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Awery adds new AI functionality for data interrogation

Awery Aviation Software has expanded its AI functionality to allow users to connect their operational data with platforms including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Cursor. The new functionality is called Ask Awery and allows users of Awery's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform to ask questions about their data and receive answers directly through their chosen AI tool. "Achieving widespread digital adoption in air cargo depends on making technology straightforward and practical for the people using it every day, and this tool allows our customers that benefit," said Vitaly Smilianets, founder and chief executive of Awery. "Instead of manually extracting and processing data, our users can now prompt their chosen AI tool to compile information, such as 'tonnage by customer for August, broken down by lane' or 'charter quote conversion by customer, covering the last 90 days', using data directly from their Awery account. "Reporting tasks that previously required bringing together disparate data and could take hours can now be completed in seconds, giving our customers more time to analyse the results and use them to make better-informed decisions, save time and resources, and ultimately deliver a better service to their own customers." The air cargo software firm said the integration uses Model Context Protocol (MCP), which it described as "a standard that enables AI applications to connect with external systems and data sources". Access is read-only and governed by each user's existing Awery permissions, meaning users can only access data they are already authorised to view. "Looking ahead, we see significant potential to take this further through AI agents that can automate recurring reporting and routine data checks," added Smilianets. "Customers will be able to set agents to compile reports on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, removing repetitive work and giving teams more time to focus on the decisions that data supports."

Leading European cargo airport Istanbul adds another runway

Fast-growing Istanbul Airport has added a fourth main runway as part of its phase-two expansion. The concrete runway, designated 09/27, was opened on 18 September and is aligned east-west, the first runway at the airport with this configuration, and has a length of 2,820m (9,250ft), reports FlightGlobal. Istanbul airport's operator describes the new facility as the "fourth main runway", stating that it previously had three main and two auxiliary runways. This configuration enabled the Turkish hub to implement triple-independent parallel runway operations last year. "Addition of the fourth main runway to the system will further increase [Istanbul airport's] operational capacity, efficiency and flexibility," said airport operator iGA. It puts the investment in the runway at €890m and said it will reduce holding and taxi times for domestic services and eastbound flights. "We've worked with all our efforts to achieve the goal of establishing a leading global transfer hub in Istanbul," says the airport operator's chair, Cemal Kalyoncu. The additional runway comes shortly after the airport became Europe's busiest cargo hub after picking up extra volumes as a result of the Iran War. Figures from Airports Council International (ACI) Europe show that the Turkish airport saw first-half cargo volumes increase 10.8% year on year to just over 1m tonnes. The increase comes as the airport has been one of the prime beneficiaries of cargo volumes diverting away from the Middle East hubs, instead transiting through alternative airports. Indeed, the airport's key carrier, Turkish Airlines, saw its own cargo volumes increase by 11.3%, while cargo revenues rose by 58% to nearly $1.3bn. Meanwhile, Frankfurt Airport, which has in recent years been the busiest airport on the continent, slipped to second place as its volumes grew by the lower amount of 1.3% year on year to 980,731. Airport operator Fraport said that performance had been affected by restrained economic growth in the Eurozone, a six-day strike in April at Lufthansa, and the grounding of Lufthansa Cargo's Airbus A321 freighters. Additional reporting by Damian Brett, Air Cargo News.

News in Brief Podcast | Week 39 2026 | Transpacific rates, US-Canada trade war and dampening ecommerce

What's keeping Transpacific freight rates elevated as the peak season approaches? This week, Gavin van Marle joins us to discuss the latest rate movements, the changing US-Canada trade relationship and a significant leadership shake-up at PIL. Plus, Awery's Tristan Koch joins us to examine the latest airfreight data, the continuing decline in China-Europe ecommerce volumes, shifting rates and capacity, and how new technology could help the industry navigate an increasingly volatile market. All this and more, in under 25 minutes on this week's News in Brief Podcast!