ACW 22 June 15 by Azura International

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The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals Volume: 18

Issue: 24

22 June 2015

Volga-Dnepr to buy 20 747-8F

oeing and Volga-Dnepr Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 20 Boeing 747-8 Freighters, valued at $7.4 billion at the US aircraft maker’s list prices. Volga-Dnepr Group was the first to order the 747-8F in Russia and took delivery of its first in 2012. These additional 20 aircraft will be acquired, according to Boeing, “through a mix of direct purchases and leasing over the next seven years.” No Volga-Dnepr statement about the MoU was available, but in the Boeing announcement, the group’s president, Alexey Isaikin, says: “Together with Boeing, we will keep the unique technology of air logistics offering both the Antonov

124-100 and our expanded Boeing 747 fleet for the benefits of global customers.” According to Boeing, Volga-Dnepr will use the 747-8F for the development of its AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC)business. The aviation parts of the Volga-Dnepr Group consist of Volga-Dnepr Technics, a maintenance and

repair company, ABC and Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which is a specialist for oversize and heavy cargo transportation. Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ fleet consists of Ilyushin and Antonov aircraft. The group also has an insurance company and a trucking firm. AirBridgeCargo is a Moscow-based international scheduled cargo market carrier.

It operates Boeing 747 Freighters. According to its website, its fleet consists of fourteen Boeing 747 Freighters including, five Boeing 747-400 extended range Freighters, three Boeing 747-400 Freighters and six 747-8F. In its May results, ABC’s tonnage was up 16 per cent for the first five months of 2015, compared to the same period last year. The result continues the growth seen from 2014, when, for the year as a whole, cargo volumes increased by 17.6 per cent to 401,000 tonnes. Between 1 January and 31 March this year, ABC saw cargo volumes increase by 20 per cent to 103,816 tonnes. In 2015 so far, ABC has added Helsinki, Hanoi (Vietnam) and Los Angeles (US) to its network.

multi-million pharma investment by dhl mexico city to be one of alitalia’s ROUTES outsourcing driving growth

imports remain frozen

Boeing’s sea plane freighter?

Paris sees 29 Boeing Freighters ordered Twenty nine Boeing freighters and hundreds more aircraft orders were announced at the 51st Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France, last week by Boeing and Airbus. At the time of going to press, as well as Volga-Dnepr Group signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 20 Boeing 747-8 Freighters (see above), EVA Airways announced it intends to purchase five 777F (see page two) and Qatar Airways declared an order for four 777F (see page two) with the two orders having a combined worth, at Boeing list prices of, more than $2.5 billion. With these orders and Boeing’s sale of five 777F to Korean Air in February, and a January finalisation of a 2014 Qatar order for four, Boeing has now concluded 38 freighter sales this year. Airbus did not announce any freighter sales at Paris. According to its May orders and deliveries data, it still has 10 Airbus A330-200 Freighters on order, out of an order total of 42, with 32 delivered and operational so far. At the Paris Air Show, Boeing also led the way in numbers of aircraft ordered, including the largest order. That saw 100 Boeing 737 MAX 8 ordered from leasing company Aercap, which

are worth $10.7 billion at list prices. Korean Air ordered 30 737 MAX with options for a further 20 and Minsheng Financial Leasing signed an MoU for the purchase of 30 737, including Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX. Asia Pacific airline Ruili Airlines committed to 30 737 MAX with financing from AVIC International Leasing. And Garuda Indonesia announced that it is to buy 30 737 MAX 8. Indonesian operator Sriwijaya Air, which has a freight service, ordered two Next-Generation Boeing 737-900 extended range (ER), and has options for up to 20 unspecified Boeing 737. Aircraft lessor SMBC Aviation Capital, announced an order for 10 737 MAX 8. In total, Boeing took orders for 232 737 of some type or another and which could be 270 if Korean and Sriwijaya exercise their options later. Not all the Boeing orders were for different types of the 737. Korean ordered two Boeing 777-300ER, Qatar announced it was to buy 10 Boeing 777-8X and Ethiopian Airlines is buying six Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. Garuda is to purchase 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Boeing’s order total was 318. Garuda and Korean also showed their intent

to buy Airbus with the Paris Air Show announcements that the Indonesian airline would buy 30 Airbus A350 eXtra Wide Body and Korean, 30 Airbus A321 new engine option (neo) with an option for 20 more. Another A350 buyer is Air Lease. Air Lease ordered one Airbus A350-900, one Airbus A321 current engine option (ceo) and three Airbus A320ceo. Another leasing company, GE Capital Aviation Services, ordered 60 A320neo family aircraft including Airbus A321neo. Two other big A320 orders were placed by Avianca owner, Synergy Aerospace, which signed an MoU for 62 A320neo and an unnamed Asian airline also signed a memorandum for 60 A320neo. While Airbus did not announce any sales of its A330F, it did announce the launch customer for its latest variant of the A330, the Airbus A330-300 Regional. The Regional has a range of up to 3,000 nautical miles (5,550 kilometres) and a reduced operational weight of about 200 tonnes. Its launch customer is Saudi Arabian Airlines, but the number it was ordering was not revealed. In total at Le Bourget, Airbus saw orders and commitments reaching 267.

BOEING gave a glimpse of a freighter that flies just above the waves, using what is known as wing-in-ground (WIG) effect for lift, at the 51st Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France, last week. Known commonly by its Russian name, Ekranoplan, the WIG concept allows for very large aircraft that fly just above sea level, landing and taking off from the water (photo courtesy AEROSPACE/RAeS). The Boeing concept has four turboprops and is foreseen by the US aircraft maker to be a mid-term development. Its near term development is an aircraft with a braced wing, and the far term design is a supersonic airliner - neither of them freighters. Further Ekranoplan details were not available.

NEWSWEEK

Five Boeing 777 Freighters for EVA Airways

VA Airways has ordered five Boeing 777 Freighters worth a total of $1.5 billion, the first 777Fs to join the Taiwanese carrier’s fleet. The deal was signed at the 51st Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France, on 15 June. These aircraft will be the first 777F EVA has purchased, once the deal has been finalised at an undefined later date. The 777F will join EVA’s freighter fleet of Boeing 747-400 Freighters, Boeing MD-11 Freighters, and bellyhold capacity. Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive officer, Ray Conner, says: “EVA Airways has been a loyal Boeing 777 customer for many years and we are honoured that they have selected the 777 Freighter to join their fleet. We look forward to finalising this order to further extend our strong partnership.” EVA has 35 Boeing aircraft in its fleet, including 20

777-300 extended ranges (ER) and has 14 unfilled orders for 777-300ER. The carrier says it intended to have more than 60 twin aisle aircraft by the end of 2025. Its cargo fleet consists of six MD-11F and eight 747-400F. The last time EVA made an announcement about its freight services was in August 2012 when it launched scheduled, twice weekly flights between Taoyuan International Airport

Lockheed signs airship freighter marketing deal

LOCKHEED MARTIN has appointed Hybrid Enterprises as its reseller for what the defence company calls its hybrid airships, which the companies hope to start delivering from 2018. The deal was signed at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday 16 June by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics executive vice president, Orlando Carvalho, and Hybrid Enterprises’ chief executive officer, Rob Binns. Hybrid Enterprises claims the airships can deliver heavy cargo and personnel to almost anywhere in the world. The companies say a 20 tonne variant is being tested at

