Tag Archives: Airports

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Is blockchain technology the answer for air freight?

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We’ve talked in this blog before about the need for the air cargo industry to begin to move away from the paper-based systems that so often clog up many of our processes. As our customers become accustomed to services that deliver more responsive, flexible solutions and with the higher service expectations that have grown out of the increasing use of mobile technology, we need to respond quickly.

First steps

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) have already made a number of steps towards doing this, not least through their support of the e-freight digital process transformation programme.

“Our customers are telling us that they expect more,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “Complicated and convoluted paper-based processes that are basically unchanged from the 16th century are still being used in air cargo today. Our customers pay a premium to ship by air and they rightly expect modern processes and high quality services.

“Shippers today want responsive services based on intelligent systems able to self-monitor, send real-time alerts and respond to deviation. Technologically speaking, this is totally possible. The key to this and other innovations is using data efficiently and effectively. Finding solutions to unfulfilled (or even unrealized) expectations creates value for customers. And that propels a business forward.”

Is blockchain the answer?

Blockchain is often talked about as being just the kind of innovative technology that supports these aims. But what is it, and how can it be assimilated successfully into the processes and systems of a 21st century air cargo industry?

Well, simply put blockchain technology uses a shared digital ledger to record transactions across a number of computers. The advantages for users are that everyone can see any changes made to public blockchains, creating a more transparent process. Every single transaction made on a blockchain is also immutable – so it cannot be altered or deleted by anyone. A blockchain also creates a single ledger, seen by everyone, that any new transactions are added to – cutting down on any complications and removing the need for lots of different ledgers.

Air freight applications

So what would this potentially look like in an air freight operation? Using blockchain technology within this context creates a cloud-based system that is essentially more secure way of recording shipments. And because of the way that blockchain technology works, it’s also secure from hacking – as well as being a permanent record of transitions that is shareable between multiple users.

While blockchain has yet to really be tested thoroughly within an air cargo setting, it’s already made an impact with marine shippers. Here’s what Jody Cleworth, CEO of British freight forwarder Marine Transport International Limited (MTI) has to say: “Blockchain has the ability to empower our industry into a true digital age,” he said. “The sheer volume of containers processed per year means that safely decentralizing the management of these containers will radically reduce the complexities of shipping.”

Time to invest

Ignazio Coraci comments: “Blockchain technology is precisely the sort of innovative solution to age-old problems that we should be applying within our own industry. It’s important that other sectors aren’t allowed to steal a march on the air freight industry by adopting innovations that will serve customers in a way that we can’t offer yet – the time to act is now.”

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Business continuity

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Cyber attacks by hackers are becoming a huge problem in our increasingly connected and technology-driven world.

A growing threat

Recent examples include the global ransomware attack back in May that disrupted many critical systems – not least in the UK’s National Health Service, which was badly affected for a number of weeks, severely impacting patient care. Closer to home in – terms of the air freight industry at least – was the attack on marine container shippers AP Moller Maersk, that saw a large number of their critical IT systems hit by the so-called ‘Petya’ operation.

One of the key phrases that is usually heard in the aftermath of such attacks is the need for a more robust procedure around ‘business continuity.’ But what does this really mean, and what steps has the industry already taken to lessen the impact of similar attacks – or even global IT system failures such as the one that recently hit British Airways – in the future?

Plan B

A new system that has been implemented in the UK might give some clues as to the future shape of our industry’s response to this issue. The ‘CCS-UK Fallback’ system is intended to allow the UK air cargo industry to continue running in the event of any prolonged problems with the HMRC’s vital CHIEF (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight) system. The new system means that traders will be able to continue processing Customs export declarations even with CHIEF down, and it has been designed to run for 30 days. The system’s development is a great example of collaboration between the private sector and government to safeguard an industry that’s worth billions.

“We have recently seen the horrendous impact of major IT system failures in aviation, and this cannot be allowed to happen to the UK air cargo industry which provides essential support to UK trade and industry, helps maintain our competitiveness on the world stage and supplies urgent commodities that are sometimes a matter of life and death,” says Steve Parker, DHL’s Head of Customs for Europe and Chairman of the CCS-UK User Group.

Safeguarding our customers

Ignazio Coraci comments: “The CCS-UK Fallback system is a real step forward, and I think it could be used as a model right across the sector. The service that we provide as an industry must have effective protection and we should all have business continuity plans in place – it’s the least we owe to the millions of customers who rely on us.”

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Poor weather and volcanic ash are affecting flights

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Bogoslof Island might be small, but the impact it’s having on transpacific air freight operations has been significant in recent months.

A major impact

The volcano is located in Alaska and is a part of the Aleutian island chain that arcs between the Asian and American landmasses. It first erupted back in May, and has remained active ever since – with serious implications for the many transpacific routes whose flight paths cross the region. Eruptions in late June sent a huge amount of ash and steam into the atmosphere to a height of around 36,000ft – right into the path of many crucial air freight routes.

Experts say that the disruption could continue for a while yet.

“The volcano remains at a heightened state of unrest and in an unpredictable condition,” says the Alaska Volcano Observatory “Additional explosions producing high-altitude volcanic clouds could occur at any time.”

