Newsletter – August 11, 2021

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Indian Startup Airline Interested In Up To 100 Boeing 737 MAXs

simpleflying.com
India’s newest startup airline, Akasa Air, has shown an interest in ordering up to 100 Boeing 737 MAXs. Backed by prolific investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Akasa is in negotiations with Boeing to secure the MAX for its new narrowbody fleet. The airline is also in talks with regulators to recertify the 737 MAX in India, which remains grounded. Let’s find out more about this potential and why it will be a huge boost for Akasa and Boeing. Read more here.

Ongoing boost from shipping and bellyhold shortages for freighter operators

aircargonews.net
A slow recovery in belly capacity and higher rates in ocean shipping are expected to boost air cargo for the coming years, according to Boeing’s Tom Crabtree.
Speaking to Air Cargo News, Crabtree, who is regional director, Boeing Commercial Airplanes market analysis — air cargo, said that air cargo demand had now recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Read more here.

The slow collapse of Amazon’s drone delivery dream

theloadstar.com
There’s a fascinating article in Wired on the “dysfunctional” UK department of Amazon Prime Air, which, say former employees, is engaged in “one gigantic oversell”. The department’s original promise, to mass-market e-commerce drone delivery, are said to be “years” from reality. Read more here (login required).

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

The world’s largest port, Ningbo, starts to turn ships away as a worker tests positive for Covid-19

splash247.com
Operations at a terminal of the world’s largest port were suspended today following a single case of Covid-19 being detected on a 34-year-old worker.
Ningbo-Zhoushan port has started to turn ships away this morning in the wake of the positive nucleic test. The worker resides in a dormitory and tested negative on the 8th, before being retested on the 10th. Read more here.

Consumer prices set to rise as delays in all shipping routes increase transport costs

lloydsloadinglist.com
For many US businesses, the unrelenting supply-side bottlenecks and increasing transportation costs are impacting their ability to meet customer demands and forcing them to pass costs on to their customers, causing upward pressure on global inflation.
“The fact that ships remain delayed and now COVID variant outbreaks in major Chinese manufacturing hubs are on the rise, indicates that there may be far-reaching down-stream consequences going into Black Friday and holiday shopping seasons,” says Josh Brazil, VP Marketing, project44. Read more here.

Shanghai Port opens dispatching centre to prioritise empty containers

theloadstar.com
Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) and several mainline operators have launched a centre to co-ordinate the transport of empty containers from Shanghai port.
Yesterday’s opening of Shanghai Port North-east Asia Empty Container Dispatching Centre (a literal translation) is an effort to relieve the equipment crunch by expediting the turnover of empty containers in the world’s busiest container port. Read more here.

Washington debates taking action against global carriers

splash247.com
The stage is set in Washington DC for a bitter fight between global carriers and politicians.
A bipartisan pair of lawmakers, pressed by agricultural exporters, yesterday introduced the Ocean Shipping Reform Act into Congress, a bill which would put in place new minimum requirements for service contracts and give the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) greater powers. Read more here.