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IAG SET TO BUY AER LINGUS IN$1.5 BILLION DEAL

NEW LEADERSHIP, MORE AND MORECHALLENGES

AN INTERESTINGMARkET fORGROWTH

STRONG AIRPORT CARGO fOCUS fUELS GROWTH

The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals

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RUSLAN INTERNATIONAL and Chap-man Freeborn has delivered 40 tonnes of broadcasting equipment to Armenia to provide television coverage for the country’s centenary commemorations.

The cargo consisted of three out-side broadcast vehicles and associated equipment, including a portable gener-ator. Ruslan says it had to use a special extension ramp because of the height of one of the vehicles.

It was sent from Tianjin (China) to Yerevan using an Antonov AN 124-100. Ruslan key account manager, Alexander Kraynov says the cargo was significant due to its role in helping Armenia commemorate a “defining mo-ment in their history”.

THANET DISTRICT COUNCIL (TDC) has rec-ommended its Cabinet review the decision not to subject Manston Airport to a compulsory purchase order (CPO), despite the leader of Kent County Council (KCC) saying there are no viable plans to reopen it.

In a TDC extraordinary meeting on 21 May, TDC recommended the Cabinet to review its position on Manston Airport and reconsider its views on the indemnity partner, RiverOak Investment, for the CPO. This comes despite the leader of KCC, Paul Carter, saying he had not seen any plans to restore Manston to a viable airport. At the KCC meeting on 21 May, he said the only plans submitted were from the owners of the airport, Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cart-ner, to redevelop the site.

Carter says: “Manston has now been closed for almost exactly 12 months, and in that time I have seen no credible plan, which would restore to Manston a viable airport. Nor, I believe, has the new Conservative Government.” He adds: “The only plans I have seen for the future of the site are those published by the new owners of Manston, Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner. I still, despite requesting this, have not been shown any business plan from RiverOak.”

TDC says: “The council has been clear that a decision to CPO the airport would depend on identifying a suitable indemnity partner and evidence of the economic viability of the air-port.” The airport closed on 15 May 2014. It had been purchased in November 2013 for £1 ($1.55) by Ann Gloag, who set up the company,

Manston Skyport to operate it. It was sold to Musgrave and Cartner in September 2014, who plan to redevelop the site. Since the airport closed, there has been a campaign to reopen the airport, with US firm, RiverOak Investment, offering to fund the CPO and any associated costs. In December 2014, TDC postponed pur-suing the CPO, saying RiverOak’s proposals were not suitable, with the decision going up to the government.

Carter says the UK government secretary of state for transport is reviewing the business plans to decide what will be best for the area. He says: “Until the secretary of state completes his due diligence on both plans, it is premature to ask for an open-ended commitment to sup-port Thanet and their CPO process.”

Airlines in Asia Pacific on the upA

irlines in the Asia Pacific region contin-ued to get a boost in airfreight volumes in April due the backlog

of goods at seaports on the US West coast, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

The association says that prelim-inary traffic figures for the month showed “encouraging growth” in air cargo markets, which “contin-ued to grow, in spite of April being a seasonally subdued month”.

AAPA says freight tonnes kilo-metres (FTK) in the month was 5.3 million, a 3.7 per cent rise from April last year when FTK was 5.1 million. The available freight tonne kilometres (AFTK) in April was 8.4 million, an increase of 4.7 per cent on the AFTK of eight million in April 2014.

The freight load factor in April saw a slight decline compared to the same month in 2014. This was 63.5 per cent, which was 0.6 per-centage points down on the 64.1 per cent that was registered in the same month last year.

AAPA says April’s figures were

down on March when airfreight was boosted by the US West coast port slowdown. FTK was 5.9 mil-lion in March and AFTK was 8.6 million. The freight load factor was significantly higher in March reaching 68.3 per cent.

Both April and March were well up on February, which is tradi-tionally a slower month. FTK was 4.8 million and AFTK reached 7.4 million. The freight load factor was high in February at 65.2 per cent. January was a strong month for

carriers in Asia Pacific according to AAPA with FTK at 5.1 million. AFTK reached 8.3 million and the freight load factor was 61.8 per cent.

AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman, explains: “Air cargo markets recorded a 7.2 per cent increase for the period, partly boosted by increased demand for air shipments due to the backlog of goods at US seaports.”

Looking ahead, Herdman, says: “The positive trend in air pas-

senger demand is expected to continue, consistent with improve-ments in consumer and business confidence and projected growth in the global economy. The out-look for airfreight demand in the coming months is more uncertain, given this is a seasonally weaker period, and will depend on the pace of recovery in world trade being maintained.”

AAPA says the first four months of 2015 have been positive for air-lines across the Asia Pacific region. From January to April 2015, FTK was 19.9 million, up 7.2 per cent on the same period last year. AFTK was 33 million, up 5.7 per cent on the same four months in 2014. The freight load factor for the period was 63.8 per cent, up 0.9 percent-age points compared to the same four months last year.

