ACW 16th March 20 by Azura International

GLOBAL A

MANAGEMENT

WORLD ACW Digital is sponsored by AIRPORTS.COM FREIGHTERS.COM

FREIGH

FRE

Tabloid page bled.indd 1

05/03/2020 15:40

The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals No. 1,072

16 March 2020

Cargolux reaches 50th birthday

Trump cuts off Europe

ust hours before Air Cargo Week went to press, US president Donald Trump banned travel to the US from most of Europe – apart from the UK and Ireland – for 30 days from Friday, March 13 in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19. While the shock move was targeted at passengers, the knock-on effect could send bellyhold cargo into a tailspin as aircraft are grounded on both sides of the Pond, squeezing capacity between the trading blocs of North America and the EU. On Wednesday evening, in only his second presidential address from the Oval Office in three years that many called sombre and worrying, the US president said the

“It is the fastest source of data” Steven Polmans

Page 5

INSIDE HELLMANN’S NEW POLISH BRANCH

HELLMANN Worldwide Logistics has opened a new branch in Szczecin, Poland. The globally active logistics service provider uses the location in West... PAGE 2

CARGOLUX MARKS 50 YEARS

travel ban was designed to cushion the economic blow of the outbreak and amounted to “the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in history.” The US suspension will not apply to the United Kingdom and Ireland or American citizens, Trump said, as he attempted to blame the EU for “seeding” hotspots in America. Confusion followed Trump’s address, which later forced government officials to clarify that cargo, as well as non-Schengen countries in Europe, would also be exempt from the ban. Trump later clarified on Twitter that “trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods.”

MARCH 5 marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of Cargolux. Exactly half a century ago, Luxembourg’s national carrier Luxair ... PAGE 3 ALL EYES ON AFRICAN SKIES

WITH the help of cargo companies and associations like IATA, research into commercial use of drones is flying. “Research and development ... PAGE 4

TIACA joins forces with CLIVE Data

he International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) will deliver the latest market and route analyses to its members after signing an intelligence sharing agreement with CLIVE Data services, creators of the new ‘dynamic load factor’ analyses.

“As part of the transformation of TIACA, we are promising to deliver more content to our growing membership – but only content of value to their businesses and which accurately represents and promotes the global air cargo industry. CLIVE’s dynamic load factor is regis-

tering a lot of interest because it breaks with tradition and is changing the way air cargo usage is measured based on the realities of today’s market. “It is also the fastest source of data, which is also very appealing for our members,” says Steven Polmans, chairman of TIACA.

BATTERY-POWERED DANGER

THE International Air Transport Association (IATA), in partnership with the Global Shippers Forum (GSF), the International Federation ... PAGE 6

aircargoweek.com

Bamboo Airlines in Munich launch AFTER the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany will be the next European market that Bamboo Airways targets in the QI/2020. Accordingly, Bamboo Airways signed an MoU with Munich Airport, promoting two direct routes connecting Munich – Germany’s third-largest city, with Hanoi Capital and Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam’s largest city. The signing ceremony took place at Munich Airport, Germany on March 2, 2020, with the participation of Bui Quang Dung – deputy general director of Bamboo Airways, Andreas von Puttkamer – senior vice president aviation Munich Airport and representatives of the two parties. It is expected that the two direct routes will operate from July 2020, with the frequency of 01 round-trip flight/week for Hanoi – Munich, and 02 round-trip flights/ week for HCM City – Munich. These routes will be operated by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, the most modern, fuel-efficient wide-body aircraft as of now, with numerous outstanding utilities and services.

The signing ceremony between Bui Quang Dung, Bamboo Airways (left) and Andreas von Puttkamer, Munich Airport (right) accompanied by Pham Thi Thanh Phoung, Oliver Dersch and Melanie Fürsich.

ACW 16 MARCH 2020

Delmar International acquires Chicago-based Rotra

lobal logistics firm Delmar International has acquired Chicago-based Rotra logistics, a strategic acquisition designed to give Delmar a bigger footprint in the US Midwest, as well as a stronger presence in Europe Established in 1984, Rotra is a light asset logistics company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, offering international freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and warehousing and distribution services. Rotra has enjoyed longstanding success servicing North American and European importers and exporters, with a wide range of logistics services specializing in the transatlantic trade. “Our acquisition of Rotra is a strategic oppor-

tunity for Delmar to both increase our substance in the ever-important US Midwest market and to further grow our presence in European markets. For over three decades, Rotra has successfully serviced and grown its customer base in this geographical sector. “There is a strong cultural fit here with substantive synergy and opportunity for both entities and we couldn’t be more pleased to incorporate their family into ours,” said Robert Cutler, Delmar International CEO. The transaction significantly raises the capabilities and size of Delmar’s USA footprint and workforce, which now exceeds two hundred employees, and operates from coast to coast with seven branches throughout the United States.

