Aircraft cybersecurity is a vital — but often overlooked — part of protecting commercial aviation from bad actors, which is why Cyviation specializes in aircraft risk assessments and solutions.
Herzliya, Israel-based Cyviation, founded in 2021, offers intelligence and monitoring solutions to map possible cyber threats to aircraft and related aviation systems.
Cyviation determines vulnerabilities and monitors multiple platforms and devices, especially those used for communication, to protect commercial aircraft from cyberattacks, according to the company. Cyviation does this through digital twin technology.
Digital twin technology creates a virtual replica of a system that collects and analyzes data in real-time, allowing users to pinpoint weaknesses and predict problems.
“The way we are building [these digital twins] is basically from analyzing data only,” Cyviation Chief Executive Eliran Almog says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”
Cyviation does not touch the plane, either physically or through software, Almog says.
“We just look at the data — the data of the airplane, the model data and the data [from] maintenance, the specific data of a specific tail number,” he says. “From this data, we basically map the entire network [of] devices, and the connections and communication between the devices, and start to assess, through that digital twin, the vulnerabilities.”
In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about using digital twin technology for commercial aviation cybersecurity as Cyviation’s Almog speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer.
Airfreight technology provider CargoAi is using advanced AI software to automate quoting, tracking, emailing and payments.
The company this week launched a unified AI agent to integrate multiple AI functions and tools into a single autonomous software solution.
“The next stage of this AI revolution is the AI agent,” CargoAi founder and Chief Executive Matt Petot says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” in a discussion on the tool’s development.
CargoCoPilot Agent can automate responses to up to 50% of the emails received by airlines and freight forwarders, according to the company. The multilingual agent can also operate across WhatsApp, partner platforms and CargoAi’s CargoMart platform.
The agent, CargoAi said, can:
CargoCoPilot will enable users to increase productivity as if they had far more employees, Petot said.
“In terms of coding, we have twenty developers in our team,” he said. “We had twenty developers last year, but now every developer is using AI agents, and the output of our developers is much more than before. It's forecasted to double at the end of the year, and that's really exactly the same that I think we can do with airlines.”
In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about the air cargo industry’s growing embrace of AI and new technologies being launched as CargoAi’s Petot speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer.
Miami-based startup carrier 7Air Cargo is entering its third month of full commercial operations and gaining experience that is benefiting its parent, The Xtreme Group.
7Air Cargo, formed by The Xtreme Group (TXG), received FAA Part 121 approval in February and began air cargo service in May. It now operates two 737-800SFs and one 737-800BCF, and expects to put a fourth 737-800 freighter into service by yearend.
7Air held an inauguration ceremony with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department in Miami (MIA) on Aug. 15 to commemorate the opening of the airline’s hub at the airport.
For the executive team overseeing 7Air’s daily operations, the ceremony represented a milestone noting its achievements and serving as a reminder of the challenges still to come.
“It’s definitely been a learning curve getting into the airline and cargo industry, since we’re kind of running them side by side,” Chairman and Managing Partner Jose Rodriguez says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”
“The good thing is that we’ve been able to tackle the different objectives through me and [Vice President of Commercial Operations and Partner Carlos Cock]. Most days, we divide our attention,” Rodriguez says. “I’ll handle the maintenance side of things, and Carlos will manage operations to make sure that we have fluidity and efficiency across the board.”
As executives with years of MRO experience, 7Air’s leadership team is familiar with managing aircraft maintenance for customers, Cock says.
But the tables have turned.
“Now, we are the customer,” he says. “Xtreme Aviation is handling a majority of the maintenance for 7Air and it’s allowed us to really see how important the operational side of things is, making sure that communication is not only key but fluid, and that everybody’s on the same page regarding what we’re doing, enabling us to make changes on the MRO side to better serve our customers.”
In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about the day-to-day operations, challenges and early stage growth of this new carrier as 7Air’s leaders speak with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.
French Polynesia-based Motu Link Airline will soon provide dedicated freighter service across the French Polynesian archipelago as part of the startup’s strategy to align with local ocean shippers and freight forwarders to establish a reliable logistics support system for businesses and residents.