Last week, as reported in Air Cargo Week, AAPA said 26 airlines in Asia Pacific made a loss of $50 million in 2014, compared to a $2.2 billion profit in 2013, despite cargo revenue rising. Herdman said the operating environment was “highly competitive”.

Council to review Manston CPO decision

Volume: 18 Issue: 21 1 June 2015

The glittering Air Cargo Week World Air Cargo Awards rewarded high performing airfreight operators. More than 500 industry professionals celebrated their outstanding achievements and were treated to live entertainment, and

a sumptuous dinner.

Party on the Promenadeplatz

A I R C A R G O W E E K

A I R C A R G O W E E K

GLOBAL

MANAGEMENT

WORLD AIRPORTS.COM

FREIGHTERS.COM

FREIGH

FREIGH

World Air Cargo Awards 2015Wednesday 6th May 2015 at the award-winning Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich

“We are proud to help customers in so many industry sectors and honoured that those

customers have voted for us for this great award.”

V O LG A - D N E P R

We are delighted to win this for the third time in a row - it’s a testament to

the hard work of our staff and reputation that we

have.”A I R C H A R T E R S E R V I C E

“Honoured to have won a competitive

market’s confidence - It’s just the beginning!”

W E B C A R G O N E T

“We are proud and happy to get this recognition.

It encourages us to work even harder!”

B R U S S E L S A I R P O R T

“This is another award that reflects the hard work of the team at Etihad Cargo. We’re

delighted to accept the award and it’s a mark of our

continued success.” E T I H A D C A R G O

NEWSWEEK

3ACW 1 JUNE 2015

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) is set to buy the Irish government’s 25 per cent stake in Aer Lingus, paving the way for it to acquire the carrier for 1.4 billion euros ($1.5

billion).As part of the agreement, IAG must

safeguard Aer Lingus’ connections from Heathrow Airport to Dublin Airport, Cork Airport and Shannon Airport for seven years. Under the deal, Aer Lingus shareholders would receive 2.55 euros per share. It still needs to be approved by Ire-land’s parliament, the Dail Eireann, under the Aer Lingus Act 2004.

IAG chief executive officer, Willie Walsh says: “Ireland’s vital air links to Europe and North America would be enhanced, creat-ing new jobs, with cast-iron guarantees on ownership of Aer Lingus’ Heathrow slots and their use on flights to Dublin, Cork and

Shannon.”The acquisition is expected to give Irish

businesses better access to IAG’s cargo network and increase Aer Lingus’ capacity by 50 per cent by 2020. It is expected Ire-land’s pharmaceutical and semi conductor industries will particularly benefit.

Aer Lingus chairman, Colm Barrington says: “This access to greater global scale will accelerate growth across our network, enhance Ireland’s position as a natural

gateway connecting Europe and North America ... and provide better access for business interests and cargo flows.”

Shannon Group, which operates Shan-non Airport, and daa, which runs Dublin and Cork airports, both welcome the move. Shannon Group chairman, Rose Hynes says: “It’s a positive opportunity for Ireland, [it] will safeguard the Shannon Heathrow connectivity for seven years and opens the door to further growth.”

Daa chief executive Kevin Toland says: “We believe this transaction will lead to increased employment, as IAG expands its Irish operations in the future.”

In December 2014, IAG made an offer to buy the Irish government stake, which was rejected because it undervalued the car-rier. IAG then bid in January 2015, which Aer Lingus accepted in February 2015, as said it was good for the airline and Ireland.

SAUDIA CARGO has expanded its freighter network by add-ing services to Paris and Mumbai.

On 22 May, the carrier started a freighter route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport from Jeddah using a Boeing 747 Freighter, which will operate twice a week.

Saudia Cargo says it will strengthen its airfreight pres-ence within France. The airline explains Paris will give it the opportunity to meet strong demand for cargo from a “promising French market”.

Saudia Cargo vice president of commercial, Rainer Muel-ler, says: “Our focus is to improve connectivity and provide a growing network of destinations and quality operations to our customers.” Mueller adds: “Adding Paris as a freighter station to our network on top of our 12 weekly passenger flights will offer a lot of opportunities to the French forward-ing industry as well as exporters in other countries who are looking for a direct freighter product.”

Paris adds to the twice a week Boeing 777 Freighter ser-vice to Mumbai from Jeddah, which started on 7 May. The aircraft carries commodities such as fabrics, garments, and engineering products.

IAG set to buy Aer Lingus in $1.5 billion deal

ETIHAD AIRWAYS has seen cargo revenue increase by 19.2 per cent to $1.1 billion in 2014, with net profit rising by 52.1 per cent to $73 million.

Revenue from Etihad Cargo rose from $920 million in 2013, with freight and mail volumes increasing by 16.8 per cent from 487,000 tonnes in 2013 to 569,000 tonnes in 2014. Net profit increased from $48 million in 2013 to $73 million in 2014. Total revenue for the airline increased by 26.7 per cent from $6 billion in 2013 to $7.6 billion in 2014.

