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The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals Volume: 20
Issue: 15
17 April 2017
Investments to meet e-commerce demand continues
-commerce investments in infrastructure, services or partnerships continue across the air cargo supply chain at a rapid pace as operators look to tap into the growing opportunities and demand the market is presenting. The sector is growing at a double-digit rate around the globe, especially in emerging markets such as in Asia, where China leads the way. Last week, freight forwarding powerhouse Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) signed a memorandum of understanding with alibaba.com to provide logistics services to the Chinese e-commerce giant’s B2B business unit. Alibaba.com members in China have been able to obtain quotations, book pickup and destination delivery services for airfreight consignments via KN FreightNet for more
than a year, but has been extended to include less-than-container-load and draw closer cooperation between Alibaba.com and K+N with intent to expand the scope of logistics services on offer in future to cover various modes of transport and contract logistics outside China. Alibaba.com director of logistics, Steve Su says the partnership will give SME customers the chance to capitalise on cross-border trade opportunities, while K+N president in North Asia, Wong Siew Loong says it is in line with a global strategy to digitalise logistics services to meet the evolving needs of customers today. Last week, express operator DHL eCommerce opened an outbound distribution centre in Narita, Japan to help Japanese online merchants connect with important e-commerce markets – again targeting B2B business. The
new centre introduces new international shipping products to Europe, US and UK to cater for different customer requirements. Earlier this year, DHL eCommerce expanded in Thailand and is now offering an end-to-end domestic delivery service for Thai e-commerce merchants, where the e-commerce market is expected to triple to €3.6 billion by 2020. Cross-border e-commerce is another sub-sector growing fast and is projected to grow 25 per cent annually between 2015 and 2020, bringing the market value from $300 billion in 2015 to $900 billion in 2020. China alone is expected to make up 40 per cent of the global market share and worth around $839 million by 2020. Earlier this year DHL made e-commerce investments in Southern China where it introduced services in Fujian province and expanding its Shenzhen and Hong Kong distribution centres. It also launched a new fulfillment centre in Hong Kong for growing cross-border products in Asia Pacific, mainly from Greater China. One trend here to stay is investments across all parts of the supply chain to meet rising e-commerce demand and cater for the opportunities the market brings. This is just the start.
Freight traffic across the European airport network grew 3.4 per cent in February with the strongest growth coming from non-European Union airports, Airports Council International (ACI) Europe says. It says European Union (EU) airports were up 2.7 per cent in February while non-EU hubs
grew 4.7 per cent. Freight volumes grew 5.4 per cent in the first two months of 2017, with 4.8 per cent growth in the EU and 9.1 per cent at non-EU hubs. Frankfurt Airport (pictured) retained its position at the top with 2.2 per cent year-onyear growth in February to 153,870 tonnes, and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport remained in second despite a 5.9 per cent decline to 143,416 tonnes. Volumes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol grew seven per cent, followed by Heathrow Airport with 4.4 per cent growth to 126,812 tonnes. In the first two months of 2017 Frankfurt Airport was up 4.2 per cent to 312,519 tonnes and Paris Charles de Gaulle was down 2.6 per cent to 294,837 tonnes. Schiphol grew 7.2 per cent to 266,622 tonnes and Heathrow volumes rose 4.4 per cent to 251,212 tonnes.
TICKETS are still on sale for the event of the year - the Air Cargo Week World Air Cargo Awards 2017 at The Westin Grand Hotel in Munich on Wednesday, 10 May. The industry’s premier gala awards night is taking place during air cargo europe - the biggest trade show for the airfreight industry. Guests will network and enjoy a champagne reception, a tasty three-course gourmet meal with fine wines, live music, cutting-edge entertainment acts and the main event - presentation of the awards. The Air Cargo Week World Air Cargo Awards 2017 will be presented in 10 categories including for best airline, forwarder, cargo handler, airport, charter broker and more. Visit http://www.worldaircargoawards. com/tables.cfm or contact sales@azurainternational.com to reserve your seat or a table in Munich. Also visit www.aircargoweek.com for more details.
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Frankfurt still Europe’s busiest cargo hub
Awards tickets still on sale
STRONG PHARMA DEMAND from latam GROWTH BUT UNCERTAINTY FOR JAN DE RIJK HKZMB TO BE A GAME CHANGER IN PEARL RIVER ECS GROWS ITS GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
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Short-haul freighter route started by IAG IAG Cargo has launched freighter flights between Madrid and Basel using a Cygnus Air Boeing 757-200 Freighter to meet the demands of Switzerland’s pharma sector. The service has been on trial since January and IAG Cargo says it has proved popular offering access to its Latin American network. Switzerland’s pharma sector makes up more than a third of the country’s export volumes, and 74 per cent of goods shipped by IAG were carried on its Constant Climate product. IAG Cargo commercial director, David Shepherd (pictured) says the service underlines its “commitment” to giving customers the capacity and routes they need, and highlights the “strength of its pharmaceuticals proposition”. Customers have access to over 29 tonnes of lift per flight, expanding IAG’s short-haul freighter network by six per cent. The flights provide access to 32 Latin American destinations and scheduled services will operate on Sundays with a return flight on the same day.