Lockheed’s Palmdale (US) facility. Carvalho says: “We’ve invested more than 20 years to develop the technology, prove the performance and ensure there are compelling economics for the Hybrid Airship.” He adds that Lockheed has completed all the planning stages required by the US government’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is ready to build the first commercial model and get FAA certification. Binns says: “Lockheed Martin’s hybrid airships will significantly reduce the cost and environmental impact of

remote operations.” Lockheed says that while the airships are slower than conventional aircraft, fuel consumption is significantly lower and is faster than land and sea transport. It says its airship burns less than one tenth the fuel of a helicopter per tonne. Hybrid Enterprises claims the airship can carry up to 21 tonnes, has a range of 1,400 nautical miles (2,590 kilometres) and a cruise speed of 60 knots (111 kilometres per hour). It says the airship is designed for cargo and flexible for outsized cargo. Hybrid Enterprises says the airships need minimal infrastructure and have low carbon emissions. Other companies have been testing similar airships, including UK based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), and US firm, Aeros. In April 2015, HAV launched a crowdfunding effort to raise £2 million ($3.1 million) to develop Airlander 10, which will have a 10 tonne capacity. In May, Aeros announced that the United States’ Patent Office had awarded it a patent for its ballast system.

Four Boeing 777 Freighters for Qatar Airways

ATAR AIRWAYS has ordered an additional four Boeing 777 Freighters to add to the four it confirmed and four options announced in January 2015. The airline announced the 777F order at the 51st Paris Air Show last week, where it also ordered Boeing 777-8X, in a total deal worth $4.8 billion. Qatar Airways has seven 777F in its fleet and has 50 777-9X on order. The airline’s freighter fleet also includes six Airbus A330 Freighters, with five more firm orders and eight options. Qatar Airways’ chief executive officer (CEO), Akbar Al Baker, says: “The order for four 777 Freighters underpins the value that this airplane has also brought to our rapidly growing cargo operations. Qatar Airways Cargo is an integral part of the Qatar Airways Group and we look forward to enhancing the existing fleet with next generation aircraft.” Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, Ray Conner says: “We are

ACW 22 JUNE 2015

very proud that Qatar Airways continues to expand its cargo operations with the 777 Freighter.” Explaining the 777-8X order, Al Baker, says: “Acquiring technologically advanced airplanes such as the 777X is integral to our expansion strategy. With the addition of these 777-8Xs to the 50 777-9X already on order, we are confident of continuing the tremendous legacy of the 777.” At the Farnborough Air Show in July 2014, Qatar Airways announced it would order four 777Fs, with the option for

four more, which it finalised in January 2015. The total deal was worth $2.5 billion. After a slow year for freighter sales in 2014, where Boeing only confirmed a Boeing 747-8 Freighter order from Cargolux International Airlines in February, 2015 has been a considerable improvement. In February, Korean Air ordered five 777Fs with the option for six more and two 747-8Fs. In January, Silk Way West Airlines ordered three 747-8Fs, which was the first sale for the model for over a year. Qatar has added freighter routes to its network in 2015, starting with twice-weekly flights to Basel (Switzerland) using an A330F on 28 January. The Wednesday and Saturday service was part of its pharma express to link Brussels and Basel to Doha. On 4 April, the airline launched twice weekly 777F services to Los Angeles (US) via Luxembourg and Mexico on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

and Haneda International Airport using its MD-11F. The airline also has three 747400, four McDonnell Douglas MD-90, 14 Airbus A321-200, 11 Airbus A330-200 and three Airbus A330-300, as well as its 777-300ER. In April, EVA launched EVA Pharmacare, in collaboration with Envirotainer. It said the main products carried would include pharmaceuticals, vaccines, healthcare products, food and semi conductors. It started in Europe and Asia before adding North America in June. On 19 June, EVA started three flights per week from Taipei to Houston (US) using a 777-300ER. This service will be increased to four times on 1 July. The flight leaves Taoyuan at 22.00h and arrives at George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 23.25h. The return flight leaves Houston at 01.15h and arrives in Taipei at 05.55h.

Airbus, ST Aerospace launch A320P2F

ST AEROPSACE, Airbus and Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) are to start Airbus A320 and A321 passenger to freighter (P2F) conversions, with ST Aerospace increasing its stake in Airbus’ conversion company, EFW. The agreement was announced at the Paris Air Show on Wednesday 17 June. ST Aerospace will lead the engineering development with help from Airbus and EFW, with the conversion work being undertaken by ST Aerospace and EFW. The agreement was signed by ST Aerospace president, Lim Serh Ghee, Airbus Group chief financial officer, Harald Wilhelm, Airbus chief operating officer, Tom Williams, and chief executive officer of EFW, Andreas Sperl. ST Aerospace tells Air Cargo Week, development work will start shortly, though no date was given and the aircraft should be in service by the end of 2018. Sperl says: “The launch of the A320/A321 P2F programme is very good news for EFW and the airfreight cargo market. We are convinced of the significant market potential for our product.” Wilhelm says: “This freighter conversion agreement is a great step for our highly successful A320 family programme, boosting the longevity of the aircraft and enhancing value for aircraft owners and investors.” EFW says over the next 20 years, it expects there will be demand for 612 small freighters with a payload of less than 30 tonnes, and the A321 P2F, in particular, will fill demand by the replacement of Boeing 757 Special Freighters. It predicts all the small freighters required over the next 20 years will be conversions. The A320 P2F will have a payload of 21 tonnes over 2,100 nautical miles (3,885 kilometres) and the A321 P2F will be able to carry 27 tonnes over 1,900 nautical miles. Lim says: “The A320 P2F and A321 P2F will be excellent workhorses which would offer aircraft operators great value and efficiency.” The companies say the A320 and A321 P2F programmes will be a similar collaboration to the Airbus A330 P2F conversions launched in 2013. Egyptair Cargo became the launch customer for the A330 P2F when it ordered two A330-200P2F in December 2014. The A330-300P2F is expected to enter service in 2017, followed by the A330200P2F in mid-2018. ST Aerospace will increase its stake in EFW from 35 per cent to 55 per cent in a deal, which it hopes to close by the fourth quarter of 2015, subject to regulatory approval. ST Aerospace will be issued with EFW shares worth 146.3 million Singapore dollars ($108.7 million).

