Over and above the six extra flights announced in January, Delta will add a further 11 in July and August between Atlanta and Johannesburg. A B777-200LR aircraft will operate the service.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Using lighter containers for the transport of airfreight cargo not only saves costs but reduces carbon emissions considerably, making aviation a little greener. That was the motivation behind a recent project by Lufthansa Cargo which involved the use of 1 000 new lightweight containers on global routes.

Construction of the containers from lighter composites than aluminium reduces their weight by 20%, according to a spokesman, lowering fuel burn and CO2 emissions appreciably. “By 2020 we aim to reduce our specific fuel consumption by 25%,” said Lufthansa Cargo chairman Carsten Spohr.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has completed its R20 billion upgrades at the various airports across the country. Major projects at OR Tambo Airport include the completion of the Central Terminal Building at a cost of R2285m as well as a golf Apron (R424 million) and a multi storey parkade (R496 million).

Acsa said upgrades and development also saw a new multi storey parkade erected at Cape Town Airport costing R394 million as well as a new terminal costing R1522 million for the airport. In Bloemfontein the runway was rehabilitated to the tune of R121 million while other renovations and upgrades amounted to R46 million. In Durban an entire new airport is being developed at La Mercy, said Acsa. More than 3 000 jobs have been created as a result of these projects.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Effective March 30, Air Zimbabwe will resume scheduled services between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls. A B737 aircraft will be deployed on the route operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. .
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The Embassy of Finland has committed technical and financial assistance to the tune of 50 000 euros (R500 000) to the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG). The money will be used to gather data on how the growth along the transport corridors is affecting and improving economic conditions. It will also include the funding of a fact-finding mission to Helsinki Finland by members of the WBCG which will visit relevant institutions in Finland.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Safmarine Makutu bypassed Cape Town last week rather than incur delays in excess of 300 hours. Terminal data for February 24 confirmed her arrival five days previously and a plan to berth her on March 3, by which time her total delay (including 38 hours of wind stoppage) would have been 305.48 hours.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Bilateral trade ties will be on the agenda when President Jacob Zuma undertakes an official visit to Britain next month where he will meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, among others.

They are expected to discuss bilateral trade and issues of mutual interest when they meet on 2-5 March. Zuma, who will be accompanied by12 government ministers and a business delegation, will address the British Parliament at the Palace of Westminster. According to BuaNews, R74.9 billion in trade passed between the two countries in 2008. China’s recovery firmly on track.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Siza Mzimela will become the new CEO of SAA from March, taking over from acting CEO Chris Smyth. She is currently the CEO of SAA’s domestic partner airline, SA Express (SAX).

Mzimela joined SAX in 2003 and in 2009 the airline declared a net profit of approximately R235,4m under very difficult economic circumstances. She holds a degree in economics and statistics and started her career in the small business and retail division of Standard Bank in 1991.

Three years later she joined Total SA as a corporate planning analyst responsible for managing capital projects, before joining SA Airways (SAA) in 1996 as a research analyst. After various promotions at SAA, Mzimela was appointed executive vice-president of global passenger services in 2001/2, later taking on responsibility for the airline’s core business global sales and the airline's loyalty programme, Voyager in 2002/3. She was involved in setting overall strategic direction for the sales and Voyager team and in actively managing and reducing costs. She was also responsible for the strategic positioning of SAA and for optimising alliance partnerships. She is also a board member of SA Tourism and was the chairperson of the Airlines Association of South Africa for two years. In 2002, she was a finalist in the Nedbank Businesswoman of the Year Award.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Eskom has been granted a tariff increase of 24.8% effective from April 1 this year, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa said yesterday.

Eskom, which had initially requested a 45% tariff increase for the next three years, revised its request to 35% at the end of 2009. The utility claims that the increase is to help raise funds for its R385 billion power expansion plan. Following public hearings into the tariff increase request, Nersa approved only 24.8% for 2010, while Eskom will be granted a 25.8% increase from April 2011 and 25.9% in April 2012.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Lufthansa Cargo and Austrian Cargo are to merge their global activities from July 1. Apart from a joint-exercise in Austria, all freight activities round the world will be handled by Lufthansa Cargo.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

South Africa’s airlines are expected to require some 172 new aircraft by 2028 to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for air travel in the country, according to the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast.