aircargoweek.com
MIA pharma traffic up 48% in 2016
NEWS WEEK
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harmaceutical cargo handled at Miami International Airport (MIA) in 2016 surged 48 per cent year-over-year to $4.4 billion. Since 2010, the value of pharma shipments is $1.8 billion, and MIA’s pharma trade has grown by 140 per cent. MIA says the sector helped boost the value of international freight from and to MIA in 2016 by eight per cent to $57.3 billion in 2016, according to data by the US Department of Commerce. In 2015, MIA was designated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the first pharma freight hub in the US and the second in the world. MIA was recognised for organising its pharma logistics providers to undergo IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) Pharma Certification Program. MIA and Brussels Airport – the first two IATA designated pharma freight hubs in the world – partnered to create Pharma. Aero in October 2016. The goal is to be a collaborative group of airport operators, pharma shippers, CEIV-certified cargo communities and other air pharma stakeholders to improve pharma handling and quality in the air cargo industry. “Our efforts to maximise pharma freight traffic at MIA continue
to pay dividends for Miami-Dade County, the state and the nation,” says Miami-Dade Aviation director, Emilio T. González. “The WHO projects the global pharma industry will rise in value from $300 billion to $400 billion within the next three years, and we want to position MIA at the centre of that growth trend.” In 2016, MIA remained the busiest airport for international freight in the US and in the Western Hemisphere handling: 83 per cent of all air imports and 79 per cent of all air exports between the US and the Latin American/Caribbean region. MIA handled 89.2 per cent of all US flower air imports; 66.7 per cent of fruit and vegetable air imports; and 49.8 per cent of fish air imports.
12th Asia Pacific freighter route for ABC
Tonnage at Brussels on the up in March
AIRBRIDGECARGO (ABC) Airlines has expanded its Asia Pacific network with twice-weekly flights to Taipei - its 12th route to the region. The Taipei flights will operate from Moscow Sheremetyevo every Wednesday and Saturday, returning via Hanoi in Vietnam,
BRUSSELS Airport continued its strong growth in March as cargo tonnage grew 15.3 per cent on March 2015 fuelled by freighter services. The Belgian gateway is comparing its monthly figures to March 2015, which was a record month – as the airport was closed for a
which ABC says enables it to link Taipei with destinations in the Middle East, Europe and the US for imports and exports. ABC general director, Sergey Lazarev says: “Taipei is a mature and stable air cargo market generating volumes close to 500,000 tonnes per annum so it is a major origin, destination and transit point for freight. This includes exports of electronic components, machinery, textiles as well as a diverse range of import cargoes.” ABC’s Asia Pacific volumes rose 25 per cent in 2016 to over 265,000 tonnes. It operates 79 Boeing 747F flights a week from the region.
Bahrain to Jeddah flights started by DHL Express
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HL Express has launched a daily express freight service from Bahrain to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The new route will be from Bahrain International Airport to King Abdulaziz International Airport, using a Boeing 757 Freighter carrying up to 22 tonnes. This makes DHL the first international express provider to offer direct movement and clearance
of non-document goods through its DHL Express Worldwide service. Meanwhile, Turkish Cargo has started twice weekly Airbus A330-200 Freighter flights to Oslo Airport, collecting Norwegian seafood for delivery around the world. It started weekly flights on 10 March and increased the frequency to two a week at the end of the month, connecting seafood exporters to the globe via Istanbul.
period in March 2016 after a terrorist attack. Brussels handled 50,474 tonnes in March this year, up on the 43,785 tonnes in March 2015 and on the 34,626 tonnes in March 2016. The full-freighter segment grew 27.2 per cent on March 2015 at 16,941 tonnes and the express services sector surged 19.8 per cent on March 2015 to 20,872 tonnes. Belly fell 2.9 per cent to 12,661 tonnes. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2017, Brussels had its strongest ever Q1, handling 136,122 tonnes of freight, up 24.5 per cent on Q1 2016.
Dalian - Hangzhou connected by SF SF Airlines has added a new connection between the East and Northeast of China with Dalian - Hangzhou Boeing 757-200 Freighter. It started services on 28 March with five flights a week to Northeast port city and SF says it features abundant agricultural resources and economic vitality, adding to the Dalian - Shenzhen Cherry Special Delivery in June 2016.
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SF Express’ air hub is in Hangzhou, and the new flights will play an important role in shipment distribution, increasing and solidify transport channels for shipments between East and Northeast China. SF Airlines started domestic flights in 2009 and owns 38 freighters and is a rapidly expanding Chinese express freight operator meeting growth in e-commerce and other sectors.