NEWS WEEK GSA for Poland and Hungary for American is FlyUs

merican Airlines appointed FlyUs as its general sales agent for Hungary and Poland from 1 June. The airline says both countries are off line destinations with cargo being trucked from Warsaw and Budapest to cities including London, Paris, Frankfurt and Munich (both Germany). Early bookings of shipments from Hungary have included electronics, pharmaceuticals, medical and automotive

equipment. The airline says Polish customers have started shipping car parts, ship spares, electrical devices and cosmetics. FlyUs says it has appointed dedicated staff for American Airlines Cargo business. American Airlines Cargo managing director for cargo sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Tristan Koch, says: “There is tremendous potential for cargo services in Eastern Europe. In appointing a trusted partner in the shape

Cargo rises as simple as ABC

of FlyUs, we believe we have the potential to deliver services to customers in both countries to all gateways in the USA and beyond.” FlyUs country manager for Hungary, Zsolt Szabo, says: “We have potential business from across the whole of Hungary and are expecting demand for service to the new pharmaceutical facility in Philadelphia [US].” Szabo says he expects Hungarian pharmaceuticals to use the US as a stop off on their way to Latin America. FlyUs country manager for Poland, Pawel Wlodarczyk, says: “We are a young and enthusiastic team and have already identified areas of business where we can win traffic for key locations in Brazil, Argentina and the Caribbean from Warsaw, central Poland and the industrialised south of the country.” This is the second contract FlyUS has won this year. In February it was appointed general sales and service agent by Aeroflot to represent it in central America.

WorldNews SAUDIA CARGO launched its New Delhi to Riyadh and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) freighter route on 15 June. The twice weekly service will see a Boeing 747-400 Freighter depart from Delhi every Thursday and Saturday. It will complement Saudia Cargo’s freighter services from Mumbai (India), giving the Jeddah-based airline four-weekly freighters into India. The first freighter carried pharmaceuticals, garments and fabrics. QATAR AIRWAYS commenced services between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Doha’s Hamad International Airport on Tuesday 16 June. Amsterdam is the airline’s first destination in The Netherlands. Qatar will operate six flights per week between Amsterdam and Doha with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

AIRBRIDGECARGO (ABC) Airlines has seen cargo volumes increase by 16 per cent to 180,605 tonnes between January and May, helped by expanding its network this year. The result continues the growth seen from 2014, when, for the year as a whole, cargo volumes increased by 17.6 per cent to 401,000 tonnes. Between 1 January and 31 March this year, ABC saw cargo volumes increase by 20 per cent to 103,816 tonnes. In 2015 so far, ABC has added Helsinki, Hanoi (Vietnam) and Los Angeles (US) to its network. ABC executive president, Denis Ilin, says: “Every decision we take in ABC is aimed to satisfy our customers needs. We have managed to earn their growing support which allowed us to continue outperforming the market.” On 26 January, ABC started flying to Helsinki from Sheremetyevo International Airport on Mondays and Fridays and returning via Frankfurt (Germany). On 1 April, the airline started Wednesday and Saturday flights to Hanoi from Sheremetyevo via Hong Kong (China). At the time, ABC senior vice president for sales and marketing, Robert van de Weg, described Vietnam, “As a logical next step in developing the strategically important Asian market.” ABC started services to Los Angeles International Airport from Sheremetyevo in April, which van de Weg described at the time as, “part of our ongoing commitment to develop our presence in the US market and follows strong consumer interest in both China and the United States.” In 2014, ABC launched new routes to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Leipzig Halle Airport, Munich Airport, EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg and Malmo Airport.

Power stations flown to Cairo

VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES delivered a 28 tonne shipment of power stations from New York (US) to Cairo using an Ilyushin IL-76-TD-90VD for the Suez Canal widening project. The project is due to be completed in August 2015. Volga-Dnepr says the power stations were mounted into special six metre cradles, which originally proved too high for the IL-76. The carrier says its engineers demounted the top and side parts of the cradle so it could be loaded using the airline’s wing-lift system, skates and rails. Volga-Dnepr transported the shipment for Wi Fli Aviation Solutions.

ACW 22 JUNE 2015

NEWSWEEK

5.4% rise for Leipzig-Halle Airport

irfreight volumes at Leipzig-Halle Airport increased by 5.4 per cent in May, compared to the same month last year, which continues the significant monthly growth surge this year. Leipzig, Germany’s second largest cargo hub by volumes, handled 81,942 tonnes in May. The year-to-date figures for the first five months of 2015 have reached 397,728 tonnes, eight per cent higher than the volume at the same time in 2014. The airport’s operator, Mitteldeutsche Flughafen, says: “2015 is continuing the long term growth process in the wake of 2014, which set a new record for the tenth time in succession; the figures easily exceed the German national average.” The cargo figure in May was slightly down on the last two months. In April, volumes were 82,148 tonnes and in March, 83,846 tonnes. Volumes in the second quarter at Leipzig-

Halle are set to be slightly down on the growth achieved in the first quarter (Q1) this year, when there was an increase of 8.4 per cent compared to Q1 2014. Airports Council International statistics show that in 2014 Leipzig-Halle was Europe’s fifth busiest airport by volumes. For that year, the airport saw a surge to more than 910,000 tonnes. This was a 2.7 per cent rise on 2013 and it was the tenth year in succession it had posted growth. Mitteldeutsche Flughafen chief executive officer, Markus Kopp, said earlier this year the airport was able to continue consolidating its position from an increase in express freight and additional routes to Russia and Asia. In February, the airport signed an airfreight cooperation agreement with the Airports Company South Africa. The agreement was in the form of a memorandum of understanding to expand marketing opportunities.

Falling volumes at Frankfurt Airport

FRANKFURT AIRPORT has seen cargo volumes fall by 3.3 per cent year-on-year (YOY) to 176,889 tonnes in May, which the airport’s operator, Fraport, blames on holidays during the month. Frankfurt Airport has seen volatile figures throughout 2015, with one month seeing a YOY increase followed by a fall in the next. January saw a YOY decline of 0.9 per cent to 157,252 tonnes, followed by a 1.2 per cent increase in February to 159,417 tonnes. March saw the highest cargo figure of the year, at 186,277 tonnes, but this was a YOY decline of 6.4 per cent. April saw a YOY increase of 0.6 per cent to 170,247 tonnes. Between January and May, cargo volumes fell by two per cent to 850,082 tonnes. Fraport says: “The Whitsun 2015 vacation occurred in May ... the additional holidays in May dampened Frankfurt’s cargo throughput in the reporting month.” Other airports Fraport owns have had variable results in May, with Ljubljana Joze Pucnik International Airport and Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima seeing falls in cargo volumes. Its Bulgarian airports, Burgas Airport and Varna Airport both saw large increases in cargo, but both handle small volumes. The other two airports

Fraport owns stakes in and which handle cargo are, Hannover Langenhagen Airport and Xi’an Xianyang International Airport. They both saw increases in May. In May, Ljubljana saw cargo fall by 2.7 per cent YOY to 802 tonnes. It has seen cargo volumes fall YOY in every month except February, when it was up by 1.5 per cent to 755 tonnes. It saw the largest YOY fall in January, when it declined by eight per cent to 706 tonnes. From January to May, Ljubljana has seen cargo volumes fall by 2.5 per cent to 3,931 tonnes. Lima saw cargo fall by 5.4 per cent YOY to 21,548 tonnes in May. This follows a six per cent YOY decline in April to 22,038 tonnes. It had seen YOY increases in February of 20.3 per cent to 19,094 tonnes and 3.8 per cent to 21,431 tonnes in March. Lima has seen cargo volumes increase by 1.2 per cent between January and May to 108,295 tonnes. Fraport’s Bulgarian airports have seen growth between January and May. Burgas saw cargo increase by 47.5 per cent to 3,347 tonnes and Varna was up by 142.4 per cent to 35 tonnes. In May, Burgas was up by 202.1 per cent to 1,026 tonnes YOY and Varna increased by 36.6 per cent to eight tonnes. Hannover, which Fraport has a 30 per cent stake in, has seen cargo increase by 24.2 per cent to 7,707 tonnes between January and May. Xi’an, which Fraport has a 24.5 per cent stake in, saw cargo volumes rise by 10.3 per cent between January and May to 80,225 tonnes. In May, Hannover was up by 4.6 per cent YOY to 1,154 tonnes and Xi’an saw an increase of 9.5 per cent to 16,330 tonnes.