Larger aircraft in all size categories are required to help ease traffic congestion and to accommodate growth on existing routes. South Africa has experienced 27% growth in air traffic over the past ten years. According to Andrew Gordon, Airbus Director Market Analysis, expectations following the global economic downturn is that aviation is back on track in terms of positive growth. “World freight traffic recovered by 22% in December 2009 alone. The forecast is that both passenger and freight volumes will continue to increase in 2010 and have returned to the predicted normal airline growth rate as was the forecast before 2009 by 2011.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

April 15 will see the launch by Indian carrier Jet Airways of a daily non-stop service between Johannesburg and Mumbai using a new widebody Airbus330-200 aircraft.

t’s the airline’s first destination on the African continent and the twenty-second in the airline’s international network. It currently flies to New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Sharjah and Riyadh.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

South Africa has four of the five best airports in Africa, according to the annual ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passenger survey. It put George first, followed by Johannesburg (Oliver Tambo), Cairo, Port Elizabeth and Durban. .
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Toll fees are set to increase from March 1 this year, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) announced last week.

Effective on all the national toll routes in the country, the increase is part of Sanral’s annual fee adjustments and has been approved by the Minister of Transport, Sibusiso Ndebele. Sanral CEO Nazir Alli said that toll financing enabled government to add capacity (new highways or additional lanes) that could not otherwise be funded under current and projected allocations from the fiscus. “The ‘user-pay’ principle is a constructive means of ensuring the delivery of a well maintained road infrastructure. Income from the tax base is therefore able to meet other prioritised sectors within the broader South African context.” .
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The announcement by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday that South Africa would spend R846 billion over the next 3 years on public infrastructure shows that our efforts in this regard will not all peter out once the Fifa World Cup investments have been completed.

This was the message from Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies, in his response to the Budget speech. “It demonstrates that we are on course to effect major infrastructure renewal in programmes that will continue for many more years.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s decision to increase fuel taxes by 25.5 cents per liter came under scrutiny following the delivery of his Budget Speech in Parliament. AA spokesman Gary Ronald said the cost would be severely felt in the freight industry and ultimately affect the pocket of the consumer while trade union Solidarity called the move a mistake.

In a statement the union said the increase in fuel taxes would ultimately result in an increase in the cost of living, and consequently inflation, and will be to the detriment of consumer spending.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

China’s exports rose by 21% in January compared to the same month a year earlier, while imports soared by 85.5% on the back of a very weak performance last year.

This, said the Shipping Gazette, added to other signs that world trade is starting to recover from the global financial crisis. The growth in exports could re-ignite calls from the US and the European Union (EU) for China to break its currency peg to the US dollar and allow the yuan to appreciate, reports The New York Times.

It also noted that the rapid rebound in Chinese exports has led to some factories located in the Pearl River Delta experiencing a shortage in available empty containers in which to ship their goods, while container shipping lines have been raising their rates. China has now overtaken Germany as the world's leading exporter, the report said, with Chinese exports amounting to US$1.2-trillion in 2009, compared to US$1.1-tn for Germany, according to figures provided by the German Federal Statistical Office. The China trade surplus was US$14.17-billion in January 2010, compared with US$18.43-bn in December and US$39.1-bn in January 2009, according to figures released by China's General Administration of Customs.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

March will see the launch by Safmarine of a new, direct, fully-containerised shipping service from Far East to East Africa.

The new service, to be known as the Mashariki* Express, will replace the existing ‘Mombasa Express’ service. The new service will be launched on March 2,with the sailing of the 2496 TEU Safmarine Zambezi from Mombasa in Kenya to Tanjung Pelepas in the Far East.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

With big mobile operators looking for growth wherever it can be found, Bharti Airtel, the biggest Indian operator when measured by subscribers, is hoping to expand into Africa.

