Record number of connections to China 
Italy held bilateral negotiations on aviation services with China in Beijing a week ago. At the end of the meeting the presidents of both countries’ civil aviation authorities signed a declaration of intent. Its implementation will make Italy the country in Europe with the most... more
First A380 to donate spare parts
Tarmac Aerosave has completed the first-ever A380 dismantling project. A B check will take place in March. The French aircraft storage, maintenance and recycling company managed this project in collaboration with the aircraft owner, Dr Peters, a German leasing company, and... more
Difficult year for air freight north of the Alps
Cargo volumes at Munich airport (photo), Germany's second-biggest aviation hub, were down in 2019. The 331,000 t of airfreight handled in 2019 represented a 5.7% yoy decrease. Zurich airport reports an 8.4% decrease in freight volume in 2019 versus 2018. During the year... more
Paris stays on course 
Just before the general strike that hampered public transport in France started, the ITJ slipped into Paris, where CDG airport, Europe’s second most important airfreight gateway, put on a rather insightful afternoon. more
Sats to operate second Saudi air cargo terminal
Sats Saudi Arabia, a subsidiary of one of Asia’s leading providers of food solutions and gateway services, has won a 25-year cargo terminal concession in King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh, which handles close to 40% of air cargo volume in the kingdom. The... more
CAAC issues validation for converted B737-800
Aeronautical Engineers (AEI), a Miami (USA)-based passenger-to-freighter conversion specialist, has received a VSTC (VSTC0933) from the civil aviation administration of China (CAAC) for the p2f conversion for B737-800. The VSTC validates the original FAA supplemental type... more
Paycargo helps to set up America's first ACCS
PayCargo has collaborated with Atlanta airport and India-based IT business Kale Logistics Solutions to set up the first air cargo community system (ACCS) in the USA. Lionel van der Walt, Paycargo president and CEO of The Americas: "In Europe they have been leading the way,... more
Chinese cargo carrier opens first international route
Tianjin Air Cargo, a subsidiary of HNA Group with a fleet of four B737 freighter aircraft, launched its first international all-cargo route exactly one week ago, on 8 January 2020, as it commenced a once-weekly B737-800F service from the central Chinese city Zhengzhou to... more
Swiss interest group shares know-how
For the first time IG Air Cargo Switzerland offered professional air cargo training in cooperation with Spedlogswiss in Q4/2019, welcoming nine participants mainly from the forwarding business. Building on this initial success, the interest group decided to offer a second... more
Big news from Airbus and Airlander
Beluga XL, an integral part of Airbus’ industrial system, made its first operational flight on 9 January 2020. This is the first of six units to replace the Beluga ST predecessors until 2023. At 63 m long and 8 m wide, it has the largest cargo bay cross-section of all existing... more