In early March, a loaded 747-400 freighter, operated by Atlas Air on behalf of forwarding firm Panalpina, pushed back from the gate in Huntsville, Alabama, and took off at sunset, full of machine parts from the American Midwest. It was the inaugural flight of Panalpina's twice-weekly "Brazil Wings" main-deck service from Huntsville to São Paulo, Brazil. On its return journey to Huntsville from Viracopos International Airport, the freighter flew on to Hong Kong International, with a load of perishable goods from Brazil and other South American markets. The total transit time for the new VCP-HSV-HKA route was less than 40 hours – pretty impressive for a journey of more than 11,300 nautical miles.
The tiny African nation of Djibouti measures 23,200 square kilometers and is home to about 800,000 people, but within a few years - and with a little help from the Chinese - it expects to have two brand-new airport hubs large enough to handle 100,000 tonnes of cargo and 2 million passengers annually.
The many weeks of positive airfreight numbers during the 2014 peak season, inflated somewhat by the ongoing West Coast port crisis, were reflected in the latest figures from WorldACD, showing worldwide volume growth of 4.3 percent, compared to the previous November.
With the meteoric rise of both e-commerce and express shipping across China, a distribution relationship between Alibaba and SF Express seems to be a natural fit. However, with SF Express recently showing interest in developing its own e-commerce businesses, Alibaba may consider SF Express as more of a competitor, making China Postal Airlines a more comfortable distribution option.
An agreement between Mexico and the United States, scheduled to become effective by Jan. 1, 2016, would remove all limits on the number of airlines that can provide passenger or cargo service between destinations in both countries. If enacted, the new policy would allow new carriers to enter the market, while carriers already in the market would have the freedom to fly to new cities.
In an announcement that sent waves of protest throughout the freight forwarding industry, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a plan late last month to move most of the air cargo operations out of New York City's JFK International Airport and relocate them about 80 miles northwest to Stewart International (SWF) in the lower Hudson Valley. Negative reaction to the proposal was swift.
Even in the worst-case scenario, there will be a rising demand for freighter aircraft over the next 20 years, according to the most recent forecast by Seattle's Air Cargo Management Group (ACMG).
Volumes are expected to be robust among Europe's freight forwarders through next month, according to Danske Bank's latest European Freight Forwarding Index report for September 2014.
Global airfreight markets showed continued robust growth in air cargo volumes in August, according to the latest data from The International Air Transport Association (IATA).
AirBridgeCargo Airlines will cater to Basel, Switzerland's thriving health care industry with the launch of a Boeing 747 freighter service on Sept. 19.