UK-based DG International has established a relationship with the United States Postal Service (USPS) pursuant to USPS’ Global Direct Entry (GDE) Wholesaler program. DG International met the standard of criteria set out by the USPS, demonstrating its service to customers sending international inbound shipments and parcels to the United States. Packages that weigh up to 70lbs/32kg may be sent to the United States via DG International. Certain levels of service include tracking and are provided with no fuel surcharge, making this an ideal offering for retailers making home deliveries to United States-based customers. James Appleby, managing director at DG International, says: “Our relationship with USPS

means we can offer a reliable and affordable 6-10 day tracked shipping service into the United States, and a 2-4 day domestic option in the United Kingdom. “The United States is a crucial market for many of our customers and a key focus area of growth for DG International. We are thrilled we have established a relationship with USPS to participate in their GDE Wholesaler program. “Alongside USPS, we now offer our customers USPS postage rates along with paperless dispatch, tracking, US customs clearance and final destination delivery. The relationship allows DG International to be listed as a GDE Wholesaler on the USPS website and to obtain leads from USPS.

DG International secures streamlined stateside shipments with USPS partnership

aircargoweek.com

CSafe Global to present new thermal shipping solutions at ISTA TempPack 2020 CSAFE experts will be on hand to demonstrate the company’s streamlined and enhanced Parcel thermal shipping solutions as well as the newly released Cell & Gene solution at the ISTA TempPack Forum in Orlando March 16-19. CSafe’s streamlined Parcel line offers protection, simplicity and efficiency in pre-qualified configurations while the Cell & Gene solution mitigates the risk of real-world distribution with features designed to improve product handling and unforeseen service disruptions. “CSafe has been a member of ISTA for more than a decade and has an ISTA Certified Packaging Laboratory with Certified Laboratory Professionals (CPLP) which allows us to qualify all of our Parcel and Cell & Gene solutions against ISTA Thermal and Distribution challenge testing,” states Emilio Frattaruolo, VP of Innovation, Passive Solutions. “This level of assurance is critical for our customers in the most difficult portion of the cold chain and why we’ve decided to become more involved with ISTA and the TempPack forum,” he said. SHOULD Covid-19 become established in the UK, the UK courier services expert ParcelHero says home shopping is likely to double from 20% of all retail sales to 40% as consumers switch from buying food in stores to home deliveries. Says ParcelHero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks MILT: “In the government’s Coronavirus Action Plan, it says if the virus gets a foothold in the UK, the government will encourage “population distancing strategies” such as school closures, home working and reducing large scale gatherings to slow the spread of the disease.” Consumers who have so far resisted e-commerce are likely to change theirr minds and move online to buy food and household items to avoid busy stores.

Can aviation ever be truly green? A

THE environmental cost of aviation is an ever-prominent issue, especially recently with the blocking of the expansion of Heathrow airport, which was ruled as unlawful as it did not align with the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change. But can an industry which accounts for around 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions ever truly be green? Low carbon commercial development manager at Air BP Tom Parsons, has set out five points of focus to make the aviation industry less environmentally damaging: the introduction of cleaner fuels; more efficient aircraft; carbon offsetting; and looking beyond just the aviation industry. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is one solution for cleaner fuel. It is produced from renewable feedstocks, like cooking oil and household rubbish, and is currently the most viable route to reducing CO2 emissions in air transport. SAF can be blended with up to 50% traditional jet fuel, meaning it is safe to use in existing aircraft and airport infrastructure. In 2018 BP Air agreed a collaboration with leading fuel producer Neste to develop and supply SAF from non-palm renewable and sustainable raw materials, including used cooking oil. These fuels can reduce the carbon footprint of aviation fuel by up to 80% over their full life cycle.

