Frustrated by delayed flights? As the saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
But, on a brighter note, charters and freighter flights may fare better than bellies.
Flight delays in Europe are up dramatically this year, according to Eurocontrol, the European air traffic control agency. While in the first five months of 2018, air traffic increased 3.4%, average delays have increased from 0.46 minutes per flight last year to 1.05 minutes per flight.
This momentum sets ...

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The size of container vessels calling at the port of Melbourne looks set to dramatically increase after Cosco, OOCL and ANL revealed plans to upscale their joint Asia-Australia service.
According to Loadstar sources, the three lines intend to dramatically upgrade the size of the vessels on the route as part of a revision of the service.
The existing string comprises five 5,500-6,000 teu vessels, but Melbourne port’s regulatory authority has given clearance for ...

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Non-operating owners of containerships are enjoying a much-needed rebound in charter hire rates, but a recent string of liner service cancellations and an uncertain outlook could derail that recovery.
Greek containership owner Danaos Corporation announced last week it had reached agreement with its lenders to refinance debt of around $2.2bn, which was due to be repaid by the end of this year.
The lenders involved include Royal Bank of Scotland, HSH Nordbank ...

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6 July is likely to be a new D-Day for UK haulage firm Eddie Stobart, according to this report from The Mail on Sunday. It claims that, at the AGM, ex-boss Andrew Tinkler will force a vote at the AGM on his plans to re-merge Stobart Group with Eddie Stobart Logistics. The two businesses were split around four years ago, with Stobart Group focusing on infrastructure, including Southend Airport, and Eddie Stobart Logistics ...

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CMA CGM is mourning its founder, Jacques Saade, who died yesterday in Marseilles at the age of 81.
Originally from Lebanon, the man who came to dominate French container shipping left the country during its brutal civil war and moved to France.
He founded Compagnie Maritime d’Affretement (CMA) in 1978 – it employed four people working on a one-ship service between Marseilles and Beirut.
Mr Saade gradually built up CMA’s service network, moving beyond the Mediterranean in 1983 ...

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Spend Matters has published an interesting Q&A with a supply chain academic on the union negotiations at UPS. Speaking before the recent agreement at the company, Beth Davis-Sramek looks at who had the upper hand, the strategies of rivals such as FedEx and potential contingency plans, and also notes how Hub by Amazon, the e-commerce giant’s new last-mile logistics option, could actually help the integrators in the peak, when they struggle with capacity.

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Asia-North Europe ocean carriers are looking to hike container shipping rates by up to $500 per teu from 1 July, as space availability begins to tighten with the start of the peak season.
Carriers appear to be adopting a “shock and awe” tactic of a substantial FAK increase rather than gradual smaller rises, knowing they may not get a better opportunity before demand weakens again as the peak season fizzles out.
One carrier source told The Loadstar this ...

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It is easy to suggest that DSV could soon bulk up inorganically and, consequently, just as I noted in in my latest coverage, it’s easy to understand why M&A can be a powerful tool for the Danish forwarder.
However, identifying suitable combinations is more problematic. As there is a paucity of sizeable acquisitions that could quench its M&A thirst, how about instead an incredible twist in the ending of this corporate ...

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Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), which last week announced it had grounded all its aircraft, does not expect flights to resume until next month.
It noted on its website that it anticipated flights would be grounded for just one week following its June 17 suspension, but said today: “The verification of the records will take longer than expected.
“Since we will not restart the network until we can conclude the record checking process, the first ...

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A two-year transition period is “not nearly long enough” for the logistics industry to tackle the myriad challenges brought about by Brexit, delegates at the FTA’s Keep Britain Trading event heard this week.
And a March 2019 ‘hard Brexit’ would be “catastrophic”.
Airbus yesterday added to the clamour, stating that a UK withdrawal from the EU with no deal would “directly threaten Airbus’s future in the UK” – a two-year transition would not be ...

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