The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals No. 989
9 July 2018
My big fat paint job
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HE first Airbus BelugaXL has rolled out of the paint shop sporting a special livery making it look like a Beluga Whale. The livery was one of six choices submitted to Airbus employees through a poll where 20,000 people participated, with 40 per cent voting for the smiling whale. The BelugaXL, the first of five, will undertake ground tests before taking to the skies in the summer and entering service in 2019. The Beluga is based on the A330-200 Freighter and reuses existing components and equipment.
IATA: Demand grows despite threat of trade wars
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De Juniac
irfreight has continued to grow in May at a reasonable rate with freight tonne kilometres increasing by 4.2 per cent, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports. Demand was down from 5.2 per cent recorded in April (revised from 4.1 per cent), and the association says growth is likely to continue at a lower pace due to the re-stocking cycle that requires quick delivery is over, the new export orders component of the global manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index is at a 21-month low, and global trade appears to be softening
BORN FREE TO LEAVE SWISSPORT
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as trade tensions increase. After a weak start to 2018, demand has resumed at a modest trend upwards but the rapid growth seen in 2017 is over, and IATA has revised growth for 2018 down to four per cent from its previous prediction of 4.5 per cent. IATA director general and chief executive officer, Alexandre de Juniac says: “We expect air cargo demand to grow by a modest 4.0% in 2018. That’s an uptick from a very weak start to the year. But headwinds are strengthening with growing friction among governments on trade.
AZURA APPOINTS COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
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TIACA NURTURES YOUNG TALENT IN CANADA
“We still expect demand to grow, but those expectations are dampened with each new tariff introduced. Experience tells us that trade wars, in the long run, only produce losers.” Capacity measured in available freight tonne kilometres grew by 6.2 per cent in May, the fourth consecutive month that capacity growth outstripped demand, pushing load factors down 0.9 percentage points to 44.6 per cent. All regions of the world grew in May except Africa, where FTKs fell two per cent.
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ANTONOV FUELS THE ENERGY BUSINESS
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