“Motu Link Airline was created to meet a clear logistical need across French Polynesia's widely dispersed islands,” Chief Executive Alexandre Mu says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “The project was licensed in 2021 and was restructured in 2024 after market analysis to focus exclusively on dedicated inter-island cargo operations.”
The French Polynesian archipelago has 120 islands, which together are as large as Europe when including the ocean areas between the islands, making it very difficult to provide logistical support to the residents, Head of Marketing and Communications Judith Rodriguez says.
Local carriers such as Air Tahiti Nui and Air Moana tend to focus more on passenger service, so most cargo is distributed by ocean vessels, which could take as long as three weeks to reach the remote islands in the archipelago, Rodriguez said.
Motu took a different approach to acquiring its 2004-vintage ATR 72-500F (713, ex-Binter Canarias) when the startup received more than $3.6 million from the local islanders through crowdfunding.
“We are really looking forward to starting operations because there are high expectations from Islanders around the project,” Mu says. “It will bring many benefits to our economy and further open up our islands.”
In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about the carrier’s unorthodox approach to securing investment capital through crowdfunding and perspective of the local market as Rodriguez and Mu speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.
Cargolux will change its operations to field a mixed fleet of large-widebody freighters when its new 777-8Fs come online later this decade to begin replacing its older production 747-400Fs.
Introducing the 777-8F platform to Cargolux’s uniform fleet of fourteen 747-8Fs and sixteen 747-400Fs will result in alterations to its operations, President and Chief Executive Richard Forson says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich this month.
“I think we can make it work, but it will take more managing,” Forson says in a rare public interview. “I think it will take more time, more thinking in advance as to where these aircraft would be deployed at the end of the day, because the last thing I want to be doing is having to break pallets down to rebuild and to put onto another aircraft.”
Cargolux announced in October 2022 a firm order ten 777-8Fs along with options for six after Boeing said at the Farnborough International Airshow 2022 that it had secured Cargolux as a customer for the program.
Cargolux’s fleet has remained the same since 2020 when it picked up a 2006-vintage 747-400F (35170) that had exited service with United Kingdom-based CargoLogicAir.
“My philosophy is I’d rather be short on capacity than long, because if I’m short on capacity, I can always make money during the good times, and when the bad times come along, then obviously I have a lot less exposure to downturns in the market,” Forson says. “And the good years have helped us to build up the resilience of the airline, so our balance sheet is strong and we’ve kept a lot of liquidity in expectation of any downturn in the market.”
For the remainder of 2025, one priority for Forson and Cargolux is being able to adapt to any new trade agreements that come into place as countries around the world grapple with tariffs and war.
“I think that’s the most important thing,” he says. “What is going to happen to global trade?”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Cargolux as Forson speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich.
Awesome Cargo is on the cusp of putting its first A330-200P2F into service, joining a small group of carriers operating the type.
“We’re going to paint the aircraft — that’s going to take a couple of weeks — and then the aircraft is going straight into service as soon as we get it registered.,” Awesome Cargo founder and Chief Executive Luis Ramos says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich this week.
The 2011-vintage, CF6-powered aircraft (1252, ex-ITA Airways) is the first of three A330-200P2Fs Awesome will lease from Air Lease and will soon depart EFW’s facility in Dresden (DRS). The second unit (1218) is nearing completion at DRS while the third (1225) will soon enter conversion, Ramos says.
By mid-2026, Awesome aims to have all three A330-200P2Fs flying trans-Pacific routes.
“For the time being, we still believe Asia, Mexico, the U.S. and Latin America are where we want to operate right now,” Ramos says. “The complexities of extending routes to other markets and other regions with our current setup would be a little aggressive and maybe even a little irresponsible.”
Awesome is the second A330-200P2F Mexican operator after Mas. Six other carriers operate the type:
Awesome Cargo received its Mexican AOC in October 2023 after emerging as a cargo operator earlier that year. Until now, the new carrier had only been flying units 1218 and 1225 with reversibly reconfigured Class E main decks.
“I can’t tell you what the future will bring, but I can tell you that our guard will be up, and I can tell you that we’re going to be enjoying every process and every step of the way,” Ramos says.
