Yushu County China Exclusive—That 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai Province early on Wednesday, has wrought havoc leaving majority of local houses collapsed and tens of thousands of victims asking for help.
     On April 15 morning, local authority of Yushu County held the second briefing after the earthquake, according to which the number of deaths has reached 667, and 313 people missing and 9,110 injured.
     China's disaster relief departments have initiated a first-class emergency response for disaster relief work in the quake-hit areas in Qinghai Province.
     The first class emergency response means relief funds allocated by the country's financial departments should be delivered to quake-hit areas no later than 24 hours after the quake.
     Relief materials should be sent to the affected areas by train or airline as quickly as possible.
     Also, a nationwide donation campaign should be organized, and worldwide collections should be put under centralized management.
     Relieving forces and goods from nationwide are quickly gathering at Xining Airport, capital city of Qinghai province, as the Yushu Airport was closed after the earthquake.
     It is some 820 kilometers from Xining to Yushu, which will take 20 hours by road. The regular operation of Yushu Airport is of great significance in helping with rescue work.
     Fortunately, the Yushu Airport was not badly damaged by the quake except for the interruption of wired communication and exterior power supply.
     As the Bureau of Civil Aviation started emergency response toward restoring regular operations at Yushu Airport, that the facility is mostly okay is a bit of good news here.
     Located in Tibetan Plateau, the small Yushu Airport is 3,905 meters above sea level, which requires special aircraft that adapt to plateau flight and is only capable of handling three aircraft at the same time.
     Currently three A319 from China Eastern Airlines are serving shuttle flights between Xining and Yushu, to transfer relieving forces and goods.
     To assure the smooth rescue work by air, the Bureau of Civil Aviation has dispatched a batch of technicians and workers to aid the work in Yushu Airport.
     As soon as the earthquake occurred, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) made an emergency appeal for disaster relief.
     A total of RMB1.1 million in kind and cash have already been allocated for relief operation.
     To help:  http://www.redcross.org.cn/
David

Positive Spin From Brazil 2010

     Reto Hunziker, Managing Director Lufthansa Charter is a busy guy these days.
     From shepherding relief supplies to Haiti, to building new markets and friends for Lufthansa Charter up in Vancouver last month at IATA WCS, or most recently last week in Sao Paulo, Brazil as Intermodal 2010 was held, Reto who tells it like it is, (and appears here on video at YVR) saying that foray into Latin America was both refreshing and will benefit shippers and his charter operation as well ahead.
     “Brazil was great.
     “The size, scope and players who attended the 2010 Intermodal Latin America trade fair were both impressive and for business quite worthwhile.
     “It was important to be there to experience, first hand, the varied and plentiful action and vitality of Brazil, while also getting an excellent overview of a huge portion of the Latin American market.
     “There is just no other way to get to know people and business opportunities.
     “South America, and especially Brazil is a key market that shows every indication of moving into some major growth ahead.
     “But most surprising to us at Lufthansa Charter was the size and the number of players we met and spent time with. A lot of global companies have realized that Latin America and especially Brazil is ready for the future.
     “Until I actually came to Brazil myself there was just no way to appreciate or understand the huge potential here.
     “We see big possibilities and Lufthansa Charter is ready to engage every opportunity as an excellent and needed resource for import and export traffic to EU, U.S. and Africa as well as inter South American destinations.
     “But kudos to Intermodal 2010 in Sao Paulo for doing the job of bringing a large diverse group of businesses and people of Latin America together at the same place.
     “Win-win all around is the takeaway here,” Reto Hunziker said.

     Intermodal 2010 drew positive thumbs up from Saskia van Pelt, Director Business Development-air cargo for the Netherlands aerial gateway, who shared some views of the event.
     Ms. Van Pelt is an outstanding air cargo executive and one of only a handful of top women air cargo business development managers in the world today.
     She brings beauty, brains and common sense to tasks that are mostly male dominated elsewhere and she more than holds her own, building new connections for Schiphol. Her background includes a stint at the Port of Rotterdam where she was senior marketing manager.
     Enterprise Schiphol at Sao Paulo Intermodal 2010 therefore makes perfect sense.
     The always ambitious Dutch were in the right place at the right time as Brazil emerges once again as the mighty engine of Latin America.
     Earlier this month at an absolute top transportation event of 2010, Schiphol had the place to themselves.

