SkyNews.ch is published by Hansjörg Bürgi and his team and is issued every month with a circulation of 10’000 copies. It appears in German language only and addresses all the aspects and interesting facts and figures of aviation in and outside Switzerland.
Following the recent launch of our network of cargo flights, Swiss WorldCargo will continue to fly to different global destinations as part of its cargo-only network.
A new addition will be flights connecting Zurich and Mumbai. These flights will take place 3x weekly. Connecting the Indian economy to Switzerland, Europe and the world during remains an important focus for us despite these challenging circumstances.
Tuesday 05 May - Peter Somaglia, president of IG Air Cargo, participated to an online Webinar on the challenges brought by the Coronavirus to the Air Freight industry.
The webinar organized and moderated by GS1 Switzerland (https://www.gs1.ch/) also saw the participation of Gian Carlo Alessi, Head of Cargo Department at Euroairport Basel/Mulhouse, a member organization of IG Air Cargo Switzerland. The webinar was a great success with about 80 Swiss airfreight professionals joining the Zoom online session. All the current impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on the Swiss Air Cargo market were analyzed with plenty of statistical data. Questions from the audience were answered live. This is the full recording of the session.
On 5 May 2020, the Lufthansa Annual Shareholders General Meeting will be held. The speech of the Chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr's has been published in advance.
In order to mitigate the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the German Government passed a law which allows holding an Annual General Meeting without physical shareholder presence. Deutsche Lufthansa AG will make use of the new legislation and the 67th Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 5 May 2020 at 10:00 hrs will be held for the first time exclusively virtually.
In light of the rapidly spreading disease named as COVID-19, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) actively monitors its economic impacts on civil aviation and regularly publishes updated reports and adjusted forecasts.
Reports of increased cybercrime in connection with the Coronavirus epidemic and the lockdown measures.
The webpage of IATA Cargo has been cloned and our association was the target of a phishing attempt last week. We received a fraudulent email requiring us to login on a fake webpage replicating the one of our hosting provider. Luckily, we realized something was wrong and did not fall in the trap.
These days people and organizations, normally involved in more traditional illegal activities, might engage in cybercrime due to the widely imposed restrictions of movement. Furthermore, the recent increased exposure of the air cargo industry in the media, might attract the undesired attention of cybercriminals.
We remind our members and all actors of the Air Cargo community to stay vigilant. Below are links to some useful resources:
Swiss International Air Lines expands its cargo network reconfigures three Boeing 777s into full cargo aircraft
SWISS and its Swiss WorldCargo division have performed more than 80 cargo-only flights since the end of March, transporting over 1,300 tonnes of airfreight between Asia and Switzerland. The cargoes concerned have consisted mainly of medicines and medical supplies and equipment for the Swiss healthcare system. SWISS plans to operate over 100 further cargo flights on behalf of various private and public entities between now and the end of May.
IATA Economics Department provides analysis of economic and policy developments affecting the global airline industry
Brian Pearce, Chief Economist at the International Air Transport Association, has published on April 14th a new financial impact assessment of Covid-19 on the airline industry.
World Economic Outlook Reports
The COVID-19 pandemic is inflicting high and rising human costs worldwide, and the necessary protection measures are severely impacting economic activity. As a result of the pandemic, the global economy is projected to contract sharply by –3 percent in 2020.
Read more: COVID19 - IMF publishes World Economic Outlook - April 2020
SRF - Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen - Radio program on Air Cargo during the Coronavirus epidemic
The quasi-grounding of passenger planes also has consequences for freight transport and global commodity prices.
Read more: COVID19 - Costs for freight transport increase massively
In response to the growing demand of operating cargo flights with passenger aircrafts, International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released a specific documentation.
Read more: IATA releases: "Guidance for Safe Transport of Cargo in Passenger Cabin".
Swiss WorldCargo to perform more than ten cargo flights for Swiss healthcare institutions.