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Awesome as Ramos speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich.
U.S. tariffs against other countries and the elimination of de minimis exceptions are the greatest concerns for the freight forwarder community right now, according to Airforwarders Association Executive Director Brandon Fried.
“We need to freeze tariffs, not freeze trade,” Fried said at CNS Partnership Conference 2025 in Miami last week.
The U.S. imposed a flat 10% tariff against all countries, effective April 5, and has delayed implementation of reciprocal tariffs pending negotiations with affected countries.
The only country excluded from the reciprocal tariff reprieve is China. Last week, following negotiations, the U.S. dropped its tariff against China to 30% from 145% and China dropped its tariff against the U.S. to 10% from 125%. The lowered tariffs will remain in effect for three months, giving the countries time to negotiate a permanent resolution.
Also, the U.S.’s de minimis exception for goods from China and Hong Kong ended May 2. Under de minimis regulations, companies shipping goods into the U.S. are not required to pay tariffs on shipments valued at less than $800.
The tariff and de minimis changes will adversely affect the air cargo industry, Fried told Cargo Facts.
“We understand that these tariffs were initially set to balance the trade deficit of foreign goods entering the U.S., and that tariffs are a commonplace mechanism of international trade,” he said. “The instability caused, however, by mass tariff implementation, negotiation and bilateral agreements, as well as inevitable disputes over high rates, has hit our industry.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more about the state of the air cargo industry in today’s political climate as Fried speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer at CNS Partnership Conference 2025 in Miami.
BBN Airlines will soon become the newest widebody-freighter operator in Turkey when it starts flying the first Mammoth Freighters 777-300ERMF conversion.
The carrier ventured into the freighter market in 2023, shortly after it got its AOC, with an A321-200P2F (2005, ex-Red Wings) on lease from BBAM and leased another (1094, ex-Aer Lingus) toward the end of that year.
“We started with two. We were a little bit hesitant about the third one, to be perfectly honest,” Fleet Director Douglas Anderson says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 in Istanbul this week.
“The third one came, and now we’re talking about perhaps a fourth, because all the business we have with Turkish Airlines is enough for three aircraft, potentially four, and then we do our own ad hoc operations as well, and that’s gradually growing,” Anderson says.
The third freighter (1670, ex-Air Busan) joined BBN’s fleet in September 2024, also on lease from BBAM.
BBN is set to expand even further and enter the widebody segment. The carrier will lease the prototype 777-300ERMF (35299, ex-Nordwind Airlines) from AviaAM Leasing after completion and certification.
“We see that we can’t have one aircraft — it just doesn’t make sense,” Anderson says. “So, we’re probably looking at three, perhaps four. Again, initially, it’ll be with Turkish Airlines, because that’s the easiest way when you’ve only one aircraft, to potentially setting up our own little operation between the Far East and the U.S., pending tariffs, bringing it into Istanbul and then spreading it out using the network.”
However, a lack of Turkish pilots is constraining growth, he says.
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on BBN as Anderson speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 in Istanbul.
See more coverage of Cargo Facts EMEA 2025.
Despite increasing restrictions on global trade and the potential effect on the market, Astral Aviation founder and Chief Executive Sanjeev Gadhia believes new opportunities will emerge in Europe, the Middle East and Africa amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Gadhia will join a panel discussion on the growing narrowbody freighter demand at Cargo Facts EMEA 2025, taking place May 6-May 8 in Istanbul.
“All in all, I’m feeling very positive and bullish, and I'm also looking forward to actually expressing the same and learning when we meet in Istanbul next week,” Gadhia says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”
Kenya-based Astral Aviation remains optimistic and has chosen to focus less on geopolitical events and more on the EMEA region, he said.
Astral, which recently took delivery of its first 767-300BDSF (24146, ex-Amerijet) on lease from Palm Beach, Fla.-based Flight Lease, signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates SkyCargo this year to explore ways to increase global trade, specifically within Africa.
“I believe that the region is poised to have a major surge with all the geopolitical situations taking place,” Gadhia says. “And I feel very bullish that within the next three months, after the dust has settled … I actually believe that the EMEA region is where I see a lot of new opportunities.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on the EMEA market as Gadhia speaks with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.