Etihad Airways president and chief executive officer, James Hogan says: “Etihad Cargo has consistently out-performed the global market. Its impressive 17 per cent growth in freight tonne kilometres in 2014 is four times the industry average. We are forecasting significant growth for 2015, driven by key initiatives to expand its capacity and scope.”

The airline says it has added 21 aircraft to its fleet in 2014, bringing its total to 110, including its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A380 and one Airbus A330-200 Freighter.

In 2014, the airline received approval to take a 49 per cent investment in Air Serbia and it spent 560 million euros on a 49 per cent shareholding in new Alitalia. Etihad increased its stake in Aer Lingus to 4.99 per cent and in Virgin Australia to 22.9 per cent.Hogan says 2014 was a strong year despite challenges, ac-cusing Europe and the US of protectionism. Hogan explains they “threaten to damage the significant progress that our airline has made”.

Etihad posts strong results

Saudia adds freighter routes

NEWSWEEK

4 ACW 1 JUNE 2015

Restructuring for Malaysia AirlinesMALAYSIA AIRLINES says its restructuring programme, which is expected to result in staff and route cuts, is nearly complete, as it appoints an administrator to manage the transferring of assets to the new airline company.

As part of the restructuring, the airline plans to cut staff numbers from 20,000 to around 14,000. The new company, which will operate Malaysia Airlines from 1 Sep-tember 2015, plans to improve domestic and regional connectivity and will review Eu-ropean and Middle Eastern routes.

On 25 May, Mohammed Faiz Azmi was appointed administrator to manage the handover from the old company to the new one. Malaysia Airlines chief executive offi-cer (CEO), Christoph Mueller says: “I assure you our operations are very much business as usual.”

Other measures include moving its head-quarters from Subang to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The airline will be making management changes, with Mueller, former CEO of Aer Lingus, taking over as chief commercial officer from 1 June, hav-ing taken over as CEO on 1 May 2015.

Azmi was appointed by Khazanah Nasion-al, the Malaysian government’s investment fund to manage its assets. The airline says creating the company is a key component of the 12 point recovery plan to restructure Malaysia Airlines and return it to profitabili-ty. The 12 points announced in August 2014 are split into four areas, governance and financial framework, operating business model, leadership and human capital, and regulatory and enabling environment

Under governance and financial frame-

work, creating a new company and making it profitable by the end of 2017, and funding of up to six billion ringgits ($1.6 billion) on the condition of reducing net debt to around 120 per cent over shareholders funds.

The operating business model means focusing its network on the Asia Pacific re-gion and reducing costs by improving supply contracts and labour practices. It is moving its headquarters to improve its safety struc-tures with measuring including an enhanced International Air Transport Association op-erational safety audit.

As part of its Asia Pacific focus, its cargo division MASkargo has launched a freighter route to Bangalore (India) using an Airbus A330-200. The carrier started services on 22 May from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Bengaluru International Airport. It will operate every Friday and have capac-ity for 60 tonnes of cargo. MASkargo acting CEO, Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi, says there is huge potential for MASkargo in India: “We are meeting the market demand to connect Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore for the export of electronic spare parts and the import of pharmaceutical products and garment to Malaysia and beyond.”

A ir Canada has begun work on implementing Mercator’s RAPID Cargo system to manage and opti-mise its revenue accounting system for cargo operations.

The airline will use RAPID Cargo to help align its processes to industry practices, standards and quality. An agreement with Mercator was signed in May and the airline is scheduled to implement the new system in the fourth quar-ter of 2015.

Air Canada vice president, Chris Isford says: “We reviewed and evaluated several cargo revenue accounting solutions and ultimately chose Mercator for its track record in rapidly responding to the changing financial needs of airlines by using the latest industry-tested technologies.” He adds: “We sought a modern, reliable and robust framework for our revenue accounting processes and RAPID Cargo will enable us to handle the most complex revenue

accounting demands with speed, accuracy and profitability.”

Mercator says RAPID Cargo is a cargo revenue accounting programme, which gives airlines the tools to efficiently manage complex cargo operations by providing them with a clear view of how their businesses are performing. It says it transforms data on cargo air waybills into financial and strategic information, improv-ing the efficiency of accounts receivables and collections, the integration of cargo revenue accounting and postal mail revenue account-ing. Mercator also claims it also reduces manual processing and intervention, and has the capa-bility to generate real-time reports.

In February, Mercator joined the Latin America and Caribbean Air Transport Associ-ate as an affiliate member. At the time, Mercator regional sales director, Americas, Mario Cornejo said: “We look forward to better serving the market.”

New accounting system for Air Canada DHL to make investment in ThailandDHL EXPRESS is to further expand its Asian footprint by developing infrastructure and service commitments in Thailand to strength-en its network and overall capabilities.

The international express service provider is to increase investments in infrastructure and services in Thailand to 180 million baht ($5.3 million) during 2015.

