Virgin Atlantic Cargo launches new products as part of digital transformation

VIRGIN Atlantic Cargo is set to launch a new framework for products that have been designed to offer more choice for customers when booking. The new framework will consist of both products and service levels enabling its customers to tailor every movement by selecting the right handling, speed, priority, and price. This new structure paves the way for an intuitive booking experience, no matter the channel. For launch, each product will have a choice between one and three service levels: Classic, Priority, and Express. This combination of products and service levels allows its customers to move shipments their way.

Classic is the entry service level that delivers all the essentials to the highest standards whilst at a competitive price.

The Priority service level includes all the essentials of Classic, but provides a higher priority, preferred access to space and guarantees delivery on time for those important movements.

Express offers the fastest solution, with the shortest close out times and highest priority to provide the quickest possible journey time for urgent or last-minute shipments. Each product group will also come with a selection of core attributes that have been tailored toward the industry’s requirements, including General, Courier, Fresh, Pharma, Valuable, Vulnerable, Cars and Custom.

“We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new product and service structure,” Sean Cruse, Manager of Commercial Development at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said.

Brussels Airport focuses further on drone innovation

THE sector of drones and Advanced Air Mobility is evolving rapidly and offers new development possibilities for the aviation industry. That is why Brussels Airport wants to invest in DronePort.

DronePort is located at the former air force base of Sint-Truiden, and is an initiative of the Limburg Investment Company LRM, the city of Sint-Truiden, POM Limburg and JK Invest. The development of the site began in 2013, and DronePort wants to stimulate research and innovation by creating an eco-system for the drone and Advanced Air Mobility sector. This eco-system includes both a regional airport and various services including a campus, a drone test site and an incubator that forms a growth platform for companies wanting to develop this new market further.

Brussels Airport has the ambition to play a leading role in the development and application of innovative solutions based on the use of drones. In 2021, Brussels Airport therefore became shareholder of SkeyDrone, a pioneer in the area of drone services and drone management systems. With a contemplated capital injection in DronePort, Brussels Airport would become co-shareholder of DronePort as well.

“By acquiring an interest of 30% in DronePort, we will have the opportunity to adopt a unique position in this emerging industry,” Arnaud

Global air cargo tonnages rebound

Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company, said. “We are increasingly investing in the development of innovative technologies and work on various drone projects in the area of airport security and operational efficiency, amongst others. With this participation in DronePort, Brussels Airport wishes to strengthen the development of solutions and services based on drone technology.”

This contemplated capital increase will make it possible for DronePort to further focus on the development of their infrastructure and eco-system and to accelerate this. The partnership of shareholders makes it possible to accelerate the co-creation and to promote the drone community and its developments in Belgium and farther afield.

“DronePort was founded several years ago, already focusing on the emerging drone industry and was far ahead of its time thanks to the unique test facilities, incubation operation and infrastructure. The entry of Brussels Airport Company will be the start of a new chapter for DronePort, the next step in the life cycle of the company. Brussels Airport is a strong strategic partner with sound aviation knowledge, a clear ambition and an international network that can help DronePort upscale to a reference in the drone sector at European level”, Tom Vanham, General Director of LRM, said.

GLOBAL air cargo tonnages show signs of rebounding slowly after several weeks of stabilisation – still partly driven by the annual post-Lunar New Year holiday recovery outbound Asia, but against a backdrop of some more positive recent global economic indicators. However, global average rates seem to be continuing the gradual softening trend observed in previous months, possibly affected by growing capacity, the latest preliminary figures from WorldACD Market Data indicate.

Figures for week 9 (27 February to 5 March) show a small increase (+1%) in worldwide tonnages compared with the previous week, which had also seen a modest (+2%) tonnage rise. On the pricing side, global average rates dropped (-2%) compared with the previous week.

Comparing weeks 8 and 9 with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), tonnages are up by +2% above their combined total in weeks 6 and 7, accompanied by a +2% increase in capacity, whereas average worldwide rates slightly declined by -1% – based on the more than 400,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data.

At a regional level, on a 2Wo2W basis, the post-Lunar New Year recovery in air cargo tonnages was still notable on ex-Asia Pacific flows to North America (+18%), Middle East

& South Asia (+14%), and Europe (+13%), respectively. The most-notable decreases were recorded ex-Central & South America (-8%) and ex-Africa (-6%), linked to the annual spike in flower shipments ahead of Valentine’s Day on 14 February, with the flower exports from these two regions combined down by -8% (2Wo2W).

Despite volumes rebounding, on the pricing side the average rates have continued to show a negative trend from all regions except Middle East & South Asia, particularly ex-Europe (-3%) and ex-North America (-3%).

Year-on-Year perspective

Comparing the overall global market with this time last year, chargeable weight in weeks 8 and 9 was down -18% compared with the equivalent period last year. Most notably, tonnages ex-Asia Pacific are down by -35%, although this comparison is skewed because Lunar New Year started ten days later last year, on 1 February compared with 22 January this year. There were also doubledigit percent year-on-year drops in tonnages outbound from North America (-18%) and Middle East & South Asia (-10%). But there are some exceptions, regionally, with tonnages outbound from Africa particularly on the rise compared with the previous year (+10%).