“Yes, we are well in the black,” assures Franz-Joseph Miller, the Neu-Isenburg near to Frankfurt-based MD of the 2001 incepted company. Financial specifics, however, he doesn’t reveal since t:m is a limited liability company that is not obliged to present gains or losses in public.

Solutions Factory
However, even without precise balance sheet information, there are plenty of indications that the special speed logistics firm dubbed “Solutions Factory”, is developing extremely well. This is evidenced when taking a closer look at the 2015 performance of the individual segments subsumed under their “Sameday Delivery” product, that went through the roof. For instance, customized transports for Life&Health grew impressively by 67 percent over the last two years, followed by Machinery & Components by 46%. This led to a 74% leap, in the segment of Emergency Logistics since 2013 and a 21% increase of Sameday Air.

Sameday solutions gain fast ground
The figures, emphasizes Franz-Joseph, indicate a clear long-term trend in his company’s core business of extremely time-critical transport solutions: While classical airline express solutions more or less keep their market share, the segment of door-door Sameday and Special Speed Logistics be it by rail, truck, car, air, including on-board couriers, moves ahead much more rapidly. With €52 million, it contributed the lion’s share of his firm’s turnover of €64 million in 2015, while “Airline Express” accounts for the difference of 17 percent. “Back in 2006 both businesses stood head to head at 50/50 in revenues,” recalls Herr Miller.

Large customer portfolio
The question arises, which success formula the unprecedented advance of Sameday and Special Speed Logistics is based on, outperforming time:matters’ traditional Airline Express market activities year after year. The answer Franz-Joseph delivers is both simple and convincing: “Our very specialized and customized transport solutions are increasingly becoming an integral part of the industry supply chain.” This way, constant flows of shipments are guaranteed, upping revenues, enlarging the field of activities step by step.
Sudden emergency transports, although still important, have long been surpassed by regular shipments on behalf of either shippers or forwarding agents. States Miller: “There are no priorities; we offer our customized solutions to all market participants, including private persons in case of urgent need.”

Constant flow of information
To this he adds three important aspects: his firm’s performance record of nearly 100 percent, the digital network enabling constant visibility of all processes from pick-up to final delivery and the direct information exchange with his company’s customers. Clients can book their Europe-wide transports online, including requests for onboard couriers, which are confirmed within 15 minutes. Globally, “we have a pool of currently more than 500 on-board couriers in over 30 countries available for rapid assignment,” states Miller.
The digital exchange of information becomes particularly relevant if transports are facing delays for reasons of unfavorable weather conditions or other mishaps. “Given that case we figure out a number of options to best get our client’s goods from A to B the fastest possible way, by including him in these decisions right from the beginning,” he explains.
Alerts are indicated on the screens of the time:matter staff at their Neu-Isenburg HQ or in one of its international offices that are constantly monitoring every single shipment from beginning to end all around the clock.

Relying on selected partners
Currently, the list of clients includes 5,000 firms, with most of them belonging to automotive and machinery, life & health, the semiconductor and aviation sector and medical services, but also includes shipments sent on behalf of some diplomatic corps.
“We have an asset-free peer-to-peer network of 600-plus partners worldwide, including over 25 airlines we closely collaborate with,” tells the manager. The local partners are hand-picked, including training of their staff to meet the specific t:m requirements, in order to guarantee the market consistent quality from A to Z. In average, each single day more than 3,000 customers do business with t:m, most of them demanding customized transport solutions. “Without our state-of-the-art IT system we would be unable to secure a performance of nearly 100 percent.” In a nutshell, “we are a service and technology platform offering the market enormous flexibility to match the customized transport solutions our clients expect us to provide,” Franz-Joseph explains. This high performance is reflected in a Net Promoter Score of 70 percent, thus confirming the appreciation of the firm’s clients.
The NSP measures the customer’s loyalty on a scale as low as -100% to +100%. A positive NSP is perceived as good, any figure above +50 percent is regarded as being excellent. It is noteworthy to say that time:matters’ score is comparable with results achieved by Apple and the Ritz Carlton Hotels.    

Security comes first
Touching the security topic, he assures that all shipments booked under the 'Sameday' label are X-rayed - without exception. “No matter if provided by a single individual or a company that obtained the status of regulated agent we screen them all,” he stresses.
Most of his firm’s business is still conducted within Europe, but will be increasingly internationalized, he announces. To guarantee timely transports particularly for spare parts, capacity provider Businesswings, a small German airline, operates exclusive cargo flights each night between Monday and Friday, deploying two of their Dornier 228s and a Saab 340. This way, time:matters connects major European destinations like Brussels, Oslo, Bologna or Paris.
The specialist for ultra-rapid transport is owned by investor Aheim Capital in combination with the firm’s top management holding 51 percent, followed by Lufthansa Cargo that accounts for the difference.

Heiner Siegmund 

No, Dieter shed no tears while announcing his retirement before the representatives of the 23 IGLU members. Instead, he was in an excellent mood last Thursday at the group’s gathering in FRA, knowing well that generation changes are unavoidable and are healthy for securing the future of any entity. It was mainly due to his entrepreneurial spirit and farsighted thinking that IGLU owes its existence. 
 
An initiative that paid off in many ways
Back in 2000, when the new century had just begun, he and some companions came together to discuss smart ways of consolidating cargo shipments on major trade lanes and knowing that price fixing tricks could cost them not only a fortune but prison terms if caught by competition watchdogs. So they came up with the sparkling idea of founding an independent company, recommending all members to bring in their air cargo on certain international trade lanes for consolidating the shipments and turn mass into profit by achieving better rates.
This not by force, but on voluntary basis.

Securing their own existence
The initiative of bundling air freight was based on a double-pronged strategy. At first, it was an act of defense of small and mid-sized forwarding agents in their attempt to avoid being pushed aside by the heavyweights of the industry. These were offered better rates by the carriers due to the high tonnage each of the big players committed to. Secondly, the IGLU idea became increasingly charming because of financial benefits for all group members by consolidating their individual loads on trunk routes like Frankfurt-Hong Kong or Frankfurt-Shanghai. So step by step the concept gained ground with many carriers rewarding IGLU better rates if the group guaranteed certain volumes on selected and high frequented routes.
It was simple as that!

Lufthansa Cargo became more flexible
Hence, the Dieter-born market initiative became increasingly attractive making IGLU a respected partner for many carriers. 
"In the early years of our existence we felt being treated like the fifth wheel on a wagon, particularly by our national carrier Lufthansa. They frequently denied us similar pricing options which they conceded to the big boys," recalls Dieter with a smile on his lips.
The airline’s lack of interest ended when Florian Pfaff, the former Head of Air Freight Germany at LH Cargo, stepped into the arena to set aside existing barriers between his company and the consolidator. Meanwhile, LHC is IGLU's number three by volumes transported per year, only surpassed by Qatar Cargo and Etihad Cargo.
"It was quite a struggle, but it paid off. Today, LHC treats us as wanted partner,” remarked Dieter in his overview.

North America gets on the agenda
It was his successor Bernhard Stock who made it clear to IGLU’s members that not a single U.S. carrier is among the top ten airlines the consolidator is doing business with. “We are particularly strong on major Asian trade lanes but very weak on transatlantic routes,” Bernhard said.
To change this, a project group consisting of EMO-Trans, QCS and some other IGLU members will sit together and evaluate North and Latin American routes that might be attractive for consolidations. This could be transports from Frankfurt to Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles but also Mexico City or Santiago de Chile.

