ohammed Rafie Abdulaziz Linjawi is Vice President Cargo Operations at Saudi Airlines Cargo Company (Saudia Cargo).
With over 35 years of experience in both the passenger and cargo sectors of Saudi Arabian Airlines, Mr. Linjawi continues to contribute his unmatched expertise and leadership aptitude towards sustaining seamless operational performances within Saudia Cargo.
     His extensive portfolio includes various positions as GM Industry & Arab, Station Manager, GM Pax SVS & Sales and GM Cargo & Airmail. Here, Mr. Linjawi looks back at the year that was and what lies ahead for 2013.

     “All main stations in KSA (Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam) have seen a major increase in cargo traffic, especially imports. In order to deal with this large influx of traffic (25-40 percent), we are in the process of upgrading our facilities, equipment, and processes to deal with these volumes from Saudi Airlines Cargo Co. and other airlines.
     “Saudia Cargo is currently handling all air cargo products, apart from express cargo. With the upgrade of our facilities, which started in 2010 and continues over 2012 and 2013, Saudia Cargo is able to handle more air cargo products at an even higher standard.
     “We are in the process of creating an express handling area in our buildings in RUH, JED, and DMM in order to deal with courier/express cargo from all the integrators that operate in Saudi Arabia. Our cool facilities are undergoing an expansion, which will increase our capacity for perishables and other temperature sensitive products. Special handling for Dangerous goods, high value, live animals, and environtainers is already available,” said Mr. Linjawi.
     Based on its operational abilities and fortunate location, there are many good reasons why shippers should take advantage of Saudia Cargo’s services. “Saudia Cargo is perfectly positioned to handle both Kingdom originating and destined cargo as well as transit volumes from its hubs in JED, RUH, and DMM.
     “Saudia Cargo is capable of handling all cargo products in an efficient and professional manner. Our hubs in JED and RUH are geographically located to serve as the gateway to Africa for transit cargo from Europe, the USA, and Asia. With the upgrade of our facilities and ground service equipment we ensure smooth and efficient handling for our customers,” said Mr. Linjawi.
     With plans to build a new cargo center at JED, one can’t help but wonder what new technologies and systems will be infused with the design to help move Saudia Cargo further into the future of cargo handling capabilities, especially with volumes ever on the rise.
     “The new Cargo Terminal will be replacing the current one on the same site. Construction will begin mid 2013 and is targeted to be completed in second quarter 2015. The plot of land for the new cargo building is 600m x 220m. The building will be 120m wide and 500m long, and can be expanded when necessary in future.
     “The new Cargo Terminal will handle imports, exports, and transit volumes for the coming 20-30 years.      The facility will be designed such that Saudia Cargo will be able to expand quickly to accommodate ever-growing volumes.
     “The latest cargo handling systems and designs are used to create an efficient flow of cargo throughput, with a state-of-the-art ETV system. All cargo products will be catered for and handled in the most efficient manner, with cargo professionals handling the throughput in an automated way. We will have a special area in exports, imports and transit for temperature-controlled products.
     “The building will be designed to handle all cargo products. A large perishable area in both transit and import will cater to our forecasted growth (and beyond). Express cargo, dangerous goods, mail, high value, live animals, temperature controlled containers, and heavy cargo will all be handled in separate areas. The building is designed to sustain a large volume increase in all these products.
     “The facility will be more than double the size of our current one and will be designed to expand in the coming 30 years, with a modular design. The new cargo building will be attractive, environmentally friendly, and sustainable, and equipped with the latest cargo handling systems in order to stimulate and facilitate cargo-handling optimization.
     “We are projecting a throughput between 650,000 and 1 million tonnes per annum for 2020-30 and a short term demand of 470,000 tonnes (2015-2020),” assured Mr. Linjawi.
     But for Saudia Cargo, it isn’t all cargo and perishables. Despite the onward march of the Internet, email, and handheld devices that put you in touch with everyone, wherever you are, there is still a need for that simplest of communiqués—the mail.
     “Mail is an important product for Saudia Cargo (Government mail, Royal mail, post office mail) and we see a steady growth year on year, domestic and international. Between 7-12 percent of our volumes is mail (including newspapers). Mail volumes are still growing (domestic and international), and are handled separately in our facility,” said Mr. Linjawi.
     Saudia Cargo’s central location ensures operation to all the domestic stations in the Kingdom; the main cargo products handled are “personal effects, perishables, mail, newspapers, and spare parts.”
     In terms of operations outside the Kingdom, Mr. Linjawi is very hands-on and gets involved in selecting who operates cargo in the USA and the UK.
     “We select handling agents outside the Kingdom based on quality, reputation, IT capability, and price. We monitor their performance on a daily basis (on-time performance, build quality, security, throughput) and have a Saudia Cargo representative at most stations,” said Mr. Linjawi.
     For every business operating in the 21st century, moving forward must include a plan for going green—success will most definitely be denied without it. Of course, Saudia Cargo is already thinking about the environment with a variety of systems in place or on the horizon.
     “Saudia Cargo is committed to green technology and practices. Especially for our new facilities (as per above), we will create an attractive and pleasant working environment for the staff and have optimized handling processes. For maximizing the air recirculation, fresh air supply will be based on CO2 metering. There will be allowance for free cooling when outdoor conditions permit. We will meter chilled water, potable water, and electrical usage. Pressure drops will be minimized through limiting distribution lengths. Ducting and pipe work sizing will be carefully selected, and energy saving luminaries shall be used wherever possible, with provision of a comprehensive lighting control system. We will also be using a grey water system.”
     Another priority for every operator today is security, so it is no surprise that Saudia has a plan for that too.
     “Air Cargo Security is of the utmost priority to Saudia Cargo. We are compliant to all security regulations and have facilities that are monitored by CCTV cameras and security staff 24 hours a day. We have the latest cargo X-ray/screening machines in our facilities compliant with the FSA regulation.
     “Security has impacted our operation and we are complying to the latest regulation. We screen all of our cargo (export and transit to USA/EU), and customs in KSA has a 100 percent inspection policy for import cargo. Our new facilities will be a fully controlled and secured environment with the latest technology. Our current facilities are also fully controlled and secured,” said Mr. Linjawi.
     For Saudia Cargo, successful air cargo operations are defined by “efficient handling, short transit times, secure environment, integrated IT systems and a pleasant environment for our staff.
     “We have our procedures and processes. If those are not respected or communicated effectively by our customers and airlines that we serve, it does result in offloads and misconnectivity. We regularly invite our customers and airlines to visit our facilities and discuss the issues that they might have. We always come to a solution and even adjust our processes at times to best serve our customers.
     “Saudia Cargo is one of the main players in the Middle East and world and we are rapidly expanding and upgrading our facilities to prepare for future growth with our ever-expanding network. Some people refer to us as the sleeping giant, but I can assure you that we have woken up,” said Mr. Linjawi.
Geoffrey/Flossie

