Vol. 7  No. 89                                         WE COVER THE WORLD                                                                  Friday August 15, 2008

IATA Historic First In Asia

     With a key note speech delivered by Datuk Ong Tee Keat, (left) Malaysian Minister for Transport, a historic first joint meeting July 8 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was conducted between IATA Cargo and the Cargo 2000 Association (Asia).
     The one-day conference included IATA cargo managers from Asia Pacific and North Asia.
Conferees report valuable exchanges of information, and key updates of e-freight and Cargo 2000/QCargo initiatives and group discussions involving the inter-dependence of e-freight and Cargo 2000, the birth and/or growth of local Cargo 2000 Associations, and more.
     "This meeting can only help drive quality and efficiency across the entire supply chain for the benefit of our shippers," said Nicklas Schlingensiepen, of DHL Global Forwarding, also former Chairman of Cargo 2000 Association (Asia).
     In a related development, Matt Preiss, of British Airways, was elected as the new Chairman of Cargo 2000 Association (Asia).
     Other highlights included an issue weighted panel discussion with representatives from Kuehne & Nagel, Global Logistics System, Swissport and IATA.
     Later the encounter concluded with promises of a return engagement at a networking dinner.
     Meantime following an extremely successful World Cargo Symposium (WCS) 2008 in Rome, the 3rd annual, "must participate" global air cargo event for 2009 will take place in the City of Angels - Krungthep: Bangkok, Thailand, 02-05 March.
     “The IATA World Cargo Symposium is about talk to action,” says head of Cargo Aleks Popovich
     “It is also designed for information, interactivity, and effective industry networking.
     “The theme carries on from the Rome event - Focus on the Customer!, taking the dialogue to the next level in providing impetus to propel the Air Cargo industry forward in these turbulent times.
     “We anticipate this global mega-event will bring together 200 air cargo supply-chain decision makers and 800 cargo professionals from around the world.
     “WCS affords opportunity to conduct business on-site with key industry players while attendees discover (and influence) the latest air cargo industry developments.
     “The IATA World Cargo Symposium is out to make a difference.
     “WCS is the only air cargo event which moves from industry talk to industry action, delivering on promises, and investing any profits made into Air Cargo's Simplifying the Business program.”
     More: http://www.iata.org/events/wcs09/index.htm
Geoffrey

Lufthansa Cargo Toronto Freighter

     Lufthansa Cargo adds non-stop connection to Toronto from 2 September with a twice-weekly with an MD-11F freighter from Frankfurt adding around 90 tons of uplift available on each flight.      After a brief stop, the flight will return to Frankfurt via Atlanta (USA).
     Further cargo capacity to and from Canada is available to Lufthansa Cargo customers in the bellyholds of Lufthansa passenger aircraft on flights to Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and also Toronto.
     "Our new service enables us to airfreight customers’ shipments faster non-stop to Canada and connects Toronto with Europe’s biggest cargo airport,“ noted Dr. Andreas Otto, Lufthansa Cargo Executive Board Member Product and Sales.
     With the new flights to Toronto, Lufthansa Cargo is again serving a station in Canada with its own freighter service for the first time since 2000.
     The flight ex-Frankfurt to Toronto will be operated on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Return flights leave Toronto early on Wednesday and on Sunday morning.

     Last weekend as the Olympics opened in Beijing, top management of Moscow-based Transaero Airlines must have opened a bottle of bubbly, or other spirits driven by the general upbeat mood of General Director Olga Pleshakova and her team as the latest June traffic statistics were delivered by the independent Russian Transport Clearing House.
     Talk about “going for the gold,” Transaero carried a total of 522,568 passengers on international routes, a sensational 76 percent compared with June 2007 figures.
This is exactly 4,619 more in comparison to main domestic competitor Aeroflot that listed a monthly total of 517,949 passengers.
    "For the first time in our history we have become the largest Russian air carrier on international routes in terms of passenger numbers," Olga said
    Russia's number three is former Siberia and now re-branded S7 Airlines that totaled 174,447 travelers.
    During first half of 2008 Transaero air freight turnover grew to 769 million tons/km - an increase of 54 percent over the first six months in 2007.
    Various reasons led to Transaero's continuous upswing.
    First, it is the steadily growing fleet of Boeing aircraft, including B747-400s. More capacity leads to more frequencies, routes and consequently soaring numbers of users.
    Secondly, the carrier introduced a premium economy class last May that triggered additional passengers. Third big point is the fact that
Transaero's main gateway is modern Domodedovo airport located south of the Russian capital.
    A competitive advantage compared to northerly located Soviet built Sheremetevo airport where incoming passengers often have to wait two hours or longer to be registered by immigration and allowed to enter into the country.
    Finally, it is smart partnerships like the one recently signed by Transaero's Olga Pleshakova and boss Alexander Dyukov of energy giant Gazprom Neft that results in prompt and efficient jet fuel supply to Transaero Airlines at all Russian airports under quite favorable conditions.
    In turn the airline offers Gazprom employees special fares on the entire network.
    Due to the expansion and the dynamic growth of the 1991 established airline aviation experts predict that at year's end Transaero will become Russia's number one carrier on international routes in terms of passengers and revenue.
    Worth mentioning is that Olga the 42 year old energetic, determined and straight forward speaking person represents the new generation of industrial leaders in today’s Russia.
    And she’s successful, too, by becoming the first female ever to run an airline here.
    In fact Transaero’s shareholders are Mr. and Mrs. Pleshakova (approx. 50%), local banks and investment companies.
    Recognized by Air Cargo FlyingTypers in our Women In Air Cargo series, Olga Pleshakova sees bigger things ahead.
    "We serve destinations in five continents and if there were adequate airports and traffic flows we’d also fly to the Antarctic," she states.
Heiner Siegmund

