How Do I Send Air Freight?

If you haven’t sent air freight before it can seem like it could be a daunting task. Here at Transglobal Express we have done as much as we can to make the process as easy as possible. Here we will run through the process from obtaining a quote, choosing the correct service, up to completing the order and obtaining the required paperwork.

Our air freight services operate from airport to airport. You can either choose to drop off the goods at one of our drop off depots yourself, or you can arrange to have them picked up and delivered to the correct depot at an additional cost.

Getting a Quote

Once you have clicked the “Quote Now” button on our air freight page, you will be taken to our air freight quotation form. If you know the destination airport code, you can enter this in to the first box (Look Up Airport Code) and details in the next two boxes will fill in automatically. If you don’t know the airport code, then you can use the drop down boxes provided.

Next, you need to select if the items are personal effects or not followed by the number of packages you are sending. After completing the weight and dimensions for the packages you simply click “Compare Prices”.

Choosing the Right Service for You

Once you have your list of quotes for your available services, there are a couple of decisions you need to make before choosing which one is best for you. If there is a door-to-door service available for your packages, you will see an option at the top of the list where you can switch to get an international courier quote that may be more convenient for you.

On the remaining list of air freight services, you will see that there are two different types of services available – Consolidated (Consol) and Back to Back (B2B). Let’s have a quick look at the difference between these two types:

• ·         Consolidated

This is a service that consists of pre-booked space bought by an agent from an airline in advance. Because this space has been bought in advance, the airline will offer the space at a reduced cost. The UK agent will issue a “Master Air Waybill” which will cover all the individual shipments in the consolidation. Each individual shipment will have its own “House Air Waybill” (HAWB).

As these services are pre-booked, the day of departure may be a few days away therefore the transit times for your packages will probably be increased.

• ·         Back to Back

This is a service that consists of an individual booking made directly with the Airline and is not consolidated with other shipments. It will be allocated its own straightforward “Air Waybill”. As these are booked direct with the Airline, departures are available daily so will, in most cases, arrive quicker than a consolidated service.

Please be aware that our quoted rates will exclude any customs clearance charges which are normally handled by the recipient, unless otherwise specified. Visit our Customs & Security Information page for more details.

Once you have selected the service that best suits you, you can proceed to click on the corresponding “Book” button to start the booking process.

Placing Your Booking

Next step is to fill in the required information for your booking. The first step of this process is to fill in your details and address (Shipper Address) and the details and address of the receiver (Consignee Address). You have the option of saving these details for any future orders if you so wish.

The next step is to give a summary of the consignment, value of goods, reason for shipment and an EORI and VAT number if applicable.

You then need to complete the descriptions of the contents of the consignment along with their value and their commodity codes using our Commodity Code Finder tool. This will help ensure your consignment clears customs as quickly as possible.

It is also important at this stage to check our Dangerousand Prohibited Goods Information to ensure you can send all the items you want and not incur a fine of £100.

The next page is a review of your air freight order. Please make sure that all the details here are correct. At this stage, you can also choose to have your consignment collected from your address at an additional cost, or choose to drop off your goods at an available depot.

Choose your payment type and click “Place Order”.

What Happens Next?

Once payment has been made, you will see an order summary along with your order reference number. You will receive a confirmation email and an additional email containing the labels and paperwork required to accompany your shipment. Please ensure the labels are securely attached, if the labels come off we have no way of tracking your goods.

Once your goods arrive at the destination airport it is the responsibility of the receiver to ensure the shipment is cleared along with any relevant charges are paid.

If you have any questions regarding booking air freight, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

What exactly is freight forwarding? A very quick guide to the essentials

International freight is a complicated business, with lots of different players at every level of operation. As such, it's not always obvious what everybody does, or why what they do is important.

This is especially true for freight forwarders, who are deeply integrated into industry processes but whose role requires a bit of explanation. It's not immediately obvious what it means to 'forward' freight, and how their function differs from the role of carriers.

So let's break it down to the essentials.

