Sponsored by

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

3

Volumes on the up in 2015 for DB Schenker

rebranding forcargo 2000 to cargo iq

oil pricebenefits andpitfalls

perisHablesreMain tHefocUs for iag

sHippers needto be listened to More

The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals

5

6

8

FREIGHT forwarder giant DB Schenker - part of Deutsche Bahn (DB) - has seen airfreight volumes rise by 1.4 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year.

The performance is in stark contrast to competitors and the figures were released in DB’s annual results for last year. DB’s revenue rose above 40 billion euros for the first time in its history.

Meanwhile, fellow forwarding power-house Panalpina says airfreight was down in 2015 by 2.5 per cent over the same time in 2014, and in 2015 it handled 836,200 tonnes of airfreight. However, the forwarder says it expanded airfreight services last year though and is eyeing up opportunities in 2016.

Panalpina says the perishables mar-ket is growing and it is looking to further tap into this sector, while chemicals and healthcare are other markets that it is aiming to grow volumes in.

The firm says air cargo is set to remain tough this year, but says capacity will increase, but demand for freight space remains flat. The acquisition of Kenyan forwarder Airflo, which specialises in the export of flowers and vegetables, Panalpi-na says will drive tonnages in Africa.

The logistics community at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has launched a closed pharmaceutical chain programme to be Inter-national Air Transport Association (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators certified.

It was announced at the IATA World Cargo Symposium (WCS) on 16 March. The chain has been branded ‘Pharma Gateway Amsterdam – Qualified & Transparent’ and it aims to sup-port a certified track from the shipper to the consignee, involving airlines, handlers, hauliers and logistics service providers.

Air Cargo Netherlands director of special programs, Ferry van der Ent says: “Pharma Gateway Amsterdam goes well beyond a simple marketing programme. This new body is tack-ling the entire proposition of Schiphol Airport

for pharma manufacturers, and is commercially neutral. We’ll provide a transparent and quali-fied process, which can be fully monitored.”

By the time of the unveiling at the IATA WCS - WFS, Dnata, Swissport, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, De Jong Special Services, DJ Middelkoop & Zn., Jan de Rijk Logistics, IJS

Global/GEFCO, VCK Logistics, Yusen Logis-tics and Cyberfreight had been recruited, with more expected to join in the near future.

Schiphol believes Pharma Gateway Amster-dam will achieve its potential helped by supportive Customs, state-of-the-art facilities, mainport network and technical innovations such as real time temperature measurement. In future, the gateway will include real time monitoring on the ramp on a collective basis, similar to the airport’s ‘Milkrun’ transport collaboration.

Van der Ent adds: “We have adopted CEIV as our base, as it’s the only truly worldwide stan-dard today. Slowly but surely, more logistics partners are choosing CEIV, driven by shipper demand. Although it’s not mandatory yet, it may be in the future.”

transformation needed of air cargo industry

Calls for authorities to ramp up efforts to enforce regulations on lithium-ion batteries, faster adoption of the

electronic air waybill (e-AWB) and industry instability dominated dis-cussions at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) 10th World Cargo Symposium (WCS) in Berlin last week.

A record turnout of more than 1100 delegates from across the supply chain debated issues and gained insight into the challenges and opportunities of air cargo.

Airfreight is going through dif-ficult operating environment due to pressure from integrators, com-peting modes of transport, rising cargo capacity in passenger fleet and falling yields, which are set to drop a further 5.5 per cent in 2016.

However, volumes growth was 1.9 per cent in 2015, and IATA forecasts in 2016 there will be a three per cent uplift.

IATA’s director general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler (pictured), urges continued trans-formation in the industry with a focus on raising quality.

Tyler explains: ““Air cargo continues to be a challenging environment for airlines to keep revenues ahead of costs. The business, however, generates enormous value. Over a third of goods traded internationally mea-sured by value – are delivered by air cargo.

“To do that profitably, the air cargo sector must bolster its key strengths of speed and flexibil-ity with modern processes and improved quality. That means transformation.

“Compared to other modes of shipping, air cargo is a pre-mium service. Yet shippers give the industry a satisfaction rating of only seven out of 10 on aver-age. That is not good enough. The industry must raise the service quality and provide a more per-sonalised customer service.”

Tyler questions why air cargo has not undergone the same transformation process that has reinvigorated the passenger side of the business, such as new tech-nology for check-in, and e-tickets.

He says similar breakthroughs on the cargo side of the business

are needed to satisfy customer expectations, urging the supply chain to come together: “If the air cargo business can stay focused on the customer, delivering a reliable, high-quality service at a competi-tive price, and build on the speed and flexibility for which airfreight is renowned, then this business will not only survive but prosper.”

Tyler observes the pace of adop-tion of the e-AWB must accelerate. As of the end of 2015, e-AWB pene-tration stood at 36 per cent, below its target of the mid-40s.

And teamwork, Tyler feels will be critical in resolving issues around the shipping of lithium-ion batteries. In February 2016 the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) temporarily banned shipments of lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger flights, pending development of a fire-resistant packaging standard.

Tyler says: “The issue lies with the lack of enforcement of the regulations by governments. It is essential authorities redouble efforts to enforce the regulations and close the loopholes that prevent prosecutions of serial offenders.”

amsterdam airport schiphol launches pharma gateway programme

Volume: 19 Issue: 11 21 March 2016

aircargoweek.com

NEWSWEEK

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched a Unit Load Device (ULD) Safety Campaign on 16 March – aimed at

improving handling standards of units and reducing costs.

The initiative was launched at IATA’s World Cargo Symposium in Berlin, which runs from 15-17 March.

IATA’s target is to save the cargo indus-try around $264 million annually through promoting better ULD handling.

IATA says last year repair costs for ULDs set the the industry back more than $330 million.

