- A new taxiway, linking Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s ‘Kaag’ runway with the airport’s Sierra cargo zone, has halved live runway crossings for the frequent freighter aircraft that visit Schiphol every week. The new link is also reducing taxi distances saving fuel, CO2 emissions and time. The new taxiway enables landing aircraft to taxi direct to the Sierra cargo area from the end of the runway, rather than routing back along the original taxiway stretching the entire length of the runway, and then waiting for clearance to cross the live runway. Subject to wind direction, the same benefits can apply to departing flights. Since the new taxiway began limited operations last November, it has already halved the number of live runway crossings.
- CEVA Logistics reported fourth quarter revenue of $U.S. 2,029 million in Q4 2014. Adjusted EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes and amortization) was up 33.9 percent year-over-year, excluding a one-time pension curtailment gain in Q4 2013. Adjusted EBITA including the pension curtailment was down 2.6 percent year-over-year. Contract logistics realized above market EBITA of 6.5 percent in Q4 and revenue was up 1.4 percent in the quarter. New business wins for 2014 were up 14 percent year-over-year, freight management wins were up 18 percent year-over-year, ocean freight wins were up 30 percent year-over-year and airfreight wins showed growth of 14 percent year-over-year. Total contract logistics were up 2 percent year-over-year.
- CEVA also opened its new South East Asia headquarters at West Hub in Singapore March 9. The West Hub occupies 516,667 square feet of warehouse and office space, with more than 300 employees at the facility. The company also announced the launch of its City of Energy at the hub, which is a fully dedicated hub for the warehousing, cross docking, flow management and handling of oil and gas products and services for the energy sector. It features high floor loading capacity, very narrow aisle (VNA) space, a special cargo containment area, heavy lift services and warehouse management systems, and modern offices.
- UPS will expand its ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimization Navigation) routing system to all planned U.S. routes by 2016. The result will be a 100,000 metric ton reduction in CO2 emissions, which is equal to taking 21,000 passenger cars off the road for a year according to the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. UPS expects to save 10 million gallons of fuel and more than $300 million when fully implemented. The system uses data from customers, drivers and vehicles to reduce miles driven on delivery routes. ORION calculates the most efficient driving path taking into consideration all scheduled package delivery and pick-up stops required on the route for the specific day. UPS began implementing ORION routing in 2012 after 10 years of development work. Global routes outside of the U.S. will be deployed after 2017 to further reduce miles driven, vehicle maintenance, fuel use and CO2 emissions.
- IAG Cargo reported commercial revenue (flown revenue plus fuel surcharges) of €992 million in 2014. This is a decrease of 7.5 percent on 2013. On a like for like basis, adjusting the prior year’s figures to reflect a directly comparable freighter operation, commercial revenue increased 2.4 percent versus in 2014. On a like-for-like basis, volumes of 5,453 million cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs) for the year represent an increase of 6.7 percent compared to 2013, while capacity increased by 2.3 percent. On a reported basis, overall yield (commercial revenue per CTK) for the year was down 3.2 percent on 2013 at constant exchange rates. In April 2014 IAG ceased the long-haul freighter leasing contract with GSS, running a significantly reduced freighter program. That is reflected in the 5,453 million CTK figure, a decrease of 3.5 percent compared to 2013. Capacity decreased by 5 percent.
- Jettainer is developing an innovative lightweight pallet that weighs just 154 pounds. Compared to a traditional PMC aluminum pallet, the new lightweight version is a full 70 pounds lighter. It is made of a composite material that is being used in the aviation sector for the very first time. The weight savings of more than 30 percent make it possible to significantly reduce the fuel consumption of aircraft. In the past, manufacturers only managed to make pallets lighter by user thinner aluminum bases, which had to be specially reinforced when transporting fairly heavy items. Certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is due to take place in mid-2015. Jettainer recently introduced an upgrade for the company’s own IT solution, Jettware, which makes it possible to manage customers’ ULDs in a professional and transparent manner.
- Mobile Air has been approved as a SmartWay Transport Partner by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The program, which is collaboration between the EPA and the transportation industry, provides a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chains. By becoming a SmartWay partner, Mobile Air will reduce its carbon footprint by moving goods in the cleanest most efficient way possible.