What those other words mean

Here's a quick glossary of industry terms that are relevant to freight forwarding:

A supply chain is the entire process involved in supplying a product to a customer, from the acquisition of raw materials, to manufacture, retail, and delivery.

Logistics is the organisation of the supply chain, ensuring the success and efficiency of the entire operation. It's the management of how things flow from one link of the chain to the next. It involves literally moving things around: transportation, materials handling, packaging and storage.

Freight or cargo refers to goods or produce being transported by either aircraft (air freight) or boats and ships (sea freight), and sometimes the word is also used for road transit using vans, trains and trucks/lorries.

Importing and exporting refers to the movement of goods across international borders. This means that the goods are subject to international trade laws and various national jurisdictions, such as customs.

A carrier is the person or company responsible for transporting goods. Carriers are either public (transporting other people's or companies' goods), or private (a company transporting only its own goods). Delivery companies like UPS, TNT, FedEx, DHL and DPD are all public (or 'common') carriers for whom transportation is their primary business.

So where does a freight forwarder fit in?

A freight forwarder is there to simplify the process for the person or company looking to import or export their goods. Freight forwarders will deal with the logistics on your behalf, arranging the storage and shipping of your goods, preparing the necessary documentation and labelling, negotiating lower freight charges with carriers, and filing insurance.

Freight forwarders produce their own house bill of lading or air waybill, which is a document that provides the details or terms and conditions of a shipment, and is signed by the forwarder instead of the carrier. The forwarder and its agents are usually put down as the consignor and consignee (sender and receiver) of the cargo.

International freight forwarders make things much easier for importers and exporters by navigating and negotiating the logistics quagmire of international delivery so that you don't have to.

While the word 'freight' typically refers to heavier cargo, freight forwarders can also help you with the shipment of smaller parcels (express delivery), and most deliveries can be made door-to-door.

Want to find out more about what freight forwarding can do for you? Get a quote with international freight forwarder Transglobal Express, for air freight, sea freight, and express parcel delivery. We negotiate reduced prices with major carriers including UPS, DHL, TNT and DPD.

(Image credits: Bill Abbott,  Håkan Dahlström)

What air cargo can tell us about the global economy

Every now and then, a news article reminds us that air cargo is, or has been, considered a bellwether of the state of the global economy. As the Wall Street Journal recently explained, in an article on the stumbling Chinese economy:

“Air cargo is widely tracked as a leading indicator for trade because shippers deciding whether to send items by plane are often swayed by last-minute economic developments. The recent drop in volumes has analysts concerned, even as maritime shipping out of Asia has remained healthy.”

This follows a stagnant couple of months in the air cargo market, where volume grew only 0.7% in July—the lowest of the year. A drop in air cargo traffic to and from China is specifically viewed as evidence that the economy is wobbling, in the wake of the Chinese government devaluing the yuan in order to reinvigorate exports. This was followed by plummeting Chinese stock markets and worldwide drops in share prices.

In the same way that Chinese exports have an impact on the overall volume of global air freight, so too does the Chinese economy affect the global economy—and one is often a good indication of the other. So when economists aren't seeing growth in air cargo, it could very well be a symptom of a larger problem.

Freightfully important

Part of this connection is because air freight is itself a huge facilitator of global trade. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), over US$6.4 trillion worth of goods—approximately 35% of world trade by value—is transported by air cargo. This is because air cargo supply chains make it possible to deliver high quality goods efficiently and at relatively economical prices.

The IATA is also quick to point out that air cargo creates millions of jobs, as well as being a vital component in the implementation of worldwide health and immunisation programmes, not to mention disaster aid.

As such, air freight is viewed as a reliable indicator of economic changes not merely because it reflects the ebbs and flows of the economy, but because it plays its own massive role in global trade.

So one way or the other, it makes sense for the analysts to keep a close eye—and to worry a little at signs of stagnation, even when there may be growth in other areas like sea freight.

Transglobal Express offers worldwide freight forwarding with all major carriers. To keep up to date with air freight industry news, follow our news and updates. 

(Image credits: John Murphy, Robert Stanklewicz under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.)

