Borjan Logistics LLP

Vistara will now allow its customers to directly search and book flights on Google through the integrated ‘Book on Google’ feature. Following the implementation of the New Distribution Capability (NDC), made possible through a technology partnership with Amadeus, passengers will now be able to seamlessly book Vistara flights while searching for them on Google, without getting redirected to any other website.

Commenting on the launch of the new service, Vinod Kannan, chief commercial officer in Vistara, said: “Customer centricity is one of our core values and it has been our constant endeavour to offer our customers the finest and most seamless experience – not just while flying with us, but across the customer journey. We are sure that this new ‘Book on Google’ feature will enable an even more hassle-free experience and bring greater convenience to our customers.”

The launch of ‘Book on Google’ feature streamlines the ticket-booking process and allows for flights booking through the following steps:

Customers will need to log in to their Google accounts while booking their flights. This will enable all the saved information to get automatically filled for booking (including name, contact details etc.)
Payment options, saved on Google, will be displayed automatically allowing a smooth transition from search to reservation and finally to the payment process. They can also decide to add a new credit / debit card during the booking process
Customers will also progressively be able to view and purchase optional upgrades, pre-purchase additional baggage allowance, seat selection, and much more on the same Google interface.

Airlines’ hopes of a peak season boost in November failed to materialise with a year-over-year fall in demand of 1 percent point, registering the first decline in demand since the road to recovery started six months ago, according to CLIVE Data Services and TAC Index.

From a low of -37 percent in April, the gap in year-on-year air cargo volumes has been steadily closing in the subsequent months to the end of October, by which time the margin versus 2019 volumes had reduced to -12 percent. In November, however, the gap rose slightly to -13 percent as the coronavirus continued to take its toll on global trade and international supply chains.

New data for the four weeks ending November 29 shows that capacity – up 3 percent month-on-month – outpaced demand, with chargeable weight increasing by just 2.5 percent. Overall, the available capacity was 21 percent less than a year ago. Consequently, despite rising to 72 percent in the opening two weeks of November, the dynamic load factor reduced to 70 percent for the second half of the month which, although 5 percent points higher year-on-year, was still below the 8 percent points load factor increase in the month of October 2020.

Niall van de Wouw, managing director of CLIVE Data Services, said, “After six months of small but encouraging improvements, the stalling of demand in November – typically a peak month when we’d expect dynamic load factor growth – could be seen as a further negative indicator. However, we must contrast this with the impact of lockdowns and restrictions imposed by governments to slow the second wave of Covid, especially in Europe and the US.

Airfreight rates
Looking at major trade lanes, TAC Index reports airfreight rates in November increased significantly from Hong Kong and China to Europe month-over-month by 30 and 24 percent respectively, although rates from Hong Kong to both Europe and the United States flattened towards the end of the month and, week-on-week analyses shows China-Europe rates decreasing by around 6 percent towards the end of November.

Robert Frei, business development director at TAC Index, stated, “This is a fluctuating market. The increase in rates is likely to be the result of airlines selling more capacity on the short-term market and forwarders securing air cargo capacity through charter arrangements. Overall, in November, we did not see the rates one would have expected based on earlier anticipation of a strong peak season.”

Amid an anticipated surge in vaccine logistics demand, Abu Dhabi announced the launch of Hope Consortium to cement its position as the global logistics hub to facilitate Covid-19 vaccine distribution across the world.

Comprising global entities, the Hope Consortium represents a complete supply chain solution to address vaccine transport, demand planning, sourcing, training, and digital technology infrastructure, and facilitate vaccine availability across the world.

The news follows Hope Consortium member Etihad Cargo and the consortium transporting five million vaccines in November on behalf of the department of health – Abu Dhabi, which is spearheading the consortium and will oversee regulatory compliance, full chain expertise and scientific insight.