Record tonnage expected
Managing Director Guenther Gasthuber predicted that 2016 will become a record year by tonnage for the consolidator. “For the first time in our IGLU history we will surpass the threshold of 20,000 tons this year,” he said. His estimate is based on the Q1 figures that proved to be “very encouraging.”
The IGLU annual meeting ended with resounding applause, when Dieter Haltmayer was unanimously appointed to an honorary member of IGLU. 
We wish Dieter Haltmayer many restful days in the future and are sure that he will still keep an open eye on IGLU’s future development.

Heiner Siegmund

Swiss World Cargo joins up with va-Q-tec
The airfreight division of Swiss International Airlines, Swiss WorldCargo, has just signed a partnership agreement with va-Q-tec which is a leader in supplying so called passive closed cold chain containers.
This move was made by the Swiss national carrier in order to help convince shippers and forwarders to use Swiss WorldCargo for the shipment of their temperature sensitive cargo.
Dominic Hyde, Managing Director of va-Q-tec limited is quoted as saying that “va-Q-tec has been requested by pharma customers to establish a partnership with Swiss WorldCargo to enable direct container rentals.”
Ashwin Bhat, Head of Cargo at SWISS seems happy with the deal and stated that “with va-Q-tec’s cutting edge containers we welcome the opportunity to offer a more complete, value-added passive solution set to our pharma & healthcare client base worldwide.”

Qatar Post launches E-commerce delivery service
Qatar Post has launched a new online shopping delivery service called “Connected by Qatar Post”, which allows Qatar-based customers to shop online from overseas websites and arrange for their purchases to be delivered either to their homes, Q-Post parcel lockers or selected Qatar Post branches, the postal authority said in a statement.
“Connected” provides international shipping addresses in the UK for entire Europe and the U.S. This will soon be available in China and Japan as well.
Local media also report that Qatar Post has plans to test out the use of drones for parcel delivery.
The Peninsula, a Qatar-based newspaper, quoted Faleh Al Naemi, Qatar Post’s Chairman and Managing Director, as saying: “We will be using drones for parcel delivery. This is an important project in the pipeline. We will conduct trials in partnership with the authorities concerned to see how we can utilize the service.”

Jettainer nominated for Supply Chain and Transport Awards
The Frankfurt-based supplier of aircraft ULD systems and ULD management has been nominated as “Cargo Operator of the Year” in the air freight category for its innovative software solution.
The nomination was made by the ITB Publishing Group which has been presenting the Supply Chain and Transport Awards since 2010.
Jettainer says that findings from an analysis of the movement data for ULD’s and feedback from controllers have been fed into the innovative system since 2013. The company further claims that scheduling suggestions drawn up on the basis of the system are improving all the time thanks to the analysis of new data.

IJS Global GEFCO Netherlands gets Good Distribution Practice Certificate
The Dutch Ministry of Health has just awarded IJS Global GEFCO Netherlands (NL) a Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certificate.

This certificate which is internationally recognized shows that IJS Global NL fulfills the requirements of the European Commission ‘Guidelines on Good Distribution Practice of Medicinal Products for Human Use’ and of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines:
Back in 2014 IJS Global GEFCO NL also received a Wholesale Distribution Authorization (WDA) which allows the company to also store medicinal products on their premises.

Guido Dias Araujo joins BARIG Executive Committee
United Airlines Regional Director for Central Europe and Iberia, Guido Dias Araujo, has been appointed to the Executive Board of BARIG, Germany’s Board of Airline Representatives.
Mr Araujo succeeds Thorsten Lettin, also of United Airlines.
The BARIG Executive Board now has two U.S.-based carriers in the committee. Thomas Brandt of Delta Airlines also contributes his expertise and knowledge to the association.

John Mc Donagh / Nol van Fenema

In a statement, the postal authority said the closed-field trial is "an important next step in testing the new technology which will potentially deliver small parcels safely and securely to customers’ homes, allowing for faster transportation of time critical items like medication.”
Australia Post managing director and Group CEO, Ahmed Fahour said: “We’re excited to be the first major parcels and logistics company in Australia to test Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) technology for commercial delivery applications. We will put this innovative technology through its paces over the coming weeks and months to understand what it can deliver, how far it can travel, and ultimately, how our customers could receive a parcel.”

Valuable air service for rural areas
A consumer trial would use the drones to deliver parcels to 50 locations twice a week in an outer metropolitan location, said Ben Franzi, Australia Post general manager e-commerce platforms and marketplaces.
The technology could be especially valuable for rural customers whose homes are far away from their mailboxes. The drones would be operated by delivery drivers who would launch the drone from where they are parked on a road.
A number of Australia Post's big retail customers were already interested in participating in a consumer trial, Mr Fahour said.

Monitored flights
The delivery drones, which have been developed by Melbourne company ARI Labs, are fitted out with a high-definition camera, as well as a parachute, alarm and warning lights which can be activated as safety precautions if needed.
They also send encrypted data back to a ground station so engineers can safely monitor flight activity in real time. ARI Labs hopes to be able to automate the monitoring in future.
In a related development, Google has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent Office (USPO) for a drone system that could be used to deliver medical equipment, such as defibrillators.
Google and its Alphabet wing have been submitting several patents for “alternative” delivery methods. On 9 February, the USPO awarded the internet giant a patent for a self-driving parcel delivery truck.

Nol van Fenema

The objective of the reorganization of the cargo business was mainly to align the cargo strategy with the one of the passenger business and thus to get a better grasp on the cargo activity, says Alban. “In the past, cargo was considered as the cherry on the cake, the objective being to fill the remaining belly space. In the previous set-up, key functions of cargo management were outsourced to the GSA.” Last year, the Management Board decided to further expand the cargo business based on the long-standing expertise considering it as a second core business near the passenger business instead of being ‘a passenger airline also carrying some airfreight.
Alban goes on to say: “During the Ebola crisis in Africa we were the only airline still flying to the countries affected. We kept at all times the lifeline open bringing doctors and nurses to the affected countries as well as transporting their equipment and medication.”
The carrier’s CEO Bernard Gustin paid several times a visit to the countries involved underlining the importance of keeping the countries connected to the outside world and helping international organizations in bringing the necessary medical staff and their material to the affected regions.
“We realized that cargo was here a crucial contributor to overcome the crisis and we needed to contract additional capacity to fly in all the material. At that moment we decided to adapt the ambition for the cargo department from filling the available belly space to offering to our customers reliable air freight solutions,” explained the manager.

Holistic approach
“The new set-up of our cargo activities allows a holistic management of cargo, comparable to the way we manage our passengers business: like for the passenger business, we want to go the extra 'Smile' in cargo. To fulfill this ambition, we are strongly dependent on the operations reason why I’m also heading the cargo operations in order to streamline the operations with the sales department.”
“This holistic approach is also applicable on a corporate level. As VP Cargo, I am at the same level as the VP’s of the other business units. Therefore, our wishes and remarks are integrated in the greater picture. As an example, the last long-haul aircraft that entered our fleet at the beginning of this month has a higher MTOW than all other aircraft in the fleet. This A330 has been selected mainly to cope with the high cargo demand on the Kinshasa route.”

