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Topic of the week:
The cargo carrying drone company, Dronamics, has conducted the first test flight of its flagship cargo drone, aiming to launch regular flights later in the year. ‘The Black Swan’ as the drone is called, flew for a little over 10 minutes for a distance of 21.5km after leaving Bulgaria’s Balchik Airport. The company hopes that The Black Swan’s successful test flight indicates the drone’s potential in the pharmaceuticals and perishable cargo markets, demonstrating efficient and greener logistics solutions. The test flight also validates Dronamics’ licensed cargo drone technology for commercial flights in Europe, set for later this year. The Black Swan was piloted remotely out of the Dronamics ground control station by two commercial airline pilots. The drone also has a range of 2,500km and a payload availability of 350kg.
Dronamics was started by two brothers with a mission to provide quicker, affordable and more energy efficient delivery solutions. Dronamics claims to be “the world’s first cargo drone airline that can enable same-day delivery to the most remote areas, up to 80% faster, 50% cheaper, and with 60% less emissions than other transportation methods.” Conducting its first test flight, was “the culmination of months of ground testing and subscale flights”.
“Since the day we first imagined what the Black Swan aircraft could look like, we’ve worked towards this flight. Today we’ve made history and are proud to have demonstrated the validity of our drone technology,” commented Dronamics co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Konstantin Rangelov.
Co-founder and CEO of Dronamics, Svilen Rangelov, also stated, “It’s taken an enormous amount of hard work, belief and drive to prove that what we envisioned works. We can now focus on the next step, the roll-out of our commercial operations, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
Sea:
- Freightos data suggests that China/East Asia to North America West Coast rates have decreased by 9% from $1,426/FEU to $1,295/FEU
- China/East Asia to North America East Coast have fluctuated over the last two weeks, slightly increasing to $2,312/FEU.
- Global container spot prices have decreased over the last two weeks, and are now sitting at $1,393/FEU, a 2.5% decrease, and an 80% decrease from spot rates in June 2022 according to the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX)
- China/East Asia to North Europe spot rates have increased by 2.8% over the last two weeks, now sitting at $1,419/FEU, says (FBX)
- As ocean carriers struggle to reach an increase in China exports, hopes are turned towards a late peak season
Air:
- Global Air Freight spot rates currently sit at $2.72, according to the Freightos Air Freight Index (FAX)
- Europe to Northern America spot rates currently sit at $2.21 (100-3000kg), says FAX, decreasing by 5.5%
- Europe to Central Asia spot rates have fallen by 4.8% currently sitting at $2.57 (100-3000kg), says FAX
- Europe to Asia, Greater China spot rates currently sit at $1.71 (100-3000kg), says FAX, a 6.5% decrease
- DSV looks to reduce semiconductor lead times by adding Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to its network, with flights connecting Latin America and Europe
- TT Meridian has announced its newest all-cargo air service between the UK and Vietnam. The new air service will be via Turkmenistan, as the company draws from its extensive UK and Vietnam market expertise
That’s all for this week’s update…
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