IATA’s global head of cargo, Glyn Hughes explains: “The number one cause of aircraft damage from ground loading equipment is from mishandled ULDs. In addition to the high costs involved in repairing damage to aircraft, maintenance to ULDs also incurs

significant costs.Last year the industry’s ULD repair bill

was $330 million however it is estimated that 80% of these costs could be saved through correct handling.”

IATA says ULDs are the number one con-tributor to aircraft damaged on the ground

and have been the reason for two fatal air-craft accidents in 1997 and 2013.

In urging operators to support the cam-paign, IATA’s manager of processes and standard, Liao Zhi Yong says that ULDs never damage aircraft, but it is the people that handle it.

He says the five key messages are that ULDs are critical to flight safety; correct ULD handling ensures safety; safety is everybody’s responsibility; correct ULD handling reduces costs and improves efficiency; and the IATA ULD regulations facilitates industry to compliance.

The campaign will be rolled out across the industry throughout 2016 in parallel with the ULD Regulations (ULDR), a sin-gle set of regulatory requirements and industry standards applicable to overall ULD operations which have been devel-oped by IATA.

2 ACW 21 march 2016

ULD safety campaign launched by IATA

AVIATION industry bodies and carriers have signed a decla-ration aimed at reducing the illegal trafficking of wildlife and smuggling of animals or their products through the air trans-port network.

Among those signing the United for Wildlife initiative at Buckingham Palace in London on 15 March, created by the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI), the African Airlines As-sociation and a number of individual airlines.

IATA director general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler says: “I can think of few other causes that galvanaze more interest and support across the global transport and logistics sectors than the challenge of wildlife trafficking.”

He says the campaign is aiming to do what it can to stop this “evil trade” and is not only connected with stopping the impact on animals, but also the gangs, communities affected and people in the supply chain.

The initial focus of action of the initiative will be on the trafficking of high-risk protected animals, specifically certain big cats, pangolins, and ivory products, on high-risk routes, particularly originating from or transiting through East Africa.

ACI World director general, Angela Gittens says the declara-tion will help raise standards and support measures to detect and dissuade traffickers looking to exploit the system.”

Aviation aims to reduce wildlife trafficking

CHEP AEROSPACE SOLUTIONS and Cargolux have renewed their unit load device (ULD) management contract until 2020.

The companies signed the contract at the International Air Transport Association’s World Cargo Symposium in Berlin on 16 March. It was signed by Cargolux director of global logis-tics services, Franco Nanna and CHEP president, Dr Ludwig Bertsch, at CHEP’s stand at the show. Cargolux uses over 12,000 ULDs, which will increase to 17,000.

Nanna says: “In the past seven years, our airline has grown significantly, and during our partnership, CHEP has always proven its ability to flexibly adjust our monthly ULD stock in line with our cargo demand.”

Bertsch says from next year, it also looks forward to sup-plying ULDs for the entire Cargolux Group’s flights.”

CHEP Aerospace Solutions and SAS have also renewed their unit load device (ULD) repair and management contract with for another five years. CHEP will supply SAS with light-weight 65 kilogramme ULDs, which are 20 per cent lighter than the existing units.

ULD contract wins for CHEP

aircargoweek.com

NEWSWEEK

3ACW 21 MARCH 2016

Cargo 2000 (C2K) has rebranded as Cargo iQ as part of a strategic trans-formation programme including a Smart Data Project, and a new audit and new certification scheme.

New members have joined up, and the total operators in the group is now 82. Emirates SkyCargo, Brussels Airport, Vienna Interna-tional Airport, CargoAware and Fraport have all joined the rebranded Cargo iQ.

The rebranding is part of a change pro-gramme and was revealed at the International Air Transport Association’s World Cargo Symposium in Berlin on 16 March. Cargo iQ is an IATA interest group.

Emirates SkyCargo has joined the organi-sation as a full member for the first time after having had an observer on the board for the past year.

Cargo iQ executive director, Ariaen Zimmer-man (pictured) says: “Cargo iQ members work together to measure success and continuously

improve the value of airfreight for customers.“We have successfully developed a system

with clear milestones and unique route maps, and thanks to our reliable monitoring, mem-bers can improve their services to customers.

“Our new Smart Data Project will add 110 million lines of performance data annually, allowing our members to further improve their processes and adding more value to the air cargo industry. We are excited to embark on this next chapter of our work, which benefits the whole industry, with innovative ideas and new members.”

Emirates divisional senior vice president of cargo, Nabil Sultan says with the rebranding and the launch of the strategic transfor-mation programme, the carrier felt that the time was right to become a member.

Ten million airport-to-airport and 5.5 million door-to-door ship-

ments were measured by Cargo iQ in 2015, enabling members to take action to improve and standardise internal processes by identify-ing where quality was an issue.

This year, the group will implement a new audit and certification scheme, which is focused on giving the Cargo iQ Quality Manage-ment System Certification higher international recognition.

Brussels Airport head of cargo, Steven Pol-mans tells Air Cargo Week it has been talking

with the group for six years about joining, but felt the time was right to sign up with

the rebranding and changes.He says the gateway had been

talking to other European air-ports about sharing statistics, but this was the best option and feels the sharing of data between

members will only help enhance efficiency, operations and growth

at Brussels.

Rebranding for Cargo 2000 as it becomes Cargo iQ

HEATHROW AIRPORT is to create freight WebPortal aimed at consolidating freight loads, and decreasing the amount of trucks and emissions on roads around the airport.

Encouraging freight company partners to operate sus-tainably is one of ten priorities Heathrow has outlined for this year in its new Blueprint to Reduce Emissions. Plans were announced at the International Air Transport Associa-tion’s World Cargo Symposium in Berlin on 16 March.

Incorporating sustainability into freight is a priority for Heathrow due to the impact operations have on the air-port’s local environment. Heathrow is the largest freight port by value in the UK, handling over 1.5 million tonnes of cargo a year.

