Air Freight

In an effort to meet increasing shipper demand, global express delivery and logistics services provider DHL Express began service for new, next-day intercontinental flights between the U.S. and the Middle East and Asia-Pacific to the U.S.

The company is replacing a Boeing 757 narrow-body aircraft with a new and larger B-767 wide-body freighter, which increases cargo capacity by 50 percent on UPS’s 19 weekly flights into Central and South America.

Earlier this week, UPS marked the one-year anniversary of its Shenzhen Asia Pacific hub, which serves the company’s entire intra-Asian network. UPS also announced that in June it is rolling out a new direct weekly flight from Guam to Hong Kong, which connects Guam to the rest of the world.

In the latest survey conducted by the International Air Transport Association, just over a third of respondents reported stability in employment numbers in Q1 2011 while 42 percent hired additional staff and less than a quarter cut back.

Results from the International Air Transport Association’s quarterly survey conducted in April point to a significant deterioration in sentiment on the outlook for industry profitability in 2011

The value of world merchandise trade rose around 25 percent in the first six months of 2010 up strongly from the same period of 2009.

But recovery enters a slower phase

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced international scheduled traffic statistics for June, showing continued strong demand growth as the industry recovers from the impact of the global financial crisis.

Following its promising forecast made last month, the International Air Transport Association is reporting a significant surge in air cargo demand.

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 0.4 percent in May, following two months of sequential increases.

As part of its ongoing global expansion, FedEx subsidiary FedEx Trade Networks, the company’s global trade arm, said it has chosen international freight forwarder Fritz Companies Israel as its sole Regional Service Provider (RSP) in Israel. Company officials said this partnership will provide shippers with expanded international ocean and air freight forwarding services.

In the earlier stages of the downward economic trend of the past two years, analysts were initially reluctant to use the dreaded "r-word." But now it seems as if they’re equally wary about using another "r-word," but this time it’s "recovery." While the extent of the recovery remains uncertain, shippers will continue to be hit with rate increases across all modes.

DHL Global Forwarding announced this week that it has rolled out a new Less-than-Container-Load (LCL) Expedited services which will connect 19 European origins to the United States.

Transportation funding is an “explosive” issue facing the country, the nation’s top air cargo representative says.

Business logistics costs fell to a record low of 7.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product last year, compared with 9.3 percent of GDP in 2008, according to a new annual benchmark report issued Wednesday.