Akasa Air Cargo launches mobile app powered by SmartKargo

Indian carrier Akasa Air Cargo has launched a new mobile app using SmartKargo technology to enable efficient booking, shipment tracking and account management for cargo agents and shippers. Developed on the SmartKargo platform, the Akasa Air Cargo mobile app brings together key cargo functions including flight search, booking, real-time shipment tracking, shipment milestones, arrival information and account management within a single interface. The app is designed to be intuitive to support faster decision-making and execution without challenges. Available for download on Android platforms, the app is currently accessible to registered cargo agents and approved shippers operating across Akasa Air's growing domestic route network. Oliver Houri, chief revenue officer, SmartKargo, said: "Mobile-first distribution is no longer a competitive differentiator -- it is a commercial imperative. The launch of the Akasa Air Cargo mobile app reflects the kind of forward-thinking partnership we champion at SmartKargo. "By extending our platform's core capabilities to a native mobile experience, we are enabling Akasa Air to capture demand at the moment of intent, reduce booking friction, and deepen agent engagement in ways that were simply not possible before. We are proud to power this next chapter of Akasa Air's cargo growth story." Anand Srinivasan, co-founder and chief commercial officer, Akasa Air, added: "The future of air cargo will be shaped not only by network scale, but by how seamlessly customers can access and interact with that network. "At Akasa Air, we are building a cargo proposition that combines a growing network with technology-led solutions that simplify the movement of goods. The launch of the Akasa Air Cargo mobile app is a significant step in that journey, enabling customers to book, track and manage shipments with greater convenience and transparency. "In less than four years since commencing operations, Akasa Air has emerged as a key player in India's air cargo market, and this launch reinforces our commitment to building a modern, reliable and customer-centric cargo business that supports the country's evolving trade and logistics landscape." According to fleet tracking website Planespotters, Akasa Air has a fleet of 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The airline currently connects with 28 domestic and seven international cities, including Doha, Qatar; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Kuwait City; Phuket, Thailand; and Hanoi, Vietnam.

Carriers 'test the markets' with rate hikes, but has the peak hit its peak?

With shipping's peak season now well under way, container freight spot rates resumed their steep upward trajectory this week on the main east-west trades, following a series of carrier price hikes introduced on 1 July. However, compared with the double-digit increases seen a fortnight ago, after the last round of price announcements - which led Drewry's World Container Index (WCI) to record strong double-digit week-on-week spot rate increases on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades - this week's increases were more moderate. The WCI's Shanghai-Rotterdam leg increased 7% week on week, to finish at $4,682 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route was up 10% on the previous week, to $6,360 per 40ft. While there is little question that the early peak season caught many Asia-Europe shippers and their forwarders by surprise, several factors suggest the market is nearing the apex of peak season pricing. First, the "Fortnight Brace" principle outlined by Loadstar Premium this week appears to be still be at work. Today's Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) - which records rates quoted for the forthcoming week and, as such, can indicate the behaviour of the following week's WCI (as it did last week) - shows spot rates to the Mediterranean up by 1% and flat to North Europe. Secondly, demand now appears to be steady rather than soaring, and one Asia-Europe forwarder told The Loadstar this week that some carriers were beginning to discount on next week's bookings. "The first half of July is looking like it might be the peak - we're already seeing reductions come in for 6 July; bookings are steady and at the moment we're not seeing much in the way of problems with bookings and space for July," he said. However, he added, it would still take a few weeks for carriers to work through the pools of containers rolled during June. "We know there is still plenty of rolled cargo to move, so we're not expecting rates to fall off a cliff just yet, but we do expect rates to start to soften through August," he said. "I think we are reaching the peak level," another forwarder told The Loadstar. "Another clue here is the validity a few of the lines are now offering, no longer weekly, and now to the end of July, which indicates no further increases. I suspect, we may see some slight decreases. "The carriers are still managing allocation agreements closely. However, not as many rollings, which does suggest a sign of the chaos starting to ease going into August," she said. A third sign is that, as the new mid-July FAK (freight all kinds) levels being announced by carriers are substantially less of an increase than in June - for example, MSC published an FAK rate of $7,700 per 40ft to North Europe for 15 July, compared with $7,500 for 1 July and $6,000 on 15 June. However, it is a different story on the transpacific trades this week, as the peak season appears to have coincided with a short wave of US importers front-loading to avoid some hefty mid-July peak season surcharges - South Korean carrier HMM announced a transpacific PSS of $3,000 per 40ft for 15 July. "Carriers are testing the market's upper limits by introducing an additional $1,500 GRI for the first half of July," noted US west coast freight forwarder Freight Right. "This triggered a massive, last-minute rush at the end of June as shippers scrambled to push containers out of China to avoid the premium. "Importers have fundamentally compressed the typical multi-month peak season - fearing prolonged volatility, businesses pulled-forward orders they did not immediately need, clogging current vessel capacity with goods destined for sales cycles months down the line," added the firm. The WCI's Shanghai-Los Angeles leg was up 10% week on week, to end at $6,349 per 40ft, while its Shanghai-New York route rose 11%, to $7,902 per 40ft. And today's SCFI indicates further increases of a similar magnitude can be expected next week, with its Shanghai-US west coast route up 9%, and up 12% to the US east coast. "Ocean container shipping is running hot on the transpacific, with offered capacity from Far East to US west coast hitting an all-time high this week and spot rates showing another double-digit increase, to sit +253% compared with pre-Strait of Hormuz crisis at the end of February," Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand said. "The combination of record capacity deployment and further rate increases on the transpacific tells us demand is strong and that carriers are scrambling to satisfy it," he added. According to Xeneta data, "carriers are adding capacity fast": MSC reinstated its transpacific Pearl service on 13 June, with MSC LYSE V the first vessel to call at Long Beach on 30 June; while Yang Ming and ONE are running extra-loaders. "More capacity is welcome and will help shippers to move goods more reliably, but it is not enough to reverse the upward [pricing] trend," Mr Sand added.