Expense Despite its benefits SAF is not widely available due to its expense compared to traditional aviation fuel. However, the introduction of new technologies will hopefully drive this cost down in the future. Instant development of new technology, especially in terms or engine design, means that as a general trend aircraft are becoming lighter and more power, resulting in the

burning of less fuel. Although it is in its early stages of development, the introduction of electrified aircraft may be a solution in the future. The electric revolution was certainly making its mark at last year’s Paris Air Show, where several prototypes were unveiled for electric aircraft models capable of seating up to 10 passengers. And, following this, the UK government has announced a grant of £2.7m to Zeroavia, a California start-up that is developing a hydrogen-powered six-seater light aircraft to operate at distances of up to 350 miles. This aircraft is due to take to the skies over the UK in little over a year. Carbon offsetting has been an important method in how the aviation industry has been trying to meet CO2 targets, which include carbon neutral growth from 2020.

Primary aim “Across our international network of more than 250 carbon neutral Air BP operated facilities, the primary aim is to drive efficiency in technologies such as start/ stop solutions

on vehicles, improve operational efficiency of waste and stock management, maximise options for supplying SAF among other initiatives. Then any residual emissions, following these reductions, are offset through BP Target Neutral – a programme that enables us to offset emissions by purchasing carbon credits from carefully-selected environmental projects around the world. “As far as we are aware, we are extremely proud to be the first fuel supplier to achieve carbon neutrality for into-plane fuelling services across our international operations,” says Parsons. This responsibility does not stop with the aviation industry, BP is also looking beyond the aviation sector to support and develop new lower carbon businesses. In 2017, BP helped to fund Lightsource, Europe’s largest solar developer and two years on Lightsource BP has more than doubled its footprint around the world. As the climate debate heats up, the airline industry will come under increased scrutiny. It is therefore important that the sector puts minimising their carbon footprint as an absolute priority.

aircargoweek.com

Gatwick hosts gender diversity in aviation conference

LONDON Gatwick was partnered with Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter (WiAAC) for an event to share best practice and work towards gender balance in aviation. Eleven speakers from Gatwick, the UK’s CAA, and several other industry leading companies along with round table discussions. The conference was held at Gatwick to help industry-wide efforts at making aviation more gender balanced to coincide with International Women’s Day on Sunday, 8 March. Eleven leading aviation experts from Gatwick, Virgin, Airbus and the Royal Aeronautical Society will give talks at the event, which has seen Gatwick partnering with Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter (WiAAC) - an organisation designed to collectively build more gender balanced aviation and aerospace sectors. Round table discussions will also help participants to share best practices and also to encourage more organisations to sign the Aerospace Charter, which sets out a range of commitments to work together to build a more balanced and fair industry for women. So far, the charter has nearly 200 signatories since being launched in 2018. To help address the issue, Gatwick held a ‘Women in STEM’ day for daughters and their mothers to see the different aspects of the airport and the opportunities available and also partners with an all-girls school in Horsham to encourage females to consider STEM careers. Bronwen Jones, development director at Gatwick Airport, said: “Greater gender diversity in aviation is so important and we are delighted that so many well qualified delegates are coming to discuss how, as an industry, we can work towards achieving this goal. Improvements in the gender balance are proven to lead to significantly better productivity rates in the workforce.”

ACW 16 MARCH 2020

Hellman opens new Polish branch

JAL selects IBS Software for cargo terminal operation SOFTWARE solutions provider IBS Software has announced a contract with Japan Airlines (JAL) for the implementation of iCargo, a comprehensive cargo sales, inventory and reservations system that manages air cargo operations and movement globally and powered with business capabilities that are exclusively tailored for the unique Japanese air cargo market. The system will manage the entire operations process covering the import, export, transfers, warehouse and airports operations across the network.

This will improve efficiency and reduce maintenance costs. iCargo is an integrated solution that supports the end-to-end business functions such as cargo reservations, rating, manifesting, import and export operations, warehouse management, revenue accounting, air mail handling and revenue management of cargo carrying airlines and ground handlers. The system also follows the air cargo industry’s best practices and is fully compliant with global industry standards and initiatives such as Cargo iQ,

C-XML, OneRecord, e-AWB and e-Freight in general. “JAL is an iconic name in the airline industry and we are proud to welcome them to the iCargo community. “Their aim is to drive efficiency improvements and iCargo, the leader and IT platform of choice for airlines especially in the Japanese market, will help their transformation into digital freight,” said Ashok Rajan, senior vice-president and head, cargo & logistics solution business, IBS Software.

