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| Vol. 24 No. 4 | Thursday January 30, 2025 |
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The man who has been the singular Pied Piper of
local air cargo clubs, trade associations like AfA and IATA, CNS and now
FIATA and seems to always be there for everybody else, Airforwarders Association’s
Brandon Fried is pictured in an endearing moment at home with Rhodes the
grandson blessing delivered to Brandon and Kim 14 months ago.But while “baby, its cold outside” this week and into the foreseeable future Brandon Is back on the road again, doing what he has done best for decades, appearing out on the hustings in support of industry organizations and air cargo clubs. Brandon Fried brings to these gathering leading edge news and views, whilst supporting the proposition that organized air cargo activities anywhere in the world are a worthwhile endeavor and deserve his full support. Today January 30, Brandon appears at the JFK Air Cargo Association luncheon in New York and next week Brandon addresses the Orlando Florida Air Cargo Association Wednesday February 5. Ask him what are the speaking subjects and his answer is immediate: “As you know, there’s much in our industry to talk about.” Brandon says gently. When it comes to what’s hot, what’s not and what is the latest news, this industry advocate arrives and delivers the goods to his audience like a breath of fresh air. All of this activity and a very busy schedule continues whilst Brandon is readying AirCargo 2025, the must-to-attend, big kahuna air cargo industry gathering scheduled for Dallas, Texas March 2-5. Before all of that, the erstwhile Brandon shares some thoughts: “I’m honored to play a role in the success of our Annual Air Cargo Conference that has been a cornerstone event in our industry for over 30 years,” he declared. “Our success is driven by a dedicated group of partner organizations, including the Airforwarders Association. the Air & Expedited Motor Carriers Association and Airports Council International – North America. All have worked tirelessly to make this a must-attend event. “Also, I’m thrilled to share that we are surpassing exhibition hall and sponsorship expectations and are on track to set a record for attendee numbers—making this year’s conference bigger and better than ever. “It’s an exciting time, and I can’t wait to welcome everyone to Dallas in March!”, Brandon Fried exclaimed. GDA
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The iPhone you’re holding -- one out of every seven iPhones is made in India -- was likely manufactured in India. Apple’s iPhone shipments from India have crossed $10.7 billion in 2024 and, according to reports, it has overtaken the combined sales of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturers, Hindustan Unilever and Nestle. Apple has beaten Samsung in smartphone sales for the second year in a row in India, according to market researcher IDC India, according to business daily Economic Times. iPhone shipments in India in the September quarter was at 4 million units and IDC pointed out that Apple was on target to send out more than 12 million iPhone units in India in 2024. 
iPhones 14, 15 and 16 along with Pro and Pro
Max models are exported from India to Europe, West Asia and the U.S. The
highest taker of smartphones from India was the U.S. In FY19, India exported
smartphones worth $5.23 million to the U.S. but in FY24, the figure shot
up to $5.56 billion giving it the status of the second-largest exported
product to the U.S. after diamonds. In April-August 2024, smartphone exports
touched $2.8 billion to become the largest exported item to the U.S. Diamond
exports were at $2.1 billion for the same period.Smartphone exports mean good times for the air cargo sector and the surge in exports has come at a good time for Air India. The carrier is boosting its cargo capacity. It wants its belly cargo capacity to go up four-fold when it starts inducting the 470 Airbus and Boeing aircraft on order from 2025. Air India’s parent company, Tata Group has Wistron’s India operations under its belt and iPhone shipments would be Air India’s top choice. The Taiwan-based Wistron is part of the three iPhone contract manufacturers in India, the other two being Foxconn and Pegatron. On January 28, Reuters reported that Tata Electronics bought a 60% stake in Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron’s India unit– it employs 10,000 people and produces five million iPhones annually -- near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. This further solidifies Tata Group’s position as an Apple supplier. There is more good news from the mobile phone industry in India for air cargo stakeholders. In a recent move, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) -- the apex industry body of mobile and electronics industry – has desired more air cargo capacity to accommodate the rise in exports. ICEA figures point out that total electronics exports were $29.1 billion for the financial year 2023-24, of which mobiles stood at $15 billion. The ICEA asked Indian airports to be prepared for an eight-fold increase to $180 billion in mobile exports by 2030. To accommodate that huge growth, mobile phone players want Indian airports to ramp up their existing cargo handling capacity to support a projected eight-fold increase in device exports to $USD 180 billion by 2030, industry body ICEA said.  Speaking
to top Indian news agency Press Trust of India, ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo
highlighted that the airport infrastructure at several airports had almost
