Harald warns of sinister trend
In his introductory remarks, LH Cargo’s security figurehead Harald Zielinski sounded the alarm, pointing out that a new type of perpetrator has recently emerged, becoming an increasing threat to the industry: the internal offender. Security checked employees with full access to security sectors at airports or warehouses that become radicalized Jihadists without anybody noticing it because of their inconspicuous behavior. “We are not talking about a common thief but a potential terrorist that can do much harm to our industry,” Harald illustrated this newly emerged source of threat. The lone Jihadi wolf is becoming a real danger to aviation. It requires new observation and reconnaissance activities to detect converted intruders before they can do any harm, he asked the 130 attendees to take action in order to safeguard their business.
In his remarks Herr Zielinski also delivered another less worrisome but nonetheless problematic message, announcing that the upcoming air safety law to be introduced by the German Federal Government will cost the air freight industry €32.74 million. It’s a new cost avalanche cargo companies will have to shoulder.

Bosbach refutes Fukuyama
In his keynote address, Wolfgang Bosbach, member of the German Parliament and until 2015 long-time Chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs of the German Bundestag referred to Francis Fukuyama, the author of ‘The End of History and the Last Man’. In his book, the Chicago-born political scientist assumed that ideological struggles will end after the Soviet system imploded and the Berlin wall crumbled. Fukuyama predicted a global trend to liberal democracy and the universalization of economic and ethical values practiced in Western countries.
“That was our hope 25 years ago,” Bosbach stated. However, today’s security situation isn’t any less dramatic than it was during the Cold War. What’s most frightening is the change in terrorism with suicide bombers trying to kill as many people as possible, regardless their ethnics, religion or nationality. In contrast, ‘traditional’ perpetrators selected target persons, trying not to be caught by police or military forces after their attacks. In Germany, Bosbach said, 40,000 Islamists are living, among them 8,200 radical Salafists. “We should practice a policy of zero tolerance because they don’t hate us for what we are doing but for what we are!” Freedom and security are two sides of the same coin, said the politician who pleaded for more vigilance.
Bosbach’s appeal was strongly supported by Professor Wolfgang Bock, a judge at the German Federal Agency for Security Policy. He referred to a long-term study between 2008 and 2012 conducted by a U.S. institute and based on 38,000 interviews with Muslims living in North America, Europe and Africa, with Saudi Arabia, Iran and China excluded from the survey because of political reasons. The findings are highly alarming, with 53 percent being in favour of abolishing western democratic systems and introducing the Sharia law instead. This includes strict laws against insulting the Prophet, the consumption of alcohol, punishments such as the severing of limbs for property crimes (cutting off hands), and the death penalty, by stoning for adultery and homosexuality. Professor Bock said: “27 percent of those that support the Sharia are in favour of introducing the death penalty in the countries they live in.” While 61 percent of the interviewees objected to any suicide attacks in the name of Allah, 39 percent expressed some sympathy or even affirm this repugnant practice.
According to Bock, the majority of Muslims don’t have a deeper understanding of their religion. This, however, doesn’t make them less susceptible to radicalization and extremism. Even more frightening is the fact that among Islamic terrorist there are always well-educated people, which seemed to be well integrated in western societies. His conclusion: The pulling-out of Western armed forces from crisis regions will strengthen Islamism, thus fostering terror, increasing security threats and weaken the Western world. Best would be to support local liberal movements in appropriate ways instead of taking military action, Judge Bock recommended.

Loga announced tougher measures to close security loopholes
Birgit Loga, Head of Aviation Security at national regulator Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) announced plans for introducing a new security program in air freight. The scheme’s main point is that all participants of the supply chain in air freight will need an official approval for being allowed to conduct cargo transports, including trucking companies and their subcontractors. Therefore, it can be expected that in addition to the LBA admitted 1,717 Regulated Agents including production sites, their number will steeply increase once the security program passed legislation. Loga admitted that her agency doesn’t exactly know how many transport companies are part of the supply chain in air freight. “This we intend to change to get precise data and exercise inspections to control the performance, workflows and the company’s compliance with statutory requirements,” she stated. 

Hauke talks straight
Chief Superintendent Hauke Blohm of Germany’s Federal Police Headquarters warned in his presentation of a rapidly increasing threat level in air freight security. “I severely doubt the effectiveness of existing measures to minimize risks,” he stated. It needs a completely new threat analysis highlighting the human factor instead of bureaucratic and technocratic precautions and defensive measures as done today.
A group of police specialists together with scholars of the University Hamburg-Harburg have developed a risk-based scenario in a three-year study, recognizing that humans are the weak point in air freight security. It’s not so much new scanner technology, more efficient X-ray machines and other devices to prevent explosives to be loaded on board of aircraft. They surely are indispensable to detecting loopholes but much more important is having a close eye on those that pack consignments, load them on board an aircraft or transit shipments from warehouses to the stands of the jetliners, the police expert indicated where the industry and the authorities should put their security focus on.
By wrapping up Lufthansa Cargo’s 6th security conference, Hauke reminded the 130 participants that the best way of protecting air freight and preventing attacks is to create a cooperative climate within a given company which all employees feel comfortable with, be it ground handlers, forwarders, truckers, shippers or carriers. He concluded his thoughtful remarks by pointing out that the emotional hurdle to smuggle a bomb aboard an aircraft is relatively low in case the person concerned hates the economic and social system he lives in. Once converted from a liberal Muslim to a Jihadist these fanatics are capable of anything, the police expert exclaimed.

Heiner Siegmund

Of the four units, ATS will be the largest contributing business segment, which includes Malaysia Airlines, FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, MASwings Sdn Bhd, and MAB Kargo Sdn Bhd.
The latter is MAG's second largest income earner with revenue projections of 1.3 billion ringgit. "This division will apply for its own Airline Operating Certificate and will operate as a separate company as of 2017," Malaysia Airlines said.
The ground service and engineering segment covers AeroDarat Services Sdn Bhd, which provides ground-handling services in KL International Airport and 15 other airports across Malaysia, including ramp and cargo services, and MAB Engineering Services Sdn Bhd, which is involved in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul.
Separately, the aircraft-leasing segment will house MAB Leasing Sdn Bhd and MAB Pesawat Sdn Bhd. Both provide aircraft leasing services.
The talent development division will house MAB Academy, which provides education and training, and is expected to commence operations as an independent company in late 2016.

Creating separate profit centres
According to Malaysia Airlines, the new group structure will drive better transparency and focused management across the respective operating subsidiaries, creating profit centre subsidiaries of the company's separate businesses.
The carrier also said the new structure will increase individual companies' flexibility to explore collaborative opportunities and agility for capital raising opportunities, making the subsidiaries more competitive and responsive, strengthening the position of the group in its various markets and business segments.

In search for a Mueller successor
Outgoing Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer (CEO) Christoph Mueller, who is also now MAG's CEO, said: "This will align structures and processes more consistently to the needs of our customer groups and raise the group's overall efficiency and focus, reduce complexity and increase decision-making speeds."
Long before the end of his three-year contract, Mueller unexpectedly announced his departure from the Malaysian carrier in April this year, citing "changing personal circumstances".
A Malaysia Airlines' spokesperson confirmed that Mueller, a German airline turnaround specialist, will still leave by September, and an incoming chief executive will head the new structure with the same board members from Malaysia Airlines in place.