A shark whale of a time with UPS

In 2005 and 2006, UPS donated their services to the Georgia Aquarium. They transported four whale sharks, the largest fish on Earth, across the Pacific Ocean. The sharks were in Taipei, Taiwan, and needed delivering to Atlanta, Georgia, in the U.S, a distance of over 8,000 miles.

Ralph and Norton, two males, were delivered first, followed by two females, Alice and Trixie, a year later. What names they were given by their parents in whale shark language is unknown.

The whale sharks each measured between 11-16 feet in length and weighed about 2,000 pounds. Although they needed to be carried by air, it was soon realised that the sharks wouldn’t fit into economy class. So how was this unusual cargo transported?

 

From UPS, with tanks

The trip required two custom-build tanks, measuring 8 feet by 24, which with the weight of the water and the whale sharks would exceed 50,000 pounds. The tanks came with marine life support systems and a lab that enabled monitoring. While a Boeing 747 plane can carry up to 120,000 pounds in weight, it needed to be distributed over the plane’s point of balance, which is over its main gear.

The trip was time-sensitive situation, as the whales would naturally foul up the water. The plane also needed to make a stopover in Alaska for an official inspection before it would be allowed into the U.S.

As an entire operation, it was incredibly complex, but the UPS team managed to pull it off and the whale sharks were delivered to their new home.

 

Just a small donation

It seems unusual that UPS would shoulder the cost of such an expensive enterprise—but had UPS not donated the transport, costs would have ratcheted up for the Aquarium, to hundreds of thousands and potentially millions of dollars.

 
The same team also transported two beluga whales from Mexico City, which are even heavier than whale sharks at up to 3,500 pounds. UPS also helped FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and took the Terracotta Army on tour around the world in 2009.

You can read the full adventures of Bland Matthews, the UPS worker who helped to co-ordinate these deliveries, over at Priceonomics.

For deliveries that aren’t quite so live and flipping, get discounts on international delivery for all major carriers, including UPS, with Transglobal Express. 

(Image credits: Christian Jensen, Warren Lynn under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.)

Airports Commission consult over additional runways at Heathrow and Gatwick

Airports Commission consultants have said Heathrow Airport would be an appropriate location for a new runway in the South East of England for air freight growth. The UK government’s Airports Commission released a public announcement consisting of three new proposals, with two being directed at Heathrow Airport, and the third for Gatwick Airport. All proposals suggest additional runways for both airports.

The proposals explains how Heathrow is a well-established airport and “the industry would be well placed to respond quickly to a growth in capacity.” 2013 saw Heathrow handle 1.4 million tonnes of air freight in comparison to the 98,000 that Gatwick handled the same year.

The proposal also advises that significant growth would require investment from third parties around the airport itself. Alastair McDermid, Gatwick’s Director of Airports Commission, has said: “We acknowledge there is a well-established airfreight industry in and around Heathrow. Accepting Heathrow have got a head start, we still have a lot to offer.”

McDermid also spoke of Gatwick’s ability to offer custom built facilities, reduced charges for carriers and additional benefits including reduced congestion in and around the airport. The Director of Airports Commission also said: “The forecast is to grow airfreight to 1.1 million tonnes and we have allocated enough land for that to happen.”

Speaking on behalf of Heathrow Airport, Airports Commission Chairman, Sir Howard Davies, has said: “We have not yet take a view on which proposal strikes the most effective balance between the assessment criteria.”

Heathrow also commented: “We welcome the Airports Commission’s agreement that Heathrow is well placed to enhance the UK’s freight operations. Expansion at Heathrow would enable us to develop our cargo facilities to double the throughput we have today.”

Aurora Air International to return after 20 year absence

Cargo airline Aurora Air International has re-entered the airfreight market business after a 20 year hiatus. Having had its operations deactivated in 1995, the opportunity has risen for the company to re-enter the air cargo market.

The airline company has established its new headquarters at MidAmerica St Louis Airport and expects its first flights to take off during the second quarter of 2015.