It has already tried this move before, according to The Economist, when two previous efforts to merge with South Africa’s MTN fell through, the latest in September last year. “The deal was blocked by South Africa’s government,” the report added, “which was unwilling to let go of a national champion.”

But Bharti is now in talks with Zain, a Kuwaiti telecoms company, to buy its sub-Saharan assets for the equivalent of R82.39-billion. Said The Economist: “If the new deal proceeds, Bharti should find a warmer welcome in the 15 countries, including Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania, where Zain provides mobile phones to some 42-million customers.”

The arrival last week of the CMA CGM/Delmas vessel Northern Faith marked a milestone for the Port of Maputo. The 240m long, 3538 TEU vessel was the biggest container vessel to call at the port. She was en route to Far East base ports, connecting to worldwide destinations.

British Airways, in partnership with the Solena Group, is to establish Europe’s first sustainable jet-fuel plant and plans to use the low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014, according to a statement from the airline.

The new fuel will be derived from waste biomass and manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility that can convert a variety of waste materials, destined for landfill, into aviation fuel. The self-contained plant, likely to be sited in east London, will convert 500 000 tonnes of waste per year into 16 million gallons of green jet fuel through a process that offers lifecycle greenhouse gas savings of up to 95% compared to fossil-fuel derived jet kerosene.

This volume of fuel would be more than twice the amount required to make all of British Airways’ flights at nearby London City Airport carbon-neutral. Put another way, the fuel’s reduction in carbon emissions would be the equivalent of taking 48 000 cars off the road per year. The project will make further major savings in greenhouse emissions by reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill, thus avoiding production of the powerful global warming agent, methane, and generating 20MW of electricity a year from renewable sources.

British Airways has signed a letter of intent to purchase all the fuel produced by the plant, which will be built by the Solena Group, an advanced bio energy and bio fuels company based in Washington DC.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Several freight forwarders – including Kuehne & Nagel, Panalpina, DSV-Logistics, and air cargo players including UPS and DHL – have received statement of objections (SoO) from the European Commission (EC) over alleged price fixing.

An SoO is a procedural document whereby the EC communicates its preliminary view of a possible infringement of European Union (EU) competition law. The EC said the statements had been sent out over allegations of price-fixing cartels within the firms’ air forwarding divisions. It said: “The commission is investigating allegations that these companies fixed prices by colluding on the imposition, level, timing and application of various surcharges.

“The allegations concern four separate infringements involving the provision of freight forwarding services from the UK to outside the European Economic Area (EEA), from the EEA to the US, from China to the EEA and from southern China/Hong Kong to the EEA.”

This follows EC investigators launching raids on several forwarders’ premises in October 2007; and was part of a multinational probe into alleged anti-competitive behaviour by several major forwarders, conducted by several competition authorities – including those in the UK, the US, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and SA.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Durban director, Glenn Delve, has confirmed to Cargo Info News that the line is is amending its Europe-South Africa service with the reintroduction of a call at Rotterdam.

In South Africa, Port Elizabeth will be replaced with a call at Ngqura where MSC’s 4 953-TEU MSC Catania was the port’s maiden caller last October. The service changes will apply to slot charterers Hapag-Lloyd and Stinnes Linien.

The revised port rotation is: Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Las Palmas, Cape Town, Ngqura, Durban, Ngqura, Cape Town, Las Palmas, and back to Felixstowe.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The number of idle vessels is declining as carriers look to redeploy some of these vessels for their extra slow steaming long haul services.

In addition, shipping lines have also recommenced using vessels between 1 000 and 2 500 TEU on some new services that were previously discarded due to the financial crisis last year, while other vessels are now being used as “extra loaders” on trades suffering from tight space, according to a report by AXS Alphaliner.

The fast pace re-induction of vessels is evident from the hiring of 30 idle ships of 70 000 TEU capacity between mid-January and February 1 - which marked two consecutive fortnights of decline in idle capacity.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has approved the revised interconnection agreements that were filed by Vodacom, MTN and Cell C earlier this year.