Astral Aviation is kicking off the next phase of its fleet expansion with the imminent arrival of its first 767-300 freighter.
With two more 767s potentially following in 2025, Astral has obtained its own aircraft maintenance organization certification and will soon conduct its own C check on its 767-200BDSF for the first time.
“In the past, we’ve always outsourced the C checks, but now we’re going to do it ourselves,” Astral founder and Chief Executive Sanjeev Gadhia says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at the IATA World Cargo Symposium 2025 in Dubai this week. “So, we’re really excited, because it’s a C4 check and it’s going to be done in-house in Kenya at the Kenya Airways hangar.”
Astral had expected the 1988-vintage, CF6-powered 767-300BDSF (24146, ex-Amerijet) by the end of 2024 but delays meant the carrier missed the yearend peak season.
“I think the biggest problem that we are all facing right now is the delays,” Gadhia says. “There was a time when those delays were never there, and the delays were there only for the production freighters. Now we are seeing a situation where leased aircraft are also experiencing delays, either because of engine-related issues or avionics.”
The 767-300BDSF is the second new freighter type in the past six months for Astral, which received a 1992-vintage 737-400F (27082, ex-Alaska Airlines) on lease from Avmax in late 2024.
While the global airfreight market tries to navigate the fallout from the trade war, Astral and Kenya are not too concerned.
“I still believe that Africa would really benefit from this whole opportunity, because generally Africa, with the exception of South Africa and two other countries, is at 10%,” Gadhia says, referring to the tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump recently imposed on goods from countries around the world.
New Philippines-based carrier Skyway Airlines hopes to expand its fleet and network after stretching its wings with its first international flight earlier this month.
Skyway obtained its AOC in July 2024 after leasing a 1998-vintage 737-400BDSF (29208) from AerCap. It is the first 737-400 freighter operator in the Philippines and intends to add more of the type.
“It took us two and a half years to get our AOC,” founder and Chief Executive Jose Peralta says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Cargo Facts Asia 2025 in Shanghai this week.
“And there’s a prerequisite with the Philippine authorities that you have to demonstrate domestic operations first before you go international. So, there were a lot of preparations, a lot of legal documents that we needed to submit. We had to undergo hearings with the Department of Transportation just to get our permit to operate internationally.”
While the first international flight was from Clark (CRK) to Hong Kong (HKG), Skyway is working on developing other routes and could start flying to Macau (MFM) soon.
“We are applying for our CCAR 129 permit for China,” Director of Business Development and External Affairs Vedant Bhardwaj says. “That’s why we are here. So, we’re looking into that and definitely another destination which we see is Vietnam.”
Domestic operations are challenging because of competition with sea freight rates and belly cargo rates, whereas Skyway can achieve better rates for international e-commerce, for example, Peralta says.
“We’re trying to solve a problem; to connect the islands and also connect the Philippines to the outer regions,” he says. “So, that is the goal, and that is the aim, and hopefully we get to achieve it.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Skyway as Peralta and Bhardwaj speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke at Cargo Facts Asia 2025 in Shanghai.
IATA and carbon-inset platform 123Carbon are developing interoperability between their sustainable aviation fuel registries to increase transparency, avoid emissions reporting errors and streamline certificate management.
The IATA SAF Registry, scheduled to launch in April, aims to help create a global SAF market, IATA stated in January. The registry is designed to enable airlines to document SAF benefits to show compliance with regulatory and voluntary obligations.
The interoperability will focus on three elements:
“Registry interoperability can be quite a few things,” Jeroen van Heiningen, founder and managing director of 123Carbon, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “What we’re doing now is to avoid the redundancies and the double issuance, so to make sure that fuel is not registered on a registry twice, [which could] lead to double counting. It also means that we are aligning the data models that we are using. We’re using the same taxonomy and using the same wording.”
123Carbon’s platform supports fuel suppliers, fleet operators, forwarders and cargo owners in the issuance, management and transfer of environmental attribute certificates (EAC). EACs represent carbon reductions that have been achieved, such as those achieved through SAF, and are then allocated to freight forwarders, cargo owners and others.
