China’s airfreight sector shows remarkable growth
Feb-23-2021 By : fcccadmin
China’s airfreight sector has experienced remarkable growth, with passenger travel still in the doldrums during the Covid-19 pandemic. The expansion has been driven by strong global demand for medical supplies to combat Covid-19 and the exponential growth of e-commerce, with more people working, shopping and seeking entertainment online. The air cargo sector appears poised for another boost this year from the massive distribution of Covid-19 vaccines across the world. Last year, Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in Guangdong province was ahead of its rivals, with its freight volume growing by 9% – the fastest rate among the country’s top five air cargo airports. The facility is also expected to outperform most of the world’s top 10 air cargo hubs, which recorded slowing growth in the first half of last year. Meanwhile, cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport was down by 6.99% last year compared with 2019.
Shenzhen airport has opened eight new international routes for cargo – the biggest addition to the list for seven years. With its total annual cargo volume reaching 1.4 million metric tons, the airport ranked third in China last year, and featured among the world’s top 30 in 2019. Zhang Jinlin, Manager at the airport’s international cargo center, said he was surprised by the dramatic change in the business outlook last year. In February and March last year, operations at the airport hit rock bottom because of the pandemic. The turnaround came in April, when the airport apron was packed with aircraft from different countries. Zhang said he had never seen some of the planes, including an Antonov AN-124, the world’s second-largest cargo aircraft, in the 16 years he had worked at the facility. Face masks, testing kits and ventilators were flown from the airport to other parts of the world to meet the acute demand for medical supplies.
Initial demand for anti-pandemic supplies was followed by orders for e-commerce goods, ranging from fitness equipment to gardening tools. Demand for such items was strong in developed countries with burgeoning “stay-at-home” economies. Recently, vaccines are high on the list as countries look to inoculate their populations to contain the pandemic. After airports in Beijing and Shanghai, the Shenzhen facility obtained the International Air Transport Association’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in pharmaceutical logistics in October – an internationally recognized certification for cold-chain medicine deliveries. The airport also has a 350-square-meter refrigeration center and three refrigerated trailers.
In late November, Ethiopian Airlines and Cainiao International, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, launched the first regular international cold chain route between China and Africa from Shenzhen airport. The route was used to transport temperature-controlled drugs, including Covid-19 vaccines, to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, via Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Medical supplies are kept at temperatures as low as -23ºC along the route – cold enough for the storage conditions required for most Covid-19 vaccines throughout the distribution process. In December, the UAE and Bahrain granted marketing authorization for vaccines developed by the mainland pharmaceutical company Sinopharm. On January 2, Egypt also approved the emergency use of Sinopharm vaccines. Zhang Jun, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, said that Chinese vaccine aid has been provided to 14 developing countries and will soon reach 38 more. Last year, Shenzhen airport handled more than 2,900 international cargo flights to 46 countries. Some of China’s outstanding biomedicine companies are located in Shenzhen, including vaccine producer Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co, testing kits supplier BGI Genomics, and ventilator supplier Mindray BioMedical Electronics Co. The city is an e-commerce hub for domestic and international suppliers and home to numerous small and medium-sized companies that are part of industrial chains, the China Daily reports.
China’s air passenger traffic fell 45.16% year-on-year over the Lunar New Year holiday, but the number of international cargo flights during the seven-day period surged 212.48% year-on-year.
Larger transport drones arriving in China
Oct-13-2020 By : fcccadmin
The use of drones for package deliveries has already begun in China, but much larger unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), some even the size of small aircraft, have recently been taking to the skies. Larger drones are emerging in the Chinese market as costs fall substantially and capacity increases. After several e-commerce retailers and delivery firms are already using small UAVs, a large cargo drone took off in North-West China in August, marking the first application of large drones in China’s logistics industry. The plane-sized carrier FH-98, developed by Chinese logistics firm SF Express, is designed to carry payloads of up to 1.5 metric tons and a maximum volume of 15 cubic meters, one of the largest of its kind in China. It is capable of flying as far as 1,200 kilometers on a single charge at a speed of 180 km per hour – sufficient for cross-provincial transport. The trial flight flew from Ningxia to neighboring Inner Mongolia in about an hour on a route that is difficult for overland transport due to mountains, deserts and wetlands.
SF Express said the large drone retains the traditional cargo aircraft’s advantages of speed and expediency and also significantly reduces operating costs – even equaling truck transport. The Shenzhen-based delivery company is developing an air transport network, including piloted planes for long distance transport, sizable crew-less aircraft for support routes, and small drones for short distance deliveries to individual recipients. Yang Daqing, Researcher at the China Society of Logistics, said that battery capacity and dynamic control of the drones were constraints on the sector’s growth, but recent technological advancements in batteries and 5G communications have ensured the safe and long-distance operation of UAVs. Yang said the shortage of cargo plane capacity and pilots also contributes to the growing demand for large-sized drones.
Autoflight Aviation Technology unveiled its newest large-sized cargo drone V400 “Albatross” at the 4th Drone World Congress in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in September, and the model is expected to carry out its maiden flight by the end of this year. The V400 features a maximum takeoff weight of 400 kilograms and a payload of 100 kg. Its flight range varies from 300 km to 1,000 km with a pure or hybrid-electric power system. The company also expects another new drone with a maximum takeoff weight of 1,000 kilograms to perform its maiden flight this year. Jiang Jun, Senior Strategic Vice President of Autoflight, said many clients approached the firm for cooperation after the debut of the V400.
