Kenya Airways sign up for IATA’s gender equality pledge

 Kenya Airways sign up for IATA’s gender equality pledge

All 19 SkyTeam member airlines have signed up to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) 25by2025 initiative, as the global airline alliance advocates for greater gender diversity in the industry. The 25by2025 initiative is a voluntary commitment launched in 2019 that seeks to increase the number of women holding senior positions and in under-represented areas by 25 percent or up to a minimum of 25 percent by 2025.

In 2020, after the International Women's Day celebration, Kenya Airways was the first major aviation signatory in Africa of the IATA 25by2025 Initiative. 

The 2019 Stitching Equileap Foundation Report names Kenya Airways among the 5 leading companies with outstanding commitment to workplace gender equality in Kenya. According to the report, six companies (10 percent) have gender balance at the senior management level, with Kenya Airways named the only airline.

Speaking on the initiative, Kenya Airways chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka said, "KQ aims to be a model to Africa and the world. We share the common belief that leveraging the private sector will shape and transform Africa's future and that women must be a part of it. This belief fits well in our purpose of the "Sustainable development of Africa" and aligns well with Sustainable Development Goal No 5, which promotes gender equality."

"Delivering on the commitment to improve diversity and inclusion will strengthen the airline and the entire industry. Being the first major African airline to join 25by2025 sends a signal about the determination of the aviation industry to close the gender gap. And it sets a positive example for others to follow as we continue to expand this critical industry commitment across the IATA membership and beyond," said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director-General.

As of 1st July 2021, female employees across the network made up 39.3 percent of the workforce, with 1,370 women out of the 3,482 employees. As part of the airline's strategy to continue growing the number of women in underrepresented jobs such as pilots, technical, and operations, Kenya Airways continues to train women on leadership every year through the IATA Women in Leadership development training. We are also working to mainstream gender diversity in our talent and leadership development. Kenya Airways has also revamped its internal mentoring programs to be more comprehensive and will continue dialogue on gender balance and women in leadership. We see the participation of our male colleagues as critical to the support and success of our diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda, specifically increasing gender representation across the different areas in the company. 

"The IATA's 25by2025 initiative is vital for the airline, something that mirrors the variety of our customers and is a critical element in our long-term diversity agenda. At Kenya Airways, our ultimate goal will be to be at 50% gender representation as part of a comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion agenda. We continue to work closely with the industry to close the gender gap and ensure greater representation for women in our industry," said Evelyne Munyoki, Chief People Officer at Kenya Airways.

P2F Market is Booming and How

P2F Market is Booming and How 

Airbus, one of the world's largest airplane manufacturers, has firmed up plans for the freighter version of its successful passenger jet A350 with interest from the likes of global cargo giants DHL and UPS. And Boeing, which has a near monopoly in the production freighter market, has a plan for a freighter version of it's yet to be operational passenger jet B777X.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the aviation sector, cargo operations are offsetting operators’ losses, as it continues to play a critical role in facilitating international trade. As a result, industry forecasts show an increase in demand for wide-body freighter aircraft with long-haul capacity.

As original equipment manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing expand their production freighter options, the conversion of passenger-to-freighter (P2F) business has also boomed ever since the Covid-19 pandemic gripped the world.

In a latest development, Mammoth Freighters, a Florida-based company founded in December 2020, is promising to offer a P2F conversion programme for both Boeing 777-200LR and 777-300ER. Mammoth plans a flexible business model to market which provides dynamic options for global air cargo operators. It offers conversions for customer-owned 777s and ready-to-fly converted freighters from its existing fleet of 10 ex-Delta 777-200LRs.

IATA shifts World Cargo Symposium from Istanbul to Dublin for same dates

 IATA shifts World Cargo Symposium from Istanbul to Dublin for same dates

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has shifted the World Cargo Symposium (WCS) venue to Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland from Istanbul, Turkey and it will be held on October 12-14, 2021.