Cargo falls at Hong Kong airport HONG KONG INTERNATONAL AIRPORT (HKIA) saw monthly cargo volumes fall year-on-year (YOY) by 0.3 per cent in May compared to the same month last year. The airport’s cargo throughput was 366,000 tonnes, making it the busiest month so far this year. This was the third successive month the airport has seen a decline, as the slowdown in Asia Pacific continues. In May, 134,000 tonnes of unloaded cargo, a YOY rise of 0.5 per cent and 232,000 tonnes of loaded cargo, a YOY drop of 0.8 per cent were handled. Cargo aircraft movements fell to 4,585 flights, down on the 4,592 in April 2014. In May, the airport says: “The slight decline in cargo throughput last month was mainly attributed to a two per cent yearon-year drop in exports. Imports and transshipments both registered a one per

ACW 22 JUNE 2015

cent increase compared to the same month last year. Traffic to and from North America outperformed other key regions during the month.” The May volumes figure was up on the 360,000 tonnes in April, which was a 0.7 per cent, fall on April last year. It was also up on March, when 364,000 tonnes were processed, a significant drop on the 397,000 in March 2014. It was up on the 303,000 tonnes that was handled in February and the 356,000 recorded in January. In the first five months of 2015, HKIA has handled 1.7 million tonnes of cargo, which is a 1.4 per cent rise on the same period in 2014. On a rolling 12-month basis, the airport has handled 4.4 million tonnes of cargo, which is a 4.1 per cent rise on the previous 12 months. This includes 1.6 million of unloaded cargo, a rise of 5.1 per cent and 2.7 million of loaded cargo, a rise of 3.6 per cent.

NEWS WEEK

Multi-million pharma investment planned by DHL

eutsche Post DHL Group plans on further developing its pharmaceutical capabilities at airports around the globe through its DHL Thermonet stations to meet the rising demand for pharma specialist facilities. The integrator discussed its infrastructure construction strategy at a media briefing held during its Life Sciences and Healthcare Conference in Hamburg (Germany) on Tuesday 16 June at the Grand Elysee Hotel. DHL now has 90 Thermonet stations at airports around the world, which are located where it has a vast network of connections. The integrator says it has a further 15 Thermonet stations under consideration in all regions of the globe, including in China, South Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and in Europe. These stations all have the same standards and facilities for handling pharma cargo at different temperatures and are segregated areas within airfreight terminals it has. Speaking at the event, DHL chief executive officer (CEO), Frank Appel, says that more specialist pharma airport infrastructure is needed to meet the new demands. He explains that there are different challenges as the pharma industry is changing and moving from chemical based drugs into biotech-engineered drugs, which

DHL: Pharma is core business

need temperature controlled end-to-end facilities. Appel explains that the changing marketplace has lead to a higher demand for more specialist high standard temperature controlled facilities in regions around the globe. “Temperature controlled products from end-to-end is happening very rapidly. There are big challenges. And the standards must be consistent around the world,” Appel says. DHL published a report at the conference in Hamburg, entitled The Smarter Cold Chain: Four essentials every company should adopt. The report

says that a new generation of cold chains needs to be developed to improve global health standards. The integrator’s white paper by its global forward arm found there are critical challenges as the global demand for expensive structurally complex and temperature sensitive biological and speciality drugs grows. Appel says that in order to meet the changing market demands revealed in the report: “This year we are investing 500 million euros [$563 million] between Leipzig-Halle Airport, East Midlands Airport, Brussels Airport, Cinninatti Airport and at Changi Airport for network upkeep and optimisation.” Appel explains that DHL is constantly looking to expand its capabilities at airports, but says there are no plans to have hubs, which only handle pharma cargo. He says if DHL has pharma only hubs, it would not tap into the integrator’s large scale volumes and network. The best strategy, Appel says, is to develop pharma capabilities within existing hubs where it already has a large scale network and operation. He adds that DHL will spend a, “three digit million euro amount,” in the coming years as part of a fleet renewal programme in Europe, but could not give exact details of which aircraft will be introduced or phased out.

PHARMA’s significance for Deutsche Post DHL Group was underlined by the company’s chief executive officer Frank Appel on Tuesday 16 June, at a media briefing in Hamburg (Germany). Appel says the pharma market makes up one quarter of DHL’s global freight forwarding revenues, but he was unable to reveal an exact figure. Appel also claims that DHL is growing in the pharma market at twice the average growth rate of its competitors, but again he could not give a precise amount. “It is a core activity and a very active market and there are good returns,” Appel explains. The world’s changing demographics, growing gross domestic product and expanding consumer classes in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa are presenting opportunities for the integrator to grow its pharma revenues. DHL says that research shows that spending on pharma is forecasted to reach around $1.3 trillion by 2018 and adds that the World Economic Forum estimates that by 2020, one third of all global health expenditure will be in emerging markets.

Growth potential During an interview with Air Cargo Week (ACW), DHL’s president for the life sciences and health care (LSH) sector, Angelos Orfanos, says there is growth potential in numerous pharma markets across the globe. “The markets with good growth will be in Brazil, India, China, Mexico and other similar growing emerging economies,” he explains. “DHL now are located at around 80 airports, and feel that we have the market well covered at the moment, and will get to 90 airports by the end of the this year, but more will follow,” Orfanos adds. He says that in order to meet demand DHL now runs specialist pharma freighter routes from Brussels Airport to Cincinnati Airport and San Juan International Airport to Cincinnati Airport. The integrator revealed last month that it was investing $108 million in its cargo terminal facilities at Cincinnati. “We may well run more of these dedicated LSH routes in the future. We will look at the flow and see where the opportunities are to offer ramp to ramp temperature-controlled facilities,” Orfanos tells ACW. He also explains to ACW that the feedback from its customers was all about costs and the need to make health care less expensive.