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NEWSWEEK
Ryan to run ABC Americas operations
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ince Ryan has been promoted to AirBridgeCargo (ABC) Airlines vice president North and South America, four years after joining the airline. He will be based in New York and will continue the development of ABC’s growing business and network in the Americas, which includes Boeing 747 Freighter connections to Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle. Ryan started his 34-year cargo career with Flying Tigers and later the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey before joining British Airways World Cargo as manager – cargo development USA in 1989. He spent 10 years with Global Freight Exchange ultimately as vice president – global business development before joining Southern Air as director of marketing. Ryan joined ABC in 2013 as cargo manager,
Americas, then cargo sales manager Americas & global account development before this role. Commenting on his new role, Ryan says: “Since ABC launched its first route in the U.S. in 2011, we have consistently grown our network and volumes by listening to our customers and providing the level of capacity they need to and from major North American cargo gateways.”
New management team at AeroLogic Josef Moser (pictured right) and Wolfgang Raebiger (pictured left) have been appointed managing directors of AeroLogic - taking over from Ulf Weber who is leaving on 30 April. Moser, previously head of flight operations and crew training, will take over as chief operations officer and accountable manager. Raebiger was previously captain and head of fleet at Lufthansa Cargo will take over as chief financial officer for AeroLogic, the
DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo joint venture. Weber is leaving “to pursue a new challenge” while authorized officer, Markus Niedermeyer, will remain in his role as head of administration to ensure a smooth transition before taking over a new management position at Lufthansa Cargo. AeroLogic was founded in 2004 and started operations in 2007. Its headquarters are at Leipzig Halle Airport and it now has a fleet of eight Boeing 777 Freighters.
Virgin picks Sydney account manager
Virgin Atlantic Cargo has strengthened its Australian team by picking Amanda Matar (pictured) as account manager – Sydney. She joins as the airline increases its longhaul cargo sales and management services for Virgin Australia with the launch of five Boeing 777-300ER flights a week from Melbourne to Los Angeles in April. Matar reports to Pip Palmer, who was promoted to regional sales manager, Australia and New Zealand last year. Palmer says: “As a former customer of
Virgin Atlantic Cargo, Amanda clearly understands what our freight forwarding partners expect in terms of great service, which is at the heart of everything we do.” “The fact that Virgin Australia now serves Los Angeles from the three biggest gateways in Australia – Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne – and connects directly into the Virgin Atlantic network over LAX, means we can not only support our customers with the high level of service they expect but also offer more choice than ever before.” Matar spent seven years with Megatop Cargo in Australia in import and export customer service and as export manager for the last three years, and worked as a cargo reservations officer at Garuda Indonesia Airlines before that. Virgin Atlantic Cargo says it is also recruiting a new account manager in Melbourne to support customers based which are based in and around the city.
Bianchi replaces Ureta at LATAM Cargo LATAM Cargo has promoted Andrés Bianchi (pictured right) to chief executive officer (CEO) from his role as senior vice president (VP) of sales for North America, Europe and Asia. He took on the position on 15 April when Cristián Ureta left the company and has been part of the group since 2001 when he joined the finance department. “We will focus on reinforcing LATAM Cargo’s competitiveness in order to maintain our leadership in Latin America. We plan to achieve this by continuing to support our customers closely, improving our product
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portfolio, and enhancing our productivity,” says Bianchi. This change is part of the restricting process that LATAM Airlines Group and its affiliates are undergoing, which it says is “aimed at building a simpler and more efficient organisation that can face complex macroeconomic scenarios and a more competitive environment”.
NEWS WEEK
UK airports fly high with strong growth and new routes
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K airports were flying high in March with strong growth up and down the country. Long-haul emerging markets drove the nearly 13 per cent growth in March at Heathrow Airport – the biggest monthly surge in more than five years. Heathrow (pictured right) handled 148,269 tonnes in March, a 12.6 per cent rise on the same month in 2016. In the first three months of the year it has handled 399,481 tonnes, a rise of 7.3 per cent. On a rolling 12-month basis tonnage is up 4.7 per cent to 1,568,384 tonnes. Key growth markets in March included Mexico (+28 per cent), Brazil (+13 per cent), India (+9 per cent) and China (+5 per cent) as well as Indonesia (up over 9,000 per cent) after Garuda Indonesia moved to Heathrow from Gatwick Airport last year. China Southern Airlines is to double cargo capacity on one of Britain’s most strategic trading routes when it launches an additional service to Guangzhou in June. Heathrow chief executive officer (CEO), John Holland-Kaye says: “Surging trade, more domestic connections and more long-haul growth are the bedrock of the UK’s economy. Today’s figures put Britain in a strong position as the Government begins Brexit
negotiations and underline the unique role Heathrow plays as the nation’s global gateway.” Gatwick Airport’s cargo figures saw a 1.9 per cent recovery between April 2016 and March 2017, and 34.7 per cent growth in March to 7,834 tonnes It handled 81,138 tonnes on a moving annual total, up from 70,003 tonnes in the previous year, but this is down from the April 2014 to March 2015, when it handled 88,399 tonnes. Passenger volumes grew 7.8 per cent to 43.9 million, a record
for a single runway airport, helped by long-haul growth, which is also pushing up the cargo volumes. Gatwick Airport CEO, Stewart Wingate says: “We launched 20 new long haul routes last year alone and even more will start this summer, including to Seattle, Denver and Xi’an – our third destination in China – with our Hong Kong service also going daily.” “This long haul growth is also driving up the amount of cargo flown out from Gatwick. We’ve see a 3% increase in cargo this month alone, which is important as the UK readjusts and focuses attention on global destinations further afield.” Cargo volumes at Manchester Airports Group (MAG) operated hubs continue to expand in March with Manchester and Stansted seeing double-digit growth and East Midlands up 5.5 per cent. Manchester Airport grew 1.9 per cent to 9,933 tonnes, while Stansted Airport was up 10.2 per cent to 24,250 tonnes and East Midlands Airport by 5.5 per cent to 30,320 tonnes. MAG says the growth, particularly at Manchester came from increased long-haul capacity allowing more cargo to leave in the bellyholds of passenger aircraft to destinations like Beijing, Singapore, Houston and San Francisco.
