
Throughout the pandemic the Schiphol Cargo team and its Cargo Community has focused on supporting people needing PPE materials with smart solutions to carry cargo on passenger seats and continuing to maintain the high standards for freight moving through our Airport. This award is a recognition of their hard work, and we would like to thank them for their dedication. Thank you to everyone that voted for us and our Cargo Community! And thank you ACW for making this possible!
We are incredibly proud and feel honoured to be the winner of this year’s Air Cargo Week Information Technology for the Industry Award! Thanks to all our precious customers and valued partner who supported us in winning this amazing award. It is a great recognition of our efforts in pushing the boundaries of the industry and digitalising air cargo.
Fitsum Abady, managing director Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services
Anne Marie van Hemert Head of Aviation Business Development
Moritz Claussen, co-founder and managing director cargo.one ACW 17 MAY 2021
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PROJECT CARGO NETWORK: EXPERTISE IS THE KEY ESTABLISHED in 2010, Project Cargo Network (PCN) is an international organisation of heavy lift and project cargo specialists. PCN CEO, Rachel Crawford told ACW what she believes is the key to successful and safe transportation of oversized and heavy cargo. “Expertise! To manage a project, one needs to understand both the practical and technical aspects. In the past, training was obtained ‘on the job’ because suitable courses were not readily available. As there is no formal education, many individuals have merged into the industry without proper training. “We feel it is risky to think this is how it should still be done and provide the theory, physics and principles which should be applied via our comprehensive online training programme. “The clear and highly effective six-module course consists of 66 x 10-minute sessions, which cover
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industry terminology, dimensions, weights and forces, heavy transport, heavy lifting, jacking, skidding and loadouts. When completed, the user will understand the practical, operational, and engineering aspects of heavy transport and lifting projects. “The training, which has so far been used in over 50 countries, is ideal for staff who are at the beginning of their career in heavy transport, offering employers a time saving and low-cost alternative to workshops and seminars. However, as the training is comprehensive, senior level professionals will also benefit from the practical, scenario and video-based course as it will encourage reflection on current practices. “The training is also available through our sister company Freightbook.net where Kuehne + Nagel, DHL and Bertling Logistics have all recently signed up several of their staff and industry experts.”
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hallenge Group, which consists of CAL Cargo Airlines, Challenge Airlines, Challenge Handling and Challenge Air Cargo and the recently launched Belgian AOC, are not shy of a challenge when it comes to difficult shipments. “The group specialises in special services and vertical products, one of which is oversized shipments, from a 45 tonne power plant turbine to 24 tonne drilling pipes and helicopters to a family of rhinos for the Safari zoo,” said Doron Laufer, group procurement and global performance manager.
Drive to digital Like the rest of the air cargo industry, Challenge Group is moving to digitalise processes to streamline operations. “The company frequently uses automation at various stages of the process, from air way bill handling instructions to reports from the aircraft via ACARS messages which creates automatic purchase orders to suppliers,” said Laufer. Last month, TIACA highlighted the key challenges that the
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HEAVY LIFTING HEAVYWEIGHTS ANDRIY Blagovisniy, commercial director, Antonov Airlines, spoke with ACW. ACW: How is Antonov continuing to improve and develop cargo equipment? Andriy Blagovisniy: Antonov Company continues to improve loading equipment by working on modifications to existing loading equipment. Also, we are working on new loading equipment that should be universal for a wide range of cargos. ACW: How is Antonov utilising digital advancements in the cargo industry? Blagovisniy: Commercial Calculator
allows us to visualise and optimise routes and enhance communication with the navigation service. It is more efficient and quicker to calculate routes and issue commercial offers to customers. We have software developed by our in-house IT specialists for checking the loadability of cargo, taking in to account the need for lashing (mooring) and auxiliary equipment for loading into an aircraft. Also, we are working on updating our website which will host additional functions that make it easier for customers to
work with Antonov Airlines. ACW: What specific problems arise from heavylift and oversized cargo? Blagovisniy: Dismantling some parts or the entirety of the cargo can often be an option. Super Heavy Cargo faces the problem of even distribution when loaded on the floor of the aircraft. We also need to ensure the required number of lashing points on the cargo to ensure a fixed position in the aircraft and ability to withstand the maximum permissible loads during flight.
industry faces and the calls to action, one main focus being digitalisation. “Efficient and effective solutions require harnessing the power of data to modernise processes and provide transparent quality services,” the TIACA statement read. “Great moves forward have been experienced during the past 12 months as the industry was forced to find new ways of working. We must now take this even further and we urge all parties to establish and implement digital transformation plans.”
Communication “The key to success in transporting difficult and heavy lift cargo is communication,” Laufer explained. CAL has developed a network of internal key positions to ensure an adequate communication flow throughout the chain and the group: • A Subject Matter Expert (SME) is responsible for the group policy in their field as well as any process, procedure, training and supplier relationships in this field, and Trustees located in each station, who are locally responsible for their field according to the policy established by the SME. • The group also has local operational supervision teams in every station including warehouse handlers and TACs (Manage the full turnaround of aircraft), who are responsible for the supervision of complex time-critical shipments during the loading and off-loading processes to ensure that they are handled in accordance with SOPs. The Group operates four B747-400 freighters for their complex shipments. “As a company specialising in oversized cargo, we come across a lot of special requirements to overcome problems,” explained Laufer. “We perform risk management for special oversized cargo. We also have a dedicated procedure (Standard Operating Measures - SOPs) for every type of Vertical shipment from the booking to the delivery of the shipment, to ensure the validity of the information and compliance with IATA regulations. “The company operates high loaders which can carry more than 30 tonnes at its main hubs, located in LGG, TLV, and JFK and a fleet of open nose and door 747 400s.”
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