It says this will deliver business growth and enhance service quality, whilst also underscoring a commitment to offer best-in-class air express services and solutions to customers across Thailand.

Key parts of the investment will include the relocation of DHL Express Thailand’s head office, the expansion of DHL service points and a new service centre.

DHL Express recorded strong growth in several sectors during the first four months of 2015, including in the small and medi-

um enterprise segment and electronics. It expects this trend to continue as new cus-tomers come on board.

DHL Express South East Asia and South Asia senior vice president, Yasmin Aladad Khan, says: “Our major strategic initiatives in Thailand are aligned with the development strategy to 2020 of parent group Deutsche Post DHL.

“With the vision of becoming a company that defines the logistics industry, we be-lieve our investments in facilities, network and people in a growth market like Thailand will enable us to not only lead the industry but become a provider of choice. This robust investment also reflects DHL’s confidence in the long term stability of the Thai economy and logistics sector.” Earlier this year, DHL Express made a 85 million euro investment in a South Asia Hub in nearby Singapore.

NEWSWEEK

6 ACW 1 JUNE 2015

J ettainer has opened a logistics centre at Frankfurt Airport.

The company manages unit load devices (ULDs) for various airlines and says JettHub FRA, as it will be

known, “guarantees immediate availability of efficient ULD handling, maintenance and repair services” at Germany’s largest air traffic hub.

Jettainer explains that around 750,000 units a year can be moved at the site, which covers an area of 17,000 square metres and it can host up to 9,000 containers and pallets at the same time.

JettHub is directly linked to the apron by a 24/7 security gate. To manage stocks efficiently and transparently, Jettainer has developed its own software, which is directly connected to the company’s IT platform.

The logistics centre is operated by handling counts GmbH, which is a wholly owned subsidi-ary of Lufthansa Cargo.

Jettainer managing director, Carsten Hernig,

says: “With the continuous development of our JettHub, we have created a solid foundation for managing the world’s largest ULD fleet at our home base. Moreover, we are on course for further growth at one of the most important airports in the world, which the majority of our customers as well as numerous other airlines use on a regular basis.”

Deufol Airport Services, an aeronautical company that has moved into JettHub as part of its cooperation with Jettainer will look after the servicing and repair of containers and pallets.

In May, Jettainer announced it was taking over the management of ULDs for Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia. In 2014, the company grew by 10 per cent, and also manages ULDs for Lufthansa Cargo, Etihad Airways, Jet Airways, American Airlines Cargo, Air Astana and other carriers.

Jettainer opens ULD logistics centre Runway renovations at Brussels

Brussels Airport started work on reno-vating runway 25L/07R on 27 May as part of its infrastructure upgrade it does every 30 years for safety purposes.

The airport (pictured above) says the first stage of the operations, which started on 27 May, consisted of scraping asphalt away, demolishing runway shoulders and disman-tling sewers and the water drainage system.

The renovation work is expected to continue until 7 September and the airport’s other two runways will receive similar treatment in the coming years, though no timescale has been specified.

Brussels Airport will carry out the work in three stages. The first stage, which it hopes to finish by 3 August, it will renovate the long stretch on the East side of the runway and the short section on the West part. Stage two, between 3 and 15 August, will involve renovating the asphalt layers, drainage and sewers on the intersection of runways 25L/07R and 01/19. Shoulders and runway lighting will be replaced. The third stage, to be finished by 7 September, will involve finishing the asphalt and lighting work on the intersection of runways 25L/07R and 01/19.

Brussels has seen cargo rise by 8.7 per cent from January to April 2015.

C argologic has become the first air-freight handler at EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg to obtain authorisation for wholesale trading in medicinal products and Good Dis-

tribution Practice (GDP).An inspection was carried out by the

Swiss Regional Medicines Inspectorate of North-Western Switzerland, Swissmedic, the regulatory authority for medicinal products. GDP guidelines document these requirements in detail for the entire supply chain, covering

everything from the delivery of raw materi-als to the transport of products to their end users. The certification ensures the quality of all temperature-sensitive airfreight consign-ments entrusted to Cargologic is safeguarded at all times throughout handling, storage and transport.

Cargologic managing director, Marco Gre-dig, says: “Patient safety is the pharmaceutical industry’s top priority, so Cargologic takes an appropriately sensitive approach to quality when handling medicinal products.”

Medicinal certificate for CarglogicTHE US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $227,500 civil penalty against AmplaChem for allegedly violating hazardous materials regulations.

The FAA alleges on 10 April 2013, AmplaChem knowingly offered an unde-clared hazardous material shipment to Fedex from Carmel (US) to Vietnam. The shipment included Boron Tribromide, a corrosive material and toxic inhalation hazard that is forbidden from being trans-ported on any commercial aircraft, and two other corrosive substances. The FAA

claims the shipment was smoldering and burning as it was being unloaded in Viet-nam, and FedEx notified the FAA. The FAA alleges it was not accompanied by papers to indicate the hazardous nature of its contents and not properly marked, labelled or packaged. The FAA claims AmplaChem did not provide emergency response information with the shipment and failed to ensure employees had received required hazardous materials training. AmplaChem plans to meet the FAA in mid-June.

