Cargojet ups freighter flights to Liege

Cargojet will increase its capacity between North America and Europe this month with the launch of an additional service to Liège, Belgium. The Canadian freighter operator said the new Wednesday service beginning 23 September builds on its established weekend service. This new service to the Belgian freighter hub will be operated with a Boeing 767 freighter on the Hamilton - Halifax - Liège - Hamilton route. Cargojet said the service advances its One Network strategy by integrating domestic overnight, ACMI and charter operations across an expanding network of international markets. "This expansion demonstrates the power of our One Network strategy -- connecting our domestic overnight network with our international operations to deliver greater reach, flexibility and value for our customers," said Pauline Dhillon, chief executive, Cargojet. "Growing demand from customers across Central and Western Europe for our weekend Liège service created an opportunity to add mid-week capacity and provide customers with a more seamless, fully connected solution between Canada, Europe and beyond." The carrier entered the scheduled European market with the launch of a Liege connection last year. Previously, Cargojet only offered a charter operation to Europe. According to Planespotters, Cargojet has a fleet comprising 16 757Fs, 25 767Fs, mostly passenger to freighter (P2F) conversions. Cargojet saw both its revenues and profits grow in the second quarter of the year as higher fuel prices, contractual price increases and new charter opportunities affected performance.

Mexican aviation alarmed as AFAC faces 73% budget cut

Alarm bells are ringing at Mexican aviation firms and their customers over next year's planned budget allocation to the national aviation agency (AFAC). One fear is that the severe cuts could jeopardise the Category I status of Mexican aviation safety and once again arrest expansion plans of Mexican airlines. The federal government's proposed budget for 2027 allocates MX$175.45m ($10.216m) to AFAC, a whopping 73.3% cut from its funding this year, when it received MX$657.5m. According to observers, this is one of the lowest amounts given to the regulator since its inception. For an agency tasked with supervision of national aviation safety and operation, airlines, aircraft and airports, the amount seems woefully inadequate. According to earlier estimates from AFAC, it needs at least MX$2bn a year. Lawmakers are decidedly frugal in their planned funding for aviation. In the 2027 budget plan SENEAM, the national air traffic control agency, is set to receive around M$926m, a cut of nearly 76% from its current funding. The drastic cuts have drawn criticism from industry groups as well as pilots and academics. Mexico's National Chamber of Air Transport (CANAERO) and IATA, the international airline interest group, issued a joint statement that the planned budget is far short of requirements. They pointed out that in recent years a combination of challenges has significantly increased its costs and operational complexity, pointing to high fuel prices and disputed bilateral regulatory processes, among others. "All of this demands a solid aeronautical authority with technical capacity, operational strength and adequate financial resources for its correct operation," they stressed. According to the Mexican Transport Institute, passenger numbers were up 0.6% year on year in July, while cargo tonnage increased 2% year on year. Arguably the biggest concern is over Mexican aviation's safety rating, and the timing of the budget plan release comes just at a time when this is under scrutiny. The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) performed an audit of AFAC in August, and the results are expected to be announced in October. If Mexico were to lose its Category 1 rating as a result of this, it would set the nation's carriers back yet again, curtailing their ability to open new routes to US destinations or increase frequencies on existing sectors. This is what happened in 2021, when the FAA downgraded Mexico's aviation safety rating to Category 2, and it took more than two years before Category 1 was restored. As it is, Mexican airlines are still facing restrictions in the US market which the FAA imposed last year in a dispute over the reduction of slots at Mexico City's Benito Juarez airport and the ban on freighter flights there, which forced all-cargo carriers to shift to Felipe Angeles International Airport. The US authority branded these measures a violation of the Mexico-US aviation agreement, and subsequently revoked 13 route authorisations for Mexican carriers. In addition, it banned them from opening new transborder routes and increasing frequencies on existing routes. The two sides reached an agreement in May on measures intended to resolve the dispute, but Washington has yet to lift the restrictions on Mexican airlines. A failed safety audit would cement these restrictions for some time, frustrating ambitions of Mexican airlines to increase their presence in the cross-border market - not only to capture more US-Mexico traffic but also to attract flows between Latin America and intercontinental markets in Asia and Europe. Airlines contacted by The Loadstar did not comment on the issue. In their joint statement IATA and CANAERO made an appeal to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit as well as to the Chamber of Deputies to "reconsider this measure with a comprehensive vision, ensuring the necessary resources so that AFAC can fully comply with its responsibilities for the benefit of the national aviation industry". AFAC has responded to industry concerns with a statement assuring stakeholders that additional funding will be made available outside the 2027 budget plan. "The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit will guarantee the necessary resources for AFAC to develop its regulatory, supervisory, and oversight functions, as well as actions aimed at strengthening operational safety in the country," the regulator stated. It gave no details on the mechanism to allocate such additional funding, nor on the likely amount it could receive. Presumably US regulators would be interested in these details, not to mention how the lawmakers arrived at their determination of AFAC funding needs for 2027 in the first place.

Kuehne+Nagel enters long-term deal with Amazon

Kuehne+Nagel has entered into a long-term agreement with Amazon to build on their existing relationship. The forwarder said that the new agreement is designed to support future business opportunities and further strengthen customer services for Amazon and its affiliates. It includes Amazon Web Services (AWS), encompassing the infrastructure lifecycle from construction and equipment deployment to ongoing maintenance, upgrades and expansion projects. "By building on its relationship with Amazon and AWS, Kuehne+Nagel will strengthen supply chain resilience, scalability and operational efficiency, supporting the continued growth of cloud infrastructure globally," the company said. Stefan Paul, chief executive of Kuehne+Nagel International, explained: "We are excited to enter this long-term collaboration with Amazon, with a shared focus on scale, innovation and customer value. "Kuehne+Nagel's global network, digital capabilities and supply chain expertise are well positioned to support Amazon's evolving business needs, enabling us to accelerate future growth opportunities and create lasting value for our customers. "We are setting the foundation for a new level of customer service commitment at a global scale for Amazon." The partnership is also supported by a call option on existing Kuehne+Nagel shares that settles in cash or, at Amazon's election, in shares, with vesting based on commercial milestones and services over a period of up to seven years. Kuehne+Nagel has arranged for a third-party financial institution to engage in hedging transactions in to support the arrangement.