Air Cargo

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings’ plan to acquire competitor Southern Air Holdings will diversify the air cargo carriers’ fleet, strengthen its relationship with its biggest customer, DHL Express, and position it to grow in the U.S. and globally, according to a BB&T analyst.

Cargolux is to invest $77 million in Cargolux China, a new joint venture carrier, scheduled to start operations in 2017.

Frankfurt airport, Europe’s largest air cargo hub, saw traffic decrease 2.6 percent year-over-year in 2015, mirroring declines at third- and fourth-ranked Amsterdam Schiphol and London Heathrow.

Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Dragonair handled just short of 1.8 million tons of air cargo in 2015, recording growth of 4.3 percent despite a difficult year for the air freight industry as it struggled to balance capacity supply and demand.

Shippers in Bangladesh are finding new ways of getting their air cargo to Australia after the government Down Under slapped a ban on shipments heavier than 500 grams being carried on freighters and passenger planes from several countries, with the South Asia garment-producing giant among them.

Amsterdam Schiphol airport retained its ranking as Europe’s third-largest air freight hub in 2015 despite posting a larger decline in traffic than fourth-ranked London Heathrow.

Japan’s international air cargo trade will fall 4.5 percent in fiscal 2015, which is the first annual decline in two years, according to a report by Nittsu Research Institute and Consulting Inc., a subsidiary of Nippon Express Co., Japan’s largest international freight forwarder.

Lufthansa Cargo retained its top ranking among Europe’s cargo airlines in 2015 even as traffic shrank 2.4 percent from the previous year and two more freighters are being taken out of service.

Shanghai’s largest air cargo terminal shrugged off China’s slowing economy to set a new record for freight volumes in 2015, helped by robust international exports.

The decline in global air cargo demand “may be bottoming out”, following a month-on-month increase in November traffic, according to the International Air Transportation Association.

A blockade of the border between India and Nepal since September has brought trade between the two countries to a standstill and created critical shortages of supplies essential to both social services and the economy.

Sadly for the air cargo market — but fortunately for ocean freight that moves most of the shipments — there will be no port congestion in the main U.S. gateways. More critical is that there also will be little demand from anywhere else. The air cargo weakness has largely tracked anemic trade growth.

The International Air Transport Association will urge member airlines to prepare for a possible surge in air freight volumes caused by possible disruptions when the new container weighing requirements are implemented globally from July.

Polar Air Cargo will pay customers $100 million after settling an on-going antitrust class action lawsuit that has drawn in most of the world’s major carriers and so far generated more than $1.1 billion in settlements.

Qatar Airways has taken delivery of two new freighters, expanding its all-cargo fleet to 16 aircraft and consolidating its position as the world’s third-largest international air freight carrier.

Air France’s troubled cargo unit faces further disruption as unions have called for five days of strikes across the carrier in January.

If an uncertain global economy wasn’t enough for shippers and transportation providers, 2016 will be filled with major changes, from the massive container shipping weight mandate to liner consolidation. Other threats and opportunities will likely emerge during the year, but the 10 trends outlined here will definitely be in play and impact global supply chains. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

The growing disconnect between passenger and cargo demand continued in November as data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed robust growth in the international air passenger business while air freight markets remained weak.

China Airlines, Yang Ming Line and Chungwa Post, Taiwan’s national postal service will cooperate on sea and air freight services to better compete in the booming e-commerce market in Asia.

Qatar Airways Cargo is launching a new freighter route to Dallas/Fort Worth from Liege in the new year that the carrier says will be the start of a major expansion of its network and fleet through 2016.

ASL Aviation Group has signed two loans for $110 million, refueling speculation the Ireland-based group is preparing a bid for TNT Express’ freighter airlines ahead of FedEx’s takeover of its small Dutch rival.

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines pulled further ahead of its struggling Europe rivals, with traffic soaring 27 percent in November from a year ago despite the deepening economic crisis in its domestic market.

Cargolux has agreed to a new labor contract with its pilots, removing the threat of a strike at Europe’s largest all-cargo airline.

A European Union court today overturned 790 million euros ($861 million) in fines against 11 airlines, including Air France-KLM and British Airways, for participating in a global cartel that fixed air freight rates.

Hong Kong’s airport and its leading airline saw their hopes for a strong air freight finish to the year dashed as November figures fell back into negative growth that has gripped the world’s busiest airport for most of the year.

It turns out the three abandoned Boeing 747-200s at Kuala Lumpur airport for the past year were not abandoned at all, and were instead waiting to start service for a Malaysia-based airline with the eye-opening name of Splunk 'n Dash.

The U.K. logistics industry slammed the government for deferring a decision on whether to expand London Heathrow airport, Europe’s fourth-largest air cargo hub, until next summer at the earliest.

The air cargo market will remain weak through 2016 due to sluggish world trade growth, the International Air Transport Association said.

The transportation industry has been omitted from a draft text of the agreement nations are haggling over at the Paris Climate Conference to keep the planet’s warming from greenhouse gases to below 2 degrees Celsius.

Lufthansa and United Airlines plan to expand their current passenger partnership to cargo operations between Europe and the U.S.

One way to get rid of unwanted aircraft is for an operator to park them on the tarmac at a big airfield and then disappear, something that is causing consternation at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

The logistics arm of Hong Kong air cargo terminal, Hactl, has opened a depot in the Pearl River Delta city of Nansha that will target China’s fast growing e-commerce business.

The ban of belly cargo on Egypt Air passenger flights to North America is creating chaos in Egypt’s textiles and cottons sector, which has made up 45 percent of the country’s exports to the U.S. this year.

From a near-meltdown at U.S. West Coast ports to a wave of mergers and acquisitions, with hints of more in the container line industry, 2015 has been full of plenty of surprises.

The global air freight market is still flat-lining with traffic in October rising just 0.5 percent from a year ago, the International Air Transport Association said.

As it gets closer to a $1.35 billion acquisition by DSV, logistics company UTi Worldwide opens new multimodal facilities in Southeast Asia to speed freight to Europe and the U.S.

Cathay Pacific has agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle litigation in Canada in a cargo anti-trust class action in which the carrier was a defendant.

Demand for air cargo shipments in Asia fell slightly in October on the back of continued weakness in export-import activities in the major regional economies of China, India and Japan, according to the latest data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

Six Volga-Dnepr crew members were among the 22 people killed in a terrorist raid on a hotel in the Mali capital of Bamako on Nov. 20, the Russian heavy-lift airline has announced.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s cargo throughput edged closer to last year’s tonnage in the third quarter, narrowing the deficit in the year-to-date to 1.44 percent and raising the possibility of matching record volumes in 2014.