FAA proposing shipment fine

NEWSWEEK

8 ACW 1 JUNE 2015

Nepal aided by NeWay LogisticsTHE Nepalese earthquake has required many aircraft to take supplies to the di-saster stricken region and DHL aircraft marketing company NeWay Logistics has been providing airlift.

Based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, NeWay is an air charter broker which provides urgent ad-hoc shipments, human-itarian aid and relief cargo, or transport oil and gas equipment and other heavyweight and outsized cargo. Acting as the charter sales and marketing agent for the DHL fleet in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, some of its aircraft are based in Bahrain

and West and South Africa.The firm has been providing flights to

Nepal into Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan Inter-national Airport. “We are one of the only widebody operators allowed to fly to Kath-amndu,” NeWay’s general manager, Erwin Burger, tells Air Cargo Week.

NeWay has been using an Airbus A300B4-200 Freighter to fly supplies to Kathmandu. Its other aircraft available for charters include, a Boeing 757-200 Freight-er operating from Bahrain, and a Boeing 747-200 Freighter based in Sharjah Inter-national Airport that can fly to Libya.

Relief effort to Nepal continuesQATAR AIRWAYS CARGO is continuing to support international relief efforts in Nepal following the earthquakes that devastated the country in April and May.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on 25 April killing more than 8,000 people and injuring thousands more. It was followed on 12 May by a 7.3 magnitude quake and sev-eral strong tremors.

The carrier has transported international aid to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu via 12 dedicated freighter services. The first left Doha for Kathmandu within 24 hours of the April earthquake and it was the first commercial airline to touchdown at Kath-mandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.

Some 400 tonnes of relief aid, including medicines, food supplies, tents, water fil-ters and generators provided by charities have been flown to Nepal. Qatar Airways Cargo has worked in conjunction with local

and international charities to provide free transportation of food and water filters and to support Nepal’s recovery to provide aid to areas of the country that have no clean water as a result of the disaster.

Qatar Airways Cargo staff also assisted Tribhuvan Airport’s Air Traffic Control tower team to manage the large air traffic flows into the airport, and to ensure operations were maintained throughout the crisis.

S harjah International Airport reports that it handled more than 16,000 tonnes of cargo in April, down on the 19,081 tonnes registered in same month in 2014, which contin-

ues the monthly downward trend this year.The Sharjah Airport Authority says the

airport also processed around 1,761 tonnes of sea-air cargo, and explains that freight was affected by the global economic slowdown.

April was the second busiest month for the airport so far in 2015, but a monthly fall once again this year compared to 2014. In January this year, the airport handled 13,106 tonnes of cargo, which was a fall on the 16,038 tonnes in the same month in 2014. In February, it pro-cessed 13,549 tonnes, a drop on the 16,295 tonnes handled in February 2014. In March, the airport handled 16,332 tonnes, down on the 18,432 tonnes in the same month last year.

Sharjah International Airport’s total cargo for quarter one (Q1) of this year was signifi-cantly down on Q1 in 2014. In Q1 2015, it handled 42,987 tonnes, which was a decline on the 51,000 tonnes in Q1 in 2014.

Sharjah Airport Authority chairman, Ali Salim Al Midfa, says while cargo was down, the number of aircraft movements was up and he has “confidence in the continued growth” at Sharjah International Airport.

Last year, the airport handled more than 237,250 tonnes of cargo, and it said when releasing its figures for 2014, that the total was impacted by global cargo downturn trends. The busiest month in 2014 was May when the airport handled 28,263 tonnes of cargo. The second busiest month was June when 27,761 tonnes were handled. The quietest months were December with 15,358 tonnes, February with 16,295 and January 16,318.

Volumes fall in April at Sharjah New rights issue for GWCTHE Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC) has had its bid approved to increase the com-pany’s capital by 25 per cent through a new rights issue.

The Qatar Government’s Corporate Su-pervision Department of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce has given GWC the green light.

This rights issue is equivalent to 11.8 mil-lion shares, at a nominal value of 10 Qatari rial ($2.7) per share, and an issuing premi-um of 28.50 Qatari rial per share, amounting to 38.50 Qatari rial per share.

GWC also says that it is in the process of getting the ministry to approve a date to hold an extraordinary general assembly meeting to adopt and ratify this transaction.

The rights issue follows a successful quar-ter one (Q1) in 2015, when GWC saw a 40 per cent increase in net profits to 40 million

Qatari rial. Total revenues were 196 million Qatari rial during this period, a 28 per cent increase from Q1 2014.

The firm’s GWC Sports division performs equestrian logistics projects in Qatar, and transported 128 horses for the CHI Al Shaqab International Equestrian event held in Doha, in March. GWC has also boosted its fine arts operations by bringing in new trucks which are designed for the trans-portation of horses in accordance with key European standards.