Antonov flies compressors from London Stansted to Seoul
Antonov Airlines has transported three giant compressors from its UK base at London Stansted Airport to Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. The UK-manufactured parts, each weighing 23 tonnes and measuring 648cm long, 284cm wide and 358cm high, travelled in modified crates designed to work with the Antonov AN-124-100 unique on-board crane system Antonov Airlines commercial manager, Martin Griffiths says: “By modifying the shape of the crates for this operation, we did not need to use additional ramp equipment and did not need to carry extra equipment on the aircraft.” Adding: “This resulted in a faster loading process and reduced costs to the customer.” The aircraft was piloted by Antonov chief pilot, Dmitry Antonov, who pilots the AN-225, and the cargo was delivered on a fleet of three Jan de Rijk Logistics trucks on 3 April. Jan de Rijk chief executive officer, Sebastiaan Scholte says: “We are honoured to be part of this project. It shows once again the confidene our customers have in us to transport equipment of high value that requires delicate handling.”
ATSG gets the Okay for 737s AIR Transport Services Group (ATSG) has acquired two Boeing 737-400s and will convert them to freighters to lease to China-based Okay Airways. ATSG West Leasing has acquired the aircraft and will lease them to Okay in late 2017 for seven years and PEMCO World Air Services, another ATSG subsidiary will convert them this summer at its Tampa International Airport facility. Okay Airways will operate the aircraft to support express services for e-commerce and other companies in the domestic China market. ATSG, Okay Airways and Tianjin government affiliate Tianjin Dongjiang Investment holdings are establishing a joint venture company to support the growing e-commerce market. ATSG West Leasing managing director, Brad Heath says: “We are very pleased to acquire, convert and lease these aircraft into the air express market in China.”
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TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE
Perishables fuelling Saudia surge in African region
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he African market saw a major improvement in 2016 for Saudia Cargo with 14 per cent growth helped by extra capacity out of Nairobi - led by the perishables market. Saudia Cargo regional director Africa, Ken Mbogo says the carrier increased Boeing 747 Freighter frequencies from Nairobi from seven a week to eight. He says 2017 has continued the strong growth in 2016. He expects this to continue, helped by a strong perishable market out of Nairobi: “We may introduce more frequencies to be able to cope with the demand that is there in the market.” Perishables, particularly flowers continue to bloom across Africa, making up 90 per cent of exports from the continent, with Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia remaining the key export countries.
Though Africa mainly exports fresh cut flowers, vegetables and fruit, in certain countries meat is a popular product. Mbogo says: “Out of the Ethiopian market, 90 per cent of the produce inside the flights is met for Saui Arabia.” The flowers are mainly destined for Europe while fruit and vegetables primarily fly to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. Like many airlines, Saudia Cargo increased services in the run up for Valentine’s Day, and Mbogo says: “We operated six additional flights from Nairobi in addition to the eight flights we usually operate to cater for demand.” Saudia operates a mixture of freighters and passenger aircraft with bellyhold capacity in the African market. In South Africa it operates three weekly freighters and four passenger flights with 15 tonnes of bellyhold capacity. Mbogo says: “What we find is for imports into
South Africa it is mainly on the main deck in freighters then we go to Nairobi to pick up flowers to go back to Europe, but we use the belly for exports from South Africa to Saudi Arabia.” He says freighters generally are not needed for exports from SouthAfrica so they fly to Nairobi where they are needed. Mbogo says: “One unique thing about the African air cargo business is normally one direction, it’s mainly import driven there are very few countries that you go into where you are able to get imports and exports at the same time.”
In future, Mbogo sees Africa growing, strengthening and diversifying: “We have seen the perishable market growing year-on-year for the past 20 years and we don’t see it stopping.” He is confident Saudi will continue serving Africa: “In Kenya we started off with three freighters a week - now we have eight, that’s tremendous growth. We are a major player in Africa because we have good representation, knowledgeable and experienced staff and why we have been able to turn around the business in the last 6-7 years.”