The agreements provide for interconnection rates to drop from R1.25 to 89 cents, during peak period, from 1st March 2010. The rate for off-peak calls remains unchanged at 77 cents. “The Authority holds that this reduction in interconnection rates will be passed through to the consumers. However, the Authority has informed the three mobile operators that they are obliged to re- negotiate all interconnection agreements they have with other licensees based on the non- discrimination principle in clause 8 of the Interconnection Guidelines of 2000.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Boeing’s latest US$300-million 747-8 freighter - with 16% more cargo space than its predecessor - has embarked on its first flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington.

The company claims that the new, high-capacity 747 that will give cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter.

Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have ordered the 747-8 Freighter.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Toyota South Africa Motors has announced the vehicles to be included in its recall service campaign to correct the accelerator mechanism in these cars.

The list of affected vehicles is the result of an exhaustive technical study which covered all Toyota vehicles on sale in South Africa and includes the following models:

Toyota Corolla (February 2007 to January 2010) – 45 040 vehicles
Toyota Auris (June 2006 to January 2010) – 6 665 vehicles
Toyota Verso (October 2008 to January 2010) – 841 vehicles

This equates to a total of 52 546 Toyota vehicles that will form part of this campaign.

These vehicles will be recalled as part of a service campaign to correct a potentially faulty accelerator pedal mechanism. Toyota will start contacting customers of the affected vehicles immediately The corrective action should take less than an hour, but could take longer if the dealer is experiencing very high levels of service calls. The full cost of the corrective process will be borne by Toyota.

In an unrelated service action Toyota has decided to recall all new generation Prius models (August 2009 to February 2010) for a software upgrade to the electronic brake system. This action involves 216 vehicles. This upgrade will address the delayed brake feel on slippery surfaces that has been experienced elsewhere in the world. Given the small volume of new generation vehicles affected Toyota is already in the process of contacting each Prius owner to inform them of this upgrade and schedule a convenient appointment time at their closest Prius dealer.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

In 2009, Jiangyin, Xiamen, Zhanjiang and Huzhou broke into the list of Chinese ports with an annual throughput of 100-million tonnes.

This brought the total to 20, news agency Xinhua reported. The number of 100-mt ports reached 12 in 2006, 14 in 2007 and hit 16 by the end of 2008.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

By the time Valentine’s Day dawns on 14 February, Lufthansa Cargo will have delivered to Europe around 850 tonnes of roses on board its freighters or in the belly holds of its passenger aircraft.

That equates to about 24 million roses, or ten full MD-11 freighters. Kenya is among the world’s biggest rose producers, with more than 280 tonnes of roses sourced from Nairobi.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Recent port statistics provide patent evidence of the productivity problems at the port of Durban.

The port has a stated capacity for handling 3.2-million TEUs a year – 2.4-m at Durban container terminal (DCT) and 800 000 at Pier 1.” And last year, according to Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) statistics, 2.4-m TEUs went through the two terminals.

“On that basis they were 75% utilised. Under that there should be no congestion.” But there was significant congestion between September and November last year. “Quite simply, if there is congestion under this circumstance, the productivity is just not good enough. The assets employed are not achieving their theoretical capacity. “That means a shortage of productivity compared to the investment made,” says an industry source who has pointed a finger at management and staff.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Exporters’ problems with the unique consignment reference (UCR) number may have rather put the brakes on the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) plans to start full-scale electronic monitoring and matching of exports (EMME) this year.

The scheme is aimed at introducing an automatic system for checking exports leaving the country, and the money coming back into SA to pay for them – and the ultimate phasing out of the F178 foreign exchange form.

Toyota South Africa has named the models that will be part of the technical study of all the vehicles that are sold in South Africa They are the Auris, new generation Verso and Corolla and will in all probability be included in the South African recall programme.

The car manufacturer has not excluded any other vehicle yet and will be in a position to clearly communicate which model ranges and specific date ranges for those recalled models this week.