The original 14th IATA WCS event was scheduled to be held in Hilton Istanbul Bomonti, Turkey from March 10 to 12, 2020 but it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Then it was rescheduled for March 9 - 11, 2021 at the same venue.

IATA global head of cargo Brendan Sullivan has confirmed the decision taken with The STAT Trade Times.  He also said that it will be held as a physical event with some virtual elements. “But we are excited to meet face to face,” he said.

The updated website doesn’t show any host airline or any platinum sponsor as the original event in Istanbul was supposed to be hosted by Turkish Airlines. Traditionally, all IATA events were hosted by an airline of the host country.

The World Cargo Symposium is the largest annual air cargo event of its kind that brings together key stakeholders from the entire supply chain.

Attended by airlines, solution providers, freight forwarders, airports, ground handlers, regulators, and media, “the symposium will feature plenary sessions, specialized tracks, workshops and executive summits, tackling aspects related to technology and innovation, security and customs, cargo operations and sustainability,” the website reads.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has shifted the World Cargo Symposium (WCS) venue to Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland from Istanbul, Turkey and it will be held on October 12-14, 2021.

The original 14th IATA WCS event was scheduled to be held in Hilton Istanbul Bomonti, Turkey from March 10 to 12, 2020 but it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Then it was rescheduled for March 9 - 11, 2021 at the same venue.

IATA global head of cargo Brendan Sullivan has confirmed the decision taken with The STAT Trade Times.  He also said that it will be held as a physical event with some virtual elements. “But we are excited to meet face to face,” he said.

The updated website doesn’t show any host airline or any platinum sponsor as the original event in Istanbul was supposed to be hosted by Turkish Airlines. Traditionally, all IATA events were hosted by an airline of the host country.

The World Cargo Symposium is the largest annual air cargo event of its kind that brings together key stakeholders from the entire supply chain.

Attended by airlines, solution providers, freight forwarders, airports, ground handlers, regulators, and media, “the symposium will feature plenary sessions, specialized tracks, workshops and executive summits, tackling aspects related to technology and innovation, security and customs, cargo operations and sustainability,” the website reads. 

Cargo continues to boost airlines

 Cargo continues to boost airlines

Air cargo demand continued to be strong in July, data from International Air Transport Association (IATA) show.

Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), was up 8.6 percent compared to July 2019. While the pace of growth slowed slightly compared to June, which saw demand increase 9.2 percent (against pre-Covid-19 levels), capacity continues to recover but is still 10.3 percent down compared to July 2019, according to data from IATA.

Rates are also zooming - August rates increased 112 percent, Clive Data Services reported.

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) handled 37,319 metric tonnes (MT) of cargo in August —the highest ever since the airport commenced operations in 2008.

The data supports inputs from Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Etihad Airlines, which also witnessed a boom period.

Overall cargo movements across Indian airports increased 35 percent to 259.19 thousand tonnes in July 2021  from 191.74 thousand tonnes in July 2020. Across January-July, cargo movements increased to 997.71 thousand tonnes from 497.91 thousand tonnes.

“The recovery in cargo volumes has been broad based with volumes rising in almost all categories compared to the lows experienced during 2020,” said Saurabh Kumar, CEO, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo. “In particular, exports of perishables, especially agricultural produce such as fruits and vegetables and marine produce are seeing strong traction and recovery from last year’s levels. There is also a significant improvement in volumes of engineering goods and textiles, which is aiding the growth & recovery in cargo traffic. At GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo, in the last year, we have put in place the necessary infrastructure and facility upgrades to support the growth in demand from these commodities. Going forward, we see this trend sustaining through the year.”

“Overall demand during Q2 increased by eight per cent compared to Q1 on an essentially flat capacity profile, putting belly capacity at around 11 per cent below pre-pandemic levels,” said Leonard Rodrigues, Head of Revenue Management and Network Planning, Etihad Airways.