IAG seeing strong pharma demand from LATAM THE temperature-sensitive market is vitally important for IAG Cargo and investment in the sector is one of its top priorities. Global head of pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Alan Doring (right) says demand for its Constant Climate service remains strong, and IAG has seen a significant rise in the movement of pharma, particularly insulin and vaccines into Latin America from India and Singapore, while Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires have all proven to be key trade lanes servicing this demand. “Investment into the temperature-sensitive market is extreely important for our business. Demand for biological drugs such as insulin, vaccines and oncology medicines is increasing rapidly, particularly from Latin America,” he adds. Dorling says IAG’s pharma volumes are level in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 with Q1 2016, but given IAG saw a significant one-off Constant Climate shipment in this period last year this is “encouraging”. IAG is aiming to grow business and capitalise on opportunities and Dorling says the global pharma industry is growing at about five per cent per year with biologicals set to make up 54 per cent of the top 100 drug sales by 2024. “This is significant because biologicals are often highly volatile and so require a specialist, temperature-controlled shipment service, such as our own Constant Climate product,” he says. Dorling says investment in infrastructure is also important and at Heathrow Airport it is building a new premium freight handling facility, which will be three times the size
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of Premia, its current fcility and it will feature a larger Constant Climate Quality Centre for pharma. “In addition to our material capabilities, we will also invest further in our people and the wider industry. We recently held the latest of our GDP academy training courses in Mumbai where we trained 15 forwarders and shippers in the proper handling of pharmaceuticals,” he says. “Continuing to pass on this best practice through training is something we will continue throughout 2017.” IAG has no plans for IATA CEIV Pharma as Dorling says GDP certification covers the end-to-end supply chain, adding: “It is also the standard against which the majority of our customers measure quality and performance. We have adopted GP certification in what we call a ‘corridor concept’ – where all relevant stations along the route of a shipment are certified. “For example if a shipment is travelling from Miami to Singapore, both locations will abide by GDP as well as our hub at London, where the shipment is transferred.” Market challenges are extensive for new entrants due to investments needed, but Dorling says for established players like IAG the challenges are fewer. But he notes potential for modal shift to maritime freight always exists, but this is not currently affecting IAG’s business.
TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE
Scholte to step down as chair of the CCA in June
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ool Chain Association (CCA) chairman Sebastiaan Scholte (pictured) is to step down from the role at the association’s AGM in June. Speaking at IATA’s WCS he explained to Air Cargo Week he is proud of the work achieved over the four years he has been at the helm, and feels the CCA has grown under his tenure. A new chairman will be elected at the AGM in June. “It is time for a change and I have had an amount of time and we have grown a lot. What we did and said is – we are going to be the association for the air cargo supply chain,” Scholte says. “Of course we want to change the world, but we must influence things we can influence. If Trump has protectionist policies what can we do about it? Our focus is on the supply chain, and the pharmaceuticals and perishables sectors through the two events we are organising.” Scholte says he is proud the CCA has grown to what it is today with two successful cool chain events: “I am really happy that when we now say something people listen and that is what we really wanted - to raise awareness of the cool chain.” He says the better events have also given the not-for-profit organisation cash reserves, giving it the chance to put these funds to good use: “We are making money, which is not the aim but it gives us the chance to do more. We are more global now and if we are really successful we might have a regional cool chain event. “What I am really proud of now is that people are approaching us about wanting to do something in the cool chain.” Cool chain is arguably one of the most important industry sectors as perishables and pharma continue to grow, and companies invest in IATA CEIV Pharma or build temperature-controlled infrastructure for pharma and perishables. Scholte says the attention pharma is getting now is amazing along with the exponential growth and hails initiatives like at
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and its Pharma Gateway project. He feels it is great the industry is finally sharing data, processes and cooperating more as “together we are stronger“ and believes a supply chain is only as strong as its “weakest link”. Scholte is also vice chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and he believes the more air cargo commu-
nities developed the better and TIACA can play a role. “I think TIACA can play a more active and big role in connecting airport air cargo communities together across the globe together to boost the air cargo supply chain,” he explains. As for how TIACA is coming along, Scholte says he is happy with the progress it is making. “I think we are doing some innovative new things like getting young talent on-board such as the young professionals development programme event where the whole air cargo supply chain look in each other’s shop for the day which was held in the Netherlands in February. “I have got a couple of requests (at WCS) from other communities and airlines who said they like it and asked if we could help set them one up in other parts of the world. We will do a couple of other similar airport programmes under the TIACA umbrella,“ Scholte says. The chief executive officer of Jan de Rijk Logistics also feels with Vladimir Zubkov coming in as director general it will improve advocacy - a key area for TIACA - as it builds more cooperation with the likes of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Airports Council International (ACI) and in sectors such as the cool chain.