The January port stats from Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) make for a cheerful read – with seafreight totals leaping up over the same month last year.

Total bulk handled (with the majority through the iron ore port of Saldanha and the coal port of Richards Bay) was 15 043 783-tonnes – up 24.5% on the January 2009 total of 12 079 757-t.

Breakbulk was also up – hitting 960 456-t in January 2010, a rise of 29.6% on the previous January’s 741 053. Durban is the big player. The six commercial ports (now including the newly opened port of Ngqura) landed 112 658 full TEUs – up 14.3% on 09’s 98 548.

They shipped 89 926 full TEUs – up 27.4% on 70 597 TEUs in January 2009. Durban is again the main port for container movements.

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have placed export bans on 16 mines operating in the country for failing to grow food, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported this week.

Companies operating in the Katanga province in the southeast of the DRC are expected to plant some 500 hectares of staple crops as a contribution to improving food supplies in the province that is heavily dependent on imports.

The 16 mines, that include companies from China and Belgium, have effectively been banned with immediate effect from exporting any of their mining products due to their non-compliance with the province’s regulation.

In the US a partnership has been signed-up between Lufthansa Cargo, Covenant Aviation Security and Smiths Detection to provide low-cost security solutions for the freight forwarding, air cargo shipping and logistics industries.

This has been approved by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Lufthansa Cargo is the world’s largest scheduled air cargo carrier; Covenant specialises in on-site security services; and Smiths Detection in screening technologies - including X-ray and explosives trace detection systems.

French shipping line CMA CGM on Tuesday received confirmation of bank financing of US$80 million.

This is part of the overall restructuring plan which calls in particular for the grant of a US$500 million cash facility. This payment is made at a time when the Group’s operations are continuing to show strong improvement month after month, a spokesman said.

South Africa may not escape the recall of millions of vehicles by Toyota globally due to accelerator pedal problems.

Toyota in January announced its intention to recall approximately 2.3 million vehicles from across the globe due to the problem. This figure has since grown substantially with some 4.3 million cars and trucks having already been recalled in America, Europe and China to fix the accelerators.

The company has also taken the unprecedented action of stopping production of affected vehicles for the week of February 1.

Vehicles affected by the recall include certain 2009-2010 RAV4, certain 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, certain 2007-2010 Camry, certain 2010 Highlande, 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia,

South Africa, initially thought to be unaffected by the recall, was however notified this week that they it will be part of the expanded recall, despite not having experienced any problems. A spokesman for Toyota SA said a technical team had already been appointed to look at locally manufactured vehicles as well as imports.

As South Africa raises its export volumes of mostly bottled wines, it also increases its carbon emissions. “So it becomes a delicate balancing act to enhance our sustainability profile while pushing up our output," says Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (Wosa).

And one of the answers lies in reducing the weight of the bottles. "New 350 gram glass bottles for red and white wines have been designed to accommodate screwcap closures, which account for over 65% of South Africa's wine production. They are scheduled for launch by mid-April, in time for the 2010 harvest," said Birch. At the same time, the average weight of bottles sealed with corks has been reduced in weight from 570 grams to 460 grams, she said.

A fierce south-easter lambasted the Mother City for more than 16 hours from mid-afternoon on January 28 causing delays of more than 200 hours to vessels at Cape Town Container Terminal.

By far the worst affected was Nele Maersk, expected to berth on January 28 after arriving six days earlier (delay 284.50 hours).

Viking Eagle awaited transhipment cargo, hence her expected delay of 215.25 hours.

Uganda will start producing crude oil this year, Tullow Oil, the Irish firm exploring for oil and gas in Uganda, said.

According to the publication, New Vision, initial oil production will be between 500 and 1 000 barrels per day, which will progressively rise to 10 000 barrels next year and to 150 000 barrels by 2015.

African importers and exporters are being invited to attend the 107th Session of the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) taking place from April 15 to May 5 in Guangzhou in China.