TAP Air Cargo links up with leading e-booking platform cargo.one PORTUGAL’S flagship carrier TAP Air Portugal (TAP) and leading air cargo e-booking platform cargo.one have entered into a global partnership. The agreement will support the rapid growth of TAP’s cargo business by introducing new digital capabilities such as online distribution and dynamic pricing. The partnership will also reinforce oper-

ational efficiency and day-to-day service quality of the airline. Miguel de Paiva Gomes, global chief cargo officer, TAP comments: “Our cargo business has grown by 17% over 12 months and joining cargo.one is the next big step to continue our growth path. Over the past year, we have added 30 new aircrafts and have grown our

network to +90 online and +250 offline destinations. cargo.one offers the most comprehensive service combined with the best user experience. By integrating with the experienced technology player, we will effectively extend our reach in key cargo markets and serve existing customers in the best possible way.”

AGENCY Sector Management (ASM) has signed up Stateside Skates to its Customs clearance software Sequoia, as the skateboarding SME gets systems in place to help it meet new trading conditions set to come into effect when the UK Brexits on 31 December, 2020. Brexit could have a huge impact on the SME, as around 65% of its business is exports to the EU and it will use the Sequoia software to do its own outbound Customs clearance. When the UK leaves the EU, customers will need to pay im-

port VAT and will become the importer of records into the EU – which could lead to higher duty and Customs clearance costs. “We currently ship multiple consignments per day into the EU which, after the transition period has ended, will need to be Customs cleared before leaving the UK. “We plan to consolidate these consignments into one single ‘mother’ consignment and do our own outbound Customs clearance for this consignment

through the Sequoia software,” said Alistair Crichton, CEO, Stateside Skates. The UK supply chain is in a race against time to implement the systems needed from 31 December, when the UK leaves the EU. “Now is the time to get the right software in place, or if you have the software, it might be that you need to get the automation in place to deal with the increased volume of entries that is predicted,” said Peter MacSwiney, chairman of ASM.

FORMER Atlas Air president and CEO William J Flynn has been appointed as US passenger train operator Amtrak’s next chief executive officer and president. Flynn, a seasoned business leader with four decades of transportation and logistics experience, will begin his role

on April 15, 2020. Flynn succeeds Richard Anderson, who joined Amtrak as CEO in July 2017. Anderson, who fulfills his three-year commitment to the company this year, will remain with Amtrak until the end of the year as a senior advisor to Flynn.

ASM gets their skates on for post-Brexit systems

Swiss WorldCargo flight suspensions SWISS and Swiss WorldCargo have suspended flights to Tel Aviv and Israel between 8-28 March. Flights to Tokyo, Osaka and Singapore will be reduced. Tokyo and Singapore will be served five times weekly, whereas Osaka will have two weekly flights until 24 April. As already announced, flights between Zurich and Shanghai and Beijing remain suspended until 24 April. Flights to Hong Kong will remain reduced to 5/7 days until May 30. The Airbus A340-300 will be used from 1 - 28 March, and the Boeing 777-300ER will return to operation on 29 March.

ACW 16 MARCH 2020

aircargoweek.com

HELLMANN Worldwide Logistics has opened a new branch in Szczecin, Poland. The globally active logistics service provider uses the location in West Pomerania to handle its breakbulk distribution within Poland and abroad. Hellmann is now represented in Poland with a total of 14 of its own and seven partner branches, and offers the entire range of logistics services locally – from land transport, air and sea freight to contract logistics. “Hellmann has been active in Poland for 29 years, and, as one of the leading logistics service providers, employs more than 500 people there today. “The Polish market offers enormous potential, especially in the area of breakbulk logistics, which we intend to fully exploit with this new branch in Szczecin,” says Jens Tarnowski, regional CEO Europe Hellmann Worldwide Logistics.

BELGIUM-based Nallian, a specialist of collaborative solutions in logistics and air cargo, have joined with Luxembourg Airport to implement a cargo community system (CCS) at the airport. With 893,090 tonnes of cargo in 2019, Luxembourg Airport is one of the most important cargo airports in Europe. To meet business needs and customer expectation, the CCS opens the neutral IT platform to all actors involved in international trade. This will enable real-time capturing and sharing of granular information regarding shipment processing, far beyond the traditional cargo data, it will empower all stakeholders involved to better plan and execute their processes and will drive efficiency and visibility with in-depth insights in performance. “Lux-Airport is excited to implement, together with its cargo community, a data-sharing platform. With this decision Lux-Airport demonstrates its commitment to support the airport cargo community and to foster the competitiveness and further growth of Luxembourg as a European multimodal logistics hub. Nallian has been selected because their solution demonstrates their core competence in cargo communities, using best practice processes frameworks, and enables for integration with other cargo communities,” René Steinhaus, CEO of lux-Airport, has said.