Major disruption

The volcanic activity at Bogoslof has led many air freight operators in the region to adjust their schedules, with a number of flights being cancelled as a result of the ash cloud. It’s a situation that puts increased pressure on a region already suffering as a result of poor weather in Shanghai and Hong Kong. It means that space is tight and that capacity is down for some companies.

Bad weather in China has also affected flights to the EU, once again seriously impacting the amount of space available. “Airlines are increasing rates to the EU, and bad weather meant about 20 flights in and out of Hong Kong have been cancelled,” one forwarder told The Loadstar, “So space to the EU is really affected.”

Hard to predict

Ignazio Coraci comments: “Natural events are hard – if not impossible – to see coming. However I believe that we can all try to build the capacity into our business models to ensure that the impact of these events is lessened in the future. Unfortunately the pressure that these situations put on our industry mean that it’s likely to have an impact not just on capacity, but prices as well.”

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

A more agile future?

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With proposals for new regulations on the use of small drones for commercial use in the pipeline, Ignazio Coraci gives his thoughts on the implications of this technology for the future of the air cargo business

The future may very well be unmanned. Whether drones will ever replace the full scale aircraft used by air cargo operators like ASC Cargo and SW Italia is doubtful, but the development of drone technology is already having an interesting implications for our industry.

Big business

One early sign of the growing importance of drone technology has been the recent deal between DHL and Chines consumer electronics exporter, Shenzhen Youkeshu Technologies. DHL’s Global Forwarding air and ocean freight specialist business has agreed to manage shipments of the Chinese company’s drones and unmanned vehicles to over 100 countries – and while DHL won’t be using drones to make their own deliveries just yet, the quantities of the products being transported are a sign of the rapid growth of this area of technology.

The shape of things to come?

Take another recent development – the release of pictures of a prototype unmanned vehicle that could soon be running up to 315 kilos of cargo between Los Angeles and Hawaii. It’s early days of course, but the start up business – called Natilus – is interesting, because the vehicle they’ve created would be able to integrate into the kind of infrastructure that already exists in the industry. The prototype would be able to dock at a traditional maritime port slip – and the team behind it plan to have it up and flying by 2020.

New rules

Finally, the recent legislative proposals by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) aim to address the safety issues around the operation of small drones, as well as privacy, security and data protection concerns.

A changing landscape

Ignazio comments: “The legislation shows just how significant this kind of technology is becoming. Whatever the ultimate implications are for the air cargo industry, it’s clear that drones and unmanned vehicles will almost certainly become an important part of the transport infrastructure – and as customers continue to demand delivery systems that are more rapid, more agile and more flexible, everyone in the industry needs to adapt to this changing landscape.”

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Freight Rises Across Europe’s Airports in February 2017

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New figures show that the volume of freight passing through Europe’s airports increased in February, suggesting that the continent’s air cargo market is stronger than ever. Ignazio Coraci comments.

Rich markets

Europe is one of the richest regions on earth, with some of the biggest economies in the world including the UK, France and Germany. The continent’s wealth and hungry consumer markets, coupled with the rise of e-commerce, have made Europe an increasingly lucrative place for air cargo firms.

We are seeing Europe’s airports thrive within this environment, as air cargo firms transport goods through these pivotal gateways in ever-increasing numbers. Just look at Heathrow airport, the primary gateway for the UK’s booming capital London, as an example. Last year, the expansion rate of cargo which passed through Heathrow outpaced its passenger growth, showing that business is booming.

High growth

According to Air Cargo Week, an industry portal, Europe’s airports kept recording growth early into 2017, as their freight traffic ticked up by 3.4% of February this year. The best performer for February was Frankfurt airport, as the gateway saw its air cargo volumes expand by 2.2%, hitting 153,870 tonnes, in February, while in the first two months of the year, its air freight growth came in a 4.2%.

These figures were released by sector body the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, who also noted that Heathrow performed well during the first two months of the year, recording respectable air freight growth of 4.2%, meaning that 251,212 tonnes passed through Heathrow in this period. Also Heathrow themselves have announced that their freight volumes grew by 4% in February 2017, contrasting slightly with ACI Europe’s figure for the airport’s February expansion, which was 4.4%.

What was interesting was that ACI Europe recorded stronger progress in non-EU, than EU airports. According to the body, non-EU airports experienced 4.7% air cargo growth during February, while EU airports racked up 2.7% in air freight expansion. Meanwhile, the air cargo growth rate for all of Europe was 5.4% in the opening two months of this year, with the expansion rate coming in at 9.1% and 4.8% for non-EU and EU airports.

Major progress  

Commenting on the release of ACI Europe’s latest figures, Ignazio Coraci said: “It is apparent that 2017 got off to a great start for the airports of Europe, with their air cargo volumes expanding, in year-on-year terms, fairly significantly. It is clear that as the dust settles from an eventful 2016, and consumers buy goods in ever-greater numbers online, the European air cargo sector has benefitted, suggesting the coming year could be a positive one for one of the world’s most lucrative air cargo sectors.”