The company has also announced it is the authorised service contractor for UPS in Qatar, providing a range of services under its name. GWC’s Ras Laffan logistics hub in Doha continues its expansion with con-struction started on a 15,000 square metre warehouse. It is expected to be completed in January 2016.

Change came to the top of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) at its executive summit in Miami (US) in late May, with a new chairman and vice chair-man taking up their posts, while the event’s conference heard of challenges ahead with lithium battery bans,

advanced data systems and how to deal with insider threats. The summit took place at the Conrad Hotel in Miami from

19-21 May and TIACA’s secretary general, Doug Brittin (see pic-ture above, left to right, Enno Osinga, Oliver Evans, Doug Brittin, Sanjiv Edward, Sebastiaan Scholte) announced at the welcome reception that the event was the association’s biggest summit to date with more than 200 people attending.

The summit includes TIACA’s annual general meeting, at which the outgoing chairman, Oliver Evans, Swiss International Air Lines’ head of cargo, and vice chairman, Enno Osinga, Amster-dam Airport Schiphol’s cargo vice president, stepped down and were replaced by Delhi Indira Ghandi International Airport’s head of cargo business, Sanjiv Edward, and Sebastiaan Scholte,

Jan de Rijk Logistics chief executive officer, as chairman and vice-chairman, respectively. “TIACA has an essential role to play as the only association which truly represents every segment of the air cargo supply chain,” says Edward. “We must embrace change and work together to overcome the many challenges fac-ing us and ensure a bright future for our industry.”

Speaking to Air Cargo Week at the summit’s leadership change press conference, Brittin says: “We have completeled a member-ship survey since January and had tremendous feedback with a wide range of responses.” He outlined the areas of interest, regu-latory issues, networking and education. TIACA’s third air cargo professional development workshop is to take place in Cologne (Germany) from 22-24 June.

The summit’s topics dealt with regulatory issues a great deal from rules around lithium batteries to advance data regimes. The last session of the summit, workshop four, dealt with the pilot programmes and other efforts to bring about advance data sys-tems; where customs authorities are sent data about shipments before an aircraft takes off. The most developed of these is the US government’s Air Cargo Advanced Screening (ACAS), which gets data from 193 countries. ACAS has been a pilot programme so far and that could continue, according to Craig Clark, the US government’s Customs Border Protection aviation security policy head. He tells the workshop four audience that, the pilot could be extended if the government does not publish its plans for ACAS implementation by the July deadline for the pilot’s expiration. “It is possible the pilot will be extended, which we have done quite a few times. We will likely extend it another six months,” says Clark.

Canada’s pilot scheme is to be expanded to include more par-ticipants. The Canadian government’s Canada Border Services Agency‘s director of commercial program transformation, Todd Boucher, tells the workshop four audience that the pilot is being expanded from six organisations to new air carriers and freight forwarders and, “different lines of business such as the express industry.” He adds that the pilot is being assessed for what lessons have been learned. Another Canadian official, Transport Canada’s

Justin Jedlinski has been involved in its Preload Air Cargo Target-ing pilot scheme. He says: “These pilots and concepts have been evolutionary because of e-commerce, it’s difficult to do advance data without electronic data,” adding that with the Canadian pilot, “we are close to being able to test all of [the technology] it.”

Another workshop four panel member, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) technical officer, Valerie Tro-janowska, says that ICAO has nothing in its regulations about advance cargo data and that, “with the help of joint working groups,” there was work ongoing towards producing a text that can be included in ICAO’s rule books, which it callas annexes. Tro-janowska also says that, “Japan is running a pilot and other states are intending to do so.”

During the summit, other electronic data systems were discussed, including the US government’s Automated Cargo Envi-ronment (ACE), which is to become a mandatory system from 1 November. In the summit’s electronic manfest session, the US gov-ernment’s Customs Border Protection cargo security and controls division director, James Swanson, says that notice of rule mak-ing, edxplaining what companies must do for ACE, is “expected shortly. The goal is to have something out soon.” He adds that a lot of it has been modelled on other industries and that, “all the basic stuff has been built for over a year”. However, participants in the session say that industry won’t have enough time to cre-ate the software needed. The final day of the summit heard about insider threats from Deloitte Consulting. Its presentation about its Amazon cloud based Marigold software as a service product concerned how public domain databases, news media feeds and social media content could be combined to provide alerts about individuals and organisations which may have a criminal past or their behaviour indicates possible sabotage in future. It is clear, airfreight’s challenges are more than just the digital ones.

Automated environments

TIACA EXECUTIVE SUMMIT REPORT

New leadership, more and more challenges

9ACW 1 JUNE 2015

ACW 1 JUNE 2015 10

T he Israeli airfreight market is growing thanks to rising volumes of pharma-ceuticals and perishables, with other products such as electronics, tele-communications and spare parts also

helping business.In 2014, Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion

International Airport (pictured above) in Tel Aviv saw cargo volumes increase, which

has been attributed to rising volumes of perishables and pharmaceuticals. Tel Aviv saw cargo volumes increase by 1.7 per cent to 272,348 tonnes in 2014, according to Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. ACI says this growth has continued into 2015, with volumes increasing by 2.9 per cent to 71,259 tonnes up to March.