Nol van Fenema

The conference was organised by the European chapter of the Bio Supply Management Alliance (BSMA), a worldwide community of operations and supply chain management leaders and professionals in the biotech, biopharma, and biomedical device industries. It was supported by Biolog, a pharmaceutical-related project within ‘Logistics in Wallonia’. The latter is an organisation set up to promote Wallonia as a logistics hotspot.
During the thematic session on Transport & Logistics Solutions, an interesting presentation was brought by Jeroen Janssens, Sr. Manager, Centre of Excellence for Packaging & Cold Chain at GSK Vaccines. Jeroen spoke about a project initiated by GSH to shift not only some intercontinental business from the air to the sea mode, but – within Europe – also to more road transport. Read: away from air cargo.
The reasons for GSK to look into the ocean mode were manifold, said Jeroen. There was, of course, the cost issue, but on the debit side there were other things to consider. Lead times would be extended from a few days to weeks. On the other hand, the environmental footprint would be upgraded a lot.

Does the maritime industry lack expertise?
GSK would also have to select the right partners in subcontracting freight forwarders, the shipping line and the road hauliers. “They all have to understand the processes. We had to go through a lot of risk assessment, qualifications, documentation and planning.”
Things were not made easier by the fact that pharmaceuticals make up only 2.5% of the global sea container volume. Moreover, the shipping lines do not have any expertise to speak of in shipping pharmaceuticals.
A strange comment as the air cargo industry itself says it is suffering in a shift of pharma from air-to-sea because apparently the ocean vessels and their managers have a better and shorter supply chain.
In ocean freight, there is an extensive availability of non-pharma dedicated reefer containers. The product weight is low. Among the other issues to be considered were the (temperature-) critical steps in the port handling process, during which the reefers have to be unplugged. “And”, said Jeroen, “what about reefer maintenance should the cooling system break down during the voyage?”

No ‘one-size-fits-all’
Before the project could be kicked off, a lot of testing and mapping was required. The equipment available had to be described thoroughly and the thermal history had to be mapped. Tests were carried out in extreme winter and summer conditions, with maximum and minimum loads. Jeroen: “As soon as the reefer is being loaded onto the vessel, you are very quickly going out of your desired temperature range. On top of that there is the question of liability, a very big issue for our industry due to the relatively high value of our products.”
So far, GSK has moved some 120 containers on the Europe-to America lane and it has currently the Europe to Africa lane under observation. From the tests they learned that cost savings were immense: between 50 to 80%. Packaging waste was zero. Temperature excursion turned out to be more than satisfactory.

From China by train
According to Jeroen, it is all about collaboration. “This is certainly not a one-size-fits-all alternative. You should still use the most appropriate mode of transportation for your products,” he concluded.
Using rail may be another alternative. It is cheaper than air, but more expensive than ocean freight. The lead times are still higher than air cargo’s, but shorter than ocean freight’s (20 days vs. 40 days). Biolog Consulting’s Raphael Cabolet elaborated on the ‘New Silk Road’ train services between China and Europe.
On this route, temperature variation may be very high. For this mode to be fully acceptable to pharma shippers, it would have to be backed by an efficient tracking & tracing system recognised by the authorities, said Raphael. “Strict standardisation is another thing. Rail transport may indeed be an alternative, but the requirements of the industry demand important improvements prior to the rail solution becoming competitive to the air freight on offer.”

Cargo dedicated airports may set the tune
Temperature excursions are negligible if you can offer a cargo-dedicated airport as a controlled environment for bio products, said Bert Selis, Liege Airport’s Cargo Manager. The airport boasts 150,000 m² of warehousing capacity, of which 7,000 m² are temperature-controlled. Contrary to a passenger-oriented airport, where aircraft parking stands are at the passenger terminals, cargo planes at LGG can park right at the warehouses.”
“Therefore, tarmac time is limited and there are no flows disruptions between storage and aircraft lading”, said Bert. LGG has four dedicated temperature-controlled facilities available. One airline, Israeli carrier CAL, and three handling companies are IATA CEIV Pharma accredited. By late spring 2017 a brand new 8,000 m² wide pharma centre will be operational.

Temperature is not the only issue to be watched
In pharmaceutical and healthcare logistics there is more to be observed than temperature alone, said Rich Kilmer CEO for Cargosense. He broke a lance for a closer Logistics oversight through the Internet of Things. “Because you do not always have all the necessary data, even if they are available through the IoT”, he said. “There are at least 6 events between pickup and delivery and it is hard to get accurate information on your consignments.”
He reminded the audience of the fact that temperature issues alone bring about a loss of USD 35 bln every year. In this respect, he praised the efforts taken by Brussels Airport to set up a pharma community in which the partners have committed themselves to keep the integrity of the consignment intact throughout the logistics process. “But this is only one airport”, he said.
According to Rich, the way forward is to build a time line of the shipment. Apart from temperature, there are other data to be observed: humidity, exposure to light, barometric pressure, shock, and tilt.”
Cargosense has developed a device that collects all the data including driving time, cross-docking, warehouse time, and conditions on tarmacs and yards an airplane data. “These data can also be used for decisions on modal shift, weighing one airport against another.”

Marcel Schoeters in Brussels

AirBridgeCargo links Houston-Abu Dhabi
Starting today (23 May) the Russian cargo carrier connects Houston and Abu Dhabi. The weekly flights (always Mondays) are operated via Chicago and Luxembourg.
From Luxembourg, ABC offers an extensive range of trucking services to cover continen-tal Europe, while from Abu Dhabi trucking services will offer connections to both Dubai DXB and DWC airports, reads a release.
Commented Hendrik Falk, ABC’s Vice President North and South America: “The intro-duction of a Houston flight is something that has been on our agenda for quite some time as we have been expanding our presence in the USA and exploring cities where our cus-tomers have great demand for our services. We expect that the oil and gas industry, in particular, will benefit from this new service and naturally our sales force will be develop-ing this destination for other commodities, too.” He went on to say that the new service will also compliment ABC’s existing frequencies from Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. 

YTO Express to boost fleet with wide-body freighters
The Chinese air cargo carrier, YTO Express which operates domestic cargo services within China with a fleet of two Boeing 737-200Fs has stated in an interview with the Chinese press, that they intend to add wide-body aircraft into their fleet.
The intention is, according to Mr Yu Weijiao, YTO’s Chairman, to add three aircraft by 2018, which will help YTO in its international expansion planning.

The company is said to be preparing to submit an application to the Chinese Civil Aviation authorities (CAAC) and IATA for the start-up of international services.
The present B737F fleet is expected to expand rapidly in the near future with the delivery of ten B737-800BCF aircraft which are slotted for delivery in 2018.
YTO have so far not revealed which type of long-haul freighter they are looking at.