This activity also generates a high amount of vehicle movements a day in the Heathrow area for servicing, deliv-eries and cargo operations, along with related emissions. The proposed WebPortal would be the UK’s first geographi-cally specific system of its kind. Subscribed members would exchange and share information about any spare capacity on their vehicles. Once a match has been found, operators can negotiate a price for this space amongst themselves.

Heathrow aims to cut freight CO2

WORldNewsINDEPENDENT forwarder members of the WCA will all have free access to WIN’s e-Air Waybill (e-AWB) platform for the remainder of this year.The platform, which connects to over 90 airlines, is now open for WCA members to submit any Internation-al Air Transport Association (IATA) Resolution 672 (paperless) e-AWB free of charge on the web, as well as make e-bookings and receive tracking alerts.

CHAMP CARGOSYSTEMS has ex-tended its partnership with Global Logistics System Hong Kong (GLS Hong Kong) to provide a joint service designed to enable small and medium sized freight forwarders in Hong Kong to create and submit electronic air waybill (e-AWB) easily and efficiently.

CARGO COMPOSITES has introduced what it says is the world’s leanest AKH type composite cargo container.

The firm launched the new lower-deck lightweight con-tainer for narrowbody aircraft at the International Air Transport Association’s World Cargo Symposium in Berlin.

The new Flyweight AKH model features weighs 53 kilo-grammes and Cargo Composites says it is the lightest and most durable composite unit of its kind.

The new AKH container makes use of the company’s in-novative thermoplastic honeycomb panels.The test phase was successfully completed at the end of 2015, the unit is now entering series production.

New composite container launched

aircargoweek.com

NEWSWEEK

4 ACW 21 MARCH 2016

THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged the German government to focus on improving the competitiveness of the German air transport sector in the devel-opment of its national aviation policy.

Speaking at IATA’s World Cargo Sym-posium today in Berlin on 15 March, the association’s direct general and chief exec-utive officer (CEO), Tony Tyler says: “Aviation supports the German economy by underpin-ning 1.12 million jobs and 77 billion euros in GDP. But these benefits are under pressure because of onerous taxes, airport infrastruc-ture challenges and the overall inefficiency of European air traffic management.

“The development of a national aviation policy is an opportunity to address these issues. Doing so will boost Germany’s eco-nomic competitiveness by strengthening the foundations on which aviation provides cru-cial connectivity.”

Tyler says to build an even stronger base for airlines to link Germany competitively with global markets, government policies must eliminate burdensome taxation, ensure cost-efficient airport infrastructure to meet demand and enable access to reformed and modernized air traffic management systems. IATA called for the German govern-

ment abolish the one billion euro German departure tax, impose no further night flight restrictions at German airports.

He also addressed uncertainties over the opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport and explains: “After years of delay and cost over-runs, full operations at Berlin Brandenburg Airport are not expected to commence be-fore the end of 2017 or even in 2018. To plan their businesses, airlines need clarity on the opening date and the costs that they will be expected to pay.”

Berlin Brandenburg CEO, Karsten Muhlen-feld (pictured) earlier addressed delegates at WCS where he says the airport will be fully operational by the second half of 2017.

He explains though cargo has been oper-ating there since 2013 with FedEx and UPS and there is capacity for 100,000 tonnes, but the capacity will need to be expanded.

IATA also called for Germany to take lead-ership in the modernisation of European air traffic management: “Sorting out European air traffic management holds a big prize for the German economy.

“Real value will be created for both busi-ness and consumers by leading European reforms in Germany’s aviation strategy,” ex-plains Tyler.

Ethiopian Airlines Cargo is to operate 12 full cargo flights a week out of Brussels Airport from 26 March.

The airport has been conducting talks with the carrier about returning to Brus-sels after the Federal Government inked a new bilateral agreement with Ethiopia, enabling Ethiopian to start direct flights from Belgium to Dubai, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The African carrier left in October this year, which have lead to a decline in cargo volumes at the Belgian gateway so this news is set to boost growth and tonnage.

Brussels Airport Company’s chief executive officer, Arnaud Fist says: “The carrier’s return is a highly positive development, not just for Brussels Airport but also for the Belgian econ-omy as a whole. This move will not only see the reinstatement of the jobs that were lost with the air carrier’s withdrawal in November, it will

also create many new jobs as Ethiopian Airlines Cargo is planning to more than double the num-ber of flights a week out of Brussels Airport compared against last year. All direct flights out of Brussels to Dubai and three Asian destina-tions are day-time flights.”

The carrier is able to perform flights courtesy of the new bilateral agreement between Bel-gium and Ethiopia. In addition, this amendment leaves further scope for Belgium to welcome more cargo flights from Ethiopian, thereby cre-ating even more jobs in the process.

ULD repair agreement for Jettainer

JETTAINER has signed an agreement with DoKaSch to improve the processes for re-pairing unit load devices (ULD).

The companies signed the agreement at the International Air Transport Associ-ation’s (IATA) World Cargo Symposium in Berlin on 15 March.

The agreement is designed to speed up repair procedures between the two com-

panies. Jettainer and DoKaSch say this will be achieved by improving IT systems by processing ULD enquiries in real time and analysing data to recognise patterns such as damage, helping make improvements.

DoKaSch has also been awarded the Jet-tainer ‘Certified Repair Partner’ quality seal, proving it complies with quality guidelines.

Jettainer managing director, Carsten Hernig says: “It’s our aspiration to continue developing both the ULDs themselves and all the management processes too. These constant innovations are an essential com-ponent in our corporate philosophy, because they enable us to offer the best product in the market place in terms of quality and efficiency.”

DoKaSch manager of standard ULD busi-ness unit, Marcus Franke says it confirms the firm’s high-quality and efficiency.