SWISS is to perform a series of flights bringing vital protective medical equipment from China to Switzerland. The operation, which is extensively supported by the company’s Swiss WorldCargo airfreight division, is being conducted on behalf of the Zurich Cantonal Pharmacy.
Read more: COVID19 - Swiss WorldCargo performs more all cargo flights
In view of the many adversities created by the Covid19 pandemic, the Swiss Federal Customs Administration (EZV) has undertaken various measures to ensure that freight traffic is handled as efficiently as possible.
Read more: COVID19 – Swiss Customs measures for goods transport
Swiss WorldCargo, the Air Cargo division of Swiss International Air Lines, re-introduces capacity to its network.
Destinations served from/to Zurich Airport include: JFK, EWR, BKK, PVG, PEK and several European destinations. Please check the following links for updated information:
Read the official communication (URL - English)
Latest network updates (URL - English)
Cargo charter flights info (URL - English)
The European Commission has issued important guidelines facilitating Air Cargo operations during COVID-19 outbreak
Continued and uninterrupted air cargo services are vital for the economy and for fighting COVID-19, and European and global supply chains depend on them being operated unhindered. Air cargo should therefore be able to continuously deliver critical products such as food, medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), and other products which are vital for the functioning of sensitive supply chains.
Read more: COVID19 – European Commission Guidelines Facilitating Air Cargo Operations
Can airlines currently cancel their flights at short notice due to travel warnings in connection with the coronavirus pandemic without running the risk of having to pay compensation under the European Passenger Rights Regulation?
Swiss WorldCargo, the air cargo division of SWISS, will operate cargo-only flights on some aircraft
Swiss WorldCargo is a belly carrier, transporting high-value and care-intensive goods on the existing SWISS passenger network. In these unprecedented times, the carrier is committed to continue maintaining global supply chains and delivering goods on behalf of its customers.
Aviation has a systemic importance for Switzerland - The Confederation must ensure liquidity.
The spread of coronavirus poses an unprecedented challenge to the air transport. AEROSUISSE demands that the Confederation intervene to ensure the liquidity of the entire sector. This is the only way to to ensure that Switzerland and its economy have the necessary connection to the international networks as soon as the coronavirus crisis ends.
Read the complete article (URL - German)
Read the complete article (URL - French)
The Luftfracht Kompakt 2019 was a great success.
IG Air Cargo Switzerland will offer a 2nd seminar edition starting in April 2020 again for the greater area Zurich. It is also planned to replicate it in the region of EAP-Basel-Mulhouse during the second half of 2020. The specialized Air Cargo trainings are offered trough the partner association SPEDLOGSWISS. Luftfracht Kompakt (Compact Airfreight) will consist of 4 half days and it is offered in German language. The course is suitable for all employees in the air freight of shippers, importers and logistics service providers.
Info & Anmeldung: Luftfracht Kompakt @ SPEDLOGSWISS
The 13th member of Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame, Walter Mittelholzer was a co-founder of Swissair and thus also pioneer of Swiss air freight. His official admission of to the Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame will take place on 27.5.2020 at the Museum of Transport in Luzern.
View here the SHOF Press Release (PDF - German)
IG Air Cargo Switzerland has received the final Foreign Trade Statistics 2018 from the Swiss Federal Customs Administration. The EZV Cargo statistics cover a 10 years period to give an overview of the industry key indicators with focus on Airfreight. The file is available at this link: https://igaircargo.ch/index.php/statistics/64-2019-foreign-trade-statistics-for-air-cargo-ezv-2009-2018
Since today the Interest Group Air Cargo Switzerland has a page on LinkedIn® . If you are a member of this social network, please follow us.
View page at: linkedin.com/company/igaircargo-ch
As of June 1st 2019, IG AirCargo Switzerland has renewed it website, with a fresh look, new features, a responsive design and a security certificate. There are sections dedicated to the projects of IG Air Cargo, solutions to support digitization, downloads, statistics, information, news event and more. Members can now edit their own company profile, add information and promote their services to the public and the other members.