The consortium also includes Abu Dhabi Ports Group, Rafed, the healthcare purchasing arm of Abu Dhabi-based ADQ, and Switzerland’s SkyCell, which develops temperature-controlled logistics containers for the pharmaceutical industry. As part of the Hope Consortium, SkyCell will establish a regional service and manufacturing centre in Abu Dhabi.

The Hope Consortium has pooled its collective expertise to garner a multi-faceted capability to provide logistics services to handle over six billion doses from the vaccines being developed and manufactured around the world – whether in single or multi doses – in cold and ultra-cold conditions in 2021, rising to over three times more doses by the end of next year – the largest capacity and logistics capability regionally and one of the largest globally.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, chairman of the department of health – Abu Dhabi, said, “While assuring vaccine supply to the domestic market, the Hope Consortium will offer international governments, non-governmental organisations, and vaccine suppliers a cohesive solution across every supply chain step – from air freight, regional storage and temperature monitoring, to inventory management, cold and ultra-cold container solution, regulatory clearance, and healthcare and pharma quality assurance.”

Distribution of the vaccines, which will be stored in Abu Dhabi Ports Company facilities, will be carried out by Etihad Cargo, the first Middle Eastern carrier to gain IATA’s Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) certification for pharmaceutical logistics. The UAE’s national carrier will leverage its extensive intercontinental network, fleet and charter flights to supply vaccines globally.

“With two-thirds of the world’s human footprint within a four-hour flight of Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital’s investment in technological expertise and world-class infrastructure facilities means we can serve as a global logistical hub to and for, the world,” explained Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group.

“Etihad Cargo’s role in the consortium will leverage our outstanding pharmaceutical logistics expertise and specialised pharma and healthcare service, PharmaLife, the IATA CEIV Pharma certified product capable of facilitating temperature-sensitive cargo between +25⁰C and -80⁰C. Our network reaches across key destinations will be supported by the utilisation of our charter operations to meet global demand for swift and secure Covid-19 vaccine shipments.

“We are already managing all anticipated shipment elements through our dedicated Covid-19 vaccines workforce,” Douglas added. “A dedicated pharmaceutical handling facility to accommodate increased capacity at our Abu Dhabi hub is also currently under review, as well as additional thermal covers and enhanced capabilities at origin stations based on established pharma trade lanes and specific requests.”

As part of the Hope Consortium, Abu Dhabi Ports, which has the Middle East’s largest capacities for cold chain and ultra-cold storage, will leverage its capabilities as an innovation epicentre serving the Middle East and wider world through Abu Dhabi as a supply chain gateway connecting East and West.

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, group CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports, said, “Our expansive operations at KIZAD are among the largest cold chain and ultra-cold storing in the region and enable us to support the emirate’s drive to spearhead global immunisation efforts that will positively impact millions of lives.

Dr Noura Al Dhaheri, head of Digital Cluster – Abu Dhabi Ports, CEO of Maqta Gateway, said, “Supporting the uninterrupted flow of critical cargo, such as medical and food supplies have been crucial in Abu Dhabi Ports’ story during 2020, but the distribution of vaccines will form the most significant success to date. Maqta Gateway is committed towards creating innovative digital solutions to boost the transparency and integrity of the region’s supply chain.”

The Hope Consortium intends to transport the vaccines using SkyCell’s hybrid containers. The storage and transportation containers are secured through an IoT monitoring service which tracks temperature conditions to ensure sensitive vaccines are protected even under extreme conditions. With insulation and cutting-edge cooling technology, the containers maintain steady temperatures for an average of 202 hours (8.4 days) and self-recharge automatically in a cooling chamber or re**er truck.

APM Terminals Pipavav, one of India’s leading gateway port in Gujarat, in September received ₹700 crore from its board to upgrade existing facilities for handling bigger ships and helping it to increase the container capacity to 1.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Breaking its self-record of handling 263 container trains in 2013, the terminal operator in April 2020 handled 293 container trains.