The airline is due to operate a fleet of Boeing DC-10 for its Latin American and Asian routes. It is to specialise in the perishables and pharmaceuticals trade.

The decision to base the company at MidAmerica is a result of Aurora Air Cargo recognising the airport and its operations as a "key step" in plans to open up Latin American and Asian trade routes which will offer "unique support for perishable suppliers from the mid-West US."

Aurora president, Carlos Smith, has said: "As airplanes start to operate out of MidAmerica a new and secure chain will be available for mid-West product shippers to and from Asia and Latin America with less handling and ground movement than is available today." Smith continued: "Asia and Latin American shippers will enjoy this route as their goods, especially perishables, are not double and triple handled in the USA en route."

UPS provides transportation of Ebola aid

UPS has recently announced its involvement in helping provide transportation of support and commitments totalling a worth of $400,000 in gifts-in-kind (GIK) for the urgent relief in aiding the outbreak of the deadly virus, Ebola which has currently claimed the lives of over 1,500 people in West Africa.

UPS, and The UPS Foundation, have responded to the World Health Organisation's plea for help, with the parcel delivery company offering its transport services at no cost to relief agencies.

UPS is to expedite the transport of 10 pallets of supplied to New York's JFK Airport to be placed onto a humanitarian flight. It has been confirmed an additional $175,000 GIK is to follow via sea freight to the affected area.

UPS has sponsored a charter flight for UNICEF of 55 metric
tones of dry chlorine disinfectant

The US parcel delivery company has also sponsored a Humanitarian Relief charter flight on behalf of UNICEF from Belgium. The aircraft is due to carry 55 metric tones of HTH dry chlorine disinfectant in assist in hygiene activities at Ebola treatment centres in Liberia where more than 40% of deaths due to the virus have occurred.

UPS has a history of working alongside disaster relief organisations to help deliver critical, life-saving aid to people and communities in need around the world. Last year saw the parcel delivery company provide $7.5million in humanitarian relief across 46 countries worldwide.

IATA welcome Glyn Hughes as global Head of Cargo

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recently announced Glyn Hughes as its next global Head of Cargo. Hughes is no stranger to the company, having joined IATA in 1991 to assist in helping expand and develop the cargo accounts settlement service. Hughes helped the service grow from 35 to nearly 100 operations, whilst also maintaining extremely low levels of agency default and reducing the overall operating costs for its members.

IATA's new Head of Cargo, Glyn Hughes

Hughes has also led IATA Cargo's initiatives over recent years, becoming involved with industry management and relationship building. He has also been part of the global air cargo advisory group steering committee, in additional to leading a campaign to promote the value and use of air cargo.

IATA's Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Tony Tyler, has commented on Hughes' movement within the company: "I am delighted that Glyn has agreed to become our new hard of cargo. He has worked very closely with [former Cargo Head] Dan Vertannes these past four years and is well placed to continue the important work."

Tyler proceeded to advise that "air cargo faces considerable challenges" and that the company has an "ambitious goal to improve the industry's competitiveness." Tyler believes Glyn's addition will ensure focus is "dedicated to that goal", in additional to delivering the industry priorities, which include safety, security, quality, modernisation and transformation through the e-cargo agenda.

Hughes began his new duties recently by speaking at IATA's 70th annual general meeting in Doha. Hughes presented in regards to the air cargo industry, speaking on three key areas, these being: safety, security and modal competitiveness.

DHL help relocate Jengo the giraffe to his new safari home

DHL Global Forwarding has recently helped transport a giraffe from Liege, Belgium, to its new home in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the Ramat Gan Safari as part of a new relocation for the creature. Jengo, the male giraffe, was moved between the locations via DHL's International Cargo network which saw him arrive safely at his new home on the 22nd of May. The move for the giraffe will see him become part of a new breeding program at the Zoological Centre in Tel Aviv.

Jengo will join seven other giraffes at his new home

DHL used the help of Ramat Gan Safari in using a specially designed crate to move Jengo, flying him aboard a Boeing 747-400 cargo aircraft via the Israeli airline, El Al. Jengo was accompanied by a "safety team" at all times, comprising of animal keepers and veterinary physicians who obtained a daily amount of food supply of over 100 kilograms in weight.