Air Charter Service blows into the Windy City

ir Charter Service (ACS), has invested further in its US operations, by opening a new office in Chicago, its tenth in the Americas. The office will be headed by Caitlin Uhlmann, who has worked for ACS for nine years. “Chicago has been on our radar as a natural location

for another US ACS office for a number of years. The city is the third largest in population in the US and has one of the highest GDPs in the world. “There is a large market for our cargo aircraft charter services here,” said Richard Thompson, ACS Americas’ president.

Cargolux marks 50 years of operation MARCH 5 marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of Cargolux. Exactly half a century ago, Luxembourg’s national carrier Luxair, Iceland’s national carrier Loftleiðir, the Swedish shipping company Salén and private investors, founded Cargolux. With a single aircraft and a handful

of employees, they created what was to become “one of the world’s leading all-cargo carriers,” says the carrier. The first airline to fly the 747-400F, Cargolux was also the launch customer for the 747-8F and the first to operate both aircraft-type simulators. “It is a remarkable achievement for

an all-cargo operator to celebrate 50 years in existence and I think I speak on behalf of the whole company when I say we are proud of how far our airline has come,” says Richard Forson, Cargolux’s president and CEO. Cargolux @ 50 special Page 6

Jennifer joins Menzies from Sysco MENZIES Aviation has appointed Jennifer Gourley to its Americas leadership team as chief financial officer, effective 16 March. She will be based in Dallas-Forth Worth. Gourley will oversee the financial activities for the Americas region, where Menzies has operations at 115 airports in seven countries. She joins Menzies Aviation after 14 years with the Sysco Corporation. Speaking on her appointment, she commented: “I am inspired by opportunities to build upon Menzies’ legacy and position in the industry and further the mission to provide excellence from

touchdown to take-off.” John Redmond, executive vice president, Americas said: “I am delighted to welcome Jennifer to our Menzies Americas team. This is an exciting time for us as we continue to invest and grow our footprint in this region.”

GMB hails Hermes pledge to help couriers in COVID-19 crisis GMB, the union for lifestyle couriers, has hailed parcels and delivery company Hermes for pledging £1 million to support self-employed workers if they need to isolate themselves because of coronavirus. Hermes have said that they will find someone to deliver on behalf of the sick worker

and will keep workers’ rounds open for when they return off sick leave. The self-employed, workers with zero-hour contracts and those without sickness pay are people that could spread the virus as they can be forced to make the hard choice to work whilst ill or not get paid.

AS of March 1, Shailendar Kothari is the new managing director of Jettainer Americas Inc. The Jettainer daughter company is based in Delaware.

aircargoweek.com

ACW 16 MARCH 2020

All eyes on African skies No longer something imagined in a sci-fi film, drones are becoming an increasingly common sight in airfreight operations, discovers Yasmin Turner

R&D in the area of UAV of all kind is booming Sanjeev Gadhia

ITH the help of cargo companies and associations like IATA, research into commercial use of drones is flying. “Research and development in the area of unmanned vehicles of all kind is booming, and the aerial ones are no exception,” says Sanjeev Gadhia, vice chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA). However, Robert Garbet, founder of the UK Drone delivery group believes there is “an emerging ‘bottleneck’ to growth” within the industry. He believes that hinderance of the evolution of the drone industry primarily lies in the lack of controlled testing locations, which can provide trial areas and safe environments to accelerate the development of drone technology. Garbet even suggested that UK property owners should offer their under-used land as drone testing areas.

Standardised The most important way to overcome these obstacles is co-operation. “At global level, as the Vice-Chairman of TIACA, I am encouraging regulators, manufacturers, traditional air cargo operators and fellow drone operators to discuss and collaborate to come up with industry standards for the safe, secure and efficient unmanned air cargo operations and for harmonisation of regulations,” says Gadhia. Standardised regulations for the industry

ACW 16 MARCH 2020

are priority, which are developed through international working groups and collaboration between, TIACA, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Airport Council International, (ACI) and so on. “With hopefully more cargo UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) players joining TIACA, we will be able to facilitate the collaboration between traditional players and new entrants, represent this new branch of air cargo in international discussions and support the development of this emerging industry,” says Gadhia. TIACA is uniquely positioned today to represent the manned air cargo industry worldwide, but Gadhia believes it is time to also represent the unmanned air cargo industry. After all, “as per ICAO’s own definition, a drone is an aircraft. An aircraft carrying cargo and without a pilot on board is a cargo drone.” Such cargo drones come in varying sizes, depending on the payload capacity, aeronautical design features and the range capability of the UAV. The specific use case of the cargo UAV determines its design. For example, smaller cargo UAV’s have a wingspan of 1-2m, while larger cargo delivery drones like the Flyox have a wingspan of 11m. The size is dependent on its application.