CEVA Logistics makes senior aerospace appointment
CEVA Logistics, a leading supply chain management company has appointed Alain Sou-to as its Vice President Global Contract logistics for the Aerospace Operations Sector.
Mr Souto will have his base in Madrid, Spain and will report directly to Brett Bissell, CE-VA’s Chief Operating Officer Contract Logistics.
The aerospace logistics department plays an important role within CEVA’s so called Freight Management and Contract Logistics sector.
Alain Souto joins CEVA from Kuehne & Nagel where he held the position of Director of Industry and Aerospace Logistics.

AEI converts first Boeing 737-800 into cargo
A GECAS-owned B737-800 passenger aircraft, which was recently operated by Corendon Airlines is the first 737-800 aircraft to be converted into a freight configuration (P2F).
The aircraft with the serial number 29121 was ferried to AEI’s base at Miami International Airport where it will undergo P2F conversion and be delivered to a yet undisclosed customer in 2017.
GECAS intends to have up to twenty b737-800s configured as freighters by Aeronautical Engineers Inc in the coming years.
GECAS was the launch customer for AEI’s 737-800 conversion program. Both Boeing and Israel’s Bedek Aviation also have 737-800 P2F programs lined up.

AA gives quick support to Ecuador
Victims in the devastated areas of the recent earthquakes in Ecuador are receiving speedy help from American Airlines who have already shipped more than 20 pallets containing water purification units which will be distributed to families throughout the affected areas.
American Airlines Cargo donated the transport GlobalMedic which in turn sent a total of 560 Family Emergency Kits to Quito from New York on one of their B777 passenger aircraft.
The units are capable of purifying water for up to a period of one year.
Prior to AA’s step, LATAM Cargo had transported tons of relief goods from Santiago to Quito. Hopefully, others will follow suit on both carrier’s exemplary humanitarian action.

Arctic foxes ride home on Air Canada
Arctic foxes from Hong Kong to Montreal?
Should it not be the other way around?
Chi Chi and Cindy, two female Arctic foxes along with their male counterparts, Siu Chu and Yau Nam, whose natural habitat is normally the Arctic tundra have left their lodgings at a wildlife centre in Hong Kong and have been re-homed at the Quebec Aquarium in Montreal.
Air Canada Cargo, assisted by Hactl’s Livestock Handling Centre, moved all four on a B777-200 flight from HKG. Two of the foxes have never seen the Arctic tundra as they were born in Hong Kong
Garry Blaugrave, Director, Cargo Sales & Service Asia & Pacific of AC Cargo stated “ we are delighted to play a part in the re-homing of these beautiful animals, and hope they will be happy in their new permanent environment.”
 
IAG Cargo launches new LATAM route
A new route to Santiago, Chile will be offered by IAG Cargo as of the 2016 winter flight plan. This makes IAG the only airline to fly directly from London Heathrow to Santiago.
The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 aircraft with four weekly flights to and from the capital of Chile.
This will also be IAG Cargo’s longest direct route.
IAG Cargo recently announced various new Latin American route expansions of this summer.

Qatar Airways ups their share in IAG
The Doha-based carrier has for a second time within one month increased its share in IAG SA, the airlines’ holding group which includes British Airways and Spain’s national carrier, Iberia.
Qatar Airways will now hold 15.1 percent of IAG.
A month ago, they increased their 9.99 percent share to 12 percent and now have increased by a further 3.1 percent.
Qatar officials are quoted as saying that they eventually intend to hold 49 percent of IAG, which is the maximum amount allowed on foreign ownership by the EU regulatory bodies.

John Mc Donagh  /  Heiner Siegmund

Flexibility is the-name-of-the-game
COC which this year completes its first decade of business, was founded by Mr Papke in 2006 as an all-cargo handling business mainly working along the lines of outsourcing physical cargo handling staff to one or two of the larger handlers at FRA.
It has not been an easy ten years for Christoph Papke who is also a board member of the German Air Cargo Club (ACD).
“I’ve had to be very flexible during the past ten years in order to place COC where it is today,” Christoph explains.
He strongly emphasizes that this flexibility was, or even now, is not geared towards offering cheaper rates in order to gain business.
Different business pillars had to be created in order to convince potential clients of the benefit of using COC’s services, this is what Papke’s COC offers.

Start-up clients were the larger handling entities, Swissport and Aviapartner, where COC managed a contract to supply physical handling manpower to support their operations.
Mr Papke states that already by 2008, COC had a clean balance sheet and was by then showing a small profit.
Fraport Cargo Services were added as a customer in 2009.

Cheap competition erodes customer loyalty
Christoph Papke who was born in 1959 in the Bavarian town of Staffelstein, close to Bamberg, spent much of his youth moving from one location to another. His father was an engineer who’s workplace changed frequently and the family moved along with him.
They finally settled in the state of Hesse in 1986 and that’s where Christoph started his training as a freight agent.
He spent some time with Air France Cargo as a salesman and was also a Key Account Manager at Danzas and D-Logistics Health Care unit before going out on his own in 2006.
He says he has not looked back since although it’s tough as an independent operator, especially these days where in his view “there are too many unserious operators in the market who are juggling against each other price-wise and having a negative effect on established small and mid-sized cargo handlers.”
This he adds, erodes some of the customer loyalty as prices come under strong pressure.

Four pillars keep COC moving in the market
Mr Papke is proud of the fact that despite the price pressure, that his company generated a revenue of €3.4 million in 2015 and his prognosis for 2016 is €4.5 mn. This more 30 percent increase will he says come from 2 to 3 new clients coming on board and his policy of operating with four different handling models.

• General air cargo handling - where all of COC’s 150 staff are fully certified for general handling activities as well as dangerous goods and the built-up-unit (BUP’s) handling. Documentation services are also offered.
• Outsourcing or Contract Logistics - here COC offers their expertise and staff to manage fully or partly the warehouses of logistics operators.
• Commercial Contract Staff Hire - COC has acquired the necessary authorization to offer handling staff to other operators during peak periods or where there are staff shortfalls due to holiday periods or sickness. This service is offered with the aim of helping other logistics providers to lower their manpower costs.
• Security & Surveillance Services - comprehensive surveillance services in accordance with §34 of the Trade Regulations Act which covers cargo surveillance and inspection and security in predefined areas.

There are COC in-house training programs which train new staff and give regular refresher courses to those already on board.
Cargo Operation Centre is ISO 9001 certified since 2014

The past and the future
Looking back on the past decade, Christoph Papke is rightly proud of what he started in 2006. The fact that his company is still being in business is due to factors such as having offered a stable handling basis with a small but loyal client base as well as a reliable pricing structure for his clients and loyal staff who have always been paid fully and on time.
The downside has been the continued negative pricing policy of some of his competitors and in Mr Papke’s view, the resulting decline in service which gives the trade a bad name.

When looking at the next decade, COC will in Mr Papke’s words continue to try and gradually increase its customer base with a further 2-3 clients. Christoph does not rule out the possibility of retiring himself in the not so distant future once a suitable takeover offer were to come onto the table or if he finds a dedicated new managing director.
Until then however, he stays at the helm.
He has a further leg to stand on since he also became Managing Director of S-P-S Germany which is a daughter company of S-P-S Netherlands and which manufactures, leases and maintains non-motorized airport equipment.
S-P-S Germany generated sales of 1.2 million euros in 2015.

Flexibility keeps Mr Papke happy and still in the game, but the negative pricing trend makes it more and more difficult to reach a profit.