Full integration
Physically, the BU Cargo is located at two places: the BRUcargo building 706 and Brussels Airlines HQ situated opposite to the freight area. For the commercialization of the capacity, SN set up a close collaboration with its GSA Air Logistics Group, ending its relationship with ECS. Within ALG, a dedicated business unit in Brussels named Air Cargo Logistics was created with a firm intention to be integrated within SN. This 100% SN dedicated set-up was one of the conditions agreed with ALG at contract award.
“The objective of setting up this dedicated business unit was to join forces across both companies in the transformation of the business allowing agility,” says Alban. “We needed a new team and therefore joint expertise to create a great one. Together with ALG’s COO Stephen Dawkins, we decided to select individuals with diverse backgrounds (being it coming from the former GSA, from airlines, agents or  handlers) under the lead of a very experienced cargo manager, Bart Van Daele.”
Visibility of SN Cargo at BRUcargo was another important condition. “Our team is dedicated to SN, we are Brussels Airlines Cargo”, says Bart. “When we pick up the phone, when we show our business cards, we are Brussels Airlines Cargo.”
At the end of the day, the main aim is to continue the alignment of cargo as a part of the overall strategy. One of the next steps will be the in-sourcing of the dedicated ACL team into the Brussels Airlines organization. By next year, the ACL staff will all stand on the Brussels Airlines Cargo payroll, that is: in Brussels only. For the rest of the world Air Logistics Group will remain the GSSA for SN. In all, this will lead to a staff of 17.  “Even within ALG there will always be Brussels Airlines dedicated people,” says Bart.

Product development
The bellies are still very full, says Alban. “In order to provide added value to our customers, we need to get a better view on their requirements and to define accordingly the appropriate cargo products. Therefore, a new position of ‘Cargo Business Development Manager’ has been created filled in by Reinout Puissant (former Regional Sales Manager Cargo West-Africa) who will work on defining a product portfolio and on strategic partnerships.
Of course there is fresh-to-shelf, the ex Africa door-to-door perishables service operated together with Adelantex. “But there are other forwarders that want to import perishables and we need to support them equally,” says Alban. “What remains important for Brussels Airlines and for the African continent is that the exports out of Africa can keep on growing.”
The innovative part in Reinout’s function is the broad spectrum of responsibility: he will be managing the product definition from the customer requirements through the sales & marketing up to the operations. “To bring pharmaceuticals to Africa, for example. SN was one of the first companies at Brussels Airport to endorse the Brussels Pharma Gateway program. We are now working towards CEIV certification, not only on the process and service level, but also through dedicated equipment. In that segment too, we want to look to develop a door-to-door product, supported by passive cooling. The crux of the matter is the mitigation of risks. Often, through the chain, there are risks of temperature excursion. We want to have the right set-up everywhere through our network and especially in Africa. The handlers, too, have to be involved.”
“Another example of product development is that we are looking into the possibility of combined contracts for NGO’s that is including passenger seats together with belly space.”

Untapped European capacity
Capacity management is another issue. “Sometimes the belly capacity has to give in to the growing number of passengers on the same aircraft. So we have to get a better capacity management, for which we are in the process of recruiting a capacity manager. The question is to have the highest possible load factor combined with the highest possible customer satisfaction.”
The extensive European network is something that can be utilized in a more efficient way. “We serve 70 European destinations and their endless number of combinations. Brussels is a medium-size and therefore easily manageable hub and we need to take the advantage of it.”
Last September, Brussels Airlines Cargo introduced a very fast and dedicated courier product. It is supported by a specific acceptance/delivery desk, a centralized 24/7 control tower, and dedicated ramp transport to – and at destination from – the aircraft. Alban: “The transport vehicle stays with the aircraft till the consignment has been loaded. In our outstation, we need outsourcing, but there we have ALG to supervise.”
“We select the right party in collaboration with Brussels Airlines Cargo,” says Bart. “This is part of the integration. It is ALG that designs the route and sets up the control tower. To date the product is available in 19 stations.”
Alban and Bart are convinced that their product is a strong alternative for integrator products. “They still have a consolidation model. We are faster in an environment where 5 minutes can be important. The users are e-commerce customers or suppliers of spare parts for e.g. hospitals and automotive.” Bart: “The quick ramp transfer on which the courier service is based, can also be applied to general cargo. We do it already for Northbound African fresh fish traffic.”

Africa
Brussels Airlines Cargo does not have a specific intra-African feeder network, but uses its own intra-African leg system when the traffic rights allow it.
On a yearly tonnage of more than 38,000 tons for a turnover of more than €63 Mio in 2015, Africa still accounts for more than 85%. The remaining part is generated on the European and transatlantic routes. The latter consist of New York JFK and Washington (only summer) and, since recently, Toronto. 

Lufthansa
Then, of course, there is Lufthansa. Alban has no insight into the eventualities of a total take-over by Lufthansa and the impact for his cargo unit. As for LCAG, the cooperation is close and both companies help one another when possible.
Of course, the attacks of 22 March have had a negative impact on the operations, but the crisis was well handled, Alban thinks. “On days without any flights at all, the impact was of course negative. After that, we had diverted operations. Our focus was on helping our customers. We even transferred some of our freight to other airlines. Now all our cargo operations are back to normal. And we are thankful that our customers have not let us down.”

Marcel Schoeters in Brussels

It seems that the HNA Group is not the only one interested in taking a stake, if not all, in the UK passenger charter airline.
Sources state that HNA has asked Rothschild’s to advise them on a possible stake or takeover of Monarch. Discussions are said to be in their early stages but the information is that the Chinese have already had meetings with the management of the UK leisure carrier.
European Commission rules however restrict any foreign shareholding in Monarch to a maximum of 49 percent.
There are said to be other interested parties apart from HNA and easyjet who want Monarch.

HNA on a European buying trip
The Chinese conglomerate which has holdings in various aviation sectors, the latest being the takeover of the worldwide airport handler, Swissport, seems to be interested in other carriers in Europe.
They already have a 48 percent holding in the French regional carrier, Aigle Azur which is based at Paris Orly airport.
Discussions between HNA and Air Europa on possible buy-in to the Spanish carrier have been going back and forth for well over a year.

Present owners wish to sell off their holding.
The UK-based Greybull Capital which took a 90 percent stake in Monarch in 2014 from its founders, the Swiss-Italian Mantegazzas family, has indicated that they now want to sell off their asset.
Monarch Airlines has made a positive turn-around during the past two years and Greybull has appointed the Deutsche Bank to look closely at the airline’s European growth potential or options to sell or merge with another carrier.

easyjet, according to a report in the English Sunday Times newspaper, has expressed their interest in taking all of Monarch Airlines and its associated assets.
Whether this is just rumor or based on discussions between both carriers, is hard to tell.

Monarch which in the “old days“ also operated long-haul flights, now concentrates on leisure destinations mainly in Turkey, Spain, Portugal, France, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel.
The carrier operates a fleet of 34 Airbus aircraft. Twenty-five A321-200s and nine A320-200’.

John Mc Donag

Korean & Uzbekistan - new partners?
The Iranian aviation scene dropped into oblivion since the Shah was deposed many, many years ago. This was mainly due to sanctions imposed by western governments, particularly the U.S., after diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran were iced up.

Iran Air is in the process of ordering many new passenger aircraft, mainly from Airbus, in order to replenish what is left of their very old fleet.
Many other carriers are openly wooing the new Iranian aviation sector in the hope that they will be allowed a better entry, form joint-ventures or help develop Iranian carrier’s future maintenance, passenger or cargo handling.

