Air Cargo And The Logistics & Transportation Industry

Vision for Intelligent Aviation Security - Coordinated Response on Cargo Security

Frankfurt – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on security regulators around the world to work together to  make the skies more secure by addressing the challenges related to cargo security and data collection.  IATA also unveiled plans to lead a global effort to build an airport checkpoint of the future, which will tighten security and ease passenger hassle. 
“We are much more secure than in 2001, but there is room for improvement,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO at the opening of AVSEC World in Frankfurt, Germany. Bisignani identified several areas where more progress is needed to further improve aviation security and address passenger frustrations: 

.....

IATA presented five recommendations based on these principles:
1. Implement formal consultation with all airlines including non-US carriers
2. Refine existing emergency orders to address the international environment
3. Streamline the data collection process
4. Strengthen government to government outreach for greater harmonization and coordination
5. Start developing a next generation checkpoint

http://ht.ly/3307D

Coolport @ Changi

 On-airport facility dedicated to handling perishable cargo opens



 


SINGAPORE : Singapore has opened the first on-airport facility in Asia dedicated to handling perishable cargo.

The facility, built at a cost of S$16.5 million, is owned by gateway services and food-solutions provider SATS.

Thanks to its ability to better process and forward perishable cargo such as fresh produce and pharmaceuticals, Coolport is expected to create new trade flows through Singapore.

The facility is currently about 60 per cent utilised, and is expected to reach full capacity in two years.

SATS is currently in discussions with customers that could see utilisation reach 80 per cent by mid-2011.

Packing fresh-cut flowers for redistribution is one of the valued-added services that is offered at Coolport.

It is now possible because temperatures are controlled throughout the warehouse, which - depending on the produce - can be as low as minus 28 degrees celsius.

This means products are kept at desired temperatures virtually from the moment they are offloaded from the plane, and through various stages of handling. SATS previously handled perishable cargo in 17 cold rooms located across four warehouses. A dedicated facility allows the processing of fresh produce and other cargo for onward shipment, either by air or sea.

Clement Woon, president and CEO of SATS, said: "In the old way, you actually have to take it off the airport, repack it so that it can go into this small little chiller...It is not really efficient and a lot of working spaces are at an ambient temperature and our ambient temperature is at 30 degrees or so. Now the ambient temperature is at 6 to 10 degrees.

"Maybe about 20 per cent to 30 per cent of food never reaches the table because it is destroyed along the cold chain. (We are) hoping that by putting this thing together, we will be able to reduce the amount that will be destroyed in the logistics process."

Coolport's operator SATS said it had refurbished one of its warehouses to build the facility.

This was in order to tap growth opportunities in the perishable-goods segment, amidst declining volumes in general cargo.

SATS said perishable cargo makes up about 10 per cent of worldwide air cargo, and is expected to grow by up to 8 per cent every year.

Mr Woon said: "Unfortunately over the last few years, cargo in Singapore has come down, so we actually take the opportunity to reconfigure this terminal into a perishable handling unit. So that helps to actually bring back some of the capacity, and optimise the other areas."

The facility comes online just months after the opening of Freeport in May, a similar facility at Changi Airport that specialises in the storage of valuable art and assets.

Lim Hwee Hua, Second Minister for Finance and Transport, and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said: "These new innovative on-airport facilities will allow our valued partners in the airlines and air freight industries to develop more comprehensive and differentiated business solutions that target new market segments, as well as to tap on the rapid growth of Asia.

"The growth of Asia as a key healthcare market has also resulted in greater requirement for stringent control in the distribution of healthcare products. With these changing demand patterns and new requirements, reliable cold chain facilities and perishables handling centres are becoming increasingly important."

While SATS expects the new facility to have a positive impact on its bottomline, it declined to speculate on a figure.

Mr Woon said: "This will be incremental. We are realigning our resources into our central facility; that will give us the capabilities as we work on the new accounts that will let us go up to 80 per cent.

"We will be able to then take that incremental into the bottom line. I will not say how much it is at the present moment, but certainly, it will be a positive impact when we actually have reached that capacity level that we have planned."

Coolport has about 8,000 square metres of space, and can be expanded through conversion to 14,000 square metres. It will be able to handle 250,000 tonnes of cargo a year, for a start.

- CNA/ms

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1095753/1/.html

Enhancing Our Air Hub Status

http://app.mot.gov.sg/data/s_08_03_06a.htm

SPEECH BY MRS LIM HWEE HUA,

 MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE AND TRANSPORT,

ON AIR TRANSPORT

 AT THE COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY DEBATE,

 ON 6 MARCH 2008

 

talking about:

-         continue to push for the liberalisation of the aviation regime 

-         build capacity to keep ahead of growing demands, and  

-         measures to encourage airlines to come to Singapore and to keep those that are already here 

Airport Operations book By Norman Ashford, H. P. Martin Stanton, Clifton A. Moor.

http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=H1uY6L5v2SIC&pg=PA288&lpg=PA288&dq=air+cargo+dispatch+note&source=bl&ots=OfYEwC2STu&sig=X0KHBFxBSQ3wV6I__Y0Kk30a8zg&hl=en&ei=sLdhSra9HZKBkQXO2P35Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=air%20cargo%20dispatch%20note&f=false

Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air Guideline

http://www.hr.unsw.edu.au/ohswc/ohs/pdf/g_dg_transport_air.pdf

Transport of dangerous goods by air guidelines (prepared by the university of new south wales). There are other links to other websites and organisations e.g. CAAS within the content)

IATA recommended practice 1630, cargo security

http://www.iata.org/nr/rdonlyres/ccb875f7-3968-47b0-a425-a75b691c626e/0/rp1630_adopted_csc31.pdf

Procedures for Import and Export

http://www.dateyvs.com/custom03.htm

Singapore Airfreight Directory

http://www.singaporeairfreight.com/indexSAD.aspx?DirID=88&Version=english

Directory for air freight companies in Singapore and a source for news related to the air freight industry and the aviation industry in general.

Perishables: Documentation and Labeling

http://en.lancargo.com/services/perishables/documentation-and-labeling/

IATA e-freight Business Process & Standards

http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/efreight/Pages/materials.aspx

n order to remove the paper and use electronic messages it is necessary to have common and clear business process and standards, which are the foundations of IATA e-freight as well as e-Freight Operational Procedures (e-FOP) that stakeholders can follow in an e-freight environment.

In this section you will find information on:

* IATA Cargo To-Be business process
* IATA e-freight operational procedures
* IATA e-freight functional specifications
* Standard electronic messages

IATA Freight Forwarder – Carrier – Ground Handling Agent Communication Functional Specifications

http://www.iata.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/Documents/IATAFFCarrierGHAFunctionalSpecificationsv07.pdf

As part of the IATA e-freight project, this document is intended to describe some of the information (electronic message) flows implemented between Freight Forwarders, Carriers and Ground Handling Agents at origin and at destination in an IATA e-freight environment. For IATA e-freight’s purposes, this information flow must preserve the Shipment Record1 (e-AWB) and ensure the data quality and integrity.