John Mc Donagh

An Air Services Agreement between the two countries was signed in 1992 and the memorandum of understanding establishing the number of flights to be operated was signed in 2014.
In a statement, the Kazakh carrier said it started the flight permission application process that normally takes two months, eight months before the first flight and successfully completed the audit by CAAM and was informed that there were “zero findings.” Permission to start flights was granted in March 2016.
In April 2016, however, the CAA of Mongolia unilaterally withdrew permission without any valid grounds, according to Air Astana.

Air Astana will refer the matter to the ICAO
Despite efforts by the Kazakhstan government and Air Astana itself, CAAM has not reversed its revocation quoting a range of ungrounded and changing list of reasons. These include the audit for which the airline has a confirmation it passed with zero findings; unavailability of the Ulaanbaatar Airport in June for the ASEM Summit in the middle of July; and latest an alleged blacklist by ICAO while Air Astana has never been blacklisted for any operation to any country.
Kazakhstan believes that Mongolia is in breach of the provisions of the Chicago Convention, and will refer the matter to the ICAO Council accordingly, the Air Astana statement noted.
Air Astana operates a fleet of 30 aircraft including the 767-300ER, 757-200,  A320 family and Embraer E-190. The carrier will take delivery of 11 A320neo family aircraft, including four A321 LR between 2016-2019 and three 787s in 2019.
The 2001-established airline is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, and BAE Systems from the UK, with respective shares of 51% and 49% respectively.

Nol van Fenema

In the release, FedEx stresses that the €4.4 billion acquisition combines the strengths of both companies, creating the world’s largest air express network and a tightly-knit European road network.
“This acquisition is a significant accomplishment and marks the beginning of a new era, filled with promise for our people, customers and shareowners,” commented Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO of FedEx. “We are proud to celebrate the joining of two iconic companies and the approximately 400,000 team members who are committed to serving customers around the world.”

At a press conference David Bronczek, FedEx Express President and CEO delivered an optimistic outlook: "The combined two companies will transform the worldwide express playing field. Together we have a complete portfolio of solutions combining the largest express international global business of FedEx with the unparalleled European road feeder network of TNT."

He announced that Hoofddorp in the Netherlands has been selected as future headquarters of the combined entity. 

Right timing
“The timing of this historic event is important, particularly in the current market environment where global e-commerce is growing at double-digit rates,” Smith stated. “Adding TNT’s capabilities to our existing services, including GENCO and the recently relaunched FedEx CrossBorder, will further expand the ability of FedEx to support business connections around the world.”
“Over our 43 year history, FedEx has repeatedly reinvented and revolutionized the industry, from the first overnight express service backed by a money-back guarantee to the invention of internet shipping. And just as we revolutionized the U.S. domestic parcel business through the acquisition and development of what is now FedEx Ground, the acquisition of TNT will change the way customers view FedEx around the world,” Smith continued.

Three European hubs
David Binks, FedEx Express European Chief confirmed during the press conference that FedEx/TNT intends continuing utilizing Paris CDG, Cologne and TNT's major gateway Liege as primary European hubs. Further airports like Copenhagen, Stansted and Milan complement the operation with possible more to come in view of a growing market place. 

Binks also assured that the TNT brand will be kept for the time being, thus denying earlier speculations it might by abolished once the acqusition is completed.

As to the costs of the integration and possible job losses the manager remained vague. "It's way too early to present details," he stated.

Fast integration targeted
Alan B. Graf, Jr., FedEx Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer added to this that the acquisition will add significant value for FedEx shareowners, team members and customers around the globe, particularly in Europe. Graf went on to say: “The TNT team members bring 70 years of diverse experience, which combined with that of FedEx team members, will make this integration a success.”
In today’s acquisition announcement, FedEx points out that the integration process will begin immediately. The FedEx track record of successful acquisition integrations in the U.S. and globally will serve the combined companies well to leverage investments in technology, infrastructure, facilities and operational capabilities to position the combined companies for long-term growth and success.
Once the amalgamation is complete, FedEx expects customers to enjoy an expanded global offering due to TNT’s integration into the business of the Memphis, Tennessee-based package delivery giant.

Heiner Siegmund

By launching ‘pharma.aero’, BRU and MIA take the next step for enhancing the quality of door-door pharma transports. So far, airports with high pharma throughput concentrated mostly on ground handling processes, the intermediate storage of temperature critical goods in special cool rooms, the adequate packaging of pharma shipments at warehouses located on site or alike provisions to assure top product quality and fast ground handling processes.

Focussing on lane certification
Now, with the launch of ‘pharma.aero’, achieving lane certification for pharma transports by air moves into the spotlight, thus increasing the quality of transports along the entire supply chain and make processes visible for the participants from beginning to end.  
It’s no coincidence that two heavyweights in pharma handling took the initiative at the margins of the TIACA meeting to launch ‘pharma.aero’. In 2014, Brussels Airport was the first and still is the largest CEIV community in the world that keeps on growing. Last year, Miami was the first airport organizing a similar community setup in the Americas.

Close cooperation
Both airports have been working together and sharing ideas in the past year on the topic of pharma and cool chain and wish to continue to do so in an even formal and structured way. This approach has led to the creation of the new organization.
According to their release, ‘pharma.aero’ will concentrate on three fields: 

• Networking and events: bringing all stakeholders together and creating an intense dialogue between a selective group of individuals and companies.
• Standard setting: bench marking, creation of standard protocols, joint projects, innovation.
• Network of excellence for its members: sharing best practises, audit support, setting up of a knowledge center.

Creating a network of dedicated pharma airports
“As the busiest U.S. airport for international freight, perishable imports and temperature-controlled products, MIA seized the opportunity to further grow the local pharmaceutical transport industry by rallying the local cargo community and engaging them in the IATA CEIV Pharma Certification Program,” said airport director Emilio T. Gonzalez. “And, after becoming the first IATA-designated pharma hub airport in the United States (and 2nd in the world), we now turn our efforts to leveraging our strength as a pharma hub.” This will be done by collaborating with other airports around the world who share a common goal of strengthening pharma certified trade lanes and extending pharma cold supply chains to reach new international markets.  “We are very pleased to work with our friends at BRU on this important initiative,” Emilio exclaimed.

End-to-end solutions
Brussels Airport’s cargo chief Steven Polmans, added to this: “In the past three to four years, we have been working very closely with the pharma manufacturers, which has resulted in the IATA CEIV Program we organised at Brussels. This continuous dialogue has learned us that there still is a lot of work to be done before we can consider us as a true and reliable transport partner for them.” By tying up with Miami in the delicate pharma segment BRU intends to continue and strengthen the approach, bringing it on a global level to create end-to-end solutions for the pharma industry. “The organisation will be very much content focussed, developing solutions and creating transparency in very close co-operation with the pharma industry,” Steven stated. 
For more information send email to: info@pharma.aero 

Heiner Siegmund

Tianjin hub is planned for start up
ATSG together with China’s United Star Express Airline have got together to operate a JV which will run under United Star’s name.
The hub for the planned express operation is Tianjin where both parties plan to base a fleet of Boeing 737 freighters and operate them throughout China.
Could it be that the recent order given to AEI Miami (see also this week’s version of SHORT SHOTS) from a yet undisclosed customer is directed towards this deal?
ATSG and United Star plan to start their operation sometime next year. It cannot be earlier seeing that there is a backlog of orders now for Boeing 737 P2F aircraft.