IATA survey finds cargo demand to increase over next year

 IATA survey finds cargo demand to increase over next year

Airline chief financial officers and cargo chiefs were positive on cargo demand for the rest of the current financial year and the next year, according to an International Air Transport Association (IATA) survey done last month.

As many as 73 percent respondents reported that cargo volumes were higher than last year in Q2 as rising number of passenger flights eased the pressure on belly cargo capacity. 

IATA cargo rates platform welcomes Air Canada Cargo

 IATA cargo rates platform welcomes Air Canada Cargo

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomes Air Canada Cargo to the association’s IATA Net Rates air cargo rates platform, allowing the Canadian carrier to expand its digital offering to provide an additional digital option to its customers.

Under the TACT Air Cargo Solutions umbrella, freight forwarders can access the latest information on rates, rules, tariffs, schedules and compliance information that can be accessed online or integrated with customer systems, accelerating the distribution of rates to market while simplifying and reducing the cost of rate handling procedures. 

“IATA is very pleased to welcome Air Canada Cargo to the IATA Net Rates platform to support its cargo rates distribution processes. We look forward to future collaboration with Air Canada Cargo,” said Frederic Leger, Interim senior vice president Commercial Services and president, CNS. 

“We are delighted to be working with IATA Net Rates as we continue our digital evolution. Through IATA Net rates, Air Canada Cargo will be able to securely automate its rate distribution to freight forwarders around the globe. This initiative comes at an opportune time for Air Canada Cargo as we grow our business with the upcoming arrival of new dedicated freighter aircraft.” said Matthieu Casey, senior director, Cargo Global Sales and Revenue Optimization for Air Canada Cargo.

How Lufthansa Cargo is forging a sustainable, digital future

 How Lufthansa Cargo is forging a sustainable, digital future

Lufthansa Cargo, one of the world’s leading companies in the transport of air freight, has been making significant strides in the direction of embracing sustainability and digitalization – one innovation at a time. 

The German cargo carrier has been on an interesting path of forging a future built with sustainability goals in mind and has rolled out a number of decisions exhibiting this especially under the leadership of Dorothea von Boxberg, Chairperson of the Executive Board and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo who took charge this March. 

This also comes close on the heels of the air carrier having clocked an impressive year after its revenues reached historic highs, even as the global air cargo demand has reached above 2019 levels. Despite global air freight capacity crunch leading to a fall in sales, there was an improvement in its cargo load factor and yields were up in all regions served by Lufthansa Cargo.

Scaling sustainable solutions

Incidentally, IATA has committed to a carbon-neutral airline growth starting from 2021 and envisioned a 50 percent reduction in Co2 emissions by 2050. Making a series of deft moves in this direction, Lufthansa Cargo has been partnering with other companies for sustainable innovations and future for the air freight industry and contributes to sustainable goals of the industry and to the world in general. 

Incidentally, last December saw Lufthansa Cargo enter into a partnership with DB Schenker for starting its first Co2 neutral freight flight connection. In line with this, a cargo flight completed a round trip for the first time in commercial aviation, whose fuel requirement was completely covered by SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel). 

Outlining her plans on sustainability, Von Boxberg said, “My vision is to be the most efficient air carrier. I would really like to offer my customers the shipment with the lowest carbon footprint and that’s what we are working on. So having a pure 777 fleet (Boeing 777 freighters) is a major step towards that, as that is the most efficient aircraft right now. Having the right aircraft can make a huge difference.”

Later this May, another partnership between Lufthansa Technik and BASF saw the duo create surface film that mimics a shark’s skin that has the ability to reduce fuel consumption and emissions significantly. This technology called ‘AeroSHARK’ is slated to be rolled out on Lufthansa Cargo’s entire freighter fleet from the beginning of 2022. 