Brussels welcomes back Ethiopian Airlines Cargo

aircargoweek.com

Germanyurged to upcompetitiveness

NEWSWEEK

5ACW 21 MARCH 2016

The fall in oil prices is a double edged sword for the industry, because though it encourages the use of older freighters, this increases overcapac-ity, International Air Transport

Association (IATA) senior economist George Anjaparidze (pictured) says.

Anjaparidze spoke at the IATA World Cargo Symposium on 15 March during the plenary titled ‘Economic Outlook: When Will Growth Return?’.

He told delegates that older freighters, which were in storage due to high fuel prices making them uneconomical, are returning to service, but this is putting more pressure on the industry, which is already suffering overcapacity.

He says: “Fuel prices have fallen, which has significant short term benefits to the industry. It is a double edged sword as the reduction makes it cheaper to operate older freighters …. Capacity

has been rising both by entry of bellyhold capac-ity and older aircraft coming back, if this persists this will create a downward pressure on yields.”

Anjaparidze says this, and the increasing bel-lyhold capacity on passenger aircraft is putting increasing pressure on yields.

He explains: “Yields have been stable over the last few months. The impact on yields has not been in excess given fuel prices but with capacity in the market, if continued there will be further downward pressure on yields.”

He also cited the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which says mediocre growth is the new reality. The IMF has been downgrading its forecasts and has said that advanced economies are slowing, emerging economies are not growing as much as to be expected, China is decelerating and Latin America is struggling mainly because Brazil is suffering from recession.

There are some bright spots, he says, such as

the Eurozone beginning to grow, and though US wages are not growing, this is because the ‘baby boomer’ generation are retiring and their younger replacements are generally not being paid as much, so is not as concerning as it looks.

Oil prices providing benefits and pitfalls

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS has seen a double-digit drop in the volume of cargo and mail uplifted in February.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair combined carried 117,299 tonnes of cargo, a 10.1 per cent decrease compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 7.5 percentage points to 58 per cent.

Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilome-tres, was up by 1.1 per cent while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTK) flown decreased by 10.4 per cent.

In the first two months of 2016, tonnage carried fell by 4.6 per cent against a 1.8 per cent increase in capacity and a 5.2 per cent drop in RTK.

Cathay Pacific general manager for cargo sales and mar-keting, Mark Sutch says: “Airfreight demand dropped away sharply in the early part of the month as factories in Main-land China closed down for the Chinese New Year holiday.

“In comparison to the holiday period last year, demand was much slower in picking up after factories reopened, which led to a higher concentration of lower-yield cargo from Southeast Asia and India being uplifted onto our transpacific freighter flights. The sustained drop in fuel prices has led to older aircraft become more economically viable. The resulting overcapacity continues to put down-ward pressure on cargo yields.”

WOrldNewsUNITED AIRLINES is to use sustainable biofuel on scheduled services, on Flight 708 between Los Angeles and San Francisco.The airline will purchase 15 million gal-lons from AltAir Paramount over three years and will use the fuel for two weeks between the Californian cities while it in-tegrates the biofuel into regular airport operations.

AMERICAN AIRLINES CARGO has invest-ed to meet demand for pharmaceutical and perishable goods. The carrier has made facility upgrades at San Juan in Peurto Rico and Dallas/Fort Worth (US). At Dallas/Fort Worth a new perishable facility is almost 4,000 square feet and at San Juan it has added an extra 600 square feet to its cool chain area.

Silk Way shift to descartes systemDESCARTES SYSTEMS GROUP has announced that Silk Way West Airlines is now using its cloud-based Global Air Messaging Gateway.

The IT provider says it helps Silk Way West achieve higher standards of service and minimise costs by expanding and automating air cargo communication processes such as the electronic airway bill (e-AWB).

Silk Way West chief executive officer, Kamran Gasimov says: “In an industry where margins are slim, we need to work together with our trading partners to reduce costs and maximise efficiency by eliminating manual and paper-based processes.”

Descartes’ Global Air Messaging Gateway helps carriers automate connectivity to partners, monitor shipment status in real-time, and communicate updates to forwarders and consignees. The firm’s Global Logistics Network provides services spanning the shipment management process.

10.1% fall forCathay Pacific

aircargoweek.com

ACW 21 march 2016 6

S outh African Airways (SAA) Cargo says it is hopeful that business will improve in 2016 as it faces a slow global economy, countries in the region suffer from drought and

weakness of the South African rand.SAA Cargo general manager, Tleli Makhetha

(pictured) tells Air Cargo Week: “We experi-enced a decline in volumes in 2015 due to a number of factors namely; the cancel-lation of direct services to Beijing and Mumbai, and the global econ-omy experienced a slump, as a result imports and exports were affected.”

“The price of products is expected to continue rising. The suppliers will look at cutting transportation costs and the risk lies with some shipments being diverted to sea freight. Drought has impacted

the agriculture sector in all countries in our region.”

Overcapacity remains a major issue with overseas carriers increasing capacity and dominating the market. Makhetha says: “The airlines from other continents that have vested interests in expanding their share in African markets should also make an effort to contribute towards improving air cargo in

Africa.”Makhetha believes African nations can improve if they work together. “We are of the view that African countries have to cooperate in order to address the imbalance and encourage movement of cargo between

countries without any hindrances resulting from rigid local aviation

regulations and restrictive intra-African traffic rights.”

SAA hoping for better yearAFRICA

CFR Freight is not expecting 2016 to be an easy year but following a record break-er in 2015, general manager for airfreight Stephen Bishop, and group chief executive officer, Peter Schmidt-Löffler tell Air Cargo Week.

They say: “The diversification to ware-housing and transport has transformed the business and has further solidified the relationship with our clients, the freight forwarders. CFR Freight Group of compa-nies has become the solutions company to the freight industry, not just a neutral consolidator.