El Al Israel Airlines tells Air Cargo Week (ACW) that between 2007 and 2013, the Israeli cargo market saw volumes fall from 340,000 tonnes to 275,000 tonnes but recovered by 3.5 per cent in 2014. The airline says it saw a 3.9 per cent increase in cargo volumes between January and March 2015.

IAG Cargo regional commercial manager for

Europe, Chris Nielen says: “Growth has mainly been driven by pharmaceuticals and perish-ables. We are growing our business, especially our Constant Climate premium products. It has been very well received by our customers.”

Nielen says the Constant Climate has seen strong growth over the past few years, as Israel exports a lot of pharmaceuticals and perish-ables, such as flowers and herbs. He says it is proving very popular as more and more stations handle Constant Climate, particularly on its ser-vices to South America.

Lufthansa Cargo country manager for Israel, Shaul Grimberg, says it saw one per cent growth in 2014 after two years of three per cent declines. He says between January and April this year, the airline has seen a 3.5 per cent increase in imports and 2.2 per cent for exports. Grim-berg says: “We expect that the present growth trend of 3.5 per cent is likely to remain level until the end of the year.”

Grimberg tells ACW: “The introduction of the freighter operations to and from Frankfurt, have opened up new and major opportunities for our carrier to support our customers with their needs, in transporting freighter material includ-ing oversize cargo.”

Grimberg tells ACW capacity to Israel has increased due to rising numbers of freighters, in response to other airlines switching to narrow-body aircraft, due to passenger demands.

One airline operating freighters to and from Israel is CAL Cargo Airlines, which has upgraded its Boeing 747-200 Freighters to 747-400 Freighters. CAL operates flights from Tel Aviv to Liege (Belgium) to New York (US). CAL chief executive officer, Eyal Zagagi says: “The 747-400s provide us with much better perfor-mance in every aspect, fuel economy, range, these elements helped us look at 2014 as a suc-cessful year.”

Israel to the US is also both served by United Cargo and American Airlines Cargo. Ameri-can can take advantage of being the only carrier operating between Philadelphia and Tel Aviv while United Cargo is very happy with its New-ark International Airport to Tel Aviv service.

American Airlines Cargo managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Tristan Koch says: “We operate an [Airbus] A330-200 on the route, which makes it ideal for smaller urgent shipments between the two cities. Even though it is a long sector, we are frequently able to load 10 tonnes of cargo on a flight.”

United Cargo senior regional sales manager for US North, Kevin Romer tells ACW: “Business out of the US to Tel Aviv was a strong contrib-utor to United Cargo’s comeback year. Tel Aviv was one of United Cargo’s most significant suc-cess stories in 2014.”

Romer says 2015 is continuing to prove strong

with steady volumes on its twice daily Boeing 777 flights between Newark and Tel Aviv.

American and United will be joined by El Al in providing services to the US as it will start flights to Boston at the end of June.

Pharmaceuticals are proving to be a very lucrative business, with United Cargo adding Tel Aviv to its TempControl network in 2012.

American is to open a pharma facility in Tel Aviv this month. Koch tells ACW: “With the for-mal opening of our state of the art facility later in June this year, we expect to see an increase in demand for service into Philadelphia.”

He says customers are very happy with the way American deals with pharmaceuticals. “There have been a lot of good reactions from customers in Tel Aviv on our new Philadelphia pharmaceutical and healthcare facility - and the direct link between the two cities means that high-yield business is expected to continue for the remainder of the year.”

Zagagi says when CAL was founded in 1976; it was to deal with Israeli agricultural produce. More airlines operating services to Israel means more competition, partly because of Open Skies, while seafreight continues to remain a threat. He tells ACW: “The Israeli market is very interesting, exports are highly dependent on the season, imports are growing significantly almost around the year. Imports are stronger than exports. Agriculture is not as strong and big as it used to be.”

El Al says agriculture has seen large declines as it is increasingly travelling by sea. The airline tells ACW: “During the last few years we can see dramatic declines in the airbourne agriculture market, towards the seafreight market mainly due to the advanced technology that allows extending the shelf life of agriculture products.”

El Al says the Israeli export is stagnant while the import market has increased by seven per cent, helped by the euro US dollar exchange rate.

Romer says: “Israel offers a great deal of opportunity for our cargo business. It is a vibrant economy and, by virtue of its geography, trade must be done via air or sea.”

Israel has seen its growth from 2014 continue into 2015 after years of declines. Carriers hope this recovery will continue.