ATSG’s Amazon deal - the start of a new era?
The Wilmington-based carrier again came into the spotlight a few months ago when it was made public that Amazon signed a contract with ATSG whereby the carrier will supply twenty Boeing 767 freighters solely for Amazon’s use within the continental USA.

The Air Transport Services Group has come a long way within the past few years.
Basically an American aviation holding company, which offers air cargo transport and related services to other air carriers, ATSG subsidiaries include three cargo airlines which all have U.S. FAA Part 121 Air Carrier certificates.
These are ABX Air, Airborne Global and Air Transport International.
The Group runs their own Maintenance & Engineering Services (AMES) as well as a Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) unit.
A Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM) - dry leasing division coordinates aircraft leasing and rental to other carriers or logistics companies.

In December 2013, ATSG also took a twenty-five percent stake in the U.S. carrier, West Atlantic.

Large Boeing freighter fleet expands
The deal with Amazon, which will initially run for five years, was managed through ATSG’s leasing division and the twenty B767F’s will be operated by both ABX Air and Air Transport International.
As is with the Amazon - Atlas Air deal, ATSG also granted Amazon warrants to buy 9.99% and even up to 19.9% of ATSG common shares which are listed on the U.S. NASDAQ stock exchange.

The first quarter of this year showed ATSG generating revenues of US$177.4 million, which represents an increase of 21 percent compared to the same period last year.
The fleet consist of 56 Boeing 767 and B757 freighters and there are a further five B767-300 aircraft in ATSG’s hands awaiting their P-to-F conversion

The joint-venture in China opens up new horizons for ATSG which until now was more-or-less dealing in the U.S. domestic market and South America.

John Mc Donagh

These are preliminary talks, scheduled to give representatives of both sides the opportunity to evaluate if most of the existing hurdles blocking a more liberalized air traffic regime can be set aside before the official bilateral negotiations start in July.  
The landscape of diverse conflicts is as follows:
Russia claims being disadvantaged by German authorities who denied AirBridgeCargo operating rights for a third Boeing 747-400F /-8F transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Chicago, complementing the existing twice-weekly line-haul service. 

“Germans should stick to what they promised,” Russian delegation demands
“There are certain misunderstandings which from the Russian side we aim to resolve through constructive dialogue this week,” states Oleg Demidov, Deputy Director of the External Relations Department at the Volga-Dnepr Group and member of the official Russian air traffic rights delegation in an attempt to create a positive working atmosphere. However, when looking behind the diplomatic curtain, an issue becomes visible, bugging the Russian delegation members: the stopping of ATRAN cargo flights between Munich and Liege operated five times weekly with B737Fs by the Volga-Dnepr subsidiary on behalf of TNT Express. ATRAN is a Moscow-based member of the Volga-Dnepr Group, operating on regional routes thus complementing ABC’s intercontinental network.
Asked about Volga-Dnepr Group’s expectations with regards to the imminent round of air traffic negotiations with their German counterparts a Russian representative stated that “we simply want to get what we were promised and hope that both sides  will come to terms and normalize relations.” 

It takes two to tango
Faced with the positions of their counterparts, the German side officially refused to comment on the situation, avoiding throwing additional oil on the fire and to heat up the conflict even further prior to the negotiations taking off. Between the lines, however, leading industry players point out that it was Russia who violated air traffic agreements in the first place. Done so by Moscow’s Transport Ministry end of March (change to summer schedule) by denying Lufthansa Cargo three weekly Boeing 777 freighter flights between Frankfurt and Beijing via Siberia. These overflight permissions, claim the Germans, LH Cargo had applied for and publicly announced at a very early stage, are covered by the existing air traffic agreement. Against this background, “we addressed leading customers and started marketing our capacity on this route,” said an LHC speaker. He added to this that his company was surprised by the fact that the Russian regulator did not respond to the overflight application. “They just remained silent, without informing us about their intentions,” the LH Cargo speaker wonders. So lacking Moscow’s official okay, LH Cargo was forced to scrap their plans to operate Beijing flights on the Siberian route, shortly before the first freighter flight was scheduled to take off.  
In the meantime, the cargo carrier elaborated an alternative Beijing route south of Russia, not crossing the huge country’s boundaries. But the flying distance is longer thus more fuel consuming, thinning out profits and upping greenhouse gas emissions.

AeroLogic fights for scheduled rights
Apart from LH Cargo, Russia’s air traffic policy is questioned by cargo carrier AeroLogic. As an outcome of the negotiations held between both sides in January of 2014, AeroLogic was conceded the designation as a second German cargo carrier, next to LH Cargo. This designation is a precondition for obtaining scheduled traffic rights. However, the deal sealed in early 2014 between the Russian and the German delegations is still pending final approval by the Russians, more than 2.5 years after both sides signed the paper at their meeting on traffic rights.
In view of this policy of playing deaf, AeroLogic would have good reasons to demand getting what they were originally promised. For the time being, however, the freight carrier can operate its 22 weekly flights across Siberia only as individual charters, which have to be permitted at short intervals by the Russian regulator. The problem is that these charters can be rejected by Moscow on short notice, turning them eventually into political pawns. In contrast, scheduled services, once conceded by the officials, would provide much more planning security.
Therefore, both sides will have a lot to discuss when meeting in Moscow during the next three days.

Divergent interests
The main aim of Russian cargo carrier’s is to obtain more Fifth Freedom Rights for flights out of Germany, predominantly ABC and its smaller sister ATRAN. While LH Cargo expects to obtain the okay for their Beijing flights and AeroLogic to be admitted the status as second German cargo carrier as door opener for operating line-haul flights between Europe and Far East, crossing Siberian territory.
For both sides a lot is at stake. Without a give-and-take attitude, it will be difficult to reach an acceptable compromise. It could be complicated by a tougher stance taken by the German government in air traffic matters lately. “The time where we conceded advanced traffic outlays as done in the past is over,” declared Berlin’s Traffic Minister Alexander Dobrindt only days ago.

Heiner Siegmund

´The investigation includes Alibaba's accounting for its logistics unit, Cainiao Network, and reporting practices for Singles Day, a major sales event in China, the company disclosed in its annual report.
The Hangzhou, China-based company said it is providing documents and is cooperating with the probe.
"The SEC advised us that the initiation of a request for information should not be construed as an indication by the SEC or its staff that any violation of the federal securities laws has occurred," the e-commerce firm said.
"This matter is ongoing, and, as with any regulatory proceeding, we cannot predict when it will be concluded."

Alibaba suspected of selling counterfeit goods
Earlier this year, Alibaba faced criticism by western brands for not doing enough to prevent sales of counterfeit goods on its platform, and was recently stripped of its International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) membership after three IACC members left the organisation, and an anonymous membership group threatened to quit the group in protest at Alibaba's inclusion.
Only recently, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) rang the alarm bell, citing OECD figures that Intellectual Property Rights infringed goods worth estimated €218 billion pass illegally across borders each year, with increasing tendency. 
Most of these items (66 percent) come from Chinese producers and distributers, followed by Hong Kong (13 percent).