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NEWSWEEK Five months of falling freight for Vienna

Double digit decline for Gatwick

VIENNA AIRPORT has seen cargo volumes fall by 0.9 per cent between January and May 2015 to 108,782 tonnes despite May seeing a year-on-year (YOY) improvement. The year so far has been volatile, with cargo volumes rising YOY then falling in the next. In January, cargo was down by 1.1 per cent YOY to 19,508 tonnes, but in February it was up by 2.9 per cent to 19,949 tonnes. Cargo volumes saw a YOY fall of 4.5 per cent in March of 23,854 tonnes followed by a YOY drop of 1.3 per cent to 23,030 tonnes in April. May saw cargo volumes increase by 0.8 per cent YOY to 22,454 tonnes. In the first quarter of 2015, Vienna Airport saw profit increase by 15.4 per cent to 14 million euros ($15.7 million) compared to 12.2 million euros in the same period of 2014. Revenue for the same period was

GATWICK AIRPORT has seen cargo volumes fall by 24.3 per cent year-on-year (YOY) in May to 5,652 tonnes, which it says is because of Emirates operating triple daily Airbus A380 services. So far this year, Gatwick has only seen YOY growth in March, while January, April and May have all seen double digit falls. January saw a 10.1 per cent YOY decline from 6,446 tonnes in 2014 to 5,796 tonnes in 2015. February saw a small drop, of 0.8 per cent from 6,464 tonnes to 6,411 tonnes. March was the only month to see growth, rising by 4.9 per cent from 7,525 tonnes to 7,891 tonnes. April was down 11.2 per cent YOY from 7,577 tonnes to 6,727 tonnes. From June 2014 to May 2015, cargo fell by 7.4 per cent to 85,732 tonnes. Gatwick tells Air Cargo Week: “The vast majority of the decrease is down to Emirates upgrading their triple daily service from one A380 to three A380s. The number of movements year on year are virtually the same, it’s because the A380 carries significantly less cargo than the [Boeing] 777.” The airport says the Boeing 777 has a bellyhold cargo capacity of 23 tonnes, while the A380 can carry eight tonnes. In March, Vietnam Airlines moved from Gatwick to Heathrow Airport. At the time the airline said cargo capacity was a major factor in the move. When the carrier moved, its general manager for UK and Ireland, Le

up by 0.9 per cent to 140.7 million euros, from 139.5 million euros. For 2014, Vienna Airport saw cargo volumes increase by 8.3 per cent to 277,532 tonnes. Of this, 197,761 tonnes was from air cargo, up 10.6 per cent over 2013, and 79,771 tonnes from trucking, a YOY rise of 3.1 per cent. Vienna Airport has 15,300 square metres of storage and office space for transporters. Its customs warehouse is 28,000 square metres, the import warehouse is 6,700 square metres and the export warehouse is 4,500 square metres. The airport’s road feeder terminal is 1,755 square metres. It has a warehouse temperature controlled for perishables to be stored between two and eight degrees centigrade, as well as a cold store and freezer. Vienna also has facilities for dangerous and valuable goods..

Thang Dzung, said: “We did well at Gatwick, but expect more with Heathrow and needed more frequency, so we can have more space. Heathrow is better for us, as there are cargo warehouses on the airport site and it is easier to truck cargo here.” The UK government’s Airports Commission is due to submit its report on expanding runway capacity in the coming weeks. One of the options shortlisted is a second runway at Gatwick. The other two are a third runway at Heathrow or lengthening the existing Northern Heathrow runway. Gatwick Airport chief executive officer, Stewart Wingate, says expanding Gatwick is the best option for the UK. He says: “Choosing airport expansion over monopoly is the only answer that is right for the whole of the UK. Expanding Gatwick would enhance competition, meaning Gatwick grows, Heathrow improves and every part of the UK benefits from a stronger network of competing airports.”

100 tonnes moved for oil and gas

uslan International moved more than 100 tonnes of oil and gas equipment from Milan (Italy) to Qingdao (China) using an Antonov AN-124-100. The loading and flight took place between 27 and 29 April. The cargo was for Penglai Jutal Offshore Engineering and being arranged by Netherlands based freight forwarder, MP Holland. It was loaded onto the aircraft at Milan Malpensa Airport before flying to Qingdao Liuting International Airport in the Shangdong province of Eastern China. The consignment included two 31 tonne crates, which

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required external loading cranes designed for loading heavy cargo. Ruslan International sales executive, Alexander Gerasimov, says: “Cargoes of this size require specialist aircraft, only the AN-124-100 is capable of moving such vast loads. Ruslan International’s strength is getting unwieldy items from A to B intact, providing the expertise and equipment to complete difficult briefs quickly and efficiently.” MP Holland operations director, Sander Rothert, says: “We are delighted that we were able to complete this mission in spite of challenges posed by the weight of the cargo, as well as time restrictions.”

NEWS WEEK Swissport ground handling to go on at SWISS SWISS INTERNATIONAL AIR LINES (SWISS) cargo division, Swiss WorldCargo, and Swissport and have extended their handling agreement until 2020. The companies say the renewed agreement will focus on improving handling and speeding up the acceptance and clearance of cargo shipments. Swissport had already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SWISS to extend ground handling services at Zurich Airport until 2020 in March before the contract renewal with Swiss WorldCargo. Swiss International Air Lines’ chief cargo officer, Oliver Evans, says: “We pride ourselves on the performance standards of the airline itself, but as we have outsourced all ground handling activities, one of our most important decision is the selection of our partners.” Swissport’s executive vice president for

global cargo services, Nils Pries Knudsen (see picture), says: “We have been working very closely with Swiss WorldCargo for many years, and are very proud of the trust we have earned. We are very much looking forward to continuing our cooperation, and

potentially extend it.” In February, Swissport announced its subsidiary, Swissport Ghana, was to start operations in Accra in the fourth quarter of this year. Its facility at Kotoka International Airport has 10,000 square metres of warehousing space to cater for perishables, valuable and dangerous goods. In March, Swissport’s Brussels Airport facility was awarded the International Air Transport Association’s center of excellence for independent validators. This is to help it meet the requirements of the European Union’s cargo security regime. In January, Swiss WorldCargo signed an MoU with Cargologic and SATS to establish what it called a quality alliance, to promote knowledge, innovation and quality leadership. The MoU intended to improve handling, particularly of temperature controlled products such as pharmaceuticals.

Weekly for Edinburgh Guangzhou arrives

tihad Airways has started a daily service between Abu Dhabi and Edinburgh with a combined weekly 168 tonne cargo capacity and is increasing its frequency to Hong Kong to seven days a week using an Airbus A330. Edinburgh is Etihad Airways’ first Scottish destination and the United Arab Emirates airline will also use an Airbus A330. Edinburgh is Etihad’s third UK destination. It already flies three daily flights to Heathrow Airport and twice every day to Manchester Airport. The aircraft will offer a 168 tonne capacity per week in both directions, with oil and gas equipment expected to be transported to destinations served by the airline’s cargo division in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Australia and regions in Africa. Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer, Peter Baumgartner, says: “Scotland is the natural next step on our growth trajectory in the UK, with strong tourism and business traffic in both directions.”

Latin America for Lufthansa LUFTHANSA CARGO has added Natal (Brazil) to its Viracopos (Brazil), Dakar, Frankfurt (Germany) service, which it operates on Sundays using a Boeing MD-11 Freighter. The airline added Natal to the route, flight number LH8259, on Sunday 7 June. Lufthansa says the service will provide a capacity of 90 tonnes in Natal, having arrived from Viracopos in the South of Brazil, before flying onto Dakar, then Frankfurt. The carrier says Natal, which is in North East Brazil, exports a lot of fruit including melons and bananas. Imports are expected to be automotive parts from Europe. Lufthansa Cargo vice president for the Americas, Achim Martinka, says: “The destination fits right into the existing route to Frankfurt via Viracopos.” This is the second new destination the German carrier started serving this year. On 29 March, it started weekly flights to Ashgabat using a Boeing 777 Freighter. The flight is operated by Aerologic, the joint venture between Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express on Sundays. Flight number LH8082 flies from Frankfurt to Ashgabat to Hong Kong (China). Commenting on the route, Lufthansa Cargo regional director for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, Christian Becker, says: “This direct connection between Germany and Turkmenistan underlines the close business ties between the two countries.”