African skies Many countries are now making use of

aircargoweek.com

drones for security, military and cargo use but while UAV operations are being tested in all parts of the world, “there is no doubt that Africa is leading the way,” says Gadhia. UAV operations can help address some of the challenges Africa is facing in terms of infrastructural inadequacies. “I believe this is the perfect example of the role of innovation in solving today’s issues in a quicker and more cost-effective way. “This is why many countries in Africa like Rwanda, Kenya, Malawi, have quickly embraced, or are making efforts to implement the technology for the benefits of their local communities and economies.” Gadhia notes at the African Drone Forum, that took place in Rwanda in Feb 2020, there was an impressive number of innovations in UAV platforms, equipment such as UAV tracking and UAV management software. “I believe that the industry has now matured enough to accelerate UAV trials and implementations and move towards harmonisation and standardisation,” he says. The possibilities of drone development in the cargo industry are huge. According to IATA, drones will offer new forms of airfreight, such as last mile air transport, humanitarian deliveries, disaster relief, transport of temperature sensitive medicine and food and more as new technologies are developed. All eyes will be on the skies.

Tabloid page bled.indd 1

09/03/2020 15:47

Tabloid page bled.indd 1

28/10/2019 15:53

Cargolux @ 50 - key milestones 2005 Cargolux and Boeing announce the development of a new, advanced version of the 747 freighter, later to become the 747-8 series. Cargolux is a launch customer for this new 747 type with an initial order for 10 aircraft. The company later orders five more 747-8Fs.

2007

n 4 March 1970, Luxair, Loftleiðir, Iceland’s national carrier, the Salén, a Swedish shipping company, and some private interests founded Cargolux and started operations from the newly established home base at Luxembourg airport with a single Canadair CL-44 swingtail freighter. The young carrier’s first flight on 10 May 1970 was from Stockholm, ARN, to New York, JFK, to pick up iceberg lettuce and strawberries.

The airline was created to operate all-cargo ad hoc and sub-charter flights and the first years of operation proved that there was a need for the type of service that Cargolux was offering to its customers. The CL-44s soon gave way to bigger DC-8 jet powered freighters and, in later years, Cargolux introduced the wide-body Boeing 747-200 freighter into its fleet, amidst much skepticism in Luxembourg and within the industry.

However, the success of the operation eventually proved critics wrong. In later years, Cargolux became the first operator of the 747400F and launch customer of 747-8F. Cargolux is a driver of economic growth in Luxembourg, the airline’s home base.

1970 Cargolux Airlines International is founded by Luxair, Loftleiðir Icelandic, the Salén Shipping Group and private Luxembourgish interests. The airline began operations in May 1970 with a single Canadair CL-44, swingtail freighter aircraft. In those days, the company had one crew and office staff of four in Luxembourg City. The three partners agreed during the very early stages of the company that each party would contribute to the different phases in the operation. Thus, Loftleiðir was responsible for operational and technical matters, Salén for sales, and Luxair for finance and administration.

HQ and hangar at Luxembourg Airport in April.

1988 Increasingly recognized as a leading figure in air cargo, Cargolux ranks among the 15 largest cargo carriers in the world, measured in freight-tonne kilometres flown.

Selected milestones

1972 Cargolux operates 5 Canadair CL-44 ‘swingtail’ and moves its headquarters to the airport. 1973 In October, Cargolux enters the jet age with delivery of a DC-8-61 freighter. The new aircraft type is much faster and has a higher payload than the CL-44. 1974 To cater for Cargolux’s growing fleet, the maintenance division of Loftleiðir Icelandic that takes care of the fleet is integrated into Cargolux and moved from New York to Luxembourg. The staff increases from 80 to 180 overnight. Cargolux signs a contract for the construction of a new hangar and head office complex. 1975 The company inaugurates its new

1977 Business continues to expand and Cargolux decides to take an ambitious leap forward and place an order for a Boeing 747-200F jumbo jet. Originally considered outlandish, this decision ended up being a winning bet for the airline. 1978 The last Canadair CL-44 is phased out. Cargolux now operates an all-jet fleet. 1979 Cargolux

goes jumbo! Boeing delivers the first B747-200F to Cargolux, the second one arrives a year later.

