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Amazon freighter overruns Miami International runway

An Amazon Air Boeing 767 freighter has overrun one of the runways at Miami International Airport (MIA), tragically resulting in the deaths of several people after it struck several vehicles. The aircraft overran runway 30 at around 14:00hrs local time on September 6. Reports suggest the aircraft was being operated by 21 Air. The local mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that at least five people had died and another five had been injured. Following the incident, the airport closed all runways and taxiways and issued a ground stop, although according to its latest update, one runway has since been reopened. Flights are expected to restart at around 17:30 local time. "Earlier today, Prime Air Flight 7598 overran Miami International Airport's diagonal runway. One runway is currently open, but we are still seeing impacts due to this incident," MIA said in a statement. Images on social media showed smoke and flames emanating from the aircraft after the incident. The images also show the aircraft having come to a stop close to a highway. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would launch an investigation. "21 Air Flight 7598 overran the runway after landing at Miami International Airport around 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, Sept. 6. The Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft departed from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The FAA will investigate," the organisation said in a social media post. Reports suggest the aircraft hit several vehicles. The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue service said: "Over 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units are on scene of an incident involving a plane that overran a runway and struck multiple vehicles near Miami International Airport. Units arrived to find an airplane that had caught on fire as a result of this crash, with heavy flames and smoke showing." Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said: "We can confirm that an Amazon Air plane operated by 21 Air experienced an incident while attempting to land at Miami International Airport today. This is a fast-moving situation and we're still gathering details. "We're working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened. Right now, our absolute priority is the safety, well-being, and care of everyone involved. We're doing everything we can to support those affected."

Dimerco volumes take off in 2026

Being an airfreight forwarder in Taiwan must be like shooting fish in a barrel at the moment, given the high levels of demand for semiconductor and AI-related shipments. Figures released by Taiwan's Ministry of Finance show that exports of electronic integrated circuits rose 52.3% year on year in July to $26.3bn. Kathy Liu, vice president, global sales and marketing at Taiwan-headquartered Dimerco Express Group, confirms that volumes have boomed this year. In the first quarter, the company's airfreight volumes increased by 20% year on year, with high-tech, semiconductor and AI infrastructure-related supply chains identified as key growth drivers. Given the rapid growth of the sector, Liu says Dimerco is working closely with customers to understand their requirements. "This kind of product always needs a white-glove service until it reaches the data centre," she explains. "It requires very detailed management and they are very high value so it always requires a lot of professionalism." But AI-related demand is not the only factor driving volume growth. The increase in demand during the first quarter also reflects the continued shift towards China+1 strategies, regional manufacturing diversification and multi-location sourcing models, all of which are generating greater demand for cross-regional logistics. Asked whether the shift of production from China to Southeast Asia has eased following the reduction in US tariffs on Chinese goods, which last year peaked at more than 130%, Liu tells Air Cargo News that the trend is continuing. "It will continue because the labour cost in China is gradually increasing - it cannot compare with 10-20 years ago," she says. "So for those low-value or labour-intensive production lines, for sure it will move out and that would have happened even without the tariffs and regulations." However, she adds: "For those high-value, high-technology production lines where you need skilled labour, this will remain in China. We even see some of those production lines in that category that have moved out of China and are now switching back." Growing pains The rapid rate of growth is not without its challenges. Liu says Taiwan and other high-growth locations such as Vietnam and Thailand do not have enough airfreight capacity to meet demand during peak periods. To help manage the shortfall, customers have been turning to sea-air, air-sea and road-air solutions, as well as regional transhipment hubs. "Last year, when we faced some problems with air capacity out of Vietnam, we flew into Shanghai and then used capacity from there to the US. Vietnam is also very close to Guangzhou so we can truck there and then take a flight to the US." Dimerco also manages peak season demand through a charter programme, block space agreements (BSAs) and close relationships with carriers. Liu adds that the forwarder does not rely too heavily on BSAs so it is not overcommitted during slower periods of the year. Instead, it relies on building close relationships with airlines. "We have core carriers and with those long-term partners we have access to extra capacity for the peak season," Liu says. She explains that other forwarders will "shop around" during slower periods to secure lower prices, only to find it more difficult to access capacity when demand peaks. Infrastructure in some locations has also struggled to keep pace with the surge in demand. Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport has this year faced operational delays, with reports that import cargo processing was taking several weeks at points during the year. Exports have largely been unaffected because the cargo is booked on a specific flight and subject to a fixed cut-off time. "The facility, the infrastructure, is not really ready for the cargo boom, so they need to catch up quickly," says Liu. A lack of digitalisation has compounded the problem, she says. She adds that one customer decided to truck shipments from Shanghai to China to avoid congestion in Bangkok. Manila is another airport to have faced congestion issues this year. Asked whether such problems could slow the expansion of manufacturing in Southeast Asia, Liu says companies appear unfazed, instead adapting their logistics operations to minimise the impact of congestion.