CHINA SOUTHERN CARGO started a service between Guangzhou (China) and London Stansted Airport on Saturday 20 June. The route will use a Boeing 777-200 Freighter and will operate two flights a week, with a plan to add another for a third later this year. The service will be the airport’s first scheduled cargo link to Guangzhou. According to the airport, about 230,000 tonnes of freight is shipped every year to more than 200 countries from Stansted. The freight that is transported includes, textiles, vegetables, electronics and pharmaceuticals. China Southern’s cargo senior vice president, Zhao Fengsheng, says: “It is an important milestone for China Southern cargo to launch this new freighter service from our hub in Guangzhou, China, to Stansted.” Stansted Airport’s managing director, Andrew Harrison, says: “With spare runway capacity to support significant growth and additional economic activity, MAG‘s ambition is to develop Stansted into the premier scheduled freighter airport for the UK.”

WorldNews FREIGHT TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION’s global and European policy director, Chris Welsh, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s birthday honours list. Welsh was recognised, “for services to shippers and the shipping industry”. He has represented UK shippers to the European Union and beyond for more than three decades. SKYLINK HANDLING SERVICES, part of the Rhenus Group, is now a cargo handler for Lufthansa Cargo at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The three-year contract took effect on 1 June. The Lufthansa Cargo team in Amsterdam will move into a 350 square metre office space at Skylink’s premises. Certification standards, safety and security technology were identified as reasons why Skylink won the contract.

AF-KLM 2020 plan

ir France-KLM Martinair (AF-KL-MP) is to cut unprofitable routes and postpone delivery of additions to its long haul fleet, as part of its Perform 2020 programme. The Franco-Dutch carrier says it will stop serving loss making routes and reduce others. AF-KL-MP is reviewing its fleet plan, including possibly postponing delivery of aircraft including Airbus A350 and Boeing 787. The airline’s management is considering legal action to force the pilot union, Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne, to accept the remaining measures of this year’s cost cutting efforts. As part of Perform 2020, three Boeing 747 left the fleet at the end of 2014 and five Boeing MD-11 Freighters will be retired at the end of this year. The plan now is to have five freighters by the end of 2016 with the cargo division breaking even in 2017. Chairman and chief executive officer of Air France, Frederic Gagey, says: “At the end of 2015, we will assess the financial situation of Air France.”

Mexico City to be one of Alitalia’s long haul services

ALITALIA is expected to open a direct flight from Rome to Mexico City after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Mexican Government. The aircraft serving the route could be a Boeing 777 or an Airbus A330. According to Alitalia, the new route is possible because of the investment plan the airline has implemented which includes a renewal of the long haul fleet. In August 2014, Etihad Airways announced a 560 million euro ($629

million) investment in Alitalia to acquire a 49 per cent shareholding. As part of that investment, Etihad is helping Alitalia with its fleet. As part of the Etihad investment and strategy for Alitalia, the Italian airline re-launched its livery with an Airbus A330 on 4 June at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport with the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in attendance, and Etihad chief executive officer, James Hogan (see above, centre of picture. Left is Alitalia’s chief executive officer (CEO), Silvano Cassano, and right

is Alitalia’s chairman, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo). Hogan is also Alitalia’s vice chairman. The A330 with the new livery was one of two new aircraft of that type, joining the Alitalia fleet to make it 24. The 24 consists of 14 Airbus A330 and 10 Boeing 777. By 2018 five new aircraft are to be added. Alitalia’s CEO, Silvano Cassano, says: “The recovery plan for Alitalia that hinges specifically on the development of the long range. The flight to Mexico City responds to market demands that appear to be of great interest, both in terms of traditional tourism, business tourism and cargo.” The MoU was signed at the Italy-Mexico business council in Milan. The signing was presided over by Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto and Renzi. Since the start of 2015 Alitalia has launched flights to Seoul, Shanghai (China) and Abu Dhabi. Rome to Beijing will also begin from September.

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FREIGHT FORWARDERS

Bangkok is conquered India links up with UAE

onqueror Freight Network agents met in Bangkok in May, five years after the launch of the network. The event saw 113 agents from across 57 countries meet to do business. These independent freight forwarders come from the network’s agents based in 228 cities in 103 countries. The network’s combined annual turnover is $2.2 billion with more than 19,000 employees, handling more than one million shipments each year which includes 175,000 tonnes of airfreight cargo. “Agents are participating in more than 2,500 one-to-one meetings and, as you can see, they are making the most of these as well as competing for each other’s attention away from them,” explained founder Antonio Torres. In addition to the one to one meetings on offer, delegates

were introduced to Conqueror’s latest tools to assist them in their daily operations, including an online quotation request tool and a payment monitoring system. “We believe in promoting good communication and healthy financial relationships between members. Our request tool will simplify the management and tracking of rate requests between members and the payment monitoring system will allow agents to add, view and edit details of open invoices,” says Torres. “Every year, we are treated to new and innovative tools to help us in our daily operations,” says Conqueror, “Being an independent forwarder, I can’t afford to incur unpaid invoices. The new payment system being launched today will enable us to better manage our payments to and from other agents in the network.”

THE United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Association of Freight and Logistics (NAFL) has signed two memorandum of understandings (MoU) with Indian freight forwarding associations to improve cooperation between India and the UAE. The NAFL president, David Phillips, signed the agreements in separate ceremonies with the Federation of Freight Forwarder Associations in India (FFFAI) chairman, Debashis Dutta, and Association of Multimodal Transport Operators of India (AMTOI) president, Sailesh Bhatia. The MoUs were signed at the International Federation of Freight Forwarder Associations (FIATA) Region Africa Middle East (RAME) conference in Dubai on 19 and 20 April. The RAME 2015 conference was encouraging trade

between the Indian subcontinent and Africa via the Middle East. Phillips says: “RAME is by itself a very vibrant business corridor, and the UAE and Dubai has been the traditional hub that bridges these regions and facilitates trade.” He describes India as, “a trade power house,” which when included in the trade corridor between the Indian subcontinent and Africa via the Middle East, makes the region, “possibly the most exciting area globally.” The FFFAI has over 5,000 members in the freight forwarding and customs broking industries, including 24 associations, and claims to cover about 90 per cent of the Indian logistics trade. The AMTOI has 200 members.

East Midlands Airport offices

avies Turner Air Cargo has expanded its East Midlands Airport presence with a 2,956 square foot (274 square metre) unit at the Air Cargo Centre, off Beverley Way within the airport campus. Davies Turner Air Cargo is the air cargo arm of Davies Turner, an independent freight forwarder. According to the company, the new

premises offer larger, more suitable accommodation for Davies Turner Air Cargo’s needs. Davies Turner Chairman, Philip Stephenson, says: “The relocation will allow the continued expansion of this successful branch whilst staying on the airport complex.” Stephenson adds that since opening its first office at the airport in 1996, business has expanded steadily and now the company required more space.

