May 2011

The U.S. Department of Defense has cleared Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings to begin providing passenger charter service for the U.S. military. The service, which represents a signification expansion for the long-time military airfreight carrier, will begin in May.

The first quarter of 2011 was rather prolific for Turkish Cargo — the European carrier reported a 34.1 percent jump in total freight tonne-kilometers from 2010. This is 23.5 percent higher than Association of European Airlines averages.

Kuehne + Nagel has opened a new office at Krakow Airport’s cargo hub to address the growing need for logistics services in southern Poland. Also encompassing seafreight and multimodal transportation, the center will operate alongside K + N’s previously established sales office in Krakow.

As part of its air traffic control overhaul, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made some key changes to its management structure. By appointing three industry veterans to oversee critical air traffic control operations, the FAA hopes to avoid potentially embarrassing and dangerous incidents like the ones that have recently made headlines.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revealed that airfreight demand soared in March, growing 4.5 percent since February. What’s more, year-on-year growth in the airfreight industry rebounded to 3.7 percent in March, 1.9 percent higher than February numbers.

Boeing has projected that Latin American carriers will demand 2,180 new aircraft over the next two decades, outpacing the rest of the world in terms of aviation growth. But Boeing said the key nation contributing to this growth will be Brazil, which has an aviation market currently valued at $85 billion.

Royal Jordanian Cargo will commence five weekly flights from Queen Alia Airport in Amman, Jordan, to Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA) in The Netherlands in June. The flights will be completed using A310 freighters.

In order to better handle an expanding volume of postal traffic, China Post has contracted with China Southern Airlines to take on a large portion of the mail carriage business. In turn, China Southern has enlisted Sodexi, the express handling branch of Air France Cargo, to help with mail scanning.

In April, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL) experienced a 9.3 percent year-over-year decrease in tonnage handled. Through the first four months of the year, HACTL has seen 876,136 tonnes handled, which is a 1.1 percent year-over-year decrease.