A strange combination has now come to light.
Korean Air Cargo and Uzbekistan Airways are reportedly launching a new cargo partnership which is aimed at flying cargo within Korean Air’s network to Tehran Airport through Uzbekistan Air’s hub at Navoi Airport.
Both carriers already operate a similar venture by feeding air cargo along the same route into Frankfurt Airport.
It is planned that Korean Air Cargo will have access to Uzbekistan Airways two weekly Boeing 767 freighter services to Tehran commencing immediately.
This will enable Korean Air Cargo to gain a strong foothold into the Iranian air freight market almost overnight.

Iran has high demand for Korean products
Relations between Iran and Korea are said to be very good and it is not that long ago that the Iranian government has granted Korean Air traffic rights for five weekly wide-body passenger flights from Seoul to Tehran. The permission also allows Korean Air to carry cargo on the inbound and outbound sectors.
Korean products are expected to be in high demand in Iran in the future.
It will take time before Iran Air can re-establish itself as the international air carrier it once was.
Freighters are so far not on Iran Air’s order books and this gives Korean and other airlines the opportunity to form this type of operation to gain a firm foothold in the new Iranian economic sector.

John Mc Donagh

Ground Handling to play a more dominant role
In an interview with the Times of Oman newspaper the carrier’s VP for Ground Handling & Cargo, Andrew Walsh, announced that Oman Air plans to partner with a yet unnamed international company in order to create a new ground handling entity based in Muscat.
Mr Walsh is quoted as saying that his company had originally had five potential candidates and that now they are shortlisted to two.
A decision on which of these two will get the deal is expected shortly.
The winner is expected to be the one which is willing to invest the most equity into the new venture.
Omani law allows foreign companies a maximum 49 percent holding in any Oman national entity.

The reason for this move seems quite simple seeing that Oman Air wishes to focus as an airline on their core business.
So, this will necessitate that some departments such as ground handling will operate independently in the future.
This, according to the manager, will improve overall efficiency.

Oman Air’s cargo department recently entered into a joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) and created a new company dedicated to cargo handling.

New J/V’s with other carriers are planned
Two airlines from Europe and one from Asia are apparently in discussion with Oman Air to establish a new carrier joint-venture.
Oman Air’s CEO, Paul Gregorowitsch, recently confirmed this in London at the inauguration of the airline’s second daily service from Muscat to London-Heathrow.
He did not elaborate on who these three partners may be. His strategy is to allow the carrier to expand their international connections without having to join any form of global airline alliance.

It is reported that Oman Air is looking also at codeshare agreements with carriers such as Lufthansa, Emirates, Garuda, Malaysian, KLM, Turkish Airlines and others.
Oman Air continues their steady growth and now serve fifty destinations in twenty-seven countries.
In air freight they already collaborate closely with Cargolux.

John Mc Donagh

The national postal agency expressed its interest in setting up an own fleet of leased cargo planes starting with the two former Transaero deployed Tupolevs. According to Russia Post Chief Dmitry Strashnov, the initial freighters will operate scheduled flights between cities in Siberia and destinations in Far East and Eastern Asia. He added to this that together with airmail consignments the planes shall also transport normal cargo shipments to increase the load factor and make their operation commercially viable. Touching the time perspective, Strashnov assured that Russian Post plans to commence cargo flights on international routes in the course of this year. 

Focusing on China routes
His words were complemented by Mikhail Evraev, Russian Deputy Minister of Communication and Mass Media, whose administration the mail company is part of since 2013. Evraev spoke of parcel delivery services from China to Russia as  the main task for the upcoming Russian Post operated Tupolev freighters. “The vast ma-jority of parcels entering our country stems from Chinese shippers and trading com-panies,” he said. This goes along with mail consignments of which most come also from China.
The Tupolev manufactured aircraft are capable of flying 3,900 kilometers with a maximum payload of 30 tons. Aviation experts consider the Tu-204C, propelled by two PS-90A Perm Motor Works-constructed engines, being an extremely reliable ‘workhorse’.

Targeting up to 30 freighters?
The intentions of Russian Mail to build up their own freighter fleet are anything but new. Already in 2012 they announced plans to acquire cargo aircraft and launch scheduled flights. The result of these considerations are known: nothing happened. Instead, their management was ousted due to charges of total inefficiency, poor service quality and sloppiness.
With new leaders in place, the company announced doubling revenues until 2018 to make the mammoth organization ready for an initial public offering, allowing it to provide banking services, reducing the number of unprofitable branches and focus-ing on providing deliveries from online retailers.
A key part of this strategic and organizational mid-term plan is operating their own freighter fleet. In a comment, Infomost Consulting Chief Boris Rybak stated that they would need between 25-30 cargo planes to successfully cover the vast domestic network together with major international routes. 

Compensating the loss of Transaero capacity
Now the time seems to be ripe for taking the first step. This all the more, since Russian Post’s former strategic partner Transaero has been dissolved, leaving a large gap in the transport of airmail. According to data, it encompassed 600 tons of mail shipments per month committed by Transaero to fly in and out the two Muscovite airports Domodedovo and Vnukovo.
As things stand, the reincarnation of the former plans promises to be more success-ful this time since the project is obviously backed by the Kremlin and the freighters, currently sidelined at Vnukovo are immediately available. Provided, however, the postal agency comes to terms with aircraft owner Ilyushin Finance. If so, Russia’s Mail intentions to build a large fleet of freighter aircraft would cross the first hurdle.

Heiner Siegmund

Leadership in Latin America is part of its DNA, states LATAM Cargo confidently, while presenting their brand new commercial strategy. This fresh approach goes hand in hand with the new culture, announces the carrier.

The change in mindset was triggered by three factors: their customers’ needs, unification of the group’s individual members with the aim of creating a single identity and last but not least the cut-throat intense competition in Latin America’s cargo landscape.

Seamless services   
The new approach offers clients of LATAM Cargo unified services throughout the network, robust products and integrated communication channels. “Our new strategy, which is focused on agility, reliability and trust, sets improved standards of service that will enable us to continue being the best air transport option to and from Latin America,” raves Álvaro Carril, LATAM Cargo’s Marketing & Sales VP. The executive adds that the intended transformation that will lead to superior services reflects an internal advancement in terms of performance, promises and solutions based on the development of new processes and systems.

Fighting flat markets
The carrier’s move, mainly triggered by its focus on customers’ needs and their evolution, happens to be a much-needed step with respect to the collapse of the market in Brazil, the economic hiccups in some neighboring countries and the dire consequences the regional players in air freight are hit by, including LATAM Cargo.

But what is this management declared “new strategy” all about? When asked by CargoForwarder Global, Mr. Carril explained it like this: “We have our customers at the center of all of our company’s decisions, initiatives and developments and we are structuring our new strategy around building trusty relationships supported by highly convenient and reliable solutions.”

To make the initiative a success, a dedicated team will focus on collecting client feedback, channel the information gathered and transform it into practical action. LATAM Cargo will concentrate its efforts on the timely development of projects that will significantly improve the service experience, according to the management.

Quite an ambitious and very comprehensive program that surely will need some time to be fully implemented!

