Cargo Airport Services USA has been awarded the cargo warehouse handling contract with Cargolux and EVA at Seattle’s Sea-Tac International Airport. This is the first expansion opportunity for CAS in the West who currently operate in IAH and SAT. Cargolux, based in Luxembourg, is Europe’s largest all-cargo

airline, operating a modern fleet of 14 B747-400 freighters on a worldwide network, covering 90 destinations, 60 of which are served on scheduled all-cargo flights. Ian Morgan, Vice President The Americas for Cargolux, commented that “CAS has proven themselves as an efficient partner for Cargolux, and the expansion of the relationship in SEA is further proof of our confidence in them as a long term service provider. Michael Duffy, President of CAS said “We are excited about our operations in the West and are pleased to be associated with Cargolux who is a highly respected cargo operator and our current customer in Houston Intercontinental Airport”. Our current relationship with CV and the support from the Cargolux management team was instrumental in extending our partnership to Sea-Tac. CAS is also proud to add another EVA handling location for the Taiwan based Carrier. CAS currently handles EVA at JFK and EWR providing cargo warehouse handling and cargo ramp handling for passenger and freighter operations. Earlier this year CAS acquired Genesis Aircraft Support based in Houston, Texas and the Cargo Zone Group of Companies based in Montreal, Canada, with operations in Toronto and Montreal. With the addition of Seattle CAS will have operations at 14 locations throughout the US and Canada, with a leading cargo handling position in most of the markets it serves.

The air freight industry expects to save up to $1.2 billion every year when paper documents are completely replaced by electronic information. The first stage in developing an international system is a set of six pilot projects initiated by the International Air Transport

Association. In cooperation with cargo airlines, freight forwarders and ground handling agents, IATA on Monday launched the projects on key trade routes connecting Canada, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and the U.K. "The paper-free era for air freight begins today," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA. The pilot projects are designed to test common standards, processes, procedures and systems. During the initial phase, selected shipments will travel without the house and master airwaybills. The six pilot locations were selected for their technical and legal ability to exchange information. "High oil prices and cumbersome processing requirements are handicapping Breaking News

Singapore and Belgium have recently concluded a landmark revision to the Air Services Agreement for cargo services. This agreement, which includes 7th Seventh Freedom Traffic Rights, allows SIA Cargo to operate flights between third countries without originating from, or returning to, Singapore. With this revised agreement, Singapore Airlines Cargo has commenced B747- 400 freighter services from November 1, 2007, operating once weekly between Brussels and Chicago, and twice weekly circular routings from Brussels to Chicago to Los Angeles and back to Brussels. This is the first time a Singapore carrier is operating 7th utilizing Seventh Freedom Traffic Rights. “These new 7th Seventh Freedom traffic rights will enable Singapore Airlines Cargo to more effectively serve the Europe-USA freight market. Specifically, we can now operate more frequencies between these markets without having to increase frequencies between Singapore and Europe” commented Mr Goh Choon Phong, President SIA Cargo. “The adoption of these new liberal agreements is good for the air freight industry, because it allows carriers to match supply of capacity to markets where the demand for exports exists. Airlines can thus be more responsive to the market needs. Moreover, this enables airlines to utilize aircraft resources more efficiently.”

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 153,549 tons of freight in October, up 6.6 per cent year-on-year. Freight capacity was up 8.3 per cent year-on-year for the month, while the cargo and mail load factor dipped by one per cent to 68.8. From January to October this year, cargo volumes grew by three per cent against a capacity rise of 6.9 per cent. Ian Shiu, Cathay Pacific's general manager for revenue management, sales and distribution, said capacity is set to climb further in the coming months, with more new aircraft and further flight enhancements.

Freight airline ABX Air, one of the two main air operators for DHL in the United States, announced Friday it will acquire for about $350 million charter and leasing specialist Cargo Holdings International. The deal sharply scales up ABX Air's attempts to expand its business beyond its core DHL operations and adds 32 cargo aircraft and customers that include DHL competitors UPS and BAX, as well as business from the U.S. government and the U.S. Postal

Service. Privately held CHI has projected $300 million in revenue this year. The purchase comes shortly after DHL's other main sub-service air operator in the United States, ASTAR Air Cargo, had said it wanted to acquire publicly traded ABX shortly after DHL itself took a large stake in ASTAR and won a seat on the airline's four-member board. But ABX, which has had testy relations with DHL as it has sought to diversify its business, rejected the overture.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection finished installation of Automated Commercial Environment electronic truck processing capabilities Nov. 7 at the Piegan, Mont., port of entry. Now all 99 land border ports are capable of processing emanifests. The ACE e-manifest capability consolidates previously separate cargo release systems into a single, integrated computer interface for CBP officers and allows truck carriers to prepare and submit electronic truck manifests prior to arrival at a land border port of entry. With advance access to truck cargo information, CBP officers are able to pre-screen trucks and shipments, dedicating more time to inspecting suspicious cargo without delaying the border crossings of legitimate carriers. E-manifests are also more efficient with an average processing time 33 seconds faster than a traditional paper manifest.

UPS on Nov. 9 announced new list rates for 2008. The average increase of 4.9 percent for ground, hundredweight, all air express and U.S. origin international shipments will take effect on Dec. 31. This is the first time UPS has pushed the effective date for new rates back into the previous year, if only by one day. UPS will knock 2 percent off its current fuel surcharge for air express and international shipments but the base rate will go up 6.9 percent. The carrier said it will post updated rate and service information on its Web site beginning Nov. 16. Customers will be able to download their own copy of the 2008 Rate and Service Guide beginning Dec. 31, when the rates become effective.

Each year more and more bottles of Beaujolais are leaving Paris- Vatry airport bound for wine lovers in Tokyo and in Japan as a whole. It’s worth noting that with close to nine million litres consumed annually, the equivalent of 12 million bottles, the Japanese are the premier importers ahead of the USA and Germany and this despite a general fall in orders of 15 per cent in 2007. For four years now, Paris-Vatry airport has served as a ‘Beaujolais’ gateway and this year saw nearly 700 tonnes – working out at exactly 531,470 bottles – shipped to Japan by Nippon Express and Yusen Global Logistics. Customs-cleared to the tightest deadlines, the 2007 vintage will arrive in Japan in time to allow tippling to begin there, as usual, several hours before

corks are popped in France.