“2016 has started off with a bang. We have extended our service offerings and offer express and over border services to the freight industry. Africa is on top of our

priority list. We service 80 per cent of the continent with South Africa being the hub for Southern Africa.”

They expect 2016 will not be an easy year and freight will face challenges. Bishop and Schmidt-Löffler says: “That will not stop us from introducing new products and services which we will, through IT integration with our clients, push into the market.”

CFR has expansion plans for South Africa, having opened a new office and warehouse in Port Elizabeth.

In April, CFR will open a new warehouse in Cape Town (city of Cape Town pictured below), bringing ocean and airfreight under one roof, and it is expanding Durban opera-tions, so it will have 44,000 square metres of property.

PeRishables remain the most important product iaG Cargo handles in Africa, and its regional commercial manager for the Middle East and Africa, Lotte van Rooij (pictured) tells Air Cargo Week (ACW) that the airline continue improving services.

She says exports were strong in the first half of 2014 and it built on that in 2015. “2015 built on the achievements of the previous year, aided by a clear boost from the US port strike in the first and second quarters. The South African peak season for perishables in 2015 was good, with particu-larly strong demand from Cape Town.”

Pre-packaged chopped fruit has tradi-tionally export handled though flowers have been proving strong. Van Rooij tells ACW that IAG Cargo has been investing heavily in next generation aircraft with air

conditioning capabilities, which can be set to

within one degree of accuracy. “Our [Airbus] A380 serv-ing Johannesburg offers exporters an-

other level of supply chain control with air

conditioning in the forward hold and heating ventilation in the rear hold, making it ideally suited to the transportation of perishables.”

Perishables will remain the focus for 2016. Van Rooij says: “This year we will continue to support the demand for perishable services out of Africa, working closely with our cus-tomers to ensure we are delivering on their needs.”

IAG Cargo will expand services to South Africa with Iberia operated Madrid – Johan-nesburg services and there will be more infrastructure announcements in 2016.

Infrastructure remains an issue, she says: “It is important that infrastructure development in Africa keeps pace with the expectation and demands of the air cargo community and global regulatory security standards.”

Despite challenges, van Rooij believes Afri-ca is a land of opportunity for IAG Cargo, and the continent is very important to its global operations. “With 10 gateways into and out of the region, we offer our African customers unrivalled access to trade markets in Europe, North America and Latin America and we will continue to work closely together in 2016 to support their business needs.”

Perishables remain the focus for IAG

2016 off with a bang for CFR Freight

aircargoweek.com

B usiness in Africa proved inconsistent for general sales and service agent (GSSA), HAE Group in 2015, with traditionally strong West African nations suffering weakness but the East doing better, vice president of senior management, Peter Kerins tells Air Cargo Week

(ACW).He says West African nations have been hit by downturns in the

oil and gas industries as well as devaluing currencies. East Africa has been much stronger due to humanitarian aid charters while starting operations South Africa has been strong, though weak-ness of the currency, the rand, has made business unpredictable.

Kerins explains to ACW: “HAE Group continues to operate twice weekly services into Djibouti [Ras Bir Beach, Djibouti pic-tured] feeding surrounding countries so that trade continues to thrive. South Africa, where we made our first acquisition in Sub-Saharan Africa had a very strong end of year, but like other African markets, the volatility of the rand makes the market very unpredictable.”

More of the same is predicted the 2016, due to continuing oil and gas weakness and security concerns in a number of countries.

The continuing weakness of the rand is both good and bad news, Kerins explains: “South Africa is very strong at the moment, but again, the currency issues lead to companies doing more work, for lower yields.”

Yields and capacity are likely to remain an issue for the imme-diate future, particularly as long as the Middle Eastern carriers continue to flood the market with both passenger and freighter aircraft. “From a GSA perspective, this also has a negative impact, as to keep competitive, yields are dropping therefore commis-sions are also lower.”

Africa is a difficult market to work in, and though some African countries have been establishing Freezones to improve trade, but HAE is remaining cautious as to where it will operate. Kerins tells ACW: “It is also prudent to mention that HAE are cautious about which the region we should enter in Africa, as a number of coun-tries still lack transparency and regulation that can leave foreign companies exposed in their investments.”

Kerins says the biggest challenge in Africa is licencing, infra-structure and complexity of doing business. Not all countries are bad though; Djibouti is proving a very bright spot for HAE. He says: “It is however a very contrasting landscape in countries such as Djibouti, who welcome new business with open arms, operate free trade zones, have zero corporation taxes and make company formation processes seamless.”

HAE Group sees East West divide in African business

7ACW 21 MARCH 2016

AFRICA

Lufthansa Cargo had a very strong year in Africa in 2015, with Egypt, Kenya and South Af-rica performing particularly well, the airline’s director for Africa, Hermann Zunker (pictured) tells Air Cargo Week (ACW).

He says: “Lufthansa Cargo finished 2015 with a strong performance in Africa, considerably up from 2014. Mainly, the three largest markets (Egypt, Kenya and South Africa), showed strong demand for Lufthansa Cargo capacity and performed well.”

Zunker tells ACW that Lufthansa is hop-ing 2016 will be at least as strong as 2015, though it is hard to predict due to global volatility. Though it is early days for 2016, Kenya and South Africa have started strong-ly but Egypt has struggled.

“We’ve had a strong start out of Kenya, not surprising with the annual Valentine’s

Day flower rush, but also South Africa started well. Egypt is not on previous year levels, mainly due to whether affecting certain perishable commodities.”The fall in oil prices has affected

producing nations such as Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, which

has hit general economic activity. Zunker says: “In those markets we see reduced ac-tivities, not just in oil and gas, but in the general economy as well. Other challenges are ever growing security threats and high associated costs to comply with many dif-ferent regulations.”

Africa still holds opportunities, such as for perishable products including flowers, fruit and vegetables, and fish. Pharmaceuticals lead imports, alongside IT, telecoms, auto-motive and consumer goods.