Crime gangs set to make hay in the holiday sunshine

Reduced staffing, facility closures, and parked freight over this weekend's Independence Day holiday in the US are expected to create favourable conditions for organised crime gangs to target freight, according to Verisk CargoNet, with today expected to be the peak. The theft prevention specialist analysed 256 cargo thefts recorded between 1 and 7 July in the years between 2021 and 2025, and found activity peaked on 3 July, before falling during the holiday itself. "The 4 July holiday creates a predictable disruption in the supply chain," warned Keith Lewis, VP operations at Verisk CargoNet. "Cargo thieves understand when freight is likely to be parked, when facilities may be closed, and when normal verification procedures may be under pressure." The warning comes as the value of stolen freight continues to rise sharply, despite a decline in incident numbers. Verisk CargoNet estimates cargo theft losses exceeded $359m in the first six months of 2026, the average value of stolen cargo reaching around $341,500. The company said organised crime gangs were increasingly targeting high-value commodities, like industrial metals such as copper, molybdenum, antimony, tungsten, and zinc, alongside enterprise IT hardware including RAM modules, fibre-optic transceivers, storage drives, and server blades, with many individual shipments these days worth more than $1m. Geographically, California, Texas, and Illinois remain the main hotspots for theft during the first week of July, with San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, Dallas County, Maricopa County, Shelby County, and Cook County among the most frequently hit areas. CargoNet said these locations also reflected strong secondary markets for stolen goods. Traditional cargo theft methods continue to dominate over holiday periods, with unattended trucks and trailers remaining prime targets. The company said food and beverage shipments, household goods, electronics, vehicle accessories, tyres, appliances, and non-alcoholic and energy drinks among the commodities most frequently stolen. However, CargoNet warned that organised crime groups were increasingly combining physical theft with sophisticated fraud designed to infiltrate transport companies and broker verification systems. According to the report, criminals are increasingly compromising cloud-based business phone systems, allowing them to make and receive calls using legitimate carrier telephone numbers and, in some cases, monitor live conversations. The company has also seen increased attempts to gain access to motor carrier accounts on compliance platforms used by brokers to vet carriers before awarding loads. Techniques include credential theft, remote access software, and social engineering attacks that persuade carriers to see fraudsters as authorised users. "These schemes are becoming more personal, more technical, and more convincing," Mr Lewis said. "Fraud actors are no longer relying only on spoofed emails or fake documents. They are trying to operate from inside trusted phone systems and compliance workflows that brokers use to validate carriers. "Around a holiday weekend, when teams are short-staffed and decisions are being made quickly, that false appearance of legitimacy becomes especially dangerous."