reached saturation levels since they were “operating at 80-100 percent
of their capacity”. He said that the present levels were reason enough
for “expansion of existing airports and developing new ones”.He also mentioned that the target of achieving $500 billion of electronics by 2030 demanded airport capacity to handle $180 bn of exports. “By 2030, electronics will not only be India's top two exports (at the rate of $180-200 billion per year), but also significantly larger in terms of air cargo compared to any other export from India,” according to Mohindroo. While mobile phones comprise 55% of India’s exports from Delhi airport, Chennai and Bangalore take up 30% and 10%. The ICEA Chief said most of the airports lacked truck parking, docking and loading/unloading for integral cargo handling activities. To add to the delays, customs procedures were time-consuming. In China, for example, the factory to take-off is achieved on Day 1, but in India, this happens on Day 2. The Indian government is keen to boost exports and has an ambitious plan to establish 50 airports in the next five years. The Greenfield Noida International Airport – the second international airport in Delhi and the National Capital Region – will begin operations in April 2025 with 30 flights, of which three will be international and two cargo. Noida incidentally has Samsung’s mobile phone factory. Additionally, investments have been planned to set up a Greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai, the hub of iPhone manufacturing in India. A masterplan is to be created by the end of 2025 with civil construction work starting by the end of 2026. Parandur Airport is projected to be completed and opened in 2028. Tirthankar Ghosh |
India is set to host the 2025 FIATA Region Asia Pacific (RAP) event in Delhi from May 21 to May 24. Hosted by the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI), this significant gathering will highlight India's growing economic significance on the global stage. The RAP meet comes at a crucial time. J.P. Morgan Research had, in August 2024, raised the probability of a U.S. and global recession starting before end-2024 to 35% and a 45% chance that it will do so by the end of 2025. According to a report by economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), India’s overall exports of goods and services in 2024 is estimated to cross $814 billion, an increase of 5.58 per cent, In 2023, merchandise and services exports stood at $768.5 billion. In 2024, according to the report, merchandise exports will reach $ 441.5 billion: a modest 2.34 per cent increase over $ 431.4 billion in the previous year. It is in such a situation that India is emerging as a force that could bring transformation in the global economy. The nation is offering vast opportunities for collaboration in the region on a global scale and that is what ACAAI will present at the international meeting. According to C K Govil, ACAAI’s President, “Participants from the 20-odd associations that will be present for the RAP meet will get to see our nation’s advances in logistics and infrastructure. In addition, they will take part in forward-thinking discussions on the future of trade and supply chain management in the region.” The key topics that will be on the table for the participants to discuss will include Innovation and Digital Transformation in Logistics, Sustainability in Supply Chains and, Building Strategic Partnerships. The participants will be addressed about India’s technolgical advances that are reshaping the logisitics sector through automation, artificial intelligence and digital platforms. India has moved way ahead of many developed natons in its digitalization efforts that include blockchain. The meet will also witness how FIATA’s digital Bill of Lading (eFBL) is enhancing supply chain and efficiency. In addition, the meet will focus on sustainability and there will be discussions around greener technologies and eco-friendly practices. The participants will find ways to reduce carbon emissions. With India’s express delivery sector witnessing explosive growth and its pharmaceutical industry expected to soar, the air cargo market presents immense potential. Lastly, ACAAI will present the opportunities that are available for multinational companies to tap into the Asia-Pacific market. On show will be India’s aviation transformation that includes the establishment of 14 new airports. Significant efforts by the government are being made not only to promote domestic aviation but also manufacturing. ACAAI President Govil pointed out that the RAP meet was an opportunity to promote India’s air freight sector. There was a lot that aviation stakeholders around the world need to be aware of: Regulatory reforms, digitization, and infrastructural advancements. Coupled with the projection that the Indian air freight market is expected to grow to $17.22 billion by 2028, there are substantial reasons for growth. TG |
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As Lunar New Year dedicated to The Snake arrived this week we are thinking that here in America and elsewhere in Europe and other locations snakes have long been identified with evil and temptation. And to be honest the Dragon, whose year we are about to leave, has not been perceived as a benign entity either, at least by Christianity. If you do not share this view, well, just take a look at some of St. George’s paintings… Nothing that could be found in PetSmart . . .  Here