With some 188170 buyers from more than 200 countries expected to attend the event, which sees more than 55 000 stands on show, the Canton Fair is heralded as one of the best ways of entering the Chinese market.

Organisers say it is an important channel of China’s foreign trade, representing the entire spectrum of the Chinese manufacturing industry.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced that total transits increased by a slim 2% in the first quarter of its 2009/10 fiscal year from October to January.

Transits were 3 590, compared to 3 520 in the same period for 2008/09. More bulk carriers and tankers went through, the authority added, but containership, reefer and ro-ro transits declined.

Figures just published showed that China’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 10.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter.

Industrial production jumped by 18.5% in the year to December, while retail sales increased by 17.5%, boosted by government subsidies and tax cuts on purchases of cars and appliances. In real terms, the rise in retail sales last year was the biggest for over two decades.

“A year ago many economists were fretting about unemployment and deflation,” reported The Economist. “Now, with indecent haste, they have shifted to worrying that the Chinese economy is overheating and inflation is taking off.

“The 12-month rate of consumer-price inflation rose to 1.9% in December, an abrupt change from July when prices were 1.8% lower than a year before.”

As of January 21 there were 5 896 ships active on liner trades, offering 13 690 765-TEU capacity and 181 720 546-tonnes deadweight (TDW), according to the latest AXS Alphaliner figures.

This includes 4 718 fully cellular ships, giving 13 101 095-TEU capacity.

We’ve read about piracy surcharges and peak season surcharges – and now you can add an obesity surcharge by airlines.

But according to Reuters, Air France-KLM has denied recent media reports that it planned an extra charge for overweight passengers if they were unable to fit into a single seat.

According to the report, the airline has said that from February 1 overweight passengers who had freely chosen to buy an extra seat for comfort would get their money back on flights that were not fully booked. Overweight passengers are offered a second seat at a 25% discount.

Unions are threatening to take to the streets if an electricity tariff increase of 35% per annum for the next three years is granted to Eskom.

Eskom initially requested a 45% increase per year, but this was later revised to 35%. In the meantime Cosatu has said it will oppose any tariff increase that exceeds inflation as it would negatively affect not only business but also lead to more illegal electricity connections.

Eskom has, however, told Nersa that the increase was necessary if the power utility did not want to compromise the continuity of electricity supply to the country.

The 1 550TEU reefer vessel, Alioth, the first vessel chartered for MBG Shipping’s new South Africa/Europe/West Africa service, remained in the port of Cape Town mid-week.

Ian Wicks, man behind the new venture, told Cargo Info News Alioth would sail “no later” than January 20. The service, beset by difficulties in obtaining reefer boxes, is seven weeks overdue.

As part of the preparations for this year’s 2010 Fifa World Cup, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) is to impose restrictions on hand luggage for domestic flights.

The new airport regulations came into effect yesterday (January 20) at OR Tambo International Airport and will be implemented at Cape Town and Durban International Airports on February 6.

Economy class passengers will be allowed to carry only one bag and a laptop while only two bags and a laptop will be allowed in business and first class. Compliance with these requirements will be verified at security checkpoints at the airports. Acsa said an increase in the number of hand luggage items was the reason behind the restrictions.“With passengers now being able to check in at home or though the self-service kiosks, we have seen a huge increase in hand luggage. “In many instances the hand luggage cannot fit into the cabin, meaning it has to be manually loaded into the hold of the aircraft, resulting in flight delays,” said Acsa spokesperson Solomon Makgale.

In a joint venture, SA Express and Congolese business BizAfrika Congo, have introduced a new airline.

Congo Express will begin operating an air service between Lubumbashi, Kinshasa and Mbuji Mayi in the DRC from February 1.

Emirates Airline and Airbus celebrated a milestone achievement last week with the handover of the 6 000th aircraft in the manufacturer’s 40 year history - Emirates’ eighth A380 and the 25th produced by Airbus.

With a total order for 58 aircraft, Emirates is the single largest customer for the A380.