CEO of DHL Global Forwarding for Israel, Rafi Rozalis, has said, as a company, DHL is "committed to supporting conservation and environmental causes around the world." Rozalis described Jengo's movement as a "further opportunity" for the company to become involved in environmental issues, with the CEO adding they are "glad to have helped Ramat Gan Safari in their mission." "Having in mind the requirements for transporting the tallest terrestrial animal on earth, it also gives us the chance to show that we can handle even the most unusual cargo transport," added Rozalis.

DHL used a Boeing 747-400 to relocate the creature to his
 new home

Jengo is to join seven other giraffes at his new safari home, becoming part of a new program aimed at some of the endangered subspecies of giraffes. Ramat Gan Safari provides public access for visitors to its modernised, outdoor zoo, while serving home to the largest collection of wildlife within the Middle East.

eCommerce and eLogistics: we need to move faster, says FIATA secretariat

The secretariat of FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, has urged quicker adoption of electronic innovation in the logistics industry in the March edition of the FIATA review, its first publication of the year.

According to FIATA, in our increasingly interconnected and globalised world, the way forward for the industry is via a global legal framework, outlining the necessity of implementing electronic processes across the board. The aim is to support the growth of the industry and respond to the increasing customer demand arising from explosion of e-commerce in developing economies such as Russia.

The most essential piece of legislation, says FIATA, is the Montreal Convention of 1999, which came into force in 2003 and is known as MC99. The convention permits the use of electronic records for air waybills, permitting the industry to move towards paperless processes.

The air freight sector has doubtless lagged behind other sectors in its adoption of new technologies and electronic processes. It's certainly the case that the use of electronic Air Waybills is not uniform across the industry, with some airlines, and sub-sectors lagging behind the rest. The theme of FIATA's publication is therefore the demystification of this, an exploration of why some countries may have been slower to adopt the new processes, and an investigation into some of the available examples of  good practice.

The need for a paper air waybill can seem inconvenient when everything from banking to keeping in touch with a loved one can be done online. Thankfully, when booking air freight through air freight forwarders such as Transglobal Express, you can enjoy fully-automated online booking and electronic production of all the documentation you'll need. You can find out more here.

Asia Pacific airlines reports year-on-year cargo growth

Asia Pacific airlines recently reported a year-on-year growth in freight tonne kilometres for the month of November 2013. Demand increased by 5.4% compared to November 2012, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

The Asia Pacific region constitutes by far the largest proportion of global freight traffic. Increased in demand in Asia Pacific have therefore contributed to the 4.4% increase in global air cargo demand for November reported by IATA this month.

The increase in FTK does not necesarilly indicate that all is rosy for the air cargo sector, however. The average freight load factor remained depress at 67.2% following a 6.1% increase in carrier freight capacity.

AAPA director General, Andrew Herman, commented,  "Air Cargo demand has remained relatively weak, with volumes 0.7% lower compared to the same period last year, but has picked up in recent months in line with steadily improving global economic conditions.

Source: Air Cargo Week

Which is the best shipping solution for me? | The evolution of shipping over time

The proliferation of parcel delivery services in the last couple of decades, and, with it, the emergence of parcel delivery resellers such as Transglobal Express, has made express delivery more accessible and more affordable than ever before.

Once upon a time, most people would go to the post office if they wanted to send a parcel internationally and private courier services were much more the preserve of businesses, or those with an urgent personal parcel delivery that could afford to be undeterred by the high prices.

The use of freight services has also developed over time. While it is still the case that air freight and sea freight are mainly used for commercial shipments, an increasing number of shippers send excess baggage by air, or personal effects by sea, if they are relocating to another country, for example.

The democratisation of door-to-door couriers, air freight and sea freight services, and, importantly, the availability of online quoting and booking facilities in the last five years or so, has meant more and more small businesses and private customers have access to a variety of delivery options.