Nol van Fenema

The new cargo facility built on a former parking lot and connected directly to the nearby-located aircraft stands is a real showpiece. “It will set very high standards in quality, upping the efficiency of cargo handling and strengthen Hamburg’s position as northern Germany’s leading logistics site,” praised airport Chief Michael Eggenschwiler on the occasion of the opening of the HACC.
The building comprises 40,000 sqm handling space capable of processing 150,000 tons per year. 44 loading ramps secure the seamless flow of incoming and outgoing goods designed to prevent trucks or vans to be caught in jams. In a separate 6,000 sqm facility, the offices of forwarders and ground handling agents are accommodated. 

50 users rented space
Interestingly enough, the space of the new facility was completely booked out long before to the first shipment arrived early this morning. For handlers most important is the improved productivity per square meter that is significantly higher in comparison to the former warehouses they were utilizing at HAM Airport. “We don’t have any comparative figures but a productivity leap of about 20 percent can be expected,” estimates Juergen Vogt, Managing Director of local ground handling agent LHU Hamburg. Renting 9,000 sqm handling space his firm is the largest HACC tenant. Markus Eberhard of competitor Swissport added to this that thanks to a high degree of automation work flows within the new building are accelerated with all processes becoming more transparent.
 
Door opener to revitalizing air freight in Hamburg
The building is equipped with a number of cool rooms, allowing the storage of all kinds of temperature sensitive items. An important aspect illustrated by airport boss Eggenschwiler. He pointed out that key products leaving Hamburg by air are pharma items, medicines, spare parts and components of the aviation and maritime industry that have a stronghold in Hamburg and medical devices.

Johan Schryver, Head of the Forwarders Association in Hamburg stated that air freight is a key component of his member’s business, upping the firm’s revenues, creating jobs, increasing the attractiveness of the marketplace. Up to now, Schryver criticized that only about 20 percent of the entire annual air freight of roughly 270,000 tons generated within a radius of 200 kilometers, left Hamburg on board an aircraft. Regrettably, the vast majority of goods are trucked to places like Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Liege or Luxembourg. With the new HACC in place, it can be expected that this exodus trend in cargo will be reversed by and large.  
 
Additional selling point
Rolf Boesinger, State Secretary of Hamburg’s Ministry of Economics said that his department expects a yearly increase in tonnage between 5 and 7 percent in Hamburg’s metropolitan area. So the hopes are high that the capacity of the new HACC will be soon exploited. Although there is still a long way to go given the fact that last year only 52,000 tons of exports and imports were processed via HAM.
However, apart from good wishes and high hopes related to today’s launch of HACC: The new cargo center might motivate additional carriers to add Hamburg to their network, offering long-haul flights to Germany’s wealthiest city, particularly airlines from Far East or North America. With cargo contributing between 10 to 15 percent to the turnover generated per route the new air freight facility becomes an additional selling point ranked very high in HAM’s efforts to attract new airlines, emphasized the airport’s helmsman Eggenschwiler in his address to the media.

Heiner Siegmund

Christian is anything but a newcomer in cargo handling matters, shown by his role as Lufthansa Cargo Director Sales & Handling Northeast USA, a term that ended in 2012. From his office at New York JFK Airport, it took him to Shanghai, where he became the cargo carrier’s Director North and Central China, succeeding his iconic predecessor Peter Ullmayer, a real character and true air cargo veteran who retired because of age reasons. Now, manager Haug goes back to his roots as ground handler of air freight at PACTL, a prime address in cargo matters at Pudong International.    
 
Setting record after record
PACTL is a Joint Venture, made up of three shareholders: Shanghai Airport (Group) Co., Ltd. (51%), Lufthansa Cargo AG (29%) and JHJ Logistics Management Co., Ltd. (20%). Founded in 1999, the handling agent breaks one tonnage record after the other year by year. In 2015, the PACTL staff handled nearly 1.6 million tons, an increase of 6.5 percent on 2014. Looking at the import/export ratio, it is noteworthy that export volumes are no longer dominant as they were in the years before. Meanwhile the wind has changed, seen by the 9 percent increase of air freight imports versus 4.8 percent export tonnage handled by PACTL in 2015. “The ongoing growth in international imports is mainly caused by the rising demand for imported consumer goods, such as perishables, pharmaceuticals and other high-value articles,” comments Lutz Grzegorz, PACTL’s outgoing Vice President.

Growing buying power spurs imports
This is explained by the fact that China’s middle class is continuously spreading, despite the recent economic slow-down, enabling a growing number of people to buy sought-after items coming from producers in Europe or North America. As result, an alignment process replaces the decades-long imbalance of goods flown into and out of China.
At Shanghai, PACTL processes just under 50 percent of the entire air freight tonnage handled there. Lately, particularly perishables have become an interesting and fast growing commodity. Only weeks ago, PACTL’s new cool centre was IATA CEIV Pharma certified, this way becoming fully compliant with all applicable pharmaceutical standards expected from the manufacturers in terms of facilities, equipment, operations and staff as well as being capable to provide a seamless cool chain transportation between PACTL’s cargo terminal and the aircraft parked at the apron of Pudong International.
Until now, LH Cargo has not appointed a successor to take over Haug’s job as Regional Director North and Central China from September on.   

Heiner Siegmund

IN BRIEF, THE LATEST AIR FREIGHT INDUSTRY NEWS.

TIACA OPENS REGISTRATION FOR 28TH CARGO FORUM
Innovation is the top theme on the agenda at TIACA’s 28th Air Cargo Forum being held in Paris from 26th to 28th of October this year.
The registration process has just been opened by TIACA and there are great hopes that the attendance from around the world will be high.
Groupe ADP (French Airports) and Air France KLM Cargo are jointly hosting the event.
The Forum itself will be held at the Porte de Versailles along with a three-day exhibition which is open to everyone.
The Vision 2020 program at the forum will include workshops explaining the EU Customs Code, along with a session on the latest Advance Data legislation.
There are a host of speakers including Jean-Yves Chaumet, Senior VP Operations & Logistics, Air France Cargo and Randy Tinseth, VP Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

AEI GETS UP TO 30 B737-800 CONVERSION ORDER
Aeronautical Engineers Inc (AEI), the Miami based aircraft conversion company, made public that it has now signed with a yet undisclosed client to provide up to thirty Boeing 737-800SF conversions.
The aircraft will have twelve main-deck pallet positions.

The deal is for fifteen firm orders along with an option for a further fifteen of the type.
Conversion of the passenger 737s will start sometime in 2018 and deliveries are planned to start in 2019.
Are these aircraft also heading for China?
CargoForwarder Global reported last week on AEI’s first B737-880 P-to-F program with the aircraft originating from the Turkish passenger carrier, Corendon Airlines.

AER CARIBE PERU ADD THEIR FIRST B737F
The Lima, Peru-based charter carrier Aer Caribe Peru S.A.C. has just started using its sole B737-400F on revenue services within the region.
The aircraft was originally delivered to Aer Caribe’s parent company, Aer Caribe Bogota in mid 2015 and is now transferred to the Peruvian unit.