Developments on the horizon
The permanent flow of information “is key to the construction of a unified and consistent service, adapted to customers’ needs. Our customized offer is based on three pillars: trust, agility and reliability,” declared Gabriel Oliva, VP of Global Marketing and Commercial Development. 

One of the main developments, of this process, that will be launched in 2016 is the new product portfolio. “This new product portfolio will offer a higher level of transparency, and consistency in its delivery. It will include different types of products, which will offer specific attributes to meet our customers’ needs. Moreover, these products will also offer different routing and priority options with clear service level agreements,” per Mr. Oliva.

A prime example of what direction the efforts will take is the Pharma Product, launched in 2015, which was specifically designed for the reliable and effective shipping of pharmaceutical supplies or any commodity that is highly temperature sensitive. Even though still very young, it shows remarkable results and good market acceptance, assures the airline. Forwarding agents booking this product get top loading priority, special care from start to finish (avoiding temperature fluctuations) and are offered a constant exchange of information. It’s an additional tool, offered to all clients, in order to further enhance the operational quality of LATAM Cargo.

Mileage program works well for Cargo
On top of all this, the ‘Cargo Rewards’ loyalty program, introduced in 2015, has turned into a success story so far, claims the carrier. The plan grants participants mileage benefits when using LATAM Cargo capacity for transporting their tonnage. Users can convert their accumulated miles into flight tickets for taking a trip on board any member airline of the oneworld alliance. “Currently, the program rewards roughly 80 percent of all tons flown on board our fleet”, states señor Oliva.   

By placing the continuously updated customers’ needs at the center of its new strategy, LATAM Cargo will design and implement actions aimed at offering added value and a team dedicated to catering to their needs, while also guaranteeing new and improved standards of service. It’s a long distance race and “by pursuing this new strategy, LATAM Cargo will be better positioned to gain customers preference, and it will enable us to capture additional market shares,” Mr. Carril sums up.  

Heiner Siegmund  /  Michael Taweel

Johan Schryver, the head of Hamburg’s Association of Forwarding Agents, expressed his concern, in an exclusive interview with CargoForwarder Global, about the new challenges shippers and their agents are facing: “The regulator informed us, officially only on the 11th of April, about the new implementing provisions for the mandated weighing of containers before they are stowed on board a ship.” In the same breath, he says the weighing procedures might not cause big problems, despite some unresolved technical issues. “It’s the unawareness of many shippers who have not yet addressed this pressing topic and are stumbling unwittingly into this matter.” Their containers might be barred from loading due to the missing proof of weight and remain stranded at the harbor.

It is obvious who the big boys are…
In contrast, as Schryver points out, the big players will not be affected by the amendment to the transport rules, approved by the EU and implemented by the national governments. “Those guys are pros; they know exactly the requirements when booking transport capacity for their exports at a shipping company.” Providing examples, he mentions the automotive industry, chemical product makers or large trading companies who deploy dozens of containers each day.

… in contrast to many smaller players
“What worries me most is the prevailing ignorance of smaller and mid-sized exporters that have occasional transports and haven’t heard much about the upcoming weighing requirement,” Johan states. Like the small machine manufacturer or producer of special instruments, located in the hinterlands, that might be surprised by the new regulation. Their goods could get stranded at harbors like Hamburg, Bremen or Antwerp if they are not examined by an official weight checker or not verified by a packaging company.

Precise guidelines
The basic guidelines for sea transport, first proposed by the International Maritime Organization and meanwhile approved by the national regulators around the world, are very clear. They read:

1. the shipper is responsible for providing the verified weight by stating it in the shipping document and submitting it to the master or his representative and to the terminal representative sufficiently in advance to be used in the preparation of the ship stowage plan; and
2. the verified gross mass is a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship.

Weight discrepancies increase risk
Should a discrepancy between declared gross mass and actual gross mass of a packed container go unnoticed, it could have an adverse impact on the safety of the ship, seafarers and shore-side workers, by leading to incorrect stowage, potentially collapsing stacks of containers or containers going overboard.

“Once a container arrives at a terminal it is too late for weighing procedures. The terminal operator hasn’t got the time or capacity to weigh any steel box retrospectively, given the huge pile of them he is moving continuously,” says Schryver.

Politician remains calm
Helmsman Gunther Bonz of the Business Association Hamburg Port estimates that up to 1% of all containers passing through the harbor’s terminals might get stranded after arriving there. “We have sufficient scales here at the port to weigh the boxes but this job has to be accomplished before truckers offload the containers at one of the terminals.” Given the mandated weighing regulations “both shippers and forwarders will go through a fast learning phase in the months ahead before things become routine,” estimates Frank Horch, Hamburg’s Economic Affairs Minister. “It will be similar to the implementation of new security rules in air cargo some years ago, so I’m quite relaxed about it.”

But what about states lacking technology and infrastructure?
This might be the case for his colleagues in western and central European countries. However, when it comes to central China, Nicaragua or Nigeria, to name just a few that might be facing similar problems starting July 1, the picture of mandated container weighing becomes quite gloomy, as Johan Schryver confirms. “I doubt they have sufficient calibrated scales of quality class 3 which are the only ones legally permitted for weighing goods loaded on board ships.” These are expensive and cannot be bought in a shopping mall around the corner!

With about two months still to go until weighing all shipments stowed on board a vessel becomes mandatory, Schryver deplores the lack of information by many exporters, even in the EU. “There are still a lot of billowing foggy clouds floating by.”

Can air freight benefit from sea freight problems?
You don’t need to be a fortune teller to predict that some sea freight shipments will get stranded, among them valuable and urgent goods and as a consequence, contractual transport conditions might be violated, causing delays, legal disputes and monetary compensation. Given the situation, it remains to be seen if air freight will become the alternative to some ocean freight consignments, slipping into the hero role and ensuring timely delivery.

Heiner Siegmund  /  Michael Taweel

TIACA rings the alarm bell! Goods that infringe intellectual property rights (“IPR infringing goods”) account for a growing portion of international trade, and present challenges for air cargo operators in many markets, warns the organization in an urgent appeal to take action. Intermediaries, such as air cargo operators, in the supply chain of counterfeit goods have a shared responsibility in the fight to curb and abate this global problem, along with rights holders and customs and other authorities, urges TIACA.

Spreading criminal action
How pressing this topic has become meanwhile is seen in a recently published report on EU Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. It states that in 2014, IPR infringing items with health and safety concerns accounted for 28.6% of total detained goods by EU customs authorities.

A year earlier, EU customs authorities confiscated 36 million counterfeit products worth over €760 million ($870 mn) at airports, harbours and the block’s borders. The vast majority of illegal goods came from China (66 percent), followed by Hong Kong (13%). Turkey leads the list of countries from which most faked perfumes and cosmetics originated, with Egypt being the greatest sinner in food fraud. 

In its appeal to tackle this fast spreading global problem that tends to distort trade and harm manufacturers of legally produced goods severely, TIACA supports the close cooperation in a multifaceted approach including all players involved in supply chain matters.

Cargo is not a law enforcement agency, stresses TIACA
Regarding the role of the air cargo industry in fighting counterfeit activities, the association advocates a close cooperation with government agencies, customs authorities and rights holders. However, TIACA reminds that airlines, ground handlers or forwarders are not law enforcement agencies and should not be expected to do the job of these agencies. That is a role reserved for the agencies in charge, reads the release.