Zunker says: “Overall, we are confident business in Africa will grow.”

aircargoweek.com

Lufthansaconfident Africa willkeep growing

ACW 21 march 2016 8

F urther developing and meeting the needs of shippers is something many in the air cargo industry see as pivotal to improving the supply chain as some commentators would argue shippers

are neglected at present.The European Shippers’ Council has long

since urged for airfreight to be made more accessible to shippers, and do so there must be a paperless exchange of information, global standards for security measures, greater trans-parency in pricing and a liberalization of air services.

At the Air Shippers Forum at Air Cargo India in Mumbai last month, Indian shippers gave their views, with many representatives involved from the pharmaceutical sector.

The forum saw 85 shippers representing different export segments across India and

delegates pressed the need and importance of shippers being better involved in the supply chain and having more say.

Fraport senior vice president for cargo, Dirk Schusdziara says the lively discussions on import and export processes, showed the huge interest for dialogue between manufacturers, airports, airlines, governmental bodies and other parts of the global supply chain.

The forum certainly reveals the need and also the will for further dialogue between shippers and airports to ease and speed up the process of cargo being moved by air.

Cool Chain Association (CCA) chairman and Jan de Rijk Logistics chief executive officer, Sebastiaan Scholte (pictured) explains to Air Cargo Week in relation to cool chain cargo there must be improvements and the needs of ship-pers must be better met.

Scholte explains: “We need to listen more to the shippers. At the end they pay the final bill. Additionally sub-optimising only part of the cool chain is not a solution. Therefore only by collaborating between the different partners in the cool chain a reliable and transparent cool chain service will be guaranteed.”

There are a raft of challenges and opportuni-ties in the cool chain air cargo sector, notably the need to ramp up the visibility and standards to better meet shippers needs, which is still prov-ing a big challenge.

This many argue would help take business away from seafreight and other surface trans-port modes such as rail and road, which some

say look after shippers better.Scholte says shippers do not always know

where and how their products will be handled in the complex air cargo supply chain, which involves many handover points.

“Temperature loggers will register the tem-perature deviations, but the failure will only be visible upon arrival at final destination. The growth of this sector is an opportunity. Demographics more than economics define the growth,” he adds.

There is certainly a need to pay more atten-tion to shippers and while much is being done in the industry, more dialogue between airlines, airports, cargo handlers, freight forwarders and other parts of the supply chain are essential.

As the air cargo industry goes through dificult times enhanc-ing relationships with shippers can only help boost growth and improve the supply chain and win the confi-dence of shippers and win business.

Shippers need to be listened to moreSHIPPING SURVEY

Collaboration

THE International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) has created a new Shippers’ Advi-sory Committee to be chaired by Lars J.T. Droog of Tosoh Corporation.

The group will complement TIACA’s other committees and review all elements of the supply chain in order to make improvements with the interests of the shipper in mind.

“Lars has spent eight years as Head of EMEA Supply Chain for Tosoh, and brings with him a wealth of experience in shipping, supply chain, and air freight in particu-lar,” says Sebastiaan Scholte, TIACA vice chairman.

Droog holds a bachelor degree in busi-ness administration from Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Economics & Management) and has almost two de-cades of experience in the aviation sector, including senior management roles with Polar Air Cargo, Schreiner Aviation Group, and Asiana Airlines.

He is also vice chairman of EVO’s Air-

freight and Express Council, a committee of the Dutch Shippers’ Council.

“The voice of the shipper is all too often missing from the global conversation on freight, and I am excited to be establishing a platform for communication within TIACA, which represents all sectors of the air cargo chain,” says Droog.

He adds: “I am looking forward to bringing the vision and ideas of the shipping commu-nity to the discussion table so that we can work together to improve our industry.”

“Shipper feedback is paramount in any effort to improve the airfreight sup-ply chain, ”explains Sanjiv Edward, TIACA chairman.

“TIACA has set-up this Shippers’ Advisory Committee to act as a bridge, understand-ing the shipper requirements on end and then taking them back to the players in the air freight supply chain, for creating effec-tive and quality solutions,” Edward adds about the move.

Shipper committee set-up by TIACA

aircargoweek.com

T elecommunications and IT equipment cargo often needs a fast, flexible and efficient transportation ser-vice as many shipments are to meet urgent customer needs.

However, it seems some shippers are not happy with the air cargo industry and the levels of service and attention they are getting across the supply chain.

Ericsson’s global service innovation manager, Gaspar Wosa tells Air Cargo Week he is “not happy at all” about how the indus-try looks after its customers: “The shipper is mostly disconnected from the events and the information loop back is both slow as well as not accurate.

“The lack of visibility and also the granularity of the track and trace and other real-time information is not good enough for making proactive and professional decisions.”

Wosa feels there is not enough emphasis placed on shippers’ within the supply chain and feels shippers are mostly not engaged in the process, but this may been changing.

He explains: “Due to lack of alternatives (in the past) the ship-per has not been able to engage. Now with the existing technology this should change.”

For many firm’s needing to send just-in-time goods and urgent shipments, air cargo is the only transportation mode, but Wosa notes a number of issues with using air. “Cost - benefit - the price per kilogramme (kg) is not in proportion with the lead time and service level (visibility and standard deviation on service quality). This is one of the reasons for moving cargo from air to surface transport (rail, road and ocean),” Wosa says.

He feels many shippers simply would rather use seafreight or rail and road due to the cost versus the lead-time perspective.

For a company like Ericsson there are of course pitfalls and benefits of using different modes of transport for cargo. Wosa feels that cost is obviously the first to consider: “The lead times in rail and road has improved and a lot of investments is put in place to improve quality in regards to transparency.

“Ocean lead time is still long (with slow steam getting some-times even worth), but predictability and cost per kg is in such a good ratio that it is worth using.”