1980s The beginning of the decade is a challenging period for Cargolux. High fuel prices and interest rate drive the airline to the brink of bankruptcy. The company diversifies its activities and enters the subleasing business in addition to its core competency; air freight. It also briefly engages in passenger business with the launch of Lionair, a joint venture with Luxair that operated passenger flights on the upper deck with freight on the main deck and in the bellyholds. 1984 The last DC-8 freighter is sold and a third 747-200F joins the fleet in 1986.

1990 Cargolux decides to place an order for three new generation 747-400 freighters with an option for 3 more. The aircraft is more fuel-efficient, less noisy, and more environmentally friendly than its predecessor. 1993 Cargolux takes delivery of its first 747-400 in November. Originally the fifth airline in line for the delivery, Cargolux eventually was the first to fly this aircraft type.

Cargolux signs the UN Global Compact as an official commitment to mitigating the effect of its operation on the environment and the communities it operates into.

2009 The Cargolux

Maintenance & Engineering division moves into its new maintenance hangar that offers modern facilities and space for two 747/A380-sized aircraft. Cargolux enters into a strategic partnership in Italy to create Cargolux Italia for intercontinental all-cargo services from Milan’s Malpensa airport.

2014 Cargolux welcomes HNCA as a

new shareholder and establishes a dual hub strategy. Luxembourg and Zhengzhou are the airline’s main hubs in support of the Air Silk Road initiative.

2020 Half a century after its founda-

tion, the airline operates the largest fleet in its history and routinely records one of the highest daily aircraft utilization rates in the industry. Cargolux operates a fleet of 30 747-400/8 aircraft and employs over 2,000 people worldwide, the bulk being based in Luxembourg.

1995 Cargolux celebrates its 25th anniversary. The fleet of modern 747-400 freighters steadily increases over the next years. The airline operates across an expanding global network. 2000 Cargolux inaugurates the world’s

first 747-400F simulator to ensure optimal in-house training for crewmembers.

aircargoweek.com

For a full account of Cargolux’s journey http://anniversary.cargolux.com ACW 16 MARCH 2020

DANGEROUS GOODS

Battery-powered danger T HE International Air Transport Association (IATA), in partnership with the Global Shipper Forum (GSF), the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and the International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), are amplifying their efforts to ensure the safe air transport of lithium batteries. Worldwide customer demand for lithium batteries is growing by 17% annually and with increased demand comes increased risk. The risk from carrying lithium batteries in cargo is sraightforward and comes from the danger they may catch fire. Lithium metal batteries or lithium ion batteries can be found in smartphones, tablets, cameras and laptops. However, the risk can be mitigated with these devices when they are taken in carry-on baggage as any fires can be extinguished, but when transported as cargo or

stored in the hold this risk increases greatly. In February, an United Airbus 320 from Newark, NJ heading to Bahamas made an emergency

Hazchem mixtures IN 2018, a project run by Echa’s (European Chemicals Agency, an agency of the EU) enforcement forum, 1,314 internet advertisements for hazardous chemical mixtures were checked. Of these, 1,083 (82%) were found to be non-compliant with the EU’s classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) Regulation. With such large shopping platforms which are only set to grow, like ecommerce giants, Ebay, Amazon and Alibaba, it will become increasingly difficult to regulate the sheer number of orders passing through the supply chain. IATA found that 40% of e-commerce shippers are unaware of dangerous goods regulations. Education to these shippers is important but then follows the problem of how to access these shippers as many are virtually unknown. Other suggestions are to criminalise anyone that doesn’t follows the regulations under international law as, after all, this is an international threat. But again, problems arise as for

IN January, the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a $120,000 civil penalty against UPS for allegedly violating the Hazardous Materials Regulation. The FAA alleges that global shipping giants, UPS, offered a shipment, which they knew contained lithium batteries, with UPS Airlines from Ontario, California to Louisville, Kentucky on 15 November

2018. The batteries were discovered at the UPS facility in Louisville. It was found that the shipment contained multiple loosely packed lithium batter-

ACW 9 MARCH 2020

landing at Daytona Beach after a battery charger caught fire during flight. Fire was contained to the passenger’s bag which was put in a fire retardant case until the aircraft landed safely.