Concurrently, TIACA favours an intensive exchange of information together with educational programs between all parties involved to get a better insight and recognize illicit trade activities. 
 
Establishing round tables
“The best way to find comprehensive solutions to the IPR Infringement problem is to bring rights holders, regulators, and service providers together for a working dialog,” recommends TIACA. Their release further states: “Since customs administrations are responsible for enforcement at borders, we suggest customs take the leading role in bringing these groups together. Examples of potential solutions include the sharing of information between the three parties and account-based clearances built on trusted trader programs.”

Finally, TIACA stresses that the infringement of intellectual property rights not only produces economic damages but, more importantly, can pose threats to health and safety.

Heiner Siegmund

Chinese cargo airlines go for B757PCF conversions
Two of China’s most active cargo and postal carriers, China Postal Airlines and AVIC Cargo Airlines have opted to enlarge their cargo fleets with Boeing 757-200 PCF aircraft.
These are converted passenger variants.
Both carriers have ordered a total of eight aircraft from Precision Aircraft Solutions.
China Postal has six on order and the remaining two are for AVIC.
The China Postal Airlines aircraft were sourced from their co-parent, China Southern Airlines and it is believed that the AVIC planes are coming from Xiamen Airlines.
China Postal already operates four B757-200Fs along with a total of twenty-two B737Fs in various configurations.
AVIC Cargo Airlines, which is a joint-venture between Joy Air and Xi’an Xianyang, is presently undergoing certification with the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority.

KF Cargo brings DC-10 freighter fleet back into service
Canada’s KF Cargo, based in Kelowna, which fell on troubled times at the end of last year is now bringing their DC-10 freighter aircraft back into service.
The carrier has signed an air charter agreement to carry freight between Miami and South America.
KF Cargo brought both their DC-10Fs back into service in mid-April and is said to be operating the contract to Bogota, Caracas and Lima from Miami International.
The airline closed their Toronto hub at the end of March and had laid off staff.

LH Cargo deepens ties with RocketSpace
The Frankfurt-based cargo airline works hand-in-hand with disruptive startups for push-ing forward digital innovation. “We see great potential for increased digitisation and ser-vices in the entire air cargo supply chain. We are keen to explore new ways together with young, highly-qualified experts from the start-up scene,” commented Monika Wiederhold, Vice President Product Management & Innovation at Lufthansa Cargo. On this occasion the airline is partnering with Silicon Valley-based Rocket Space in the context of the new “Logistic Tech Accelerator” program. As a part of the program, Lufthansa Cargo is going to educate startups on the business objectives of the industry, will closely co-operate with selected companies and incubate ideas for a pilot program, resulting in a go-to-market solution. In addition to startups, the Logistics Tech Accelerator will use the unique model of drawing from the diverse expertise of multiple corporate participants, alongside Lufthansa Cargo, including founding corporate member Kaleido.
RocketSpace has already been working with Lufthansa’s Berlin based Innovation Hub. “We are proud of extending the cooperation to the logistics sector now,” Wiederhold says.

Norwegian cargo appoints dnata handling in the UK
Starting yesterday (1 May) dnata UK has taken over full cargo handling for Norwegian Cargo at all of the UK airports served by Norwegian.
These are London-Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.
On top of this, dnata will also take on the responsibility for Norwegian’s regional and trucking needs throughout the UK.
The Norwegian low cost carrier has recently upped its short-haul services from Gatwick, Edinburgh and Manchester by adding five new routes alongside the recently started long-haul services from Gatwick to San Francisco (Oakland) and Boston.
Long-haul destinations are served with the carrier’s new fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners of which 31 are on order.

Bulgaria’s Bright Flight gets ATR freighter
The Sofia-based regional freighter carrier, Bright Flight operates with two Antonov AN-26 freighter aircraft and has now just taken delivery of an ATR 42-300F to boost services from Sofia. The Bulgarian carrier, which offers charter services from Sofia, put the new aircraft into service with its first flight to Goma.

AMI’s ‘Quote & Book’ reaches 100,000 quotes
The UK division of AMI launched what it termed as being a new online booking portal towards the end of 2015.
The company now states that this ‘Quote & Book’ portal has now reached over 100,000 quotes during the first six months of operation.
They further claim that due to this their live customer base has also doubled since then and maintains that they have reached a 15% conversion ratio from quotes to firm bookings since the system came into operation.
Quote & Book has been modeled by AMI on their Express click2ship, which was launched back in 2010. It is only available to AMI’s pre-approved and bona-fide customer base.
The company states that it is simple to use and works by agents entering a minimum of shipment details and then the site generates immediate quotes for both direct AWB services and consolidations from a series of airlines.

CSP regains RA status
German regulator Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) conceded ground handling agent CSP Cargo Service Point GmbH full rights to act as regulated agent again. This was announced during the past days by Andreas Schlimgen, CSP’s Managing Director. The Troisdorf near Cologne based company had lost this status together with two other local service providers some weeks ago after an international team of inspectors had monitored all processes, checked the documentation and the staff training levels (CargoForwarder Global reported). After ending their audit, the security experts filed several complaints, which led to the revoking of the RA status. By regaining the license, CSP’s times of dire straits seem to be over.

John Mc Donagh  /  Heiner Siegmund

Last year, cargo volume at Vienna Airport grew by two percent, reaching a total of 273,000 tons. This includes imports and exports unloaded or loaded on board aircraft at the airport as well as road feeder services, ergo goods that arrived by truck from the Balkan countries or Northern Italy and went on to other destinations, particularly Munich, Frankfurt and Zurich, after being handled at VIE. In this case, Vienna served as an intermediate stop for consolidating and deconsolidating goods by local ground handling agents, before they continued their voyage to other places.

Now, the management has decided to invest €16 million ($18.3 mn), to both upgrade and enlarge the handling area. This will add 13,000 square meters of handling space to the 30,000 sqm already there.

Air freight is becoming increasingly more important to the Austrian economy
The expenditure in cargo is part of a master plan, comprising of €500 million ($573mn) to improve the ground infrastructure at Austria’s prime international gateway and make it more competitive and to prevent falling behind its state subsidized competitors in the Gulf region and Turkey with their impending giant Black Sea project. The spending is justified by VIE management, referring to the increasing importance of air freight to the Austrian economy and the expected continuous growth of air transport. Placing the contribution of road feeders aside the tonnage flown directly at VIE increased by impressive 15 percent last year.

AUA is getting back on track
One of the main contributors is flag carrier Austrian Airlines, despite the fact that the Lufthansa subsidiary had been going through a period of strong head winds lately, caused by the loss of important markets in Russia and Eastern Europe. On these routes passenger numbers dipped sharply as did the cargo volumes in reaction to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the Moscow supported insurgency in the eastern parts of the Ukraine. A victim of political decisions and military action, AUA had no choice but to sharply reduce flights between Vienna and Russia as well as some of the CIS countries. Since there is no end in sight of the crisis, the airline’s management changed course, concentrating on leisure destinations and long-haul routes. This strategic shift obviously paid off, as seen by the €54 million EBIT ($62mn) reached in 2015, up €34 million ($39mn) from the previous year.

In fiscal 2016, AUA CEO Kay Kratky expects further growth in passenger numbers and cargo volume, even though freight is not his concern, because Lufthansa Cargo exclusively sells and manages AUA lower deck capacity. After adding Colombo, Mauritius, Miami and some medium-haul routes to its network last year, on April (5 times weekly) flights to Shanghai began which are now operated daily as of yesterday (May 1), to be followed by Hong Kong and Havana next fall.