ACNFT:  What did you find at Intermodal 2010?
SvP:  Good trade show, most important logistics event in South America (2010).
ACNFT:  What happened either in displays or meetings content or attendance that was important to AMS?
SvP:  Being present at this important show was important to promote ourselves as a multimodal gateway to Europe in collaboration with our seaports.
    As an airport we also promoted the connections that Martinair Cargo and LAN Cargo have between AMS and South America.
ACNFT:  What do you know now that you didn't before attending this event?
SvP:  It is sustainable partnerships that count on the South America continent. Therefore we will continue creating connections there.
ACNFT:  Will Amsterdam Schiphol attend again?
SvP:  Intermodal 2011 will stay on our events calendar for sure!
Geoffrey

Enno Osinga

Senior Vice President Cargo

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport

Pegasus & leisure
Extend Cooperation

     leisure Cargo named Pegasus Airlines Cargo as its cargo General Sales Agent in Turkey earlier this month (April 1, 2010).
     “Under the Pegasus Airlines umbrella, Pegasus Airlines Cargo offers an extensive network in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, while leisure Cargo offers a full global network of 275 destinations,” Aydin Alpa, Pegasus Airlines Cargo Vice President told Air Cargo News FlyingTypers.
     “Both companies have been making plans to jointly promote the leisure Cargo product in Turkey,” Mr. Alpa added.
     “The appointment of Pegasus Cargo as the cargo general sales agent of leisure Cargo in Turkey, gives leisure Cargo and all the airlines in that unique air cargo cooperation a full year round access to the Turkish import and export market.
     “In return, Pegasus Airlines Cargo gets full worldwide cargo market access with this cooperation,” Mr. Alpa said.
     “Earlier on January 15, Pegasus appointed leisure Cargo as our Cargo general sales agent in Germany.
     “This relationship will continue to grow,” he concluded.
Geoffrey

Biz Schwimmingly Says Schimm

     ACI World Director Economics Andreas Schimm responding to worldwide surge in airline biz in February 2010 saying:
     "Obviously, these figures need to be looked at with caution as the reference month was the worst month in 2009.
      “That being said, the results remain encouraging.
     “Also, the healthy pattern of international traffic outperforming domestic traffic has returned for the first time since November 2008.
     “The need and desire for international travel is bouncing back and is once again set to lead the industry's growth.
     " International freight maintained its exceptional growth rate in February. Massive growth in some regions was in excess of 20-30 percent everywhere with the exception of Africa where freight did not collapse as drastically as in other regions so therefore has less of a spike in comparing with 2009 results.
     “This phenomenal growth trend reflects the strong degree of pent-up demand and the impact of re-emerging economies, particularly evident in developing nations, relative to the slump in orders, due to full inventories at the height of the crisis 12 months ago.
     Schimm adds, "The remarkable rebound provides evidence of the global economic recovery and should reinforce business confidence."