Aer Caribe Peru also operates a fleet of Antonov AN-26 and AN-32 freighters along with Beech and King Air turboprops.

SILK WAY ITALIA LEASES THEIR B747F TO QATAR CARGO
In what came for many as a surprise move, Silk Way Italia, the Italian offshoot of Azerbaijan based Silk Way Airlines, has leased out their B747-400 freighter to Qatar Airways Cargo.
It is still not clear as to which routes the 747F will operate on for QR Cargo.
SW Italia was formed with the purpose of operating flights out of Milan Malpensa Airport to destinations within Asia as well as North and South America.
It seems there is better steady revenue for the carrier with a lucrative lease with QR.
SW Italia is a JV between Silk Way Airlines (42%) and the Italian investors Ignacio Coraci and Francesco Rebaudo (58%).

ASL FINALIZES TNT AIRLINE TAKEOVER
Irish ASL Aviation Group has acquired the airline operations of TNT Express N.V. com-prised of TNT Airways (Belgium) and Pan Air Líneas Aéreas (Spain). The two airlines are to be renamed ASL Airlines Belgium and ASL Airlines Spain respectively.
A staff of 580 people from the two airlines have transferred to ASL as a part of the acquisi-tion and the total number of global staff in the ASL group is now 2,500. 
The addition of the 35 TNT aircraft in the two airlines brings the total ASL fleet to over 130 cargo and passenger aircraft.
In conjunction with the transaction, ASL Aviation Group has entered a multi-year service agreement to operate flights for the new FedEx-TNT combination. ASL Aviation Group will continue to serve multiple airline customers.

John Mc Donagh /  Heiner Siegmund

The Aeropolis plan, excluding airport terminal operations and expansion, is estimated to attract a gross domestic product contribution of about RM30 billion (US$7.3 billion) with 56,000 jobs created over a 15-year period, said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director Badlisham Ghazali at the recent launch of the project.
"While KLIA's past cargo growth rates had been in the low single digits, we had recorded high growth in specific cargo segments, namely 33% in express cargo and 102% in mail cargo volume, since 2010. This is aligned with the global trend of e-commerce, where the market in Southeast Asia is expected to grow by five times to US$35 billion by 2018," he added.

Cargo plays the first fiddle
The airport operator has meanwhile signed five strategic partnership agreements, four of which are for the air cargo and logistics cluster, namely DRB Hicom Bhd, Raya Airways Sdn Bhd, AirAsia Bhd and Vanderlande Industries BV.
The agreement with DRB Hicom is for the development of additional 450,000 sq ft to conduct cargo operations at the Cargo Terminal (former LCCT site) while Raya Airways' agreement is for the tenancy of 200,000 sq ft at Cargo Terminal. The latter will team up with Dnata and collaborate with DHL Express.
AirAsia will develop its regional distribution centre at Cargo Terminal for Redbox, its low-cost express courier and parcel delivery services while Netherlands' Vanderlande will explore the setting up of a regional distribution centre for the management and distribution of spare parts for baggage handling systems in Malaysia.

Rapid growth of air freight expected
Malaysian transport minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said at the Aeropolis launch that Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) aims to double the annual volume of air cargo handled by 2026 from the 726,000 tonnes a year today, with a longer-term target of 2.5 million to three million tonnes by 2050.
"More importantly, the National Logistics Taskforce (NLTF) is looking at the bottleneck in approval time and facilitate a one-stop centre at the air cargo side. All these will be in line with the needs of the logistics sector," Datuk Liow stated.
One of the initiatives under the NLTF's master plan is to reduce the approval time for cargo to be dispatched, which is sometimes caused by paper work.
"We are trying to reduce paper work and go online. For example, if it takes four days to clear the cargo, it could be reduced to two days or maybe even one day. We are coming up with online applications for all cargo and we are trying to make it easier for containers and air cargo to be shipped in or flown out, in the shortest possible time," Datuk Liow said.

Nol van Fenema

As long-time head of marketing and development at Volga-Dnepr / AirBridgeCargo, Wolfgang can be considered an expert in both freight charter operations as well as cargo line-haul flights. In a recent farewell-address to the Russian conglomerate’s staff, he confirmed his departure but made no indication where he would go from there. Meanwhile, the die is cast as information received, confirmed to CargoForwarder Global. Accordingly, Meier will take on the role as main advisor of Zaur Akhundov, the Chairman of the Azeri Silk Way Holding. 

Growing freighter fleet
Although not much is known outside the airline about the business strategy and fleet plans, sources confirmed to CargoForwarder Global a very forward thinking approach to position the holding company’s subsidiaries on the map, namely their two cargo arms, Silk Way Airlines and Silk Way West Airlines. Together, they operate a freighter fleet comprising 24 units consisting mostly of Antonovs and Ilyushins, with the West offspring operating five Boeing 747Fs: two -400Fs and three -8Fs. Last year, a deal was sealed to add three more B-8Fs to the fleet. Simultaneously, the state owned Azeri airline announced an order for 10 Ukraine-built Antonov An-178 freighters, capable of uplifting 18 tons of cargo each. Although the Antonov’s range is quite limited, capable of flying only 1,000 kilometers at full load and 4,000 km with half tonnage, they reasonably complement the existing fleet of larger freighters. Having said this, their main role will be that of feeder aircraft, to link Azerbaijan’s main gateway Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport with regional destinations, thus enabling a fast flow of goods to and from the Azeri capital’s hinterlands.

Responsibilities and tasks still remain in the dark
At present, not much is known about Wolfgang’s future tasks. A direct approach by CargoForwarder Global requesting him to line out his upcoming endeavors has understandably remained unanswered to this hour.
But when looking at Silk Way Airlines’ overall situation it can be assumed that one of his main assignments will be advising the carrier’s top management to fine-tune the network. This consists of local, regional and intercontinental line-haul services that need to be knit together more tightly.
Another field to plough through is implementing a convincing marketing strategy that make the freight carrier better known outside its home turf. Some market contenders consider Silk Way as a sleeping giant; others have hardly heard the carrier’s name so far.
Thirdly, Silk Way Airlines’ traditional dependency on transporting equipment for the oil industry to secure the uninterrupted running of the many wells located within sight of Baku and enlarge the product portfolio together with the network expansion are additional challenges Wolfgang will be confronted with.
Last but not least, he hopefully succeeds in convincing the holding’s president Akhundov to end his and his top management’s tight-lipped policy and to communicate more openly. Given the expansion strategy and growing importance of the Azeri cargo carrier, this change of attitude would be very desirable.

Heiner Siegmund

Warehouse capacity keeps growing
First steps to make this vision become a reality have been taken. “We are in the process of adding a second 12,000 sqm comprising warehouse to the existing facility in the northern part of our airport, with construction work starting this year,” Bert announces. The planned building will be utilized by local handlers, which are already part of the existing LGG cargo community. Parallel to the development of the northern area the stands of freighters will be upped, from currently 11 to 40 or even 50, depending on demand, Bert told CargoForwarder Global.

