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: 

• Unique coding and alignment of relevant data points to exchange between registries; 
• A process for the exchange of information to avoid double issuance; and 
• A dispute resolution process.

“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.

ATSG Chief Executive Mike Berger is looking forward to receiving the group’s first A330P2F even as demand for 767 freighters remains solid.

Over the past year, carriers in countries including Georgia and Uzbekistan have entered the medium-widebody market and grown using 767s from ATSG’s leasing arm, CAM.

“The thing that we’re very keenly aware of is how much capacity can be absorbed into this market,” Berger said in a fireside chat at Cargo Facts Symposium 2024 in San Diego last week. “And that’s something we have a very, very close eye on. And we see our competitors and some other lessors also leasing aircraft into the same markets. So, we’ll balance that out with how many more assets we think they can absorb.”

Meanwhile, ATSG sent its first A330 for conversion with EFW in late 2023 as part of its growth and transition into Airbus medium widebodies. The group expects to deliver its first two A330-300P2Fs on lease by the end of the year, with a couple more to follow in early 2025, Berger said.

“It’s our future,” he said. “Make no mistake about it.”

The group appointed Todd France as chief commercial officer in August. Most recently president of CAM, France reports to Jeff Dominick, who became ATSG president in June when Berger became CEO.

“They’re good thinkers; they’re going to challenge us, challenge me, challenge the others to evolve our business,” Berger said. “We really firmly believe that our business needs to continue to evolve. We can’t stand still. We won’t stand still, and these two guys, specifically, are new parts of the leadership that are going to help us get there.”

Tune in to this episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more from Berger’s fireside chat with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Cargo Facts Symposium 2024.