- Express parcel operator TNT added a five-times-a-week flight to Hanover, Germany, using a 737-400 freighter. The service connects Hanover to TNT’s main international hub in Liege, Belgium, as well as to Billund, Denmark, and Oslo, Norway. Hanover’s Langenhagen Airport, pictured at right, is a convenient gateway for delivery to other northern German cities such as Hamburg, Bremen and Magdeburg, the company said. TNT expects much of the cargo on the narrow-body freighter flights to serve auto manufacturers and other industrial companies. TNT has also broken ground on a 68,000-square-foot freight depot in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which is expected to open in June 2015.
- Canada-based Cargojet said its revenues for the third quarter reached US$41.8 million, an 8.8 percent increase, year-over-year, compared to the previous year. A rise in e-commerce across North America is also expected to give the carrier “a very robust peak period to end the year,” said Ajay Virmani, Cargojet’s president and CEO.
- A new Sukhoi Superjet 100 airframe was delivered safely to the Russian city of Zhukovsky, southeast of Moscow, with the help of a Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124-100 freighter. The Russian-built, extended-range Superjet 100 fuselage, detached wings and tail section, weighing 33 tonnes, were all loaded onto the An-124-100 in Komsomolsk-na-Amure, in the Khabarovsk Krai region of the country’s Far East.
- To prepare for the coming holiday season, Australia Post upgraded its Sydney Parcel Facility (SPF) as part of a US$1.74 billion initiative from the Australian government to improve delivery service. In addition to the SPF overhaul, Australia Post also purchased logistics and road-service firm StarTrack, extended the range of its delivery services and will begin Saturday delivery in 2015.
- United Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Smisek applauded a recent decision by the U.S. and Chinese governments to extend short-term tourist and business visas between the two countries from one to 10 years. Smisek said the agreements will “simplify travel and remove obstacles for our customers,” as well as “open up travel that will drive economic benefits in the U.S.” United provides frequent passenger and freight service to Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
- DuPont and Air Canada Cargo have teamed up to offer Tyvek Air Cargo Covers as a value-added option for customer using Air Canada Cargo’s AC Fresh and AC Pharmacair services. The Tyvek covers are designed to protect perishable, temperature-sensitive cargo, such as fresh food and pharmaceuticals, against cold-chain breaks during air transit.
- Recent statistics released by the China Air Transport Association (CATA) show that China’s air cargo and mail turnover volume increased by an average of 7.3 percent per year between 2008 and 2013. During the same period, international freight volumes grew 3.5 percent annually, CATA reported.