An interesting market for growthISRAEL REPORT

High hopes for 2015

zagagi

The Israeli market is very interest-ing, exports are highly dependent on the season

Freight Forwarders

11ACW 1 June 2015

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Charter Brokers

Belgium is seeing some of the strongest airfreight growth in volumes across Europe as operators target specialist cargo types and tap into opportunities that the location presents.

Brussels Airport (pictured) handled 161,000 tonnes in the first four months of 2015, a rise 8.7 per cent on the same period in 2014. Head of cargo, Steven Polmans, tells Air Cargo Week (ACW) growth stems from a strategy of staying “focused on investing in long term gain rather than short term gain.” Polmans explains: “We invest a lot of time and energy focusing on the total logistical chain. More than ever we try to facilitate cargo flows rather than be just an airport.” He adds efforts made in on-time and temperature critical shipments and specialist projects have fuelled growth over the last few years.

In Polmans’ view, Belgium is growing as has the infrastructure, a low cost base, a good local market and a flexible liberal traffic rights regime. “This is something we need as we do not have a strong home carrier in Belgium when it comes to cargo,” he says. Polmans feels Belgium’s volumes are strong and there is a good balance of imports and exports. “In the last three years, Belgium has been the strongest grower in air cargo, which shows that our market is very robust,” Polmans explains. Cargo is mainly auto-motive, electronics, courier, pharmaceuticals, and perishables.

Qatar Airways Cargo handled 3,985 tonnes out of Brussels from January to April this year. The carrier tells ACW it uses Brus-sels as a regional feeder for North and Western Europe, which presents opportunities for customers through its frequencies and trucking network. The airline says 50 per cent of imports are trucked to other European airports.

Qatar operates five Airbus A330 Freighter services a week

between Brussels and Doha, supported by bellyhold capacity on daily passenger aircraft. Inbound, freighters are from Doha twice a week, Uganda twice a week and Ghana once a week, feeding perishable cargo from its African network into Brussels. Out-bound freighters operate via Basel (Switzerland) and Oslo, to Doha to connect to its network. The airline says an important part is the number of biotech businesses in the area: “By implement-ing freighter capacity we are able to reduce the time to market for these businesses and their critical products, of which there are significant export volumes from Brussels.”

The airline says its QR Pharma and QR Fresh services enable it to provide for its pharma and perishable customers. The carrier says: “Due to the fast growth of QR Pharma in Europe we are eval-uating the launch of an additional freighter service to Brussels.” General cargo is car parts, electrical goods, spare parts and tele-coms equipment and lives animals and humanitarian relief aid.

Polmans is sure there will be further growth. In the last six months Ethiopian Cargo and Yangtze River Express started operations. Last month, KF Cargo started services. “We have still important unserved markets and no congestion or constraints on infrastructure, so we keep on talking and looking for new airlines and frequencies. We are hiring a new manager, as want more focus on perishables,” he says. Infrastructure will be improved and a hub for DHL Express is on the way along with first line handling facilities and expanded cargo forwarder facilities. “I am positive about the Belgian market and future for airports. On the other hand, we are a transit country and cargo depends a lot on foreign carriers or investments. I am expecting more stable growth as we depend more on belly cargo,” Polmans adds.

Liege Airport benefits from its location close to Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK and other countries. Liege cargo business developer, Steven Verhasselt, tells ACW volumes in quarter one (Q1) this year were up 10 per cent on Q1 2014, but only 10 per cent into Liege is for Belgium he says.

Liege places growth firmly on the use of freighters and sees

a strong future for freighters, according to Verhasselt. “The freighter operators get priority and the red carpet here and we are open for them 24 hours a day. There is so much cargo that needs freighters and we are promoting them and have the infra-structure.” Perishables such as flowers, vegetables and fish and oversized cargo, such as oil and gas equipment and livestock make up high volumes. He says in 2014, 3,000 horses came through Liege and it is expanding its equestrian facility for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, while pharma is vital for growth.

CAL Cargo Airlines has its European hub at Liege and says it is the core of the carrier’s entire operations. CAL vice chairman, Muli Ravina, tells ACW: “Bottom line, time is money. Liege is strategically located at the heart of the golden triangle (Frank-furt-Paris-Amsterdam) for quick accessibility to most of Europe.” CAL says it allows quicker and easier reach to the market as the airline says 73 per cent of European freight is transit in this tri-angle, meaning it can reach more than 400 million consumers.

From January-April 2015, CAL shipped 32,000 tonnes through Liege, which was mainly perishables, pharma, dangerous goods, live animals, oversized cargo, and valuables. CAL operates six to seven flights a week from Israel to Liege. Ravina says: “CAL Air-lines expects to open new routes to the Far East and to North America, and (Liege) will continue to represent the “hub” for addi-tional routes as well as continuing our unique charter services.”

Belgium is on an upward growth curve and this is set to con-tinue as cargo forms a key part of its airports’ strategies.

Strong airport cargo focus fuels growthBELGIUM REPORT

Further growth

polmansIn the last three years, Belgium has been the strongest grower in air cargo, which shows that our market is very robust