Weak start for airfreight 
The International Air Transport Association (Iata) released data for global airfreight markets showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs), was 1.8% lower in January 2019, compared to the same month in 2018. It was the worst performance in the last three... more
Double anniversary
Jettainer, an outsourced ULD management provider, is sending a visual container around the world to mark the 60th anniversary of the airfreight container. The journey began in Frankfurt on 7 March, and the box is now heading for Singapore, where the Iata World Cargo Symposium is... more
Cargolux opposed to new wildlife trafficking trend
As one of the first major carriers, Cargolux has placed a ban on the transport of lion bones in an effort to curb and deter this new trend in wildlife trafficking which has been growing over the past decade. Michele Pickover, director of the EMS Foundation, underlined the... more
Five years after MH370 went missing
On 8 March 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing was lost - literally. Disappearing from the radar 40 minutes after take-off, the transponder of the B777 with 239 people on board also ceased functioning, so that air traffic control could not track the... more
New Sydney hub to improve access to Port Botany
Pacific National aims to offer more efficient rail connections in Australia. The spine of the network will be formed by the key freight hubs of Port Botany, Penrith, Parkes and Perth. At present, the railfreight operator is constructing Australia’s largest inland logistics... more
Industry stalwart for GAC in India
Industry veteran Jayakumar Gopalakrishnan has been appointed GAC Shipping's general manager, projects and breakbulk in India. Based in the company’s Mumbai office, he will spearhead the company’s efforts to tap into India’s growing project logistics and breakbulk business. ... more
Top air trade lanes between EU/US and emerging markets
The latest Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index (Aemli) shows that the volume of goods exported as airfreight from the EU and USA to the 50 emerging economies that were surveyed amounted to 4.045 million t in 2018, 4% more than in 2017. The three fastest growing trade... more
UPS links Hong Kong and Cologne with B747-8F
UPS will deploy larger capacity aircraft, Boeing 747-8s, to service major trade routes connecting Hong Kong and Europe, via UPS’s European air hub in Cologne (Germany). The expansion is part of the on-going transformation of UPS’s smart global logistics network, which, according... more
New rail service between Belarus and Romania
Belintertrans, the transport-logistics centre (BTLC) of Belarusian Railway, will introduce a regular container train service from Belarus to Romania. The journey will take 39 hours. Partners are Rail Cargo Logistics (Slovenia) and Zakhid Trans Service (Ukraine). The first... more
Iata appoints new regional VP North Asia
The International Air Transport Association (Iata) is appointing Ma Tao as its regional vice-president (RVP) for North Asia. Ma joins Iata from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) where he is currently head of the airworthiness certification centre. Ma will be... more