Cars to Korea was Globalink’s mission GLOBALINK has been contracted to transport Chevrolet and Daewoo automobiles from their production factory in Asaka (Uzbekistan) to Incheon (Korea). As well as the vehicles, a large volume of related spare parts were also to be transported. The vehicles and parts were flown out of Navoi Aiport after the automotive freight had been trucked from the Asaka factory. The freighters flying the cars and parts out were organised by Globalink’s airfreight division. The company says: “Whether it’s one car or a whole fleet of them, Globalink always makes it happen.” Globalink’s Tashkent-based team have also organised the delivery of a vehicle which

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was being sent to the Cobalt Motor Show in Russelsheim, Germany. Globalink’s staff are organised into a packing team, who will collect and crate a vehicle for shipment, the road freight team, whom arrange for the pickup of the crated vehicle, and the airfreight team which makes sure the aircraft will be available at the time and place needed. “All the teams are working simultaneously, no time was lost. The coordination and planning between our divisions, each skilled at what they do, resulted in a quick and speedy delivery,” says Globalink. Established in 1994, Globalink operates throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States and Middle East.

UNIT LOAD DEVICE REPORT

Outsourcing driving growth

he unit load device (ULD) market is one of the few airfreight sectors that is growing and developing strongly, as airlines continue to outsource their management to save on costs and improve efficiency. Jettainer, a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, grew 10 per cent in 2014 and managing director, Carsten Hernig, tells Air Cargo Week (ACW) he forecasts similar growth in 2015. Hernig says: “We plan on doubling the number of managed ULDs in the next three to five years, which will be a strong, but healthy and manageable growth,” now there are 90,000. The German company continues to win new business and will manage and maintain ULDs from October for Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia within the Thomas Cook Group airlines. Jettainer has also made its first entry into the African market, taking over ULD management in March for Equatorial Congo Airlines and took over ULD management for Canadian KF Aerospace. Jettainer’s strategy is to first focus on gaining business with big airlines as well as those under cost pressures. “In addition, we take a close look at smaller carriers and low cost carriers starting widebody or long haul operations,” Hernig says. He explains various airlines are showing interest in ULD management outsourcing, and Jettainer is targeting all regions. “From the regional point of view, we see opportunities in the Americas, Asia and Europe. Our global network basically enables us to easily integrate any new customer anywhere in the world,” Hernig explains.

In the opinion of Hernig, more airlines will identify the outsourcing of their ULD management as one of the last opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce costs. He sees huge potential in the marketplace. “There is a good momentum right now for growth due to the fact that most of the efficiency fields, at least the ones that do not or only little affect the passenger service, have been harvested completely,” Hernig explains to ACW. Bertsch notes the airline industry operates in a cost competitive environment, and carriers are always looking to drive further efficiencies into their operation. These could be outsourcing ULD management, or use of ULD repair stations at airports for maintenance, while some want to benefit from CHEP’s large pool of assets as ULD demand rises. “Outsourcing allows the airline to reduce their costs, but importantly, can support them in meeting and exceeding their sustainability targets, whilst enabling them to focus on delivering the best customer experience possible, creating more value for their customers,” Bertsch says. ULD outsourcing is also boosting airline performance through the development of lighter ULDs to reduce fuel consumption,

costs and carbon emissions. Jettainer will soon introduce a lightweight pallet made of a composite material, providing weight savings of more than 30 per cent. Hernig explains: “First of all, ULD development will continue to go towards lighter, environmentally friendly units, especially when it comes to pallets.” ULD tracking is also on its way, and Hernig says GPS trackable units that count their content are being developed and will soon reach the market. CHEP will be rolling out its CanTrack device aimed at improving efficiency and Bertsch says the technology turns containers into, “smart ULDs,” providing airlines with real time information on movements along with data on temperature, humidity and impact. “Our field trial with Air Canada, Cargolux and Hawaiian Airlines was successful and we look forward to offering this to our customers in the near future,” he says. The ULD market is bouyant and continues to evolve and as airlines continue to outsource ULD operations to help boost operational performance, the market shows no signs of slowing down.

Logistics centres

Due to strong growth, Jettainer opened a logistics centre in May at Frankfurt Airport. JettHub, as it is known, covers 17,000 square metres and around 750,000 units a year can be moved at the facility. It holds up to 9,000 containers and pallets. Hernig says it creates a solid foundation at one of the world’s busiest airport to manage the firm’s growth. Growth is also the pattern at CHEP Aerospace Solutions, and president, Ludwig Bertsch, tells ACW it continues year-on-year. He says the primary aim is to ensure it meets the needs of customers from an operational perspective. “Whilst I am extremely pleased with our performance in this area, we continually look for ways to create additional value for customers,” Bertsch says. CHEP continues to gain more ULD management deals with airlines and signed an agreement with LAN Cargo in May for the repair and maintenance of its fleet of cargo containers and pallets at Miami International Airport to and from South America. Bertsch says CHEP now manages Cathay Pacific’s ULDs and has entered partnerships with Air France and Singapore Airlines for ULD repair and maintenance. Bertsch says: “CHEP is working with a number of airlines around the world and we hope to add further successes in the year ahead.” The opportunities for ULD management companies are increasing, as airlines continue to outsource operations. And with around 90 per cent of carriers still managing ULDs themselves, there is plenty more fruit to pick.

HERNIG There is a good momentum right now for growth due to the fact that most of the efficiency fields, at least the ones that do not or only little affect the passenger service, have been harvested

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SCANDINAVIA REPORT

candinavia saw patchy growth throughout 2014, which has continued into 2015, with weak currencies meaning strong exports because of demand for the region’s high quality fish, but slow imports and competition from trucking. Growth for the airports in the region has been variable, with

Imports remain frozen

some countries seeing much larger growth than others. Swedish airport operator, Swedavia says so far this year Stockholm Arlanda Airport and Malmo Airport have seen strong growth, but Gothenburg Landvetter Airport has declined. Oslo Airport says cargo grew by 6.4 per cent between January and May this year. According to Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has seen cargo decline by 17.9 per cent to 46,854 tonnes between January and April 2015. Swedavia’s director of key accounts, passenger and cargo, Ylva Arvidsson, says: “We saw an increase at Arlanda and Malmo but a decrease at Gothenburg, mainly due to capacity changes.” Arvidsson says Arlanda was helped by a thrice weekly service from Korean Air Cargo and Qatar Airways operating 10 flights a

week. In April 2014, Malmo was given a boost by AirBridgeCargo Airlines starting twice weekly services. Gothenburg has been hit by Emirates SkyCargo withdrawing its twice weekly service. ACI Europe says Arlanda was up 10.5 per cent between January and April to 22,646 tonnes, Malmo increased by 13.7 per cent to 8,678 tonnes, but Gothenburg fell by 42 per cent to 3,799 tonnes. In Norway, at Oslo Airport, market analyst, Torolf Holte, says: “Business was very good at Oslo Airport in 2014, with new alltime high cargo volumes of 129,429 tonnes. Business has also been good so far in 2015, with 54,946 tonnes handled in January to May.” In Denmark at Billund Airport, Cargo Center Billund (pictured left) the vice president for airfreight, Jan Ditlevsen, tells Air Cargo Week (ACW) it handled 62,600 tonnes in 2014, of which, 39,800 tonnes were exports, up 11.5 per cent on 2013 and 2015 has started well. “Cargo Center Billund has seen the total volume handled rise 6.7 per cent against 2014, and again the growth is driven by exports that were up 14.7 per cent, while imports still trailed behind by minus 5.9 per cent.” Finavia, which operates Finland’s airports, tells ACW it expects improvements from the end of 2015. It says: “Strong growth is expected starting in late 2015 continuing in 2016 due to Finnair [Airbus] A350 operations. The A350 will provide double the belly cargo capacity of the [Airbus] A330 and A340.” Finnair retired its Boeing MD-11 Freighters at the end of 2014 to be replaced with A350 eXtraWideBodys. The airline has had a difficult start to 2015, with volumes falling by 16.2 per cent to 50,964 tonnes between January and May.