Additional long-haul operations will up the cargo volume flown by AUA and simultaneously the tonnage handled at Vienna Airport, much to the delight of the local ground handlers and VIE’s managers.

Heiner Siegmund  /  Michael Taweel

On April 26, 1956 the rebuilt tanker, the SS Ideal-X cast off at Newark, New Jersey, with 58 containers on board steaming to Houston, Texas. A historic trip that marked the beginning of the triumphal march of steel boxes in transportation. More than a decade later, in 1969, the air cargo industry followed suit, stowing the first containers aboard some aircraft. Meanwhile the boxes have become indispensable in freight transportation, be it by sea or air, securing the carriage of sensitive items like – inter alia – pharmaceuticals, medicines, foodstuff, express goods or even garments to name but a few. How valuable these unit load devices are in daily trade, is emphasized by Marcus Franke, Head of Sales at ULD producer DoKaSch.

Q: Marcus, it’s been a long way from 1969 until today. How would you describe the role containers have played in air transports ever since?  
 
A: Air Cargo containers especially helped to standardize processes and reduce the time aircraft spend on ground during their stops at the airports. In the meantime, several different shapes have been developed to fit into new aircraft types as well as to be used in as many different aircraft as possible (optimal fit vs. flexibility).
 
Q: During their infancy, the boxes were rather heavy. Since then, breakthroughs in material development have been achieved. Which were the main steps and where do ULD producers like DoKaSch and others stand now in the research and development of improving containers even further?
 
A: In the early beginnings, it was aluminum most of the containers were made of, frame structure as well as panels and base. Later on, due to the necessity of reducing tare weight in order to reduce emissions and fuel savings, the industry developed lightweight units mainly using composite materials for the panels combined with rigid frame structure still made from aluminum. This frame structure had been optimized over the years as well, but it still is made of aluminum.
Future research and development activities are currently indicating what is possible regarding base design, frame structure and the new requirements regarding track and traceability as well as utilizing even more fire resistant materials demanded by the ever growing shipments of lithium batteries worldwide.  

Q: Today, airlines can make use of a great variety of containers, depending on the individual products they are carrying. In what way do boxes tailored to the specific needs of carriers contribute to enhance the global supply chain?
 
A: The structural design of containers (mainly contour) is standardized and defined by the contour of the aircraft they have been developed for. 
But functionalities of those containers as for e.g. live animals, dangerous goods, temperature sensitive goods, security shipments, express parcels or other loads carried by air that need a special treatment makes the difference.
Those specialized containers help to enhance global flows of goods that have to be transferred all over the world in a short period of time. E.g. our DoKaSch AAA-Containers with smooth interior for express parcels in order not to damage those “high speed” shipments and to prevent them from getting wet.
 
Q: What comes next in the development of transport boxes and which influence do aircraft manufacturers like Boeing or Airbus exercise when it comes to future generations of containers? 
 
A: Aircraft manufacturers are from our point of view key drivers to the future of “transport boxes”. This, because it’s the producers of jetliners that determine the playground for technical and innovative ULD solutions to optimize transports and best utilize boxes for accommodating goods and enhance ground handling processes. Depending on these external future developments, OEM/Engineering companies like DoKaSch are keen to work close together with the aircraft manufacturers to come up with innovative products or maintain best solutions for supporting shippers, forwarding agents and cargo carriers in their daily aim to offer transport solutions that best serve the markets.   
 
Interview: Heiner Siegmund

Tough major problems need to be resolved
DB’s situation is dramatic indeed, caused by three significant factors:
In 2011, the Berlin government permitted companies operating coaches to deploy their vehicles on long-haul routes, thus competing with the ICE speed trains operated by Deutsche Bahn. Case in point, since then, the number of travelers who have decided in favor of coaches when going from Hamburg to Berlin or Munich to Cologne has been growing fast. Why, because coaches are much cheaper compared to ICE tickets, despite the fact that coaches often need twice the amount of time to cover remote distances. Obviously, a growing clientele is more price than time driven as can be seen by the exploding demand for bus travel.

Goods are switching from rail to road
Secondly, Deutsche Bahn’s rail freight operator DB Cargo is suffering an extreme decline in sales and earnings for an increasing number of goods which are drifting from rail to road. The small trade union GDL (union of train drivers) added to the general hardships plaguing DB Cargo. Under the leadership of the uncompromising Claus Weselsky, the GDL initiated a long series of walkouts starting in September of 2014 and lasting until summer 2015, causing enormous financial damage and driving clients, dependent on reliable transport, into the arms of trucking companies. As a result, DB Cargo’s revenues went down by €100 m, from the €4.8 b reached in 2014 to €4.7 b generated last financial year.

Improving the infrastructure, enhancing the DB product
A third reason why DB needs new capital in their coffers is the huge cost for modernizing the rail infrastructure. This adds up to sums surpassing double-digit billions of Euros. The cash is desperately needed to repair and modernize the network, which has been severely neglected in the past and applies equally to the stations as well as the technology. At the same time investments are needed to provide passengers WiFi access in DB’s pièce de résistance the ICE. Only some of the high speed trains allow internet use, so far. 

Relieving the burden of debt
By selling off up to 45 percent of Arriva and Schenker, Deutsche Bahn managers expect to generate a cash influx of roughly €4.5 billion. It’s a big chunk of cash but it won’t be enough to eliminate all the deficiencies that need to be addressed in order to reduce the rail company’s debt and improve DB’s credit-worthiness. Most pressing are the urgent steps to reduce the company’s troubling level of debt, which according to internal calculations will increase to €22.4 billion by 2022 if the management doesn’t execute effective countermeasures.

DB closes out becoming a minority stakeholder in Schenker and Arriva
In view of this bleak financial outlook, DB Chief Herr Grube and his leadership team have little choice to raise additional equity other than to partially sell their most valuable assets (Schenker and Arriva). This could be done through an IPO or by attracting a private-capital investor. The Supervisory Board took both options into consideration when deciding in favor of divesting a large portion of the shares of DB’s most successful subsidiaries. However, one thing is certain: Deutsche Bahn AG will remain a majority stakeholder of both Schenker and Arriva.
In 2015, the employees (66,300) of DB’s logistics subsidiary (100%) Schenker generated a turnover of €15.5 b, up €500 m from 2014. Air freight exports reached 1.128 million tons, with 1,942 TEU transported by ocean freight through Schenker.
The London-based railway company Arriva turned over €4.8 b last year, an increase of €400 m from 2014.   

Heiner Siegmund /  Michael Taweel

SF Express is the by far largest private delivery service company in China, currently operating a fleet of 39 all-cargo aircraft, of which 19 are owned and 20 leased. According to a report in China Daily, the company is number one in China’s air cargo market, accounting for 20 percent of the total volume moved within the country.

Beijing gives the thumb-up
To keep up with transport demand and offer the market sufficient capacity, SF Express (based at Shenzhen Baoan Airport) intends to enlarge its freighter fleet to 100 by 2020. Centerpiece of the company (established in 1993) is building its own cargo hub, which has now been given the okay by Beijing’s aviation authority. As a result of a thorough site evaluation process the management chose the town of Yanji to implement and realize their plans. Mainly because it is located right in the middle of the country, enabling SF Express to cover most domestic routes within one-and-a-half hours flight time. Local observers expect, once the hub is in operation, it has the potential of developing into a similar role Memphis plays for FedEx or Louisville for UPS.  