The company also offers a book-and-claim solution to SAF suppliers and airlines to allocate company-branded SAF EACs to customers in a private environment.
IATA and the International Civil Aviation Organization have said SAF is the most reliable way to eliminate carbon emissions from aviation in the next twenty-five years. IATA set an aviation industry target of reaching net-zero by 2050.
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on 123Carbon as van Heiningen speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer.
New lessor Hanwha Aviation is exploring adding freighters to its portfolio as part of its growth strategy.
Hanwha Aviation, a subsidiary of South Korea-based conglomerate Hanwha Group, launched in May 2024 and appointed Laura Ivaskaite as vice president of commercial and investments in September.
Ivaskaite joined Hanwha after almost four years looking after the aircraft and engine fleet at SmartLynx, which expanded its fleet to fourteen A321 freighters in 2024.
“The core service, the core of [Hanwha Aviation’s] business, is narrowbody engines, but we will have a small aircraft portfolio as well, and that’s both on the passenger and cargo side,” Ivaskaite says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance Americas 2025 and Aero-Engines Americas 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas, in late January.
“So, the whole idea is to build up the leasing platform,” she says. “We’re also looking to have MRO capabilities in an engine shop in the near future.”
Hanwha is “very open” to acquiring freighters, even if that ultimately is an engine-driven move, Ivaskaite says.
“Narrowbody freighters has been an engine play for a lot of people in the last couple of years,” she says. “But I’d probably say that we see the 737-800 freighter market picking up a little bit.”
Singapore-based Hanwha is looking to the Asia-Pacific region as a key market for expansion. The lessor also has offices in Dublin and Boca Raton, Fla.
“We want to really have the expertise in Asia Pacific,” Ivaskaite says. “And at the same time, we recognize that that’s the market that will be growing again, both on the passenger and air cargo side, and there is going to be huge demand for the engines — there already is.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Hanwha as Ivaskaite speaks with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.
Azul will become the second carrier based in Brazil — and all of Latin America — to operate an A321 freighter when it launches scheduled commercial flights this weekend.
The airline plans to put its two A321-200P2Fs into service on Feb. 15, it announced last week. The two 2006-vintage, V2500-powered freighters (2741 and 2759), which Azul has leased from AerCap, arrived in Brazil in the fourth quarter of 2024 and will be based in Campinas (VCP).
“We are very, very excited to have this airplane fly in terms of capacity, reliability and to expand with new routes,” Azul Cargo Fleet and Operations Manager Dario Matsuguma says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Cargo Facts LATAM 2025 in Sao Paulo.
“[Our customers] are asking us a lot of questions about the opportunities they are getting for this new fleet,” he says.
The Airbus narrowbodies are replacing Azul’s two leased 737-400Fs — the only Boeing aircraft in the carrier’s fleet. In fact, Azul has already removed one from service, with the 1997-vintage unit 28053 entering storage at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport (LDE) in France in December 2024 while the 1996-vintage unit 28198 is still flying.
“The second one, we expect to return in March,” Matsuguma says. “But I can say that [the 737s] did a great job. They opened the market for cargo and freighters, and we all learned a lot with that airplane, but we decided to shift to the A321 due to commonality with our passenger fleet; the synergy is the key factor for us.”
Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency validated the EFW A321-200P2F conversion and the 321 Precision Conversions A321-200PCF in September 2024.
The first Latin American operator of an A321F was fellow Brazilian carrier Levu, which got its AOC in November 2024 and started flying a 1998-vintage, CFM56-powered A321-200PCF (775) that it subleased from SmartLynx.
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Azul as Matsuguma speaks with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke at Cargo Facts LATAM 2025.
Vaayu Group is capitalizing on the capabilities of the A320P2F to develop its cargo business.
The group’s own airline, Fly Vaayu, obtained its AOC in October 2024 and is flying the Middle East’s first A320 freighter around the region as well as to India and Vietnam.