Overcapacity and low cost challenge

Scandinavia is a challenging market for airlines, which have to deal with increasing bellyhold capacity and low cost carriers. Lufthansa Cargo director of Nordic and Baltic countries, Alexander Kohnen tells ACW: “We also see especially in Copenhagen [Airport] an overcapacity on the freighter side. Yields have been under pressure and reached levels where it will be difficult to keep up a profitable operation.” One route Lufthansa Cargo is happy with is its weekly Boeing 777 Freighter Houston (US) to Stavanger (Norway) service it launched in November 2014. Kohnen says: “We see stable onloads from Houston to Stavanger and onwards to Frankfurt. The demand is steadily high and we have been able to increase our market shares into and out of Stavanger with this premium product.” Fish is proving to be a lucrative export. Holte tells ACW that salmon is Oslo’s top export and Ditlevsen says Billund handles a lot of salmon from the Faroe Islands. Holte says the weakness of the Norwegian krone is helping exports though it hurts imports. Norway is not the only country to suffer a weak currency. Arvidsson says the weakness of the Swedish krona is noticeable. “Customers are very cost oriented and look for the best price solution, which can be trucking down to Europe.” Geography, according to Kohnen, is a major challenge of doing business in Scandinavia. He tells ACW: “The biggest challenge is the geographical setup of the region. We are lacking real logistic clusters and all cargo is scattered over the very large region. This makes it difficult to operate cost efficiently.” Finavia explains to ACW that Finland’s location is both good and bad news. It says Finland’s proximity to Russia and Asia is helpful as a lot of Norwegian salmon destined for Asia goes via Finland, but the distance from Western Europe makes road feeder services difficult. Scandinavia has been helped by the weakness of the country’s currencies, but it remains to be seen if the midnight sun can unfreeze growth in imports.

arvidsson Customers are very cost oriented and look for the best price solution, which can be trucking down to Europe

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TRADEFINDER Airlines

Associations

Charter Brokers

Freight Forwarders

Turkey

Worldwide

United Arab Emirates

Italy

United Arab Emirates

USA

Associations Germany

Freight Forwarders Iraq

Jamaica

Industry Events

ACW 22 June 2015

NEWSWEEK Airfreight creeps forward in 2015 THIS year has seen total airfreight volumes grow by 4.4 per cent from January to April, compared to the same period last year, according to the Airports Council International (ACI). ACI says a slowed growth in April came after an upsurge in February, due to the Lunar New Year, and the modal shift from sea freight to aviation resulting from congestion at West coast US sea ports. Of that 4.4 per cent for the total airfreight, domestic was lower and international was higher, with a substantial increase of more than 12 per cent in February. ACI notes that the Middle East does not provide domestic freight figures. The regions leading the year to date growth to April are the Middle East at 11.1 per cent, followed by North America at 6.5 per cent and Africa close behind at 6.3 per cent. Asia Pacific came in fourth place at

4.1 per cent and Europe was last at 0.1 per cent. Latin America (LatAm) and the Caribbean achieved only 1.1 per cent. For the last 12 months, including April, the figures are similar, with the Middle East at 13.3 per cent, but Asia Pacific coming second with 5.4, and Africa third with 5.1, just beating North America by 0.1 percentage point. Europe and LatAm and Caribbean come fifth and sxith with 2.1 and 1.4 per cent, respectively. Comparing April this year with the same month last year, the Middle East wins with 14.5 per cent and Africa is second with seven per cent. LatAm and the Caribbean shrank by 0.5 per cent and Europe only achieved 0.8 per cent. The association’s statistics are based on a significant sample of airports that provide regular monthly reports to ACI. They represent 70 per cent of the total freight traffic worldwide.

Antonov reveals new aircraft antonov‘s leadership revealed more about its new product plans last week at the Paris Air Show and the progress of its two cargo aircraft programmes, the turboprop powered AN-132 and the AN-178 twin turbojet, which flew for the first time on 7 May. The aircraft maker’s general designer,

and former president, Dmytro Kiva, referred to the further development of the AN−124−100 Ruslan and a new product, the AN-188, which is based on the AN-70. The AN-70 has four turboprop engines and can carry 20 tonnes 3,000 kilometres. While the AN-188 is still on the drawing board, the

Freighter forecasts are divergent

oeing and Airbus have quite divergent views on where demand for freighters, production and conversion aircraft, is going, with the latest market forecasts from the two aircraft manufacturers. At the 51st Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France, Boeing published its current market outlook 2015-2034, and predicts a need for 920 production freighters over that period. This is higher than the 800 it predicted at the Farnbor-

ough Air Show in July last year with a current market outlook stretching out from 2014 to 2031. That saw a reduction from the Boeing World Air Cargo Forecast, which was last published in 2013 and had predicted 5.2 per cent freight tonne kilometre (FTK) growth over the next 20 years. The July 2014 forecast also cut the FTK prediction to four per cent. But, this year’s outlook sees cargo traffic growing at about 4.7 per cent per year. Airbus’ Global Market Forecast 2015-2034, published at Le Bourget, sees 1,054 more freighters, a rise in the fleet from 1,633 today to 2,687 in 20 years time, with 804 new freighter deliveries. This is a reduction from Airbus’ first publication of its Global Market Forecast in 2013 when it predicted that 871 freighters will have to be built by 2032. Boeing sells the majority of widebody freighters, with its Boeing 777 Freighter and Airbus has its Airbus A330-200. The A330 passenger aircraft has new variants, but Airbus has no such plans for the freighter.

AN-132 prototype will be built by the end of 2017. This programme began in April, when a contract was signed with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The AN-132 has international partners, including Pratt & Whitney Canada and GE Aviation. Antonov estimates a market of 900. The AN-132 will have a nine tonne capacity with a, “short and medium,” range. The firms sees the AN-132 as a replacement for its AN-32 and AN-26 models. On

7 May, the prototype for the AN-178 flew for the first time. According to Antonov, it has now conducted 40 hours of tests. Antonov estimates a market of 1,100 until 2035 for this. Its capacity is 18 tonnes with a range of 18 tonnes and AN−178 can operate from any runway. It can carry containerised and palletised cargo including, 2.4 metre by 2.4 metre sea containers. Antonov president, Michael Gvozdev, says: “I’m sure that [Antonov] can realise the set tasks.”