emperature-controlled shipments will become an even larger share of air cargo movements in the future, according to Switzerland-based logistics major Panalpina.
     FlyingTypers recently caught up with Thomas Berger, Global Head of Industry Vertical Healthcare.
     He told us that a fifth of cargo moving in Panalpina’s own controlled air freight, including its Luxemburg-Huntsville route, is now temperature controlled.
     “Demand from the healthcare as well as high-tech, chemicals, and automotive sectors, are all providing growing volumes,” he said.
     While a number of recent reports have cited evidence of cargo being shifted from air cargo to ocean, Berger said 70 percent of healthcare shipments are now moved by air and the mode was increasingly popular for other high value cargoes with temperature control requirements.
     “I don’t see the healthcare percentage declining in the future,” he said. “There is an air to ocean trend, but only for certain commodities, and sensitive shipments are still being flown because of their value or restrictions on ocean.
     “We see the trend of temperature-controlled monitoring increasing in the future. Today, roughly 20 percent of the pharmaceutical products have to be transported at either 2-8 or 15-25 Celsius. The remaining 80 percent are not being monitored during shipment. However, because of stricter regulations more of this cargo will have to be transported and controlled at 15-25 Celsius. It is what we call Controlled Room Temperature, or CRT.”
     Berger said Panalpina’s air freight service offering was unique for cargoes moving under CRT restrictions.
     “We can control temperature at 15-25 Celsius without insulated packaging solutions using normal pallets by covering the product with thermal blankets and moving them through our own network door-to-door,” he added.
     “Our planes can facilitate three temperature ranges, but usually we set two ranges: 2-8 Celsius for the lower deck and 15-25 Celsius for the upper deck.”
     The temperature-controlled boost to Panalpina’s volume has been much needed—Panalpina saw its air freight tonnage fall some eight percent year-on-year in the third quarter, a decline that made a substantial dent in profits given that some 50 percent of the company’s forwarding revenue is derived from air freight services.
Berger said Panalpina’s range of temperature controlled products offered shippers major savings. Instead of investing in their own special containers or other equipment, using the forwarder’s global network could offer 20 percent savings even after paying for a ‘premium’ product.
     “We control the whole process in-house and once it is in our system customers can make major savings on packaging and the cost of equipment,” he said. “They save money on the investment rather than on transport, but the total landed cost is less.”

