Growth on trade between Asia and Europe was the main driver for a rise in DHL’s airfreight volumes in the first quarter of this year, although airfreight revenue and profit suffered. DHL reported a 5.1% year-on-year rise in airfreight volumes to 435,000 tons in the first quarter. First quarter airfreight revenue in the Global Forwarding, Freight (GFF) division dropped by 16.2% to €1.3bn and gross profit also fell 25.1% as lower freight rates put pressure on performance. Revenue in the Global Forwarding business unit decreased by 19.8% to €3.2bn. Gross profit in this unit was down by 17.6%. Tot ..read more

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recently released a document outlining best practices and responsibilities for freight forwarders engaged in international trade. This information is critical for freight forwarders to ensure they operate within legal boundaries and mitigate risks associated with export compliance. The guidance brings clarity to the roles and responsibilities of freight forwarders, eliminating ambiguity regarding their involvement in the export process. This newfound clarity can translate into several benefits for forwarders. Clear expectations allow them to develop ef ..read more

Qatar Airways Cargo is aiming to create efficiencies in the supply chain by tackling the issue of shipment no-shows, pushing for index-linked long-term contracts and integrating more data into its systems. Speaking exclusively to Air Cargo News (ACN), Qatar Airways chief cargo officer Mark Drusch outlined the three initiatives that he hopes will drive efficiencies for its customers’ supply chains. Firstly, the airline is hoping to combat the issue of shipments coming up short when they arrive at the airport. The airline will ask forwarders to confirm how much space they need 24 hours before de ..read more

Qatar Airways Cargo is aiming to create efficiencies in the supply chain by tackling the issue of shipment overbooking, pushing for index-linked long-term contracts and integrating more data into its systems. Speaking to Air Cargo News (ACN), Qatar Airways chief cargo officer Mark Drusch outlined the three initiatives that he hopes will drive efficiencies for its customers’ supply chains. Firstly, the airline is hoping to combat the issue of overbooking of shipments by forwarders. The airline will ask forwarders to confirm how much space they need 24 hours before departure and “like anything e ..read more

April was the fourth month in a row that global air cargo demand increased by over 11% but the market has begun to slow down after a busy start to the year, according to analysis by Xeneta. Additional belly capacity is affecting the dynamic load factor, air cargo demand as a result of Red Sea shipping disruption is expected to reduce and spot rates are not expected to hold up, warned the ocean and airfreight rate analytics platform.  Now airlines have launched their summer schedules, meaning more passenger planes and more belly capacity, overall cargo capacity has increased by 5% year on ..read more

UK-based freight forwarder AGI Global Logistics has begun a new partnership with Swedish logistics company Scandinavian Shipping & Logistics (SSL). The partnership is anticipated to strengthen and expand AGI’s freight and logistics services offered to customers operating in the Scandinavian market. AGI confirmed to Air Cargo News that the partnership will be multimodal-focused. Jesse Ramirez, one of the directors of the AGI Immingham office, commented: “This new partnership will enhance our offering to our clients operating in the UK-SE-UK market, and it’s an incredibly exciting announceme ..read more

Geodis has strengthened its temperature-controlled pharmaceutical shipment capabilities in Europe by obtaining IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification for its Copenhagen, Denmark site.  The freight forwarder now has a total of 28 CEIV Pharma certified sites across its global network in the Americas, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Europe. Kent Husted, managing director of Geodis Denmark, said: “Denmark is one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to research, development and production of pharmaceutical ..read more

DSV’s airfreight volumes benefited from strong demand out of Asia in the first quarter of the year, although revenue and profit fell as rates dropped in the market. The forwarder’s airfreight volumes increased 2.3% in the first quarter of 2024 to 335,213 tonnes. This is compared to 327,712 tonnes in the same period last year. The company attributed this growth to strong Asia Pacific export volumes. “The air freight market is impacted by continued high growth in e-commerce volumes from China, driving both market volumes and rates up.” DSV noted that the airfreight market is dealing with overcap ..read more

Both airfreight-related turnover and profit fell year on year in the first quarter of 2024 for Kuehne+Nagel (K+N), contributing to some disappointing results across the business. Across K+N, turnover was down by 18% over the first quarter of 2023, gross profit by 13%, and the figures for K+N’s Air Logistics segment were somewhat representative of the decline across the business. Net turnover of Air Logistics in the first quarter of 2024 was just less than CHF1.6bn, with an earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) figure of CHF94m. However, K+N handled 491,000 tons of airfreight over the three ..read more

Air cargo stakeholders are not concerned about the prospect of increased industry scrutiny following recent aircraft manufacturing-related safety incidents. During a panel session at IATA’s CNS Partnership Conference, moderator Brandon Fried, executive director at the Airforwarders Association (AfA), spoke about increased Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight of aircraft manufacturing following the recent incidents, asking participants whether they believed monitoring of air cargo might now increase as well. Responding to Fried during the ‘State of the Industry – Partnering for Chang ..read more