“They asked us to provide solutions to deliver medicine to mountainous areas, metal products in mining zones and heavy equipment to construction firms,” Jiang said. They are preparing a trial run this month to deliver seafood from the Zhoushan Islands near Shanghai. Jiang said large drones are suitable for warehouse-to-warehouse transportation and costs could be lower compared to using trucks once they are put into large scale operation, especially to and from islands and mountainous regions. He believes the industry has entered a fast track of development as air traffic control is being relaxed this year and market acceptance of large drones is rising.
Yang Jincai, Director of the Shenzhen Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Industry Association, said the number of large drones displayed at the Shenzhen congress increased by about 25% compared to last year’s event. One of the buyers’ major concerns is how to build landing zones for large drones on roofs, at factories and in industrial parks, Yang said, adding that costs are increasingly less of an issue as they have been remarkably lowered in recent years. He anticipated the rapid growth of large drone transportation between industrial parks, residential areas and other areas with the advance of technologies, such as 5G and artificial intelligence (AI). A wide range of sectors such as petroleum, electricity and emergency rescue services demonstrated interest at the Shenzhen congress, as the overall number of visitors surged by about 20%, the China Daily reports.
Tangshan-Antwerp cargo rail line inaugurated
May-02-2018 By : fcccadmin
A train carrying 41 containers departed from Tangshan in Hebei Province on April 26 with destination Antwerp, traveling 11.000 kilometers through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany. The train service will cut transport time from the usual 45 days by sea, to just 16 days. Tangshan has two port districts: Jingtang and Caofeidian. They handled 573 million tons of freight last year. The freight service offers a new way not only for the freight of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei to Europe, but also for that of Japan and the Republic of Korea to Europe via China, said Xu Fengyi, Director of Tangshan Customs.
Tangshan, about 150 km from Beijing, is known for its coal resources and steel industry. In 1881, a 9.7-km railway line from Tangshan to Xugezhuang opened for coal transport. Designed by English engineer Claude Kinder, it was the first line with a global standard track gauge of 1,435 mm in China, the Shanghai Daily reports. The line was later extended to Mukden, now called Shenyang in Liaoning province, transporting both cargo and passengers. During the extension project, Zhan Tianyou, a Yale graduate and designer of a railway bridge along the line, Luanhe Bridge, drew the attention of the government. Zhan was later appointed Chief Designer of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line, the first railway designed and built by China in the early 20th century, which is still in use. “Although the design and construction were done by Chinese people, all parts, including every single nail, were imported from abroad,” said Gu Lin, Manager at Tangshan South Station, the starting point of the Tangshan-Xugezhuang line.
By March, freight trains were operating between 43 Chinese cities and 41 cities in 13 European countries.
Shanghai port embraces new technology to defend global shipping hub status
Dec-19-2017 By : fcccadmin
Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), the dominant public terminal operator in the city, plans to make better use of internet and automation technologies to consolidate its leading position in the shipping industry worldwide. SIPG said it aimed to create “smart, green, hi-tech and efficient terminals” to bolster Shanghai’s efforts to become an international shipping center by 2020. “Our three years of effort to build new berths have been worth it,” said Chen Xuyuan, Chairman of SIPG. “We will deepen innovation by using more technology, enhancing management efficiency and creating new business models.”
Yangshan Port, which is operated by SIPG, recently launched seven berths costing CNY12.8 billion as part of the fourth phase of its development. The 2,350-meter harbor has 130 automated guided vehicles, the largest fleet of any container terminal worldwide. SIPG said the operation of the fourth phase reflected its first step in building a port operating system in the digital era. The group will analyze business data, make better use of the internet and the Internet of Things (IoT) and reduce pollution to help support growth of the port.
Shanghai has been ranked as the world’s largest container port for seven consecutive years. Last year, the port handled 37.1 million TEU. The volume so far this year is up 1.6% from last year. The port is expected to process 40 million TEU this year, according to SIPG, of which 17 million TEU container traffic. Xu Lirong, Chairman of China Cosco Shipping Corp, said the country’s largest ocean carrier would cooperate with SIPG to increase the flow of cargo, talent and capital through the port of Shanghai, the South China Morning Post reports.
China key to revival in air cargo growth
Sep-30-2014 By : fcccadmin
Asia, in particular China, is key to rejuvenating growth in air cargo, a USD6 trillion industry that has suffered from sustained stagnation since the 2008 financial crisis, and e-commerce is expected to spearhead that revival, according to global aviation and air-cargo leaders meeting in Zhengzhou, China, for the first Air Cargo Development Forum. Air cargo, which transports 35% of global trade by value, has yet to return to pre-recession levels by volume, but fresh data showed acceleration in traffic growth. During the first half of 2014, world freight traffic grew 3.7%. Asia, by far the world’s largest cargo market and responsible for 39% of the total volume, recorded growth above the worldwide average in 2013, with eastern Asia growing at 4.5%. China represents 45% of the region’s air-cargo market while Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong is the world’s largest cargo airport. Cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport recorded a 5% increase in 2013 to 4.2 million tons, above the regional average of 2.1%. Xia Xinghua, Director General of the China Civil Airports Association, noted that one-third of Chinese rely on e-commerce, forcing freight handlers and airlines to work together. Wang Zhiqing, Deputy Administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said air cargo in the country experienced rapid growth between 2002 and 2010, with yearly growth close to 10%, followed by a decline in 2011 to 2013. In the first half of this year, domestic freight increased 5.7% and international 6.6%. China’s express market has grown 43.5% per year since 2008 to become the world’s second-largest after the United States, underpinned by the rise of e-commerce. China currently has 101 air freighters, 80% of which are used for express deliveries.
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