     Panalpina also offers temperature-controlled shipment monitoring using RFID (radio-frequency identification) sensors through its own network and on third party carriers, including freighter specialist Cargolux, as part of its ‘cool chain network.’
     SmartView, a RFID-based technology, was originally deployed for shipping fruit within Europe, but from 2009 the logistics major started refining SmartView with pharma customers in mind. This was kicked off at Panalpina’s air freight hub in Luxembourg in close collaboration with the SmartView solution provider.
     RFID tags are attached to containers or the products and these measure temperature and humidity en route every 15 minutes, with the information then transmitted to the system via microrouters that are installed at strategically located facilities.
     “Temperatures can be documented in the air, and actively monitored in the transit warehouse and on the road. In instances of unwanted temperature deviations, we can intervene, because the best technology is useless if it is not backed by the right processes,” explained Berger.
     The solution enables tracking of the cargo and its temperature from the moment of pick-up to final delivery.
     “Demand for monitored temperature controlled shipments is rising, and not only in the healthcare industry—it mitigates supply chain risk,” said Berger.
Sky King

Larry Coyne
Chief Executive Officer
Coyne Airways

Nancy Childers
Starlight Airlines

     The Atlanta CSCMP (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) held its regular roundtable meeting recently, which featured a presentation by Wes Sparkman, International Logistics Manager at Merial, and a global leader in animal healthcare. Prior to joining Merial 12 years ago, Wes worked for Maersk Logistics, with the Home Depot as client.
     Before getting into the meat of the material, the interesting thing to learn is that Merial is a premiere air cargo customer that ships a multitude of perishable and temperature sensitive products worldwide. This is the hottest air cargo market segment that cargo-carrying airlines vie for because of its lucrative nature and relative price resilience.
     Merial is the result of a merger back in 1997 between the erstwhile animal division of Rhône-Poulenc [Rhône Mérieux), a French company, and Merck AgVet, the animal division of Merck & Co. Subsequently, Sanofi, a global, diversified healthcare company acquired Merck’s stake in 2009, which makes Merial its animal health division, with a product range including veterinary pharmaceuticals and vaccines for companion and production animals. The company is headquartered in Lyon, France, the birthplace of industrial virology.
     The obligatory statistics indicate 5,600 employees worldwide and 40 nationalities spread over 150 countries, 17 production sites, and 12 R&D centers (3 global and 9 regional), yielding 2 billion Euros in sales. This represents a 14 percent total market share, which breaks down as being in first place when it comes to addressing companion animal needs (dogs, cats, horses) and veterinary public health (rabies vaccines and foot-and-mouth disease). It takes the number two spot in production animals (ruminant, swine and avian). Some of the best-known brands include Frontline (the world’s best-selling flea and tick treatment for dogs and cats), IVOMEC (for cattle, sheep and swine), EPRINEX, and VAXXITEK.
     The growth is expected to continue given current trends—there is increasing concern about pet health, including in emerging markets, and that makes up 25 percent of total sales, along with the prevention of diseases in production animals (with the consumption of protein on the increase) and China and India as key markets. Merial’s major markets in descending order are: North America (40.6 percent), Europe/Middle East/Africa (33.5 percent - France, Italy, UK, Germany, and Spain), Latin America (16.6 percent), and Asia (9.4 percent).
     With focus on safety and quality, Merial works closely with veterinarians, with distribution through 25,000 in the US as well as coordination with regulatory bodies such as the EPA, USDA, and FDA. The head office in North America is located in Duluth, Georgia, with biological production operations in Gainesville and Athens, Georgia. Mr. Sparkman said that exports are predominant; however, ingredients used in production are imported from a wide range of global suppliers including Austria, Brazil, France, and New Zealand.
     Wes elaborated on the nature of air shipments, which consist often of refrigerated products with limited shelf life that can withstand a maximum of 72 hours in transit and are equipped with data loggers. Envirotainer is a major supplier of equipment enabled with powered temperature control features. For this, Merial uses devices called “Dewars” designed to store liquid nitrogen; with an aluminum or stainless steel exterior, they have high thermal efficiencies. Up to 350 Dewars are shipped monthly, and a single shipment may consist of as many as 30 Dewars, with seasonal variations. Amounts of material over a certain limit can only be carried onboard cargo aircraft (CAO) while the normal product is generally allowable for carriage on passenger aircraft. Depending on the product, some shipments can be very high value, as is the case with vaccines that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The challenge Merial face with Dewars is eerily similar to the imbalance in ULDs any airline experiences daily, with sometimes up to half of those shipped, not returned.
Ted Braun

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