“We’ve been really pleasantly surprised,” Vaayu Group Chief Executive Vijay Arumbakkam says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “The A320 compared to its competition has a very high level of reliability, which our customers like; consistency, which they like; and on average we tend to carry 18 to 20 tonnes of cargo.”
“So, over a five-hour range, this aircraft performs really well, and we’ve also been impressed with the fuel burn of this aircraft.”
With at least one more A320-200P2F joining its fleet in the next couple of months, Fly Vaayu will become the largest A320 freighter operator.
Vaayu is based in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates (RKT), where the animal quarantine facilities help to support the movement of livestock between India and the U.A.E, Arumbakkam says.
“Hopefully we are soon going to expand that to include general cargo within the next six months or so as we begin to build our ecosystem in the airport.”
Vaayu Group acquired a majority stake in India-based Pradhaan Air Express, the launch operator of the A320P2F program, in November 2023. Since then, the two carriers have worked together to share their expertise and resources, Arumbakkam says.
“There’s a great opportunity for us to harness our synergies for the local [Indian] market,” he says. “Pradhaan first would like to focus with us and enhance this current business partnership that we have, and then the intent over this year is to see how best we can also translate some of those processes into serving more domestic customers.”
“We are still at the business plan stage for it, but we are very excited about our partnership and collaboration with Pradhaan.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Vaayu as Arumbakkam speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.
SolitAir plans to take delivery soon of its first dry-leased 737-800 freighter to grow its narrowbody operations after it receives its United Arab Emirates AOC.
SolitAir’s own freighter will add to three ACMI 737-800BCFs operated by ASL Airlines Ireland.
“The 730-800 was the best of its class to do the work that I’m looking for,” SolitAir Chairman and Chief Executive Hamdi Osman says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”
SolitAir intends to become an express cargo airline offering a daily schedule with flights of up to six hours from its base in Dubai (DWC).
“My goal is to have at least ten aircraft in the first one-and-a-half years of operations,” Osman says, adding that these will likely all be narrowbodies.
ASL has already deployed two 737-800BCFs to DWC for the ACMI arrangement, with the 2005-vintage unit 33023 starting service in October 2024 and the 2007-vintage unit 32686 following in December. The third aircraft will arrive soon, Osman said.
SolitAir hopes to get its AOC by the end of January and is considering multiple AOCs to capitalize on growth opportunities not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Turkey.
“The more I get to know about the global South, the more I get excited,” Osman says.
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on SolitAir as Osman speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.
The FAA imposed additional flight restrictions over parts of New Jersey and New York last month in response to increased reports of unauthorized drones.
But merely telling drone operators that they cannot fly in certain airspace does not solve the problem, as these restrictions lack enforcement. This is where San Francisco-based Dedrone comes in.
Acquired by technology and weapons manufacturer Axon in October 2024, Dedrone develops smart airspace security technology such as counter-drone detection, tracking, identification and mitigation technologies.
In today’s “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast, hear from Dedrone, which has worked with the FAA to develop and test an uncrewed aircraft systems detection and mitigation program that helps airports protect their airspace from unauthorized drones.
Dedrone also offers technologies that jam communications between a drone and the operator. The DedroneDefender precision jammer has narrow-band jamming to minimize disruption to other devices and meets military standards. This use of narrow-band or “comb” jamming reduces the risk of interference with other systems in the area, including Wi-Fi or radar.
Thousands of violations daily
“Every single day there are literally hundreds of illegal drone flights,” Mary-Lou Smulders, chief marketing officer and head of government affairs at Dedrone, told Cargo Facts.
Dedrone recorded 1.19 million illegal drone flights in 2024 within its network of more than fifty U.S. cities. So far in 2025, Dedrone has recorded 22,188 illegal drone flights, according to Dedrone’s Drone Violations Database.
However, having the technology to detect and mitigate illegal drones is not enough. Dedrone is working with the FAA and U.S. government to support enforcement of drone laws and restrictions.
“To detect those noncompliant drones and lack the authority to mitigate potentially dangerous drones, it’s a classic situation of the technology getting ahead of the legislation,” Smulders said.
“If one good thing comes out of the New Jersey incidents, it’s this awakening to the fact that there are thousands of violating drones every single day and our police lack the authority to detect them.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on counter-drone technology and priority as Smulders speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer.
