Airlines are refitting their passenger planes to transport cargo amid a lull in air travel. AFP
Airlines are refitting their passenger planes to transport cargo amid a lull in air travel. AFP
Airlines are refitting their passenger planes to transport cargo amid a lull in air travel. AFP
Airlines are refitting their passenger planes to transport cargo amid a lull in air travel. AFP

Air freight is providing a lifeline to cash-strapped airlines as Covid-19 saps travel demand


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Cargo, one of the least glamorous aspects of flying, is proving a rare ray of light for airlines amid the coronavirus gloom.

The grounding of passenger planes at a time of increased demand for everything from medical supplies to iPhones has boosted freight rates. With much of the world’s population house-bound and shopping online instead of hitting the malls, analysts see no let-up in demand, particularly as the peak year-end holiday season approaches.

“Air freight is going to be a bright spot for carriers at least for this year because while borders are closed that doesn’t mean people aren’t buying,” said Um Kyung-a, an airline analyst at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul. “That trend is likely to continue as cargo capacity remains limited.”

Air freight is going to be a bright spot for carriers at least for this year because while borders are closed that doesn't mean people aren't buying

The sort of goods moving along this global conveyor belt 30,000 feet in the sky also track the pandemic’s unfurling. Masks and gloves have given way to semiconductor chips and PC parts as consumers set up work-from-home arrangements. Fresh produce is also big as people venture out less. Ultimately, once a vaccine is found, airlines will be used to disperse billions of vials quickly and in a temperature-controlled environment.

Under normal circumstances, about 60 per cent of air cargo globally is flown in the belly hold of passenger flights. With hundreds of those jets parked in deserts waiting out the pandemic, airfreight costs have spiraled: rates to North America from Hong Kong are up almost 70 per cent from early January.

For Qantas Airways, medical freight out of China hit a peak in May and June.

“What we saw were huge uplifts of light but very bulky freight – masks and gowns and gloves and the like. That was when we started to see airlines put light, fluffy boxes into passenger cabins,” said Nick McGlynn, who oversees Qantas’s freight sales and network as the unit’s chief customer officer.

That’s now subsided and Qantas has since been flying fresh produce from Australia into Asia including “significant amounts” of tuna to Japan and coral trout to Hong Kong, he said. On routes back to Australia, it’s dominated by medical supplies, car parts and electronics, as well as components for Caterpillar mining equipment from the US.

Fiji Airways is making a little extra from carrying seafood and kava, chief executive Andre Viljoen said during a presentation last week.

Bloomberg Intelligence predicts belly capacity from passenger air fleets won’t return to pre-pandemic levels before 2022. Not every airline is able to pivot to address the changed circumstances. But those that can haven’t wasted any time.

In the US, United Airlines Holdings recently operated its 5,000th cargo-only flight (the busiest air cargo routes are between Asia and North America). The carrier’s revenue from cargo jumped more than 36 per cent in the second quarter to $402 million (Dh1.4 billion).

American Airlines, meanwhile, has relaunched cargo-only services after a 35-year hiatus. In September, it expects to operate more than 1,000 cargo-only wide-body flights, primarily Boeing 777s and 787s, to 32 destinations in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

In Asia, Singapore Airlines’ budget long-haul arm Scoot last month removed the passenger seats from one of its Airbus A320s to free up more space, while Korean Air Lines, which is also converting planes, and Asiana Airlines eked out quarterly profits after flying jets loaded with technology components to sate consumer demand for at-home gadgets.

Emirates, the world’s fourth-biggest cargo carrier after Federal Express and United Parcel Service, said it “reacted very quickly”, scaling up its cargo network to around 50 destinations by early April, 75 by mid-May and 100 by the start of July.

“We’ve been able to connect more than 115 destinations with cargo capacity on a scheduled basis,” said Emirates’ divisional senior vice president of cargo, Nabil Sultan. “We worked round the clock to use not only our freighter fleet, but also our passenger aircraft for cargo flights.”

That’s not to say there isn’t an enormous amount of pain in global aviation. Airlines are hemorrhaging cash and laying off tens of thousands of staff.

Batches of 8-million protective masks are being unloaded from a Lufthansa airplane at the Franz-Josef-Strauss airport in Munich, southern Germany, having arrived from Shanghai. AFP
Batches of 8-million protective masks are being unloaded from a Lufthansa airplane at the Franz-Josef-Strauss airport in Munich, southern Germany, having arrived from Shanghai. AFP

While the cargo operations of Deutsche Lufthansa contributed a record €299m ($354m/Dh1.2bn) to the group’s operating profit in the second quarter, and the operating margin of the airline’s cargo arm was a robust 39 per cent, the wider Lufthansa group suffered a massive €1.7bn operating loss in the three-month period.

Still, in such a tough environment, every bit counts. Indonesia’s PT Lion Mentari Airlines is even hauling basic necessities like non-perishable foodstuffs by plane across its vast archipelago.

“Canned foods, things you’d normally buy on your grocery trip, are being air flown because this is a more efficient way to have them delivered across the country,” managing director Daniel Putut said. “With passengers falling sharply, we have to find other revenue means.”

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Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199

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Brief scoreline:

Manchester United 0

Manchester City 2

Bernardo Silva 54', Sane 66'

Global Fungi Facts

• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil

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Chelsea
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Burnley Vokes (24', 43'), Ward (39')
Red cards Cahill, Fabregas (Chelsea)

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

In numbers

- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100

- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100

- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India

- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100

- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less

 

 

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

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The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
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  • Price: Not announced yet
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier

The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier

Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets

Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs

Table

1 UAE 5 5 0 10

2 Qatar 5 4 1 8

3 Saudi 5 3 2 6

4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4

5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2

6 Maldives 5 0 5 0

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
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ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

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%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A