But with so much choice, it's sometimes difficult to determine which is the best service for you. At Transglobal, we are often asked by our customers about the difference between an air freight service and an air-based courier service, for example.

For that reason, we thought it would be helpful to produce a guide to choosing the right delivery service, which you can access by clicking here.

Generally speaking, a door-to-door courier service is an express delivery option that includes collection from your door, delivery to another address of your choice and, where applicable, any necessary assistance with customs clearance. If you're shipping internationally, your goods are likely to be shipped by air for the majority of their journey, but they still differ from air freight services per se.

Air freight services typically run from departure airport to destination airport, not door to door. Most freight forwarders, including Transglobal Express, can arrange to have your goods collected or can advise an appropriate drop off point for your goods other than the airport, but usually the delivery terminates at the destination airport. For experienced shippers or those requiring more control over their delivery, a back to back air freight service enables you to use your own clearance agent, as well as more choice as to when exactly your goods will be shipping. With a door-to-door courier service, by contrast, your parcel enters the network of your chosen carrier and is consigned to them for the duration of the delivery. A parcel on a door-to-door courier service is delivered through a carrier's network, and while most services are fully trackable, there is often very little advance information about the journey your goods will take. Air freight offers increased transparency and will therefore benefit shippers for whom this is important.

Sea freight is similar to air freight in that it typically runs from sea port to sea port, unlike door-to-door services. Sea freight typically costs much less, takes much longer and is most economical for larger volumes of goods. In fact, many freight forwarders request that you are shipping at least 1 cubic metre in order to get a sea freight quote, given that, with lesser volumes, a door-to-door courier services or air freight service is likely to be the more economical choice.

If you need any help choosing a service, please don't hesitate to call our experienced staff on 0845 145 1212

Etihad Cargo reports Q3 growth of 41%

Continuing its recorded growth throughout 2013, Etihad Cargo, the freight division of UAE's national airline Etihad Airways, has recorded a significant surge in volume for the third quarter. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier moved 132,448 tonnes of freight from July-September - a year-on-year increase of 41% compared to 2012.

An Etihad freighter craft

Revenue did not lag far behind volume in terms of performance: the carrier saw year-on-year sales increase by 39% to $244 million. Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Cargo James Hogan commented that the growth "occurred in a climate of increasing capacity and ongoing price competition. It also compensated for the reduced travel during the holy month of Ramadan". 

Taking the year-to-date volume and revenue figures as a whole, cargo handled is up 30% and revenue up 26% compared to 2012. Etihad's success is one illustration of how, in what is globally a challenging time for air freight, the Middle Eastern region is one of the few markets experiencing growth. 

The role of freight forwarders in international shipping

Freight forwarders oversee the transport of your goods, acting on your behalf to build you the best shipping solution. International freight forwarders typically specialise in a particular type of shipping such as sea freight, air freight or road transportation. Increasingly, however, companies are developing a variety of specialisms in order to meet a greater range of customer need and compete in a competitive market.

At Transglobal Express, we are the only major freight forwarder in the UK to combine air and sea freight expertise with an in depth knowledge of door-to-door courier services. This means we can build you a bespoke shipping solution, whatever your needs, and suited to your budget and time frame.

Air freight is typically an option for high-value and time-sensitive shipments, whereas sea freight can be a lot cheaper for bulky items, provided your supply chain can accommodate a longer shipping time. Basic air and sea freight services are airport to airport or port to port respectively, but we can also arrange collection from your warehouse and get spot rates for delivery from destination port to your final destination, building you an end to end shipping solution. 

Using a freight forwarder means you can take advantage of their contacts and shipping experience: booking with a forwarder almost always guarantees you lower costs than arranging deliveries yourself, since the agent's buying power assures them better prices, which they pass on to you. But it's not all about price, many freight forwarders, including Transglobal, offer support and assistance with creating your shipping documentation and  tracking your consignments and also provide packaging advice and services, such as a palletising service. 

Get started! Visit our website to get a quote for air freight, sea freight or a door-to-door courier service.