Von Boxberg added, “The next thing is how we can save kerosene once we have got the right aircraft and that is where a topic like ‘shark skin’ comes in. So shark skin helps in reducing drag, which is supposed to save us one percent of fuel, which is a lot. We also work on many other things like lightweight containers, approach and descent procedures for pilots, so that there are many ways to save additional fuel. It’s really small things, that are less than one percent; but even if it is one percent, these kinds of savings are fantastic.”

Lufthansa Cargo is also actively looking to reduce its carbon footprint. While reducing the use of fuel is one solution, a move towards bio fuels like the SAF looks promising and yet comes with its own challenges. 

Von Boxberg avers, “Sustainable Aviation Fuels are very limited in availability today. All of the production today is by food waste or from crops but that is not super scalable. And while it is more possible today, yet it won’t fill all the aircraft. So while we look for partners in the industry that we can buy from, we also look for customers who can help us finance it because it’s not the airline industry that can bear that burden. In the end it really needs to come from the shippers and the end consumers. We need to discuss this with our customers as well.”

UNCTAD, IATA extend partnership to facilitate global trade

 UNCTAD, IATA extend partnership to facilitate global trade

IATA and UNCTAD have extended their collaboration to facilitate international trade, particularly e-commerce. This partnership includes the successful integration of air cargo messaging standards (Cargo-XML) into UNCTAD’s automated customs management system, ASYCUDAWorld. 

Around 100 counties are showing interest to deploy the latest version of ASYCUDAWorld that enables more efficient processing of air cargo shipments.  

“Through this extended partnership, we look forward to leveraging the leadership of UNCTAD and IATA in their respective fields to boost e-commerce in developing countries through improved exchanges of trade data,” said Shamika N. Sirimanne UNCTAD’s Technology and Logistics director.

The next stage of the collaboration will focus on enabling ASYCUDAWorld to manage e-commerce shipments more efficiently. It will include adding a risk assessment for mail shipments and facilitating access to the IATA enhanced partner identification and connectivity (EPIC) platform.  

This will enable customs authorities to share advance cargo/mail information requirements across the digitized supply chain (airlines, freight forwarders, ground handlers and third-party messaging service providers). 

“UNCTAD and IATA are working together to support the economic opportunities of e-commerce by modernizing the data exchange needed for customs clearance,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for operations, Safety and Security.

“Global standards enable accurate information and effective risk-assessments. This in turn promotes stronger compliance and will contribute to a safe supply chain, which should give the authorities the confidence to modernize processes,” Careen added.

Brendan Sullivan is IATA’s new global head of cargo

 The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced the appointment of Brendan Sullivan as IATA’s global head of cargo with immediate effect. 

Brendan Sullivan is IATA’s new global head of cargo

Sullivan has worked in air cargo for 20 years including spending 14 years at IATA. Since January, he has been acting global head of cargo alongside his role as head of cargo operations and ecommerce.

Recent achievements include leading two key IATA initiatives: 

The One Source platform: This provides comprehensive information on infrastructure capabilities critical to taking advantage of special cargo and e-commerce activities. 

The IATA FACE Campaign: This builds the next generation of air cargo leadership by attracting, developing, and retaining young talent within the air cargo industry. Over 200 cargo professionals are engaged in the initiative.

Sullivan began his career in air cargo at Air Canada in 2000, where he gained frontline operational experience and developed expertise in dangerous goods handling that facilitated his transition to IATA in 2007.

Global cargo demand sees 9.4% rise in May from pre-Covid levels: IATA 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released May 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that demand continued its strong growth trend. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), was up 9.4 percent compared to May 2019. Seasonally adjusted demand rose by 0.4 percent month-on-month in May, the 13th consecutive month of improvement.

The pace of growth slowed slightly in May compared to April which saw demand increase 11.3 percent against pre-Covid-19 levels (April 2019). Notwithstanding, air cargo outperformed global goods trade for the fifth consecutive month.

North American carriers contributed 4.6 percentage points to the 9.4 percent growth rate in May. Airlines in all other regions except for Latin America also supported the growth.