Bluebird Nordic plans expansion in Europe

BLUEBIRD Nordic, Icelandic ACMI leasing and cargo airline, is planning to obtain an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in Slovakia, expanding its operations. The company’s decision comes as a strategic move to enter new and prominent markets. “Slovakia is ideally positioned in the middle of Europe, which offers great opportunities for a wider geographical coverage.

The new AOC in the country will aid in expanding our airline routes and destinations, and strengthen the airline’s name in the region,” Audrone Keinyte, CEO of Bluebird Nordic, said.

Currently, Bluebird Nordic operates a fleet of one B737-300, six B737-400 and five B737-800 full freighter aircraft. Bluebird Nordic plans to grow the fleet to 25 aircraft in the next couple of years and strengthen their position in the cargo market, especially in the Boeing Next Generation (NG) segment.

Bluebird Nordic is a family member of Avia Solutions Group, the leading aviation business group and the largest global ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) provider, with a fleet of 165 aircraft. The Group is a parent company of SmartLynx Airlines, Avion Express, BBN Airlines, KlasJet, Magma Aviation and more, operating on all continents in the world. Avia Solutions Group holds eight AOC in Europe, and in May the group is planning to get AOC in Indonesia, expanding its current presence in more than 70 countries worldwide.

Europa Air & Sea takes off in Delhi

EUROPA Air & Sea has announced its latest growth plans, the launch of a new office in Delhi, India.

This brand-new location follows the success of Europa’s latest sites in Shanghai and Dubai, that both opened in 2022.

Europa Air & Sea is part of the Europa Worldwide Group and is setting the pace in the market, leading the sector at a time of immense change. Last year, the Group reported a record turnover of £316 million, as well as investment in six new offices across the UK and Europe (as well as the global sites in Shanghai and Dubai).

This is Europa’s first step into the Indian Subcontinent, which forms part of its ambition to grow its geographical footprint, bringing services closer to customers, and supporting local supply chain requirements.

“This is another significant step for Europa Air & Sea as we enter into Q2 of 2023. India has been a core market for our business for some time. We already handle a considerable volume of business both in an out of India within our existing network, and we have seen an increased demand for services within the region, so this is a natural progression,” Angus Hind, Europa Air & Sea Director, said. Delhi has been named as one of the UN’s

Cainiao partners with CJ Logistics to accelerate cross-border deliveries between China and South Korea

fastest-growing cities, creating significant opportunity for trade imports and exports due to its international airport.

“Our office will initially open with a team of ten, all of which have expertise in the logistics sector as well as a solid understanding of the local market,” he continued. “We have sustained success across the air and sea freight market and I am very much looking forward to this continuing across extended international markets, as we focus on promoting our global forwarding solutions.”

In September 2022, the launch of the National Logistics Policy provided a roadmap, where the Indian Government and industry stakeholders highlighted the development needed to grow the country’s logistics sector.

The National Logistics Policy aims to cut India’s cost of logistics operations from 13-14 per cent of gross domestic product to a single digit by 2030 and elevate the country into the top 25 nations ranking in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index.

Europa is one of the largest privately owned transport and logistics companies in the UK, with a growing footprint across the globe. The firm continues to invest heavily in both its corporate and operational capabilities that impact right across the business.

CAINIAO Network has announced that it has partnered with South Korea’s CJ Logistics, a subsidiary of CJ Group whose business spans across four major industries, namely food and beverage, biotechnology, logistics, and entertainment and media, to streamline and optimise cross-border logistics services between China and South Korea. In addition, both parties are in the midst of discussions with AliExpress to establish fulfilment centres in South Korea to further safeguard logistics services for local consumers.

This partnership aims to enhance customer experience and quality of services by accelerating deliveries between China and South Korea to as fast as three days, with deliveries even on Sundays. This will be achieved by combining CJ Logistics’ expertise and range of logistics offerings in South Korea with Cainiao’s cross-border logistics capabilities in areas such as domestic warehousing, line haul transportation and first mile network.

CJ Logistics has an extensive infrastructure with strong logistics capabilities in South Korea, of which it owns and operates a mega logistics hub in Gonjiam since 2018, with a total area of over 300,000 square metres and daily parcel handling capacity up to 1.7 million.

“Establishing partnerships with global leading e-commerce partners such as AliExpress and Cainiao create opportunities for us to deliver greater value and better customer experience. In the future, we will continue to optimise cross-border fulfilment services and partnership framework to achieve mutual growth and to offer new overseas shopping services for consumers.”

Shin Young Soo, CEO of Parcel e-commerce Business Unit at CJ Logistics, said at AliExpress’ South Korea press conference in March.

“Cainiao will be able to further optimise the logistics efficiency of the entire supply chain, especially when it comes to safeguarding delivery timeliness during major shopping festivals. This will enable us to deliver a customer experience and shipping guarantee that is on par with local e-commerce,” Wang Ke, Asia Pacific regional manager of Cainiao International Express, commented.

Last year, China launched various initiatives to strengthen cross-border logistics between the two countries, such as the launch of a distribution centre and trucking line haul service in South Korea to expedite AliExpress deliveries from China. These helped to reduce operating costs by 10 percent and save more than 12 hours in processing and handling time for South Korean-bound deliveries.