·         

News round-up | Courier and freight news from around the world!

Special deliveries

• Get ready for the world's first fully electric car racing series!- DHL to deliver Formula E worldwide
• All hands on deck! - TNT makes urgent delivery to docked cruise ship

Social Responsibility 

• FedEx launches annual FedEx Cares Week in Asia Pacific and Around the World
• UPS ships aid to Syrian refugee camp in northern Iraq. 
• DHL supports Beethoven Fest and prepares for Global Volunteer Day

Air freight

• Swissport maintains struggle to reclaim Interavia
• IATA encourages more cooperation from Eastern Europe
• Indian air cargo is growing but in need of reform 

Industry Trends

• Supply chain transformation predicted for pharmaceutical sector
• DHL, FedEx and UPS recognised for IT innovation
• FedEx growth led by International Economy service

IATA urges more cooperation between Eastern Europe and Aviation leaders

Addressing delegates at the IATA Aviation Day Eastern Europe conference which opened in Bucharest last week, IATA's CEO Tony Tyler urged greater cooperation between Eastern European governments and aviation industry stakeholders: “Aviation connectivity can play a key role in the economic success of Eastern Europe. But in order to achieve these benefits, the region will need to tackle some long-standing problems which hamper competitiveness and innovation,” he said.

Tyler named the environment, passenger rights and infrastructure as three areas where governments should embrace innovation. Firstly, for the industry to achieve carbon neutral growth by 2020, cooperation from governments would be required, he said. On the issue of passenger rights, Tyler focussed mainly on competition and the need for governments to take responsibility for protecting consumers by ensuring service standards are maintained and regulated. Finally, when addressing the topic of infrastructure, Tyler highlighted that the most pressing issue was the Single European Sky and emphasised that the lack of political will to push states to unify European airpace is costing the continent EUR5 billion annually.

Source: IATA

Heathrow Expansion will benefit Air Cargo

Several proposals to improve the capacity of UK airports are currently vying for supremacy. Most representatives of the air cargo industry advocate the expansion of Heathrow while the Mayor of London has submitted three different schemes. The Davies Commission, an independent body headed by Sir Howard Davies, has been tasked with determining the best way to meet Britain's future airport needs. 

Heathrow Airport has submitted three runway location options to the Commission, any of which it says could produce a direct air cargo benefit of £2 billion to £3 billion. It is estimated that a third runway at Heathrow would cost between £14.3 and £17.6 billion and provide between £50 and £156 billion in UK economic benefits after opening in 2025. 

Johnson's proposals comprise a four runway airport  on an artificial island in the Thames Estuary, a similar development on the isle of Grain on the south side of river Kent and an expansion of Stanstead Airport, in the north-east of London. He has made grander claims about his options, saying that they could provide 375,000 new jobs and add £742 billion to the value of goods and services produced in the UK. But Heathrow has retorted that a new Thames Estuary airport would not be operational before 2034 and could cost £70 to £80 billion, over a third of which would come from the tax payer.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson proposes to close the main
air hub at Heathrow

In support of expanding Heathrow rather than either of the London Mayor's options, the airport has claimed that 202 of the UK's top corporations are headquartered within a 25-mile radius of Heathrow, and that expanding the airport would protect 114,000 local jobs and create 70,000 to 150,000 more.

Corin Taylor, senior economic advisor for the UK's institute of Directors, supports the third Heathrow runway proposal. He said, "Expanding Heathrow is the best way to solve Britain's airport capacity conundrum. It is quicker and cheaper than the other options... Britain will miss out on the trade we need with high growth parts of the world unless we urgently expand our hub capacity". 

The Freight Transport Association has stated that Heathrow is "the best case for a London hub airport" expressing its disappointment that the importance of air cargo remains underplayed in the debate.

Source: Air Cargo Week

European Air Cargo manages a 1% rise in May, in a sluggish month for the industry

IATA have recently released figures reporting on the global air cargo market growth for May: broadly speaking, the market has continued to flatline, following the trend of the last 18 months. Global freight tonne kilometres increased slightly by 0.8% year-on-year, and while capacity increased by 2.1%, load factors fell to 44.9%, the lowest level since post-crisis recovery.

