News Briefs: Sky Dragon rises, Air China in Frankfurt, Myanmar logistics
Aeroscraft Corporation (Aeros), a lighter-than-air (LTA) aircraft manufacturer, announced that it has begun production for its newest airship, the 40E Sky Dragon, with a one-tonne payload capacity. From its Montebello, Calif., headquarters, Aeros created the FAA-licensed 40E model after extensive testing of the 40D prototype airship that has been in operation since 2007. Other enhancements to the helium-filled aircraft were made to improve include performance in multi-role applications, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), security applications, advertising, tourism and event broadcasting. New controllable-pitch engines also enable the 40E to land on shorter fields.- Beijing-based Air China has withdrawn its three-times-per-week 777F service from Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport to Frankfurt Hahn in Germany. According to a report from Cargoforwarder.eu, Frankfurt Hahn said the service, launched in September 2014, was halted due to “instrument landing restrictions,” suggesting that Air China’s 777F pilots did not have sufficient training to land in certain adverse conditions, such as heavy fog that can obstruct visual approach to runways.
- Japanese freight forwarding and logistics firm Nippon Express Co. has opened a subsidiary business in the nation of Myanmar. The office is scheduled to open today in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), the largest city in the country and former capital of what used to be called Burma. Nippon Express first made inroads in the isolated Southeast Asian nation with a branch office in July 2012.
- Dubai-based Emirates reports that it has carried more than 2.1 million tonnes of cargo for the calendar year 2014, a figure that was made possible after its SkyCargo division moved its freighter operations to Dubai World Central’s (DWC) at Al Maktoum International Airport in May. The carrier also added eight new destinations: Abuja, Nigeria; Boston; Brussels; Budapest; Chicago; Kiev; Oslo; and Taipei.
- Following a ruling from the International Civil Aviation Organization, Canada has banned shipment of non-rechargeable lithium metal batteries as cargo on all passenger flights, starting Jan 1, 2015. ICAO had implemented the ban in 2014, after an investigation of two 2013 fires on 787 aircraft that were linked to batteries that had overheat and ignited on board. The ban does not extend to lithium ion batteries, which are commonly used in laptop computers and smartphones.
- Cargo volume in November at Dubai International Airport (DXB) fell to 205,375 tonnes – a drop of 8 percent, compared to the previous November. The slowdown was due, in part, to geopolitical instability following the military crisis in Ukraine and recent economic upheaval in Russia, according to the airport. Meanwhile, cargo handled in the first 11 months at DXB decreased by 2.7 percent, year-over-year, to 2.16 million tonnes because of the shift of freighter services to Dubai’s Al Maktoum International in May.
- Oman Air has appointed Air Cargo Logistics as its exclusive general sales and service agent (GSSA) in France, starting in January 2015. Oman Air currently operates four A330 flights a week from Paris Charles De Gaulle to Muscat, with further connections across the Middle East and Asia.
- Manchester Airports Group’s property arm, MAG Property, and logistics property specialist Stoford have submitted a planning application for a £100 million, 260,000-square-foot logistics hub at Manchester Airport.
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