Expert knowledge remains foundation of charter broker businesses

Hard work and a can-do attitude are what makes for a successful air charter broker, says Dan Morgan-Evans, head of cargo at broker Air Charter Service. Why on earth should a job for an aviation graduate trainee be advertised in Farmers Weekly magazine? Morgan-Evans spotted the position while looking for a position after completing his agricultural degree, the idea being that he would eventually work in the family business. The young Morgan-Evans asked the question of chairman of Coventry-based Air Atlantique, after successfully securing his first job, back in 1999. "That's easy," said the chairman. "Farming children are hard working and well-rounded." Whether that premise about farming folk is true, we'll leave others to judge, but those two qualities are certainly essential in the tough and fast-moving world of air cargo brokerage. At Air Atlantique, Morgan-Evans worked in all aspects of the business for two years. Then came a move to London, to a company called AFX which operated two 747 freighter aircraft based at Heathrow Airport. The day he moved there was 11 September, 2001, not an auspicious time in the air industry and the company went out of business not long afterwards. But there was a silver lining; he joined Air Charter Service (ACS) on 2002 as a trainee broker, and has been there ever since. At the time, ACS was a much smaller company. It employed just 20 people at two offices, one of them in London and the other in Moscow. (There was a brisk trade in charters to Russia at that time; ACS closed its operations in the country following the invasion of Ukraine.) Since then, ACS has opened an average of two offices a year, bringing the total to around 40 worldwide and ACS employs the lion's share of the 1,000-strong workforce employed by parent company the Mountfitchet aviation and travel group. Then, as now, ACS owner and founder Chris Leach takes a strong interest in activities and can often be found in the office. From 2011, Morgan-Evans headed the London cargo department for six years until 2017, when he became head of global cargo, essentially the post he holds today. His full titles are deputy chief commercial officer at ACS and global cargo director and he also oversees the company's Time Critical Services arm. "It's always interesting in airfreight," he says. "It has ups and downs, like any other industry, but there has been a general upward trajectory. As a company hits a global critical mass, things tend to get ironed out between the different regions and sectors; you're not relying on a boom in any one sector, any more." While the company has become much bigger, the formula for its success has remained the same, though: "The secret to its success is replicating what it does well - its ethos and dedication to training - around the globe. And it seems to work." Airfreight broking is, at heart, a knowledge business. "We have to add value for our customers. When I started at ACS, the Internet was still quite rudimentary and the traditional unique selling point of brokers was their knowledge of aircraft and airlines," says Morgan-Evans. "Today, anyone can find much of that information online. Now, it's about knowing the right aircraft, and the right airport for the task; we have to be customer-focussed. It's why our training programme for brokers lasts for six or seven months." Air charter brokers need to be able to think fast, and think on their feet. They need to be attuned to what the market, and the wider world is doing, says Morgan-Evans. "There will always be natural disasters, geopolitical situations. And in a lot of the things that happen in the world, our industry will always be at the forefront. However, you can put things in place, to be prepared, or as prepared as you can be." Modern communications means that the flow of information is faster, and in that respect at least, new technology has made the broker's job easier. However, rules and regulations remain an important part of the air broker's task and these are not getting any simpler. ACS needs to work in all corners of the world, and disasters don't always conveniently take place in places where the trading and commercial environment is straightforward. Take the recent earthquake in Venezuela; the country is subject to severe international sanctions and just because a disaster has occurred, these are not automatically eased. "That's why we have a compliance team to make sure that we're not breaking any rules," says Morgan-Evans. Ben Dinsdale is now heading up humanitarian operations at ACS which takes some of the immediate day-to-day pressure off Morgan-Evans' shoulders. In fact, while flying aid to earthquake and war zones may capture the headlines, "if you break down the figures, 'special events' are only a very small fraction of the work that we do at ACS. The mainstay of our business has always been automotive, oil and gas and so on." Costs are currently one of the main headaches in the industry. "Demand for aircraft has been high at times, and availability can be tough, so prices can go up. We need to try to manage customer expectations, and that is where our specialist knowledge comes in." While there have been 'needs must' situations, notably during the Covid pandemic, all customers have a price point and there rates that customers - even in sectors like oil and gas - will just not accept. The supply side of the equation - availability of aircraft, or lack thereof - varies of course. It tightened during the latest Middle East crisis, but now, during the traditional low season, that has since eased somewhat. But no one is prediction that that will continue into the later part of the year. "But overall, we have had a very good year," Morgan-Evans enthuses. "Last July, we had a very big ongoing project, so I wasn't expecting to beat that figure this year, but we have." One hardy perennial that he is always quizzed on is the future of the Antonov An-124 fleet and what, if anything, will replace it. "I was asked about that 15 years ago, and while pricing is way higher than it used to be, there's still availability of aircraft. It's not a part of the market that we're struggling in." As for the replacement for the An-124, he suspects that the existing aircraft will still be soldiering on long after he retires. "After all, in my first job at Air Atlantique, we were operating DC6s, Lockheed Electras and DC3s - one of which had taken part in the Berlin Airlift." In aircraft, as with people, age is just a number, it would seem. ACS will continue to expand its office network, he predicts, following this year's opening of new outlets in Brussels and Monaco, and Perth last year. Expansion of the Time Critical division is also on the agenda, following the opening of bases in Frankfurt and Houston; Asia-Pacific could well be the next target, he says. The need to find the right people to work in the business remains a constant issue, meanwhile. Is it easy to get suitable people? "Yes and no. People do want to work in this industry, but it's harder to find the right people with the right attitude as well as aptitude. This is a business that you've got to live and breathe. It's 24-hour, it's global and to be one of our consultants, you've got to love what you do, to be available when your customers need you, and not everyone is cut out to work here. It's not an easy job, but it is one in which you can really make a difference."