South African Airways (SAA) is to introduce anti-drug measures after the second group of crew members in a month were arrested recently, allegedly carrying drugs, at the UK’s London Heathrow airport. The South African carrier has now created a special group to tackle drug trafficking at its airports, will install scanners and has called for more sniffer dogs to “assist with narcotic detection”. Crew luggage will also bephysically searched, the carrier said. … [Read more...] about South African Airways
air cargo
Russia
January – normally a peak month for travel in Russia – saw passenger traffic 20 per cent off the same period a year earlier, while air freight was down morethan 33 per cent. … [Read more...] about Russia
IATA
Figures for January released by IATA show air freight and passenger traffic heavily down again, dropping 23.2 and 5.6 per cent respectively. The sharp fall in air freight was even deeper than the 22.6 per cent drop in December and marks the eighth consecutive month of contraction for freight traffic. Asia Pacific carriers, representing 43 per cent of the market, led the cargo decline with a 28.1 per cent year-on-year drop. This was followed closely by the other major market players: European … [Read more...] about IATA
Infrastructure 6 years from int’l standards
According to H S Bhatia, chief executive officer of the Transport Corporation of India (TCI), a supply chain and logistics solutions provider, India’s transport networks are in dire need of an overhaul if the country’s freight markets are to grow. “Approximately 80 per cent of India’s international air cargo is transported from just four airports that are equipped with international air cargo terminals – Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai – even though the … [Read more...] about Infrastructure 6 years from int’l standards
Indian logistics needs urgent IT investment
In a report entitled, ‘Technology Survey for the Indian Logistics Industry – 2008’ conducted by Kale Consultants Ltd in partnership with Feedback Business Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd, reveals that new investments of INR 285.25 billion (US$5.7 billion) are expected at airports in the next four years to boost their IT requirements, according to Kale’s head of logistics,Sumeet Nadkar. “This is one of the segments where IT utilisation is maximum compared to other … [Read more...] about Indian logistics needs urgent IT investment
India moves to bridge infrastructure gap
At one of the annual Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) meet three years ago, a top cargo boss from Lufthansa outlined the three important factors that hindered the growth of air cargo in India. He put it simply as: “Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure.” Today, those words sound prophetic. With the downturn and losses, carriers are no longer wooing passengers. The focus is now on air cargo and the government has, at last, woken up tothe need of enhancing and … [Read more...] about India moves to bridge infrastructure gap