Thailand Growth Challenged

     Just as Thailand finishes celebrating its national holiday, The Songkran Festival (Thai New Year) 13-15 April and hope earlier in the year that some bright signs for the economy of Thailand were returning, hope has been dimmed that a key driver, the tourism industry has been alerted after the worst political violence in nearly two decades left 21 dead and 874 injured in and around Bangkok last week.
     Now with many countries, including most recently Hong Kong, warning against travel to Thailand, a dull reality is setting in that without its house in order, Thailand may slip back into a self-made abyss.
     But some still hope that things can be brought to calm once again.
     At the beginning of last year, the prospects were somewhat bleak for the Thai economy, already deep in recession and even with ongoing civil upheaval in the country had been well on its way to recovery.
     Though Thailand's economy contracted by 2.8% year-on-year in the third quarter, the shrinkage was far less than the 7.1% in the first three months of 2009 or the 4.9% in the second quarter.
     Bank of Thailand earlier this year said 2009 fall in GDP was around 3% for the year compared to 2008, while 2010 could witness economic growth of between 3.3% and 5.3%.
     There are a number of signs that the Thai economy had been moving forward: consumer confidence was on the rise and a key indicator of economic health - automotive sales – has been steadily on the increase.
     At least some of the growth being seen can be attributed to the $3.5bn stimulus package that was rolled out by the government early last year aimed to increase spending through a mix of cash payments to low-income earners, tax cuts, education loans, and subsidies for transport and utilities.
     Even more significant to bolstering the longer-term health of the economy was the $39bn spending program that the government launched late last October.
     Set to run for three years, the scheme foresees major investments in transportation, logistics, health care and education projects, which will strengthen Thailand's economic infrastructure for the future while creating direct jobs and boosting capital flows.
     Help for Thailand's economy also continues to flow in from abroad, with increasing export orders after a sharp drop in the first half of last year.
     Another boost from overseas had been realized via Thailand's crucial tourism industry. Hit hard late in 2008 by waves of protests that caused many prospective visitors to think twice about holidaying in the country, as well as by the global recession eating into the trade, the tourism sector was showing signs of solid recovery as 2009 came to a close.
     By the end of last year, Thailand Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said 2009 delivered about 14.1m visitors on the back of strong bookings during the final month of the year.
     While there are strong indicators that the Thai economy is moving towards recovery, there are also a number of factors that can slow or even stall this progress in 2010.
     As example last September, a Thai Court issued an injunction ordering work on projects being built or those already completed at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong Province, south of Bangkok, be halted as
they did not comply with existing environmental and health regulations.
     The ruling, in response to a petition tabled by local residents and non-government organizations, directly affects at least 65 separate projects, with a total value of around $12bn.
     Various reports showed the damage to the economy, including an analysis by the state's Fiscal Policy Office suggested that shutting down Map Ta Phut could cut Thailand's GDP by between 0.5% and 1% and cost as many as 100,000 jobs.
     Today the saga was no clearer to resolution, with the committee set up by the government to draft new industrial development guidelines still to table its findings.
     Last December 2 the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the lower court's ruling on suspending work
at Map Ta Phut.
     As you read this, amidst prospects that the uproar could impact Thailand for the next ten years Map Ta Phut investors are now also chiming into the grief felt by many at the spectacle.
     Also threatening to tarnish the achievements of Thai economy are the headline making and tourist frightening protest and civil violence as supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra have recently been taking to the streets the most in ongoing protest against the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Gordon

At World Cargo Symposium Vancouver 2010

Mike Malik, Aloha Air Cargo

Jay Shelat, Jet Airways Cargo

Mark Mohr, Continental Cargo

Air Cargo News FlyingTypers leads the way again as the world’s first air cargo publication to connect the industry to the broadly expanding and interactive base for social commentary—Twitter.
     Here are updates from Twitter. To be added to this 24/7/365 service at no-charge contact: acntwitter@aircargonews.com

April 15:  World airlines from Finland to Dubai cancel flights as volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallokull glacier threatens Europe and beyond. Airport closures in Europe disrupt global airline business expected to continue another day.

April 15:  Lufthansa Cargo said it will not carry dogs or cats intended for use in animal experiments tightening rules for live animal transport.

April 15:   LOT lowers seat prices Warsaw-Krakow-Warsaw Apr 18 to allow more people access to services for the President and First Lady of Poland.

April 15:   Mojix MoJo Lufthansa Cargo testing Mojix RFID at Cargo Center FRA to track shipments, pallets and containers.

     The Concorde SST may be an empty shell relic floating on a barge near the aircraft carrier Intrepid on the Hudson River in New York but the dream of luxury business travel albeit low and slow lives on at British Airways via its Paris (of all places)-based carrier. While maybe no one knows how many riders are SST alum—OpenSkies that operates from Newark to Paris and reportedly has about 29% of all biz class biz across that route.
     Next month when a Boeing 757-200 starts up Washington Dulles to Paris low & slow luxury will move to the other USA city where SST had some chops and where high rollers with big expense accounts insure some success.
     The British Airways subsidiary flies a fleet of 757s, an interesting choice since at least from the, on the ground inside the aircraft experience, a former SST passenger might feel familiar in the rather narrow single aisle B757.
     Also in terms of looks, B757 while no Concorde, is still among the two or three most beautiful big jets in the world today.
     If you don’t believe that, just take a long side view look at the nose and front gear in the picture here and that should do the trick.

      So an Open Skies B757 configured with just 84 seats includes 12 seats in its "biz bed" cabin that feature a "seat pitch" of 72 inches and lie flat when reclined.
     The rest or 72 seats are OpenSkies' "biz seats" feature a 53-inch pitch.
     OpenSkies flies twice daily flights between Newark and Paris Orly.
     On May 3, the carrier, Paris Orly to Washington Dulles, goes five times weekly.

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