 

HACTL Numbers Go South

     Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL) (August 12) reported a continual downward result of its air cargo tonnage throughput in July, with year-on-year growth rate decreasing from 2.5 percent in June to minus 0.6 percent.
     A total of 219,049 tons were handled in the month, amounting the cumulative tonnage for the first seven months of 1,497,440 tons, up 4.9% compared with the same period last year
     Both export and import volume in July registered negative growth rate, decreasing by 2.1 percent and 2.5 percent year on year respectively.
     Ms. Lilian Chan, General Manager, Marketing and Customer Service said, "The impact of the gradual moderation of the global economy is reflected in the import and export tonnages we handled in July, showing that the air cargo and aviation industry is facing more significant challenges.
     “We anticipate that the market will become more difficult in the second half of the year.
     “However, we will continue to upgrade our facilities and stay in close touch with our customers and business partners, offering the best service at all times."
David

So Do Korean’s
     Korean Air Lines reported its first quarterly operating loss in five years
     The world's largest air cargo carrier, posted a 116.4 billion won (USD$112 million) operating loss in the second quarter ended June 30.
     It compares to a 75.4 billion won operating profit in the second quarter of 2007 and a 19.6 billion won profit in January-March this year.
     Korean Air also reported a 288.9 billion won net loss for the April-June time frame.

 

Over The Wall To USA
     Great Wall Airlines announced that it is increasing its services to USA to six flights a week from September 4, 2008.
     Great Wall Airlines had been operating 3 times a week Shanghai-Seoul -Seattle-Chicago since June 2008.
     The three new services will be operated with the same routing on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
     Great Wall Airlines is an all-cargo airline based in Shanghai Pudong Airport.
     The carrier currently operates a fleet of 3 B747-400 freighters, with a network covering the major cargo hubs of Shanghai, Tianjin, Amsterdam, Manchester, Seoul, Dubai, Chicago and Seattle.
David

     Frankfurt Airport (FRA) said its July airfreight business sagged one percent to 172,529 metric tons although year to date business is up 3.1%.
     Airmail tonnage slipped by 3.6 percent to 7,159 metric tons in July 2008, and aircraft movements dropped by 2.2 percent to 42,728 takeoffs and landings.

     After filing for Chapter 11 protection twice recently, Gemini Air Cargo has reportedly ceased operations.
     Gemini's website is still working and displays a flight schedule.
     Gemini had been attempting to sell its operations as part of its Chapter 11 filing.

 

 

Gentleman Bill Still Delivers

     One of the all time air cargo greats “Gentleman Bill Spohrer” checked in this week.
     At one time he was CEO of Challenge Air Cargo, a wonderfully interesting and innovative all freight company that blanketed South America from Miami, Florida USA.
     Challenge flew B757Fs before anybody else thought of it and the planes could be seen often at airports everywhere as they took off almost straight up which came in quite handy in places like Chile and elsewhere.
     Then Bill got an offer he couldn’t refuse and sold Challenge to UPS in 1997.
     Gentleman Bill did great things to help air cargo.
     He can rightfully take credit for helping to start up and develop both TIACA as an organization and also Air Cargo Americas as a trade show that is held every two years.
     Although it has been better than a decade since he departed day to day air cargo and went up to live with his lovely wife Lynn in the little panhandle fishing village of Apalachicola, Florida, Bill who recently had a pacemaker installed in an outpatient procedure, said he is feeling fine and hoping to be able to start traveling a bit soon.
     The thing we admire about Gentleman Bill is his sense of the fun and adventure of life, his humor and downright love of the air cargo industry.
     At 77 he is upbeat at a time he might be glum and he is dedicated to helping others long after he has done enough for everybody.
     It’s good to know Gentleman Bill is still on the beam.
     Air cargo has always been a better place with him around.
B.Spohrer@yahoo.com
Geoffrey