Three initiatives

The campaign sets out three specific initiatives: new incident reporting and alert system for airlines; industry awareness campaign on the dangers of shipping undeclared and mis-declared lithium batteries; facilitation of a joined-up industry approach. The first initiative seeks to launch an industry information sharing platform to target mis-declared consignments of lithium batteries, with real-time information about dangerous goods. The second initiative includes hosting a series of dangerous goods awareness seminars across the world, targeting

many micro retailers there is no criminal intent, merely complete ignorance to the regulations. With new technologies constantly evolving perhaps the answer to the problem lies in more advanced screening methods. Rotterdam-based VRR, for example, are currently working on creating a fire resistant thermal cover for their new AIR7 AKE container, the world’s first inflatable container, which would limit the spread of fires in cargo. These will make the Air7 either a fire-safe or an insulated container, which will be able to transport dedicated cargo. Ben Lakerveld, sales manager at VRR says: “We’re exploring these options since specialised cargo, like perishables and lithium batteries, are mostly transported on imbalanced routes with one-way direction freight. The collapsible feature of the Air7 would definitely benefit specialised freight carriers.”

UPS face $120,000 civil penalty

ies which had no protection from short circuit, were damaged and several of which were in reactive state, the FAA alleges. The FAA alleges the shipment was not properly packaged, was not accompanied by a Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods and was not properly described, marked and labelled to indicate the hazardous nature of its contents.

countries where compliance has been challenging. Lastly, the third initiative calls for an adoption of cross-domain approach to include aviation security, manufacturing standards, customer to consumer protection agencies. Currently air cargo is scanned for items that pose a risk to security such as explosives, but not safety such as lithium batteries. “Dangerous goods, including lithium batteries, are safe to transport if managed according to international regulations and standards. But we are seeing an increase in the number of incidents in which rogue shippers are not complying. The industry is uniting to raise awareness of the need to comply. This includes the launching of an incident reporting tool so that information on rogue shippers is shared. And we are asking governments to get much tougher with fines and penalties,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president, airport, passenger, cargo and security. Vladimir Zubkov, secretary general of TIACA also agrees, asking government to put the issue “on the top of their agendas.”

The dangers lurking in eCommerce deliveries THE increase of eCommerce has seen some potentially dangerous effects as problems arise in regard to unknown dangerous goods being transported via airfreight, which threatened to create dangers, like fires in air cargo. Retail eCommerce sales worldwide have increased from $2,982 billion in 2018 to $3,535 billion in 2019 and are set to increase $4,206 billion in 2021, growing exponentially going forward. As eCommerce sales have increased, so has the transportation of unreported dangerous goods. David Brennen, IATA’s assistant director, cargo and safety standards, is wary of the rise in e-commerce and how this can affect cargo. “It’s becoming quite a challenge,” he admits. “Unfortunately, a lot of these people in business – the sellers – have no knowledge that what they are selling is subject to the dangerous goods regulations. So, they may just put it in the post or a brown paper bag and ship it. As a result, this is giving a lot of people a lot of headaches. “There is nothing to stop people saying that they will sell lithium batteries, mercury, gallium, fireworks, perfumes or anything else that would normally require special packaging and procedures as dangerous goods, and promising to ship it by post to anyone anywhere in the world.”

Chinese whispers

ParcelHero says international shoppers are increasingly concerned about Wuhan packages; as new parcel restrictions and factory closures are set to impact on many imported item orders. The spread of the COVID-19 is likely to impact

aircargoweek.com

significantly on UK importers and consumers, warns the international courier services expert ParcelHero. Restrictions on shipments and compulsory factory closures in China’s Hubei province, which is at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, will mean significant delays on items from this important Chinese manufacturing area. And it cautions concern is spreading worldwide about the potential dangers of receiving parcels from Hubei. Explains ParcelHero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks MILT: “Fears about the spread of the virus beyond China through parcels shipments have been expressed in many key China export markets such as the USA and Malaysia. “A US laboratory chemist who received a parcel mailed via China Post’s Wuhan facility complained that such parcels could potentially spread disease ‘depending on the contents of the package’. “China itself has been forced to act over the concerns of shoppers in its key export markets. China Post’s Express Mail Service (EMS) is delaying shipping orders to disinfect goods.”

TRADE&EVENTSFINDER Airlines

Freight Forwarders

GSSAs

Turkey

Hong Kong

United Arab Emirates

Freight Forwarders

Intâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Logistics

USA

Industry Event

Denmark

Industry Event

World Air Cargo Awards 2020

aircargoweek.com 11_16 March 2020.indd 1

ACW 16 March 2020

7 10/03/2020 09:44

Tabloid page bled.indd 1

12/03/2020 11:31