is one:So we leave the alarming Dragon (at least for us) to enter the Year of the Snake today, January 29th, yet for this part of the world it does not seem to be much more reassuring. Without prejudice, one could argue that even in the Bible the Snake actually tempts Eve with the forbidden fruit – an apple? Why an apple, for any good reasons? Now we know that the forbidden fruit was probably not an apple, but here come the Romans and the language they spoke – and we in parts inherited. The quip between malum (evil) and malum (apple tree) was spread all over the Roman empire by the advancing Christianity. As there were no books, because Rome was busy with the marvel of glass, but had no paper, which had been invented in China . . . Well, the entailing confusion between evil and apple spread all over the “known” world, as they called our small continent in those days. The Koran was not clearer, either. In the Al Araf part, this situation is described in full, but the fruit is not identified with certainty. In modern interpretations we can read that the forbidden fruit could have been grapes. We leave it at that, as this could become an entirely different train ride. Going back to the Snake, in all texts there is an almost one to one identification of the snake with Satan. This seems to stay in keeps with the rest of the stories about snakes. Kurt Russell played the movie hero Snake Plissken in “Escape From New York” and, generally speaking in America: “Hey that guy is a real snake” is a warning that something bad could be afoot. Many snakes are poisonous, at times lethal, shall we say more? Yes, there is much more to say! This is not the entire story about the Snake, it is just what we see in our hemisphere. So what’s up with China? How comes Lunar New Year is a Snake that wears a mystical crown and is honored as positive symbolism? Well, first of all according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, this Chinese Lunar New Year in 2025 is the 4722nd year in the history of Chinese calendar. When you think about it and read up on this holiday period, the Snake has been around for a long time and is based on the Lunar calendar. The Year of Snake follows a 12-year cycle of animal signs as the sixth animal in the round. Snakes to Chinese people since antiquity are simultaneously associated with harvest, procreation, spirituality, good fortune, but also cunning evil threat and temptation. So here we get in synch with the West from some points of view. But good and evil for Chinese are not the same as we perceive them and there are changes in different cultures that matter most of the times. When you think about that, isn’t the good and bad in all creation what life is all about? This is a concept that for the Chinese seems to be clearer than it is on this side of the ocean. Maybe this also has to do with the kind of history your part of the world, i.e. the one you live in, has enjoyed or, at times, suffered. Good and bad are symbols that swiftly find their own place in the Chinese calendar: a good lesson for everybody. Words fly: we left a piece of this story untold! Time we get back to the Romans, for a good reason. As a perspective, in 27 BC at the founding of the Roman Empire, the Chinese New Year was either 2671 or 2464, depending on the calendar used and the year you consider. Interesting here, as Julius Caesar, who had created all the necessary conditions for the Roman Empire to exist, was killed in the famous Senate conspiracy (Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi!) that Shakespeare made immortal, if that was ever required . . . For the record he was born in the year of the Ox, assuming one could use Chinese astrology as arithmetic. Well, after a long civil war, JC’s power was taken over by Augustus, who was the first Roman Emperor that we remember. In principle he was inaugurated in the Year of the Snake, depending of what happens with one year in particular: the year zero. There has been a lot to talk about after Cassini’s introduction of the year zero. After reading much literature, it is not so clear whether 27 BC was a year of the Snake or, in fact, a year governed by the Horse. Anyway what happened in that year 27 BC changed the fate of much of the world for a long period of time, until today and perhaps beyond. As far as we are concerned that was a Snake Year, period. The Lunar New Year Celebration, this week for the record, was designated a Snake Year, or  ,
in the Chinese calendar. Although the exact start date of Chinese New Year
is unknown today, the calendar is based on the reign of the Yellow Emperor,
who is said to have started the calendar in 2637 BC. Chinese New Year celebrations
typically begin on Chinese New Year's Eve and end on the Lantern Festival.
Lunar New Year in 2025 began on Wednesday, January 29th. Traditional greeting
in Cantonese is – spoken phonetically: "Gung hay fat choy!”
Those words say "wishing you a happy new year" or "wishing
you great happiness and prosperity".Great happiness and prosperity is also what intentionally the Year of the Snake should bring and mean to all of us: so please embrace the New Year with hope and confidence. Happiness and prosperity are there, just waiting for you! MLS |
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 Vol.
24 No. 1Lucy In The Sky & AA Cargo Chuckles for January 6, 2025 Air India Launches New Americas Service Delicacies In The Air |
 Vol. 24 No. 2 Port Strike Averted Chuckles for January 14, 2025 EMO Trans By The Book Fruit Logistica February 5 |
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Publisher-Geoffrey Arend • Managing
Editor-Flossie Arend • Editor Emeritus-Richard Malkin |
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