Lufthansa Cargo has rallied to the support of Haiti’s earthquake victims and will next Monday despatch an MD-11 freighter with about 80 tonnes of relief supplies from Frankfurt bound for the Greater Antilles.

The shipment consists largely of food, medicaments and technical equipment. Since Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti is restricted exclusively to military aircraft, the relief flight will land in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. From there the supplies will be trucked by road to Haiti on a journey lasting around 15 hours.

At least four pirates have been killed following clashes over a record ransom paid for the Maran Centaurus, a Greek-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil.

According to Reuters the ransom, believed to be between $5.5 and $7 million, was dropped on the deck of the ship on Sunday for a record ransom. Witnesses said four pirates were killed in a clash between rival groups over the cash.

The supertanker was released on Monday, but the money has resulted in major fighting between piracy groups in the town of Harardhere in Somalia. The Maran Centaurus with its crew of 28 was seized on November 29 last year.

South Africa on Sunday became a member of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), which aims to promote the use of renewable energy worldwide, the South African Press Association reported yesterday.

Minister Elizabeth Dipuo Peters signed the necessary paperwork in Abu Dhabi to become a member of the agency that was founded last January. Peters said that membership allowed South Africa to work with other countries to accelerate the introduction of renewable energy and to confront our vexing energy challenges.

Reuters reports that Cecil Field airport in Jacksonville, Florida was awarded a federal license last week to fly commercial space vehicles being designed to ferry tourists, researchers and others beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Air charter operators are working round the clock to keep up with demand for humanitarian aid in earthquake-shattered Haiti. Chapman Freeborn Airchartering’s worldwide offices have processed a number of charter requests and are helping clients to get rescue teams and emergency aid supplies to the region.

The first cargo consignments left from Europe for Port au Prince (PAP) last week on Chapman Freeborn chartered IL-76 freighters, and many more are expected to follow in the coming days and weeks.

A wide range of freighters will be utilised for the aid operation - including L-100 Hercules, AN-12s, IL-76s, A300Fs, AN-124s B747Fs as well as passenger aircraft.

For the first stage, the cargo includes rescue equipment, medical supplies, blankets, high energy biscuits, tents and plastic sheeting. The second stage will see the movement of reconstruction equipment.

Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana will announce this week whether the new La Mercy airport, north of Durban, will be named King Shaka International Airport. The new airport is scheduled to start operating in May.

A major American port was forced to close this week after nine containers of highly explosive material spilled at the facility.

According to media reports, the Port in Morehead City, one of the deepest on the American East Coast, had to call in explosive experts following the incident. A forklift is believed to have punctured the containers containing the explosive during off-loading.

The South African Press Association reported that there were no injuries during the incident, but that fast action following the chemical spill helped to contain the situation.

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is to construct a hybrid car carrier, slated for launching in 2012. This will be used to validate and assess its CO2 reduction effect in actual operation.

The hybrid power supply system being developed combines solar power generation technology with lithium-ion batteries. The goal is zero emission while the vessel is in berth by effective use of renewable energy. Electricity generated by solar panels while the vessel is under way is stored in the lithium-ion batteries. The batteries then supply power while the vessel is in berth, allowing the diesel generator to be shut down.

China’s exports rose 17.7% in December, with news agency Xinhau suggesting the country has overtaken Germany as the world’s largest exporter. The rise, compared to a year earlier, breaks a 13-month decline in trade as a result of the global downturn.

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) said exports overall in the year were US$1.2-trillion, down 16% from in 2008, while imports were US$1.01-tn, 11.2% down.,
The total trade surplus was down 34.2% to US$196.1-billion.

The figures suggest China will surpass Germany’s export total for the whole of 2009, although this will not be confirmed until Germany’s full-year data is published in February.

Singapore is set to retain its title as the world’s busiest box port even though container volumes last year fell for the first time since the dot.com bubble burst in 2001, reports Lloyds List.

Analysts said provisional figures, which are likely to be confirmed by March, will show the position of the world’s top four box ports — Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen – will remain as is.

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