The sluggishness in the market has been attributed to a variety of factors including the decelerated growth in developing economies such as China China and the global decline of business confidence. Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO of IATA, said, “It is getting harder to find optimistic signs for air cargo growth. The Middle East remains a bright spot, and the rate of decline in the Eurozone is easing. But this is offset by the weakening of expansion in Asia-Pacific. It is now clear that the positive global upswing in air cargo at the end of 2012 was an illusion. Air cargo, along with many parts of the world economy, appears to be in suspended animation at the moment”. 

The Middle East region saw the most growth, with a year-on-year increase of 9.7%, Europe was second in line with the much lower figures of 1% growth, followed by Africa at just 0.2%. All other regions, comprising Latin America, North America and Asia Pacific, registered slight declines. 

Mexico and the US to share a customs facility

Are multinational customs facilities the way of the future? It seems counter-intuitive, but we may be forgiven for thinking so, if the new initiative pioneered by airport executives at Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport is anything to go by. From October this year, the Texan town and its Mexican neighbour Metamoros are set to share use of a dual customs hangar.

The Tijuana-Mexico border 

The $2.4 million development is currently under construction and is intended to decrease transit times within the US: once both Mexican and US customs have processed shipments in a single hangar, the shipment becomes domestic and can be delivered anywhere within the States. Given that air freight services are often employed for the most time-sensitive of shipments, this will surely be welcome news for Mexican exporters and US importers. 

Michael Jones, Business Development Manager at Brownsville, hopes it will make his airport stand out to shippers: "at any other US airport, you would have to go to one of the six designated airports in Mexico and wait there to clear customs, and that could be a process of two or three days, even a week," he commented.

Jones went on the state that this type of service was likely to grow as word of its availability spreads. While currently only a co-location exercise, the implications for the future of customs authorities are worth some thought: could the growth of such a trend encourage more bi-lateral trade agreements; would dual customs anyways privilege one domestic market over another; is this a service likely to remain particular to air freight services across the Atlantic? Let us know your thoughts!

Pharmaceutical sector of increasing importance to major carriers

With an annual revenue of over $1 trillion, the pharmaceutical industry is big business, and the leading global courier and freight services know it. Each of the major carriers is expanding and developing its business to cater to this sector, seeking a slice of the sales by striving to meet the logistical challenges of managing the supply chain of temperature-sensitive and highly regulated products. 

Not long after UPS opened a high-tech pharmaceutical storage and distribution facility in Hangzhou, China, DHL has launched DHL Thermonet- a new temperature-sensitive air freight service for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. The new service is an addition to an already considerable network and service offer for pharmaceuticals, the most notable previous addition to which was the opening of a DHL  'Life Science and Healthcare Centre' in Barcelona three months ago. 

A DHL employee working at one of the DHL Thermonet facilities

The new DHL services is offered by the group's Global Forwarding, Freight branch. Roger Cook, CEO of the division, confirmed that the Life Sciences and Healthcare industry was a key sector for DHL and commented "we are heavily investing in new products and services to provide comprehensive solutions to the needs of our customers".

Sales of temperature-sensitive products accounts for approximately 25% of total pharmaceutical sales, a sizeable chunk of the industry's massive annual revenue. DHL claims that the industry's increasing shift of new products from chemical-based to biotech and speciality drugs means that the growth of the temperature-sensitive segment is expected to accelerate, generating fifty percent of sales by 2018. Carriers are demonstrating their intention to capitalise on this potential. 

But there are challenges as well as opportunities. Commenting on the specialist knowledge and capabilites required in the sector, Angelos Orfanos, President of DHL's Life Sciences and Healthcare Customer Solutions and Innovation, commented, "The current situation within the Life Sciences and Healthcare market, facing an increasingly regulated environment, demands a higher level of service compliance. By means of DHL Thermonet, we will meet our customers' requirements, enhance our cold chain activities and expand our market leading capabilities".