CEIV in Shanghai for DHL
DHL Global Forwarding’s airfreight station in Shanghai has been IATA CEIV Pharma certified - the first freight forwarder to receive certification in Asia. The air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL Group started certifying global stations to International Air Transport Association Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (IATA CEIV) in the third quarter of 2016 and the DHL Air Thermonet station received the quality label following independent audits by third parties and training courses for employees. DHL global head of temperature management solutions and chief executive officer (CEO) of LifeConEx at DHL Global Forwarding, David Bang says: “Over many years, DHL has been actively involved with IATA’s continuous efforts to adequately answer to the regulatory demands of the pharmaceutical industry. This standardised approach in the air freight industry means productivity, accuracy, and reliability. All of those lead to product integrity and patient safety.” DHL Global Forwarding Greater China CEO, Steve Huang says: “The life sciences and healthcare industry increasingly requires more regulatory control over the years including the transportation and storage of highly-sensitive pharmaceutical goods.” “Through the IATA CEIV Pharma Certification, DHL further shows its commitment to service quality when it comes to the delivery of these vital and temperature sensitive products.” The Shanghai location has 1,405 square metres available in the air import warehouse and 245 square metres in the air export warehouse.
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ROAD FEEDER SERVICES
Growth but uncertainty as Jan de Rijk drives into 2017
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an de Rijk Logistics senior sales executive of air cargo, Robert Kleppers (pictured) is optimistic that the economic recovery will continue in 2017 but there is much uncertainty. He says after a slow start to 2016, air cargo picked in the second half with a better than expected performance, which has continued into 2017. The outlook is promising, with various institutions revising GDP growth forecasts upwards. Kleppers says: “The lower unemployment and restored consumer confidence
are expected to result in higher import volumes with most carriers. The export from the EU zone is also expected to grow as global economy recovery still continues. However, the outlook is surrounded by higher-than-usual uncertainty.” Something which is causing a great deal of uncertainty is what the UK leaving the European Union (EU) means in practical terms now it has triggered Article 50. Kleppers points out that UK – EU trade is worth billions of Euros, and industries including agriculture and industrial production are vulnerable to disruption, and so is logistics. He says: “We hope for a soft Brexit that will not result in an increased administrative workload or added regulations. That would affect free trade between the markets negatively.” He adds: “It is essential that it becomes clear what conditions the Brits in future will have to
access the European Market and vice versa. This should take away uncertainty, as uncertainty delays investments and reduces longer term growth and trade.” Two major cost effects are creating challenges; inflation is pushing wages up and governments imposing new taxes. He says: “Threatening is the trend that governments increasingly and unpredictably are imposing new or increased road taxes in order to generate additional income. Apart from the
direct cost effect for transportation, it also creates an administrative workload.” Despite the uncertainty, there is some good news, the shortage of capacity on ocean vessels is helping air cargo volumes to and from Europe. Kleppers comments: “This is an industry-wide challenge for the shipping industry. Since November last year the shortage resulted in big shipment delays and high box rates, which made the faster air cargo modality an attractive alternative.”
100 new DAF trucks for Jan de Rijk
Jan de Rijk Logistics has received the keys to the first of its 100 DAF XF 400s on order, strengthening its fleet of 700 vehicles. DAF Trucks president, Preston Feight handed over the keys to Jan de Rijk chief executive officer, Sebastiaan Scholte, who were joined by Jan de Rijk Automotive deputy director, Caspar Lievaart and DAF Netherlands managing director, Jan Keulen. The two Dutch companies have a long history of cooperation, and more than 95 per cent of the transportation company’s fleet are DAF trucks and the new Euro 6 vehicles will replace part of the current fleet. The new vehicles will be used by the various European division of Jan de Rijk, and
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the purchase was made in close cooperation with DAF dealers in Van Tilburg-Bastianen and De Burgh. Scholte says: “The quality of the DAF vehicles, the excellent dealer network and the low cost of ownership are always decisive for us. That is why we have chosen for DAF again.” Feight adds: “Jan de Rijk Logistics is much more than a customer. We work very closely and continue to grow closer together. We see this trend reflected more and more in the entire supply chain.” “I am glad that we can contribute to the success of Jan de Rijk Logistics with our very high-quality and highly efficient trucks.”
ROAD FEEDER SERVICES
HKZMB to be a game changer in Pearl River
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he Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge will be a gamechanger for Hong Kong Air Cargo Services (Hacis), and it will do its utmost to maximise two-way traffic, managing director Vivien Lau (pictured) says. The bridge, which is due to open this year, will cut journey times to 40 minutes and Lau says it will strengthen Hong Kong’s role as the region’s main hub airport. She says: “The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will be a game-changer for our RFS services throughout the Pearl River Delta region.” Hacis, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl), of which Lau is executive director, has set up a special task force to examine the opportunities of the link. She explains: “This has identified potential additional depots in the Zhuhai area, which will strengthen our coverage, enhance our service levels and enable carriers serving Hong Kong to attract business for a wider market area.” While it is waiting for the bridge to open, traffic remains strong, with an upsurge in the final quarter, with significant growth in e-commerce. Lau says: “The key factors in this positive performance were significant growth in e-commerce shipments into China, and the launch of new express lanes between Hong Kong and the e-commerce centres of Jiangmen and Heshan.” She adds: “Hacis’ two largest road feeder centres, at Guangzhou Airport and Shenzhen Airport, showed 35 per cent growth year on year.” This has continued into 2017, with the Guangzhou and Shen-
zhen depots growing 152 per cent year-on-year. One thing that can be a challenge is changes in policy, a “constant fact of life” as Lau describes it. She says: “Last year saw policy changes at Guangzhou Airport, and new Customs restrictions on the re-bond arrangements to Xiamen Airport and Fuzhou Airport – which have resulted in higher operating costs.” E-commerce is steadily increasing but can also be challenging, Lau explains: “E-commerce is still also in its relative infancy, and policy is evolving which requires Hacis to regularly adapt its processes and service offerings.” Despite this, Hacis can offer a very viable, expedited transit service into and out of China helped by modern and efficient
Customs in Hong Kong. Lau says: “This is an opportunity both for us and for the 100 carriers handled by our parent, Hactl; using Hacis, they can maximise the potential of their cargo capacity into and out of Hong Kong, helping to balance inbound and outbound cargo flows and so maximise revenues.”