The long lead-time for ocean does though carry a high inven-tory carry cost and he says many companies such as Ericsson have adjusted the total supply chain and are planning to incor-porate these facts. “At a certain point there is a threshhold where it is not optimal to put more goods on surface. As cost benefit for airfreight is so poor the acceptance to put goods on surface transport is high,” he adds.

Ericsson moves 20 per cent of its shipments by air cargo, which are usually shipments of custom made telecommunications and IT equipment where there is unbalanced demand and to meet supply situations for different reasons.

The value of air cargo to Ericsson though is very high, Wosa says as products are high value per kg: “We would like to increase this if the cost – benefit ratio would improve. We will always have to use airfreight due to “go-to-market” situations as well as spe-cific customer requirements. The issue is more related to the benefit rather than on the cost per kg.”

In order to improve the supply chain for shippers and the industry in general, he would like to see introduction of what he calls an “eco system” where different players in the supply chain of all transport modes can collaborate and exchange information.

This Wosa says would make it easy to connect, store informa-tion, create and manage documents, get pre-advice and escalation (exception handling), provide online real-time visibility E2E. He adds: “It should be an open architecture/environment that also is able to host future innovative applications and facilitate trade in order to optimise lanes removing overcapacity and inefficiency.”

As everyone knows, the air cargo industry’s adoption of tech-nology and e-freight has been too

slow and has left it trailing behind other modes of

transport.Wosa agrees it has

not been as it should have been, but on a

positive note he thinks that the shippers voice is

getting through now: “The industry is now feeling the urgency to go for a change and improve according to need. Not only for the shippers sake, but for all stakeholders in the sector as well as for the competitive-ness of the airfreight industry.”

As for the future of shippers using air cargo, Wosa says it will be vital in logistics E2E multimodal logistics vision and prod-uct life cycle and go to market models are pushing for airfreight while e-commerce and other omni-logistics related trends will also require airfreight services in the future.

He concludes improvements must be made in the air cargo supply chain with the shipper in mind, adding: “We are at a junction where certain strategic decisions must be made to improve the attractiveness and the competitiveness of the industry.”

Pitfalls and benefits

Ericsson service manager urges more shipper emphasis

9ACW 21 march 2016

SHIPPING SURVEY

Value of air cargo

aircargoweek.com

NEWSWEEK

10 ACW 21 march 2016

Cargo plans for Istanbul New detailedISTANBUL NEW AIRPORT will eventually have capacity to handle 5.5 million tonnes of cargo a year and significant dedicated freight facilities.

Details of the plans have been revealed to Air Cargo Week and explain that in the first two phases of the annual cargo capacity will be planned for around 4.5 million tons per year.

But after opening Terminal 2, there will be another cargo and logistic area close to the terminal with an additional one million tonnes per year of cargo capacity bringing room for 5.5 million tonnes.

The new 10.2 billion euros ($11 billion) Is-tanbul New Airport - is forecast to be opened sometime in the spring of 2018.

The operator is IGA and the firm’s chief commercial officer, Soner Akkurt says: “The cargo and logistic city includes cargo custom offices, cargo agent offices, truck parking area, employee and visitor parking area, on-line warehouses for air cargo operators and offline warehouses for freight forwarders with its 1.4 million square metres total area that will have a separated road access from two main highways.

“At the same time, 36 CODE E cargo air-craft can park and get operation in front of online warehouses.

“For an efficient operation all cargo re-lated facilities are planned in the same location to be close to each other.

“There will be more than 300,000 square metres of online warehouses and around 100,000 square metres of offline warehous-es for freight forwarders.”

IGA says before opening the airport, the

required spaces for all cargo operation should be ready for sustainable and profit-able air cargo operations.

In consideration that the opening of the airport will be in the first quarter of 2018, 180,000 square metres of online warehous-es and around 50,000 square metres of offline warehouses with custom and cargo agent offices will be ready before the begin-ning of 2018.

Akkurt adds: “We are also giving impor-tance to intermodal transportation. The Istanbul New Airport will be located next to North Marmara Highway, which is the main highway connection from Turkey to Europe.

“Besides road access to the airport, there will be a railway connection in the airport boundary.”

Located 35 kilometers from the centre of Istanbul on the European side of the city near the Black Sea, Istanbul New Airport is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the history of Turkey.

There are plans to expand the airport fur-ther in the years ahead to six runways and three terminals.

Lufthansa Cargo is adding countless new routes to its freighter network by adding destinations and upping frequen-cies when the summer schedule begins

on 27 March.A weekly freighter service to Moscow is one

new addition to the schedule. An MD-11F has already been flying every Monday since March from Frankfurt to Domodedovo Airport,

before connecting the Russian capital with Ash-gabat and Baku.

Lufthansa’s cargo arm will also fly an MD-11F to Doha in Qatar every Friday. Furthermore, there will now be a direct flight from Frankfurt to Seattle, which will be served every Friday as well with an AeroLogic Boeing 777 Freighter, which will then fly on to Los Angeles before returning to Frankfurt.

Lufthansa Cargo will bring in a larger aircraft for future freighter flights from Frankfurt to Tokyo and Seoul (six times a week) and Beijing (four times a week).

A 777F will operate on these rotations from the end of March. Lufthansa Cargo will link Frankfurt and Hong Kong daily in the future.

in addition to the Saturday connection with an AeroLogic 777F, Lufthansa’s cargo arm will also fly an MD-11F to the south coast of China six times a week, instead of four. The frequency to Ho Chi Minh City doubles from one to two weekly services.

x

HEATHROW AIRPORT has seen cargo vol-umes increase by 2.7 per cent in February to 121,424 tonnes, with exports to Latin America growing most strongly.

The region grew by five per cent helped by increased frequencies from Avianca and Aeromexico. Trade with Mexico saw the biggest surge, up 40 per cent. This was fol-lowed by 34 per cent growth to Nigeria, 32 per cent to Turkey and 12 per cent to China.

