Air Cargo

There were 221 kilograms of lithium ion batteries in the belly hold of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that vanished in March last year, according to the first comprehensive report into the disappearance of the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing aircraft.

With the air cargo industry under increasing competition from ocean carriers for certain cargoes, especially perishables, more sophisticated software and technology tools are helping drive the migration from ocean to air.

DB Schenker, the logistics unit of German railroad Deutsche Bahn, has reached agreement with three airlines involved in a global price-fixing cartel but is still seeking damages from three other carriers.

The global air cargo market got off to a sluggish start in 2015, with traffic up 3.2 percent year-over-year in January as lower volumes on European and North and South American routes offset strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Air cargo leaving India has been hit with severe delays because of poor weather and the lingering impact of U.S. West Coast port congestion on world trade, according to a U.S. freight forwarder specializing in air and ocean freight in the Far East.

International Airlines Group’s cargo revenue declined 7.5 percent in 2014 from the previous year, largely because the owner of British Airways and Iberia quit freighter operations.

Trans-Pacific air freight markets will continue to benefit from shipper demand as U.S. ports take several months to clear the backlog of containers that stacked up during the protracted waterfront labor dispute between terminals and the union.

Air France-KLM’s cargo losses widened to 212 million euros [US $242 million] in 2014 from 202 million euros in the previous year as a two-week pilots’ strike compounded the impact of a weak global airfreight market.

TNT Express slumped to a 137 million euros [US $156 million] net loss in the fourth quarter of 2014 from a 32 million euros profit in the same period in 2013, driven mainly by restructuring charges tied to an abortive takeover bid by its larger rival, UPS, two years ago.

Solid freight demand from North American markets saw Cathay Pacific and sister airline Dragonair get the year off to a good start and allowed the carrier to operate an almost full freighter schedule in January.

Shippers between Nairobi and the global flower hub of Amsterdam chartered at least 1,500 tons of additional air freight capacity in the two weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day to ship in flowers from Africa.

With less than a week to the Chinese New Year factory shutdowns and congestion delays frustrating trans-Pacific shippers, DHL is ensuring it has enough air cargo space on its U.S. routes to handle the rising demand.

DHL Global Forwarding has opened its new Shanghai warehouse with an $18 million investment in 17,200 square feet of cold storage facilities for life sciences and healthcare customers.

Spain’s state-owned airports operator Aena will make its debut on the Madrid Stock Exchange Wednesday in the country’s biggest initial public offering since 1997.

It was no surprise to find air cargo executives at the WCA Worldwide forwarders conference in Hong Kong lobbying for more shippers and forwarders to send their cargo via air, but the U.S. port congestion provided a helpful marketing tool.

Global air cargo traffic grew by 4.5 percent in 2014, boosted by a rebound in trade that ended several years of stagnation, the International Air Transport Association said.

Nippon Express Co., Japan’s top international freight forwarder, posted a big jump in group net profit in the first three quarters of fiscal 2014, as revenue from overseas operations grew robustly, helped by a weaker yen.

The highly public spat between Alibaba Group and China regulators over allegations of counterfeit or misdeclared goods being sold via the Internet giant’s online platform has again highlighted supply chain safety and security concerns faced by logistics providers and airlines transporting the e-commerce products.

Blue Dart Express, India’s leading air express and logistics service provider, reported a 19 percent rise in net income to Rs. 27.13 crore (US $4.4 million) for its third quarter, which ended Dec. 31.

Shrugging off the economic downturn in its home market, Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines boosted traffic 17.6 percent in 2014, its 10th anniversary, even as leading Western airlines continued to downsize their freighter operations.

Japan Airlines reported a 3.1 percent year-over-year drop in group net profit for the first three quarters of fiscal 2014, to 119.684 billion yen (US$1.01 billion), despite a nearly double-digit rise in international cargo revenue.

ANA Holdings’ international cargo revenue surged 20.9 percent year-over-year in the first three quarters of fiscal 2014, helping the largest Japanese airline group post a jump in profit for the April-December period

Apple has released its smartphone data for the fourth quarter of 2014, and while soaring sales of the iPhone 6 doubled its market share in China, the numbers also illustrate the close correlation between the air cargo industry and the constantly evolving mobile phone business.

Greece’s new radical left wing government is set to freeze the planned sale of the state’s stakes in Athens airport, the port of Thessaloniki and rail companies as it seeks to tear up some of the conditions of its 240 billion euro ($271 billion) bailout agreement.

Cathay Pacific’s new air cargo terminal in Hong Kong handled 1.45 million tons during 2014 in its first full year of operation.

The sharply divergent fortunes of the air and ocean cargo sectors in Hong Kong are illustrated in a chart from CBRE Research on container and air freight throughput during 2014.

Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. (Hactl) ended a solid 2014 by recording its strongest quarter of the year as Asia’s air freight sector continued its robust recovery.

Alitalia unveiled plans to increase its cargo operations as part of a strategy to return to profitability in 2017 following years of losses, billions of dollars of state subsidies and a narrow escape from bankruptcy.

Amsterdam Schiphol airport said cargo traffic got off to a slow start this year because increased trans-Pacific shipper demand for air cargo services due to U.S. West Coast port congestion is diverting freighters from Asia-Europe routes to the Pacific.

The air cargo industry had its longest peak season in years in 2014, driven by massive demand for new products, most notably the iPhone 6 that sold more than 40 million units in the third quarter alone. But the big question that has airline executives frantically polishing their crystal balls is whether airlines and air freight forwarders can count on the strong performance continuing through this year.

Frankfurt airport’s freight traffic increased just 1.7 percent in 2014, lagging growth at its main European rivals, as pilots at Lufthansa, its biggest customer, staged nine strikes through the year.

Cathay Pacific and its sister airline Dragonair carried 1.72 million tons of cargo during 2014, a 12 percent increase over the previous year as the strong second half performance continued into December.

Lufthansa Cargo is “cautiously optimistic” about its performance in 2015 after filling nearly 70 percent of its capacity in a fiercely competitive market last year, CEO Peter Greber said.

London Heathrow increased air freight traffic by 5.3 percent in 2014, driven by a surge in shipments to key emerging markets, but capacity restraints are threatening to slow growth at Europe’s fourth largest cargo hub.

Larger international shippers increasingly use UPS's expedited freight service as a strategic "cushion" or aid in supply chain planning, as well as for urgent shipments.

Record December throughput took Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal Ltd. (Pactl) past its annual 2014 target of 1.45 million tons as healthy demand kept air freight flowing through China’s busiest airport.

International air freight demand accelerated late last year, driven by strong growth in shipments of electronic goods going into the year-end festive season, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) said today.

Following a strong end to 2014, global air freight demand will rise 4.5 percent in 2015, outpacing the growth of world trade, the International Air Transport Association says.