- Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. delivered the third 737 classic freighter to Sideral Air Cargo (pictured above), based in Brazil. The aircraft is a high gross weight B737-400SF built in 1990 and was converted at Commercial Jet’s Miami facility. Sideral Air Cargo’s fleet now consists of one AEI B737-300SF and two AEI B737-400SF freighters. This is AEI’s first of the anticipated more than 30 freighters to be delivered in 2014.
- CargoWise has a new partnership with Panama-based logistics consultants, DPS Logistics. In joining CargoWise as a WiseBusiness Partner, DPS Logistics will be able to offer CargoWise’s single-platform system to businesses across Latin America. As an authorized reseller, DPS Logistics will assist CargoWise’s expansion into Latin America by providing full sales, consultation, implementation and support services to local customers.
- Swiss-based airline Etihad Regional was launched in Zurich. Established in partnership with Etihad Airways, the new carrier will be operated by Switzerland’s Darwin Airline, which is headquartered in Lugano with a major hub in Geneva.
- Boeing, Etihad Airways, Takreer, Total and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology will collaborate on a new initiative to support a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in the United Arab Emirates. BIOjet Abu Dhabi: Flight Path to Sustainability will engage a broad range of parties to develop a comprehensive framework for a UAE biofuel supply chain. This initiative will focus on research and development and investments in feedstock production and refining capability in the UAE and globally.
- CSafe Global and C.A.L. Cargo Air Lines signed a Master Lease Agreement to offer transport and leasing services of the CSafe Active RKN on C.A.L. flights. The CSafe RKN is a compressor-driven, temperature-controlled air cargo container. C.A.L. operates multiple weekly flights between Tel Aviv and Liege, as well as daily flights between Liege and JFK.
- Volga-Dnepr Technics GmbH (VDT), the Leipzig-based maintenance company responsible for the outreach of Volga-Dnepr Group’s maintenance operations in Europe, expanded its scope of activities on Western-built aircraft. The renewed scope of its EASA Part 145 certificate now enables VDT to extend A-check services on Boeing 737-300/-400/-500 and 747-8F and 747-400 aircraft. The company’s Rating C14 has also been expanded to cover wheel and brake repair shop activities on a variety of Boeing 747 models.
- Air China started its Beijing-Hawaii service. The new flight is the first nonstop air link between Beijing and Hawaii. It’s operated three times a week on with wide-body A330-200.
- Envirotainer (pictured right) opened a new service station in Duesseldorf, Germany, for its temperature-controlled air cargo containers for customers shipping pharmaceutical and health care products from the region. The station services will be provided by ComPass Transport Systeme GmbH.
- Airfreight at Munich Airport in 2013 was close to the previous year’s levels, with air cargo and mail decreasing by 0.9 percent. Total airfreight turnover amounted to about 270,000 tonnes. Combined with airmail, the volume of flown airfreight was approximately 288,000 tonnes.
- Saudia Cargo signed a human organs transportation agreement with the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation. The airline will fly organs into and out of Saudi Arabia for free.
- JetBlue Airways and Etihad Airways announced plans to begin codeshare operations. The agreement will see Etihad Airways place its “EY” code on JetBlue-operated flights, initially facilitating connections between the two airlines at JFK Airport and Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport. In the first stage of the partnership, Etihad Airways will codeshare on 40 JetBlue routes within the US. Further codeshare services are planned on JetBlue flights once Etihad Airways commences daily flights to Los Angeles in June. Etihad also plans to codeshare on JetBlue flights between New York and select destinations in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Colombia.
- PEMCO World Air Services announced the redelivery of its first 737-400F Air Incheon aircraft. Redelivered in late 2013, the conversion was completed at PEMCO’s partner and major MRO provider STAECO, based in China. Air Incheon specializes in air cargo transport of heavy equipment for oil and gas industries between South Korea and Russia. The airline focuses on underserved markets such as Russia’s far east, but also flies to China, Japan and Mongolia.