Wallenborn opens office in Liege
Wallenborn has opened a new office in Liege Airport, and Donald Schaap has joined to get the operation up and running. Schaap, a Belgian national, has 14 years of experience air cargo logistics, and was first exposed to air cargo road feeder service planning at aged 16 at Brucargo Express. After studying informatics and accounting he joined H. Essers as a dispatcher and worked his way up the ranks to team leader planning, operations manager and project & business development. He also spent several years at J Van Roosbroeck. He says: “Most members of my family worked in the air cargo business, so in some way I guess my fate was pre-determined. Still, after all these years I am loving the industry and am especially excited about this newly accepted challenge.” Group president and chief executive officer, Frantz Wallenborn says: “As we develop our relationships with clients, we notice a growing need to have a presence in Liège itself. So much traffic flows through Belgium and it was important to our clients that we have the capability to offer greater support on site.” “In the short time we have been in Liège, we have already seen a further increase in demand for our services there.” Haugstad Aircargo Services officially became Wallenborn Scandinavia on 1 October 2016, having been gradually integrated into the group since 2009. Branch manager, Peter Nygaard says: “Wallenborn Scandinavia A/S brings forth a renewed commitment to all of our clients and relationships.”
aircargoweek.com
ACW 17 april 2017
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FRANCE ECS Group grows its global footprint with Americas moves
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rench-headquartered general sales and service agent (GSSA) the ECS Group continues to grow its network with the latest expansion being in the Americas. ECS Group chief operating officer, Adrien Thominet (pictured) explains it has been focusing heavily on South America and indeed the Americas in general. “We already had Brazil, and Mexico and have opened now in Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru so that is six countries,” Thominet says. ECS won the contract to sell cargo for Qatar Airways Cargo, which started two weekly Boeing 777 Freighter flights in February from Doha via Luxembourg with stops at Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Quito in Ecuador before arriving in Miami. “It is good as at the same time we extended the network we have a solid contract. We have very good guys there and the top managers there are very good,” Thominet says. He adds: “Qatar Airways is running two freighters a week, but they are planning on going for
six flights a week and including Chile.” Thominet notes that flowers, perishables in general and pharmaceuticals make up much of the goods, while it is trying to combine some cargo as flights are going via Miami. He says: “Emirates is not there (South America) strongly and Etihad is not there and for Qatar it was an opportunity to be there immediately and it was decided in a little rush. Once they got the permit they immediately launched the flight so we had to be ready in time.” 2016 was a tough 12 months for the South American region as its leading economy Brazil struggled, and this year has started in
the same vein. But Thominet has every confidence the region will pick-up and belives there are extensive opportunites. He says: “It is a new market and a very interesting one and I strongly believe South America will be growing again in the future.” For GSSAs though he explains that struggling markets actually benefit them and present them with more opportunities. “It is an opportunity for us because when the market is shaking or weak we have more opportunity to represent airlines as they need us, but when the market is good they do not need us as they do it themselves,” Thominet notes. North America is also a strong focus and ECS joined forces in February with Canadian GSA Exp-Air Cargo to consolidate its position in the GSSA market across the Americas. “We made a strategy move and moved for Exp-Air Cargo - the leading GSA in Canada and that means all the Americas is covered. It is interesting for us,” Thominet says. ECS is also growing in Europe and from 1 April its subsidiary Globe Air Cargo was appointed by Leisure Cargo as its GSSA in the Netherlands – giving shippers access to a global network of 14 airlines under one airway bill. Asia is also now nicely covered as ECS started a contract on 22 October 2016 with Singapore-based airline Jetstar Asia, which includes 25 stations and ECS also won a GSSA deal in January this year to market, promote and sell cargo products on behalf of Finnair Cargo in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia, and extending the main deal in Singapore. The future is certainly looking very bright for ECS as it gains a footprint in all corners of the globe and its aim of having global network coverage comes to fruition.