Jakob Friis Sørensen, managing director, shares insight on how digitalisation helped in zero fatality rate for 500 days and Asian market to evolve post-pandemic.

With the infusion of ₹700 crores, what are the developments planned at APM Terminals Pipavav?
The proposed investment is for upgrading the port's existing container handling facility. We aim to strengthen our network and enhance our services extended to all our stakeholders. Our plan also includes replacement of 3 existing cranes with 4 new cranes with a wider outreach and progressive increase in container yard capacity to 1.6 million TEUs. It also includes the purchase of two-yard cranes. The container yard capacity will be expanded once the cargo growth is visible post commissioning of DFC (Dedicated Freight Corridor). This investment is subject to the extension of the current concession agreement which is up to September 2028.

The RoRo yard facility at Pipavav has almost halved in the last few months. What is the next step to optimise the port’s business?
The drop in volumes in RoRo business has been primarily due to lower export volumes of automobiles. Due to the drop in the volume of RoRo business, we are looking at the vacant yard for storage of containers. The RoRo business is comparatively smaller and the drop in volume in that particular segment does not impact the overall growth of the port in terms of cargo volume.

Amid lockdown APM Terminals Pipavav in April has given free 15 days storage to customers. What are the other measures implemented by the company to keep the business continuing during these difficult times? Elaborate on the record of 293 container trains handled at the port in April.
Being a port service, we are engaged in providing essential service and port operations are imperative to ensure that the supply chain remains uninterrupted and availability of essential supplies is maintained. The port has adopted standard crisis protocol at both the international and local levels as per the various relevant guidelines of government of India, government of Gujarat and other statutory bodies/administration.

During these tough times, we also set a record of handling 293 container trains in April 2020 amid the country-wide lockdown imposed by the government breaking our record of handling 263 container trains in July 2013. When the lockdown was imposed in March, port operations were deemed essential service and we cautiously took measures to ensure that the port operates smoothly and with utmost precaution. We implemented a business continuity plan to remove the stress of the pandemic situation and received the cooperation from all the stakeholders to achieve this record even during the Covid-19 scenario.

Having a zero fatality for 500 days for a multipurpose port like Pipavav is commendable. Is digitalisation one of the reasons for this achievement?
Completing 500 days of safe operations was one of our biggest milestones in safety. This has been achieved due to constant care, continuous training, monitoring and supervising the operations at all levels by the management. This has also been possible because of the committed employees who embraced safety in their day-to-day operation at work. The training that we undertook with our employees helped us get through the ongoing lockdown period and the port continued to function for 24x7 ensuring safe and smooth operations. Digitalisation is sure a key factor in assessing the requisites and catering to the procedural activities of the port and has added to achieve our score of zero fatality rate. We believe the adoption of technologies and digital transformation can further help in rendering mileage to port activities.

With more than 500 trucks per day passing through the gates at APM Terminals Pipavav, even the smallest efficiency improvement quickly adds up to several hours saved per day. The terminal’s latest digital solution offers significant environmental benefits, cost savings and improved safety.

Your career with AP Moller Maersk Group is more than three decades old. You have seen the emergence of Asian port sector very closely. How this region has evolved over the years and can tackle the current crisis?
It’s a very broad question as the Asian region is quite vast and different geographies have expanded in its time frame. South East Asian countries and China have been export-driven economies and they have expanded their port capacity in a graded manner. China has a container capacity of over 260 million TEUs; while the combined capacity of South East Asia is around 160 million TEUs. Singapore and Malaysia have more container port capacity per 1,000 workforce while others have a bit less. The global trade tensions have opened opportunities for several countries in the region and they have to increase their port capacity to meet the demand.

The Covid-19 has led to the closing of economies across the Asian region and there was a demand shock. This impacted the volumes at Indian ports as well. Overall, this crisis is an evolving one and we are seeing some positive signs and hope that business will improve in coming quarters.