LGG’s flexible business strategy…
For securing a sustainable and long-term development in cargo, which accounts for almost 90 percent of the financial turnover, the airport management favors a partnership-based approach. This is seen in their pricing policy. For instance, tenants that rent warehouse space pay fees according to the volumes they handle. “It’s a very flexible and attractive model based on a risk-sharing philosophy,” notes Bert. “Little tonnage, little costs for the users, higher throughput, more expenditures.”

… is complemented by Aviapartner’s staffing policy
The attractiveness of this strategy is confirmed by Eric Peeters, Aviapartner’s Deputy Station Manager. His firm has rented a 12,400 sqm warehouse in LGG’s northern edge. “Should our volumes shrink occasionally due to unfavorable market developments we can hardly influence, our costs go down, easing our financial situation despite lower tonnage handled by us,” he illustrates. Conversely, they pay more when the business recovers.
Liege’s flexible strategy is complemented by Aviapartner’s specific personnel policy. Their 110 headcount can cumulate working hours and convert them into spare time or demand remuneration for overtime in case their maximum weekly working time of 38 hours is surpassed. The latter occurs in peak times or at days or weeks with high volumes. “Those, that prefer to stay home to reduce accrued overtime, we can call in case of sudden demand and they show up shortly after,” Eric assures, indirectly lauding this flexible strategy and the cooperative working climate existing within his company.

Business-friendly environment
Besides the airport management’s flexible pricing policy and his firm’s own staffing strategy, manager Peeters mentions some other big points speaking in favor of Liege. Those are the unrestricted 24/7 operability, the direct motorway connection to the neighboring German industry that contributes significantly to LGG’s total tonnage, or the ‘problem solving mentality’ of the airport’s management, including also the customer-friendly attitude of the local customs officials. “Putting all these aspects into one basket, you get an attractive package that fosters a business-friendly environment,” states Eric.  
At LGG, Aviapartner’s clients are Ethiopian Cargo and El Al Cargo. Combined the account for roughly 120,000 tons per year. While El Al operates ten freighter flights (Boeing 747-400Fs) per week from Liege to New York (JFK) and Tel Aviv, Ethiopian Cargo offers their clients the same number of flights, linking Liege with Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Accra and Lagos by utilizing Triple Seven freighters. 

Heiner Siegmund

Volga-Dnepr is far from being the odd company out in this annual well-attended event, which tends to bring together the pick of the project cargo and heavy-lift industry. It is, to be honest, an almost 100% maritime event.

“But we are the breakbulk of the air,” says Steve. “Our cargo supermarket is a product that we put on the market 7 years ago, developing end-to-end logistics solutions for shippers, brokers and forwarders alike. Of course, it is primarily air cargo driven, including trucking to and from the airport. It is also a pure charter service, but if we cannot help our customers with our aircraft, we are also directly speaking with vessel owners.

Ruslan is an important sales mechanism
The cargo supermarket is considered a very new concept both within the company and the industry. “We know that freight forwarders and principals have specific requirements. We offer them a single point of contact. Of course, our core product are the aircraft.”

An important sales mechanism is Ruslan, a joint-venture between RussVolga-Dnepr and Antonov Design Bureau. It brings together a combined fleet of 19 Antonov AN-124s, 7 of which fly the ADB livery and 12 Volga-Dnepr Airlines’.

Traditionally, the premier focus has been on Oil & Gas, which happens to be an industry in temporary decline. “We are however in a very fortunate position in having a wide range of industry verticals. The downturn in Oil & Gas has been offset by an upturn in aerospace. There is also mining as well as construction, governments and NGO’s, supporting major disaster relieve operations and automotive. This is where our scheduled airline AirBridgeCargo steps in.”

Africa is a sleeping giant
On top of this there are a lot of geographical opportunities to be explored. “Iran is very much on our radar. There is also Africa, which is a sleeping giant. The most interesting pockets are Mozambique, but also Nigeria, Ghana and –perhaps surprisingly- South-Sudan. Of course there is a maximum presence of the Chinese on this continent, but we have a unique product on offer.”

As a charter operator, Volga-Dnepr can steer away from the low rates to which most of the air cargo industry is exposed, says Steve. So far the fact of Volga-Dnepr being Russian has not hampered the business, he concludes. “We are a Russian company with a global footprint. So far, we have not felt a negative impact of any anti-Russian feeling whatsoever.

Marcel Schoeters in Brussels

Aeromexico expands their European operations
The carrier, which has its main base in Mexico City is no stranger to European airports.
It has a fleet of more than 120 aircraft, which serve 75 destinations worldwide.
The carrier’s main European hub is Madrid, where it operates ten weekly flights to and from Mexico City.
London is served with six weekly flights and Paris with one flight each day.

Amsterdam will now join this list of European destinations and the carrier aims to offer three weekly flights from AMS to MEX.

The Mexican carrier has established itself as a main player in the carriage of air cargo to and from the country. It is estimated that Aeromexico transports around twenty percent of all inbound and outbound cargo from the country.
In 2015, the airline carried well over 130,000 tons of cargo.

The belly holds of Aeromexico’s long haul fleet offer clients in Europe up to 700 tons of weekly cargo capacity on the airline’s total of twenty-five flights per week to the continent.

Focus on high paying cargo
By appointing Globe Air Cargo as its GSSA, Aeromexico aims to generate more cargo from the Netherlands, especially from the lucrative perishable, pharmaceutical and other niche markets.
The ECS Group’s cooperation with Aeromexico goes back as far as 1992 where both companies started working together in Spain.
Globe Air Cargo, with the addition of Amsterdam as GSSA, now is Aeromexico’s GSSA within the total EU territory.

Commenting on the addition of Amsterdam, ECS Group COO, Adrien Thominet stated: “we are delighted that Aeromexico has chosen Globe Air Cargo to intensify our long-standing partnership which has proved over the years to be very successful.”

John Mc Donagh

Wuhan location get the OK from CAAC
A complete new freight airport is planned to be built near the town of Yanji which is located around 70 km east of Wuhan which is the capital of the central Chinese Hubei province (CargoForwarder Global reported May 6th).
The choice of location is seen to be a wise decision and one which was fully agreed upon by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), who has the last word.

Situated centrally and also not so far from the booming east coast of China, Wuhan has access to most of the so called mainland within less than two hours flying time.
The project is enormous, allowing in the future for the airport to handle up to five million tons of air cargo, thus making it the fourth largest cargo airport in the world.

Some say that the plans for the Yanji hub are mirrored on FedEx’s hub in Atlanta and will enable SF Express to operate throughout China as FedEx does in the USA.
It is further said that SF Express already controls 20 percent of the total Chinese express and domestic cargo market and that the potential is never ending.

SF Airlines / SF Express fleets increasing day by day
SF Express presently has 19 own cargo aircraft and a further 20 on lease.
The company makes it clear that they plan to have 100 own aircraft in service by 2020.
SF Airlines, a SF Express daughter operate 31 aircraft which are made up of two B767-300BCF’s, sixteen B757-200F’s thirteen B737-300/400 series converted freighters.
There are a further ten P-to-F conversions on order by the carrier.

Is it only a matter of time before SF starts looking outside of the Chinese borders to operate freighter services?
South East Asia and the e-commerce boom which continues unabated, seems to be a tempting target.

John Mc Donagh