Cargo improves at AFKLM
THE Air France KLM Group saw its cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RTK) grow year-on-year (YOY) by 5.6 per cent in March compared to the same month last year. Total RTK was 751 million, up YOY by 5.6 per cent on the 711 million in the same month in 2016. Capacity measured in available tonne kilometres (ATK) fell YOY by 0.6 per cent in March to 1.18 billion from 1.17 billion in March 2016. Air France KLM’s load factor in March was 63.4 per cent, up three per cent on the 60.4 per cent in the same month in 2016. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2017, RTK was 2.04 billion, a 0.5 per cent rise on the 2.03 billion in the same period last year. ATK has fell YOY by 1.1 per cent in Q1 to 3.39 billion, down on the 3.43 billion, leading to a load factor of 60.2 per cent, up one per cent on the 59.2 per cent on Q1 in 2016. Air France alone’s RTK in March reached 330 million, a 10.6 per cent uplift on the 299 million in the same month last year. In Q1 this year, RTK reached 880 million, up 4.5 per cent on the 843 million in the same period in 2016. ATK in March was 568, a one per cent YOY rise on the 559 million last year, while for Q1 of 2017 ATK was 1.62 billion, a 0.2 per cent fall on the 1.63 billion last year. The load factor is still low for just Air France at 54.1 per cent for Q1, but a 2.4 per cent increase on the 51.7 per cent in the same period in 2016. KLM’s RTK was 421 million in March, a two per cent YOY rise on the 413 million in March last year, but for the first three months of 2017 RTK was 1.16 billion, a 2.3 per cent drop on the 1.19 billion for Q1 in 2016. ATK in March was 617 million, a 0.3 per cent fall on the 619 million in March 2016. In Q1 ATK fell YOY by two per cent to 1.76 billion.
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aircargoweek.com
ACW 17 AprIL 2017
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NEWSWEEK 9% revenue growth for time:matters
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ime:matters has continued to perform strongly with nine per cent revenue growth in 2016 to €70 million ($74.7 million). Industry areas particularly strong, with automotive up 92 per cent year-on-year, high-tech and semiconductors by 47 per cent and aviation and automotive by 44 per cent. This year it launched airmates, a software-based platform for on-board courier services, and plans to further digitise its platform and increase its international reach. Managing director, Franz-Joseph Miller says: “We have greatly exceeded our growth targets for 2016 and will now focus fully in 2017 on further digitising our transport solutions and processes – always adapted to the needs of our customers, as ever.” time:matters says it was extremely successful in incorporating other airlines into its network, adding Air France, TAP Portugal, Flybe, and
Air Malta to its connections, and directly integrating United Airlines. Lufthansa Cargo took complete control of time:matters in 2016 though it remains an independent concern. time:matters is for urgent shipments and complex logistics. The company employs 160 people and operates its own terminal for express and courier shipments at Frankfurt Airport.
Q1 uplift at Munich Airport
MUNICH Airport has posted strong growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 compared to Q1 last year as cargo tonnage grew at a significant rate. In the cargo segment, the total airfreight tonnage in the first three months of the year was over 85,000 tonnes – a year-onyear increase of around eight per cent. The number of aircraft movements also
increased to around 93,000 and new long-haul routes added to the US, Canada and the Far East helped boost cargo tonnage. In 2016, Munich Airport said airfreight was the strongest growth segment, where the total amount of cargo handled rose by more than five per cent on 2015 to 334,000 tonnes.
Tbilisi zoo job for Coyne Airways
COYNE Airways has helped repopulate Tbilisi Zoo by flying animals including a tiger, wallabies, sheep and penguins on board a Boeing 777 Freighter. The zoo was hit by flooding following a freak storm on 14 June 2015, in which more than 300 animals either drowned or
were shot by emergency forces, and at least 20 human lives were lost. A significant number of survivors escaped onto the streets of Tbilisi, resulting in interesting scenes including a giant African hippopotamus grazing on roadside greenery and bears perched next to air conditioning units on the first floor of a residential building. Coyne Airways sales manager, Martyn Griffin says it was delighted to fly the tiger, seven red-neck wallabies, six Barbary sheep and 24 African penguins on its weekly Amsterdam – Tbilisi flight. He says: “The animals are delivered just a few hours before the flight to reduce the time they spend in the cages and in the warehouse, and everything is ready for when they arrive so they board quickly. Like flying first class.”
New group launched by Neutral Air Partner NEUTRAL Air Partner (NAP) has launched Neutral Air Consolidators (NAC) - a group of neutral airfreight wholesalers and consolidators, master co-loaders and brokers. NAP says NAC is designed to “drive buying power and deliver global neutral airfreight solutions and brokerage across the cargo supply chain”. Chief executive officer, Christos Spyrou says: “NAC provides it’s members a platform to engage with like-minded professionals who share the same passion for the neutral airfreight consolidation business and the tools needed to empower performance and
to optimise results. “Our partners are selected subject to neutrality, blocked space agreements with carriers, airfreight tonnage, as well as trade lane consolidation expertise, and import-export sales focus.” Neutral Air Partner chairman, Peter Whitfield adds: “Our vision.... is to actively encourage cooperation between all of our members to both enhance their business opportunities and.....create a platform for commercial collaboration to support and mentor companies that operate within the same commercial space.”