Yanji lands on the global cargo map
However, it remains widely unclear, when the first ground in Yanji will be broken, how long it will take to build the airport and what size it will be. Local sources speak of an airport that will enable a yearly throughput of up to five million tons after final completion, making it one of the largest cargo hubs in the world. However, these details, including the financing of the project remains a matter of speculation for the time being, since the SF Group is tight-lipped concerning their future hub plans. Hopefully, their executives decide to end their current medial reticence and present specifics of their giant project soon.

Heiner Siegmund  /  Michael Taweel

Sources within AF-KL expect Janaillac to be an interim candidate because of his advanced age. “He is a guy able to discipline the unions, reducing their vast area of influence in our airline’s business and overcome their blockade mentality, opposing necessary reforms,” told a leading AF-KL manager CargoForwarder Global in confidence. 
Seeing it from this perspective the carrier’s move to put Janaillac in command, despite his lack of experience in aviation seems to make sense. If not blocked by bullheaded unionists he could achieve success where de Juniac could not; to restructure the airline in order to become cost competitive with rivals, mainly the state subsidized Gulf airlines.

Janaillac is facing many challenges to get AF-KL on course
The rift between the AF-KL management and the different unions represented particularly in Air France is traditionally very deep. Bridging the gap, CEO de Juniac mitigating tough measures announced by the Executive Board to get the ailing carrier afloat again, failed against the fierce resistance of the trade unions.
It will be interesting to see, which strategy AF-KL patron Janaillac will present and set into practice to secure the competitiveness of the airlines by implementing some long overdue reforms without provoking new industrial actions by the French unions. Skills as a persistent negotiator, demonstrated at his previous jobs as the head of the state-owned transport company Transdev and the Parisian public transportion operator RATP seem to have tipped the scales for his appointment by the Board of Air France-KLM.
Despite his friendly relationship with French President François Hollande (members of the same class at the renowned school - ENA), sources indicate that he was not the first-choice candidate of AF-KL supervisors. They favored Airbus boss Fabrice Bregier to take the chair at the airline. However, the plane maker’s helmsman turned down the offer.

Heiner Siegmund  /  Michael Taweel

The deal which comes into effect as of July this year, sees the carrier reserving two Boeing 737-300Fs, one Boeing 737-400F and three BAe 146-300Fs from their own domestic freighter fleet for the sole use of Australia Post and its subsidiary StarTrack for the transport of domestic mail, express post and parcels throughout Australia.
The aircraft will all get a new StarTrack livery.
The B737-400F is on order and will join the fleet in the very near future.

The mid-year start of operations is planned to cover nine domestic destinations within Australia and is a five year contract which is estimated to be worth A$500 million (€322.7 mn) to Qantas. The aim of both parties is to operate this service well into the mid-2020s.

Oz Post secures belly capacity…
Another part of the deal ensures that Australia Post also gets a so-called priority access to belly space in the Qantas and another Australian carrier, Jetstar passenger fleets.
This, along with the dedicated freighter service allow Australia Post to streamline their postal services and deliveries throughout this large continent.

The Boeing 737 freighters which are being supplied by Qantas are owned by the QF owned Express Freighters Australia, while the BAe146 cargo aircraft are operated for Qantas by Cobham Aviation Services.

Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, is quoted as saying, “Australia Post would benefit from the airline group’s scale and wide network reach. Our focus in designing this agreement is to help our biggest freight customer better coordinate their supply chain and ultimately deliver a better service to their customers.”

… while TNT teams up with Virgin Australia
Cooperation between the three partners, Qantas, Australia Post and Startrack, has been in effect since way back in 1992 when there was a 50-50 joint venture formed between QF and Australia Post.
StarTrack Express was acquired by the group in a 50-50 deal in 2003, whereby Qantas then sold their share in StarTrack to Australia Post in 2012.
After transfer of the aircraft and start of operations, Qantas Freight’s own all cargo fleet will then consist of just one B767-300F and two B737-300Fs

In another Australian airline sector, Virgin Australia’s freight arm, which was started in 2015 signed up TNT as a major and important customer by supplying dedicated freighters in order to serve the contract.

Things are moving in the air freight world “down-under.”

John Mc Donagh

Before officially launching the product sometime next summer, “we want to study and scrutinize all related processes in order to guarantee the market the utmost quality of ‘myAirCargo’,” explains speaker Andreas Pauker of LH Cargo.
 
Target group are passengers flying with LH, OS or EW
Future users of this individualized transport option are travelers flying with LH, AUA or Eurowings, that spontaneously decide to purchase a keepsake while being abroad and which is too large or heavy to fit into their suitcases. For instance, a unique piece of furniture, an art deco object or a large and valuable painting seen in a gallery somewhere that the viewer lost his heart to and is eager to bring home.
However, the purchase price is only one side of the coin; the other is the expenditure for transporting the good piece home. Exactly at this point ‘myAirCargo’ comes into the game. All a potential buyer of, say, souvenirs needs is a smartphone, visiting LH Cargo’s website and click on ‘myAirCargo’. Immediately after the dimensions and weight of the goods and the addresses for pick-up and delivery are entered, the price for a door-door transport is instantly displayed. The rest is credit card number and confirmation of the deal – that’s it. The immediate visibility of price and capacity confirmation for the air transport by either Lufthansa, Austrian or Eurowings makes ‘myAirCargo’ very attractive, reasons Herr Pauker. The client gets instant information about the entire cost framework, including selling price and transport price.
 
Door-door service
“Assisted by local forwarding partners, we as Lufthansa Cargo are controlling the entire supply chain from beginning to end, which includes customs clearance, pick-up, documentation and delivery,” states Andreas. Therefore, ‘myAirCargo’ is similar to options offered by package delivery companies like DHL Express, FedEx or UPS.  
According to Andreas, it complements LH Cargo’s product portfolio, aimed specifically at passengers traveling on board Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines or Eurowings. He admits that there is little chance that it will become more than a niche product, but it rounds off the carrier’s cargo offerings. 
Swiss and Brussels Airlines are excluded from this personalized transport option, at least during the initial phase. This is because they manage their cargo business by themselves or with the support of general sales agents, particularly SN Cargo. This does not exclude, however, that they’ll follow the example of LH Cargo one day should the new product manage to establish itself in the market.

Niche product
According to Andreas, ‘myAirCargo’ covers a niche beginning at 50 kilograms and ending somewhere above one hundred kg. By volume and dimension, it is positioned between hand luggage and normal cargo shipments.
He does not expect a conflict with forwarding agents who might blame Lufthansa Cargo for dealing with clients directly, thus sidelining them. “We are not taking away any business from any agent; instead they get a piece of the cake because it’s them we mandate to carry out the pick-up and last mile delivery.”
 
Discouraging financial figures
All in all, “myAirCargo” won’t surely perform miracles to cure the somber financial situation Lufthansa Cargo is currently facing. In Q1, the carrier went into the red, presenting an EBIT loss of €19mn, compared with a profit of €52mn in the first quarter of last year.
Which strategic and operational steps LH Cargo will take to restructure the business and get back into the black the management will announce in mid-June as outcome of thorough internal discussions.

Heiner Siegmund