East Asia received a strong boost as well, with Vietnam Airlines have moved opera-tions from Gatwick to Heathrow and British Airways launching Kuala Lumpur services. Garuda Indonesia will start direct services to Jakarta in April.

Heathrow Airport chief executive officer, John Holland-Kaye says the results show why the hub must receive approval for a third runway. “This month we’ve seen a big boost in exports to Latin America and East Asia. With an expanded Heathrow Britain can do even better. We’ll open up 40 new trading links and supercharge British trade with the fastest growing markets in the world.”

For January and February, volumes were up by 2.8 per cent to 240,639 tonnes.

LATAM exports boost Heathrow

Network expansion for Lufthansa Cargo

aircargoweek.com

Freight Forwarders

azfreight.com : Featured Company Listings

11ACW 21 MARCH 2016

TRADEFINDER

Turkey

Airlines

USAUnited Arab EmiratesHong Kong

Cargo Handling

United Kingdom

Associations

Worldwide United Arab Emirates

Charter Brokers

Italy

Freight Forwarders

NEWSWEEK

Chapman Freeborn Airchartering and RUS Aviation have announced an exclusive cargo sales agreement to provide clients with seamless airfreight solutions from Hong Kong to the Middle East and surrounding markets.

Effective 1 March 2016, the deal will see Chapman Free-born sell per-kilo shipments from Hong Kong to the UAE, with onward connections via RUS Aviation’s regional network under the same air waybill.

Utilising its fleet of A300 and IL-76 freighter aircraft, UAE-based RUS Aviation operates regular, cargo services to des-

tinations not well served by other scheduled carriers – including Afghanistan, Djibouti, Iraq, and Libya.

The new service from Chapman Freeborn and RUS Aviation is being driven by increased demand to new markets from Hong Kong.

Chapman Freeborn Asia director of business develop-ment, Lewis King says: “This agreement provides an excellent opportunity for both companies to extend their reach in a com-plementary manner. Chapman Freeborn has a wide base of charter clients in Asia – and working with RUS Aviation means we are now able to offer them dependable per-kilo solutions to several key new markets.”

RUS Aviation commercial manager, Syed Wazeer says: “We’re delighted to have this new cargo sales agreement in place with Chapman Freeborn – a charter market leader in Asia. The increased reach and visibility in this region will enable more forwarders and shippers to utilise our specialist services.”

Clients will benefit from Chapman Freeborn’s local mar-ket expertise in Asia – which continues to go from strength to strength. The company has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shang-hai and Singapore, as well as a long-established presence in Australia and over 30 other locations worldwide.

FRANKFURT AIRPORT has seen cargo volumes fall by 1.4 per cent in February to 159,721 tonnes, following a minor dip seen in January.

The February figure follows on from the 0.1 per cent dip seen in January to 159,650 tonnes. For the first two months of 2016, cargo, which consists of freight and mail, has fallen by 0.8 per cent to 319,371 tonnes.

Frankfurt’s operator, Fraport says: “Cargo throughput con-tinued the trend of recent months, dipping by 1.4 per cent to 159,721 metric tons.”

Among the other Fraport airports, Ljubljana Joze Pucnik International Airport increased tonnage by 4.9 per cent in January and February to 1,532 tonnes, while Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport fell by 1.8 per cent to 42,513 tonnes. At Fraport’s Bulgarian hubs, Burgas Airport increased by 248.2 per cent to 2,244 tonnes and Varna Airport was up by 1.9 per cent to 13 tonnes.

Hannover-Langenhagen Airport saw a fall of 3.8 per cent to 3,221 tonnes while Xi’an Xianyang International Airport increased by 16 per cent to 34,924 tonnes. Xi’an achieved that result despite seeing a drop of 13 per cent to 11,882 tonnes in February.

More routes for Qatar AirwaysQATAR AIRWAYS has added 14 new routes across Europe, Af-rica and Asia, including Doha – Auckland, which it says will be the world’s longest flight when launched.

Qatar Airways Group chief ex-ecutive, Akbar Al Baker says: “Qatar Airways prides itself on being a global connector, and most importantly, providing seamless and convenient con-nections for our customers, so that we remain their airline of choice.”

For Europe, Qatar will start daily Airbus A320 services to Pisa, Italy, on 2 August and three times a week A320 flights to Sarajevo, Bosnia, on 7 September. It will also start daily A320 flights to Finland’s capital, Helsinki on 10 October and three times a week to Skopje, Macedonia in November. Qatar will also start flying to Nice, France, five times a week from summer 2017. Africa will get three times a week Boe-ing 787 Dreamliner services to Marrakech, Morocco from July, and Windhoek in Namibia will get four weekly flights from 28 September. Qatar will resume daily services to the Seychelles from 12 December. Zambia’s capital, Lusaka will receive three times a week services by the summer of 2017.

Asia cargo agreement for Chapman and RUS

SAS Cargo has launched a new direct route with cargo capacity between Stockholm and Los Angeles with daily flights full year, starting 14 March 2016.

The carrier says this new route will strengthen SAS Cargo’s offer for fast deliveries between Scandinavia and the US West Coast. It will mainly be serviced by an Airbus A330, which will provide up to 16 tonnes cargo capacity.

SAS Cargo offers trucking connections from hubs to a large number of US cities. Within the Nordic region there are a number of scheduled SAS Cargo trucks to and from Stockholm.

SAS Cargo president and chief executive officer, Leif Rasmus-sen says: “The area is a leading high-technology center for the nation in entertainment, electronics, biomedical, computers, and aerospace industries. More than 400 freight forwarders and over 100 customs house brokers are located in the Los Angeles area. We see great opportunities for freight to and from Scandinavia.”

Tinseltown route for SAS Cargo

1.4% fall at Frankfurt

aircargoweek.com