Chisholm Enterprises will proceed with its plans to grow its fleet of 737-800BCFs in 2025 after hitting several important milestones in 2024 with its two airlines, Bahrain-based Texel Air and New Zealand-based Texel Air Australasia.
While Texel Air Australasia obtained its AOC in 2023, Texel Air in September celebrated its 10th year of operations.
“We never set out to own an airline and we sort of got into it by default, but it’s been a fantastic journey, starting with very humble beginnings,” George Chisholm, chief executive of Chisholm Enterprises and executive director of Texel Air, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”
After removing its final 737-300F, the fleet stands at ten 737NG freighters, with three -800BCFs and two -700FCs at Texel Air and five -800BCFs at Texel Air Australasia. Two or three more aircraft will join the New Zealand fleet in 2025, Chisholm tells Cargo Facts.
Texel Air Australasia in October received extended diversion time operations (EDTO) approval for up to 120 minutes, which will help the carrier grow its operations for Australia-based Team Global Express and fly certain routes more efficiently, especially between Australia and New Zealand.
“We’ve kind of had to hold back our plans going trans-Tasman until we got the EDTO approval, which we’re happy to say we have now,” Chisholm says. “And now, once we get these few more aircraft into our fleet, we will start to fly that route pretty extensively, mostly between Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and Christchurch, in a variety of route configurations.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Texel Air as Chisholm speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.
RwandAir continues to see growing demand for dedicated freighter operations after taking delivery of its first 737-800SF two years ago.
\The 2007-vintage unit 35131 (ex-TUI Airways) joined the RwandAir fleet in November 2022 on lease from Merx Aviation, marking the airline’s entry into the freighter segment.
RwandAir has used the 737-800SF on routes within Africa as well as to the Middle East to complement its belly operations.
“We’re looking at ways to accommodate the demand that has been brought by the narrowbody services and also the widebody A330 passenger flights,” Jean Bosco Gakwaya, director of cargo at RwandAir, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”
The carrier launched an African cargo hub in May 2023 as part of a joint project with Qatar Airways Cargo. Given Rwanda’s landlocked nature and its location in Africa, RwandAir plans to develop its freighter operations to serve the continent and is looking at options to expand the fleet.
“The nature of the equipment that we would be bringing onboard could be an A321F or another 737-800F,” Gakwaya says. “That is something that definitely we’ll keep in our mind in the near future.”
Other African carriers have since stepped into the 737NG freighter segment, including EgyptAir, Serve Air, Kenya Airways and TAAG Angola Airlines.
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on RwandAir as Gakwaya speaks with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.
Crestone Air Partners plans to continue enlarging its presence in the freighter and engine markets.
The Denver-based lessor has grown its portfolio to about $500 million in assets under management since becoming an independent subsidiary of Air T in July 2022. That portfolio includes freighter and passenger aircraft and engines as well as landing gear, Crestone Chief Executive Kevin Milligan says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”
The lessor started its freighter activities by buying two 737 Classics in 2022, but Crestone now aims to make larger, “package type” transactions, Milligan says.
“In our earlier days, I think we were focused on smaller stuff generally just to get going and to build the track record and the portfolio,” he says. “And now we’re trying to look a little bit more toward scale and some efficiency with the platform.”
Crestone in late 2023 moved into 737NG freighters and bought three from GA Telesis with leases attached, but it still sees value in 737-400Fs.
“Granted, there are still a lot of parked aircraft and it’s going to take years for that to be reabsorbed into the system but, fundamentally, people need freighters and there’s a trend, I think, to more and more of that,” Milligan says. “So, we look for those types of value dynamics. We like the -800 still, at the right price.”
In October, Crestone added another freighter type to its portfolio by taking on the first of two A321Fs under management. That aircraft is an A321-200PCF on lease to Global Crossing Airlines.
“We’re looking for customers out in the market that might want to adopt the A321F,” Milligan says. “We think it offers a lot of capability. It hasn’t been widely adopted yet, though, and I think that’ll come in time.”
Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more of Milligan’s conversation about Crestone with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.
