Cargo Straight Talk Hannover
 From
left to right—Dr. Raoul Hille, Managing Director of Hanover Airport;
Manfred Kuhne, Director Air Transport at the German Airports Association
ADV; Fernando Gonzalez, Manager Key Account Development Automotive Solutions
at Kuehne + Nagel; Hendrik Khezri, General Manager Airfreight Germany
of forwarding agent Hartrodt; Volker Dunkake, Head of Global Sales and
Services of Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency.
The experts didn’t
mince matters during a very frank discussion on pressing air freight topics.
The subjects at Hanover-held Logistics Network Congress ranged from open
security questions, unsolved labor matters, night flight restrictions
in Germany and their implications; why air freight has a poor image and
what should be done to turn it from negative to positive. Seated on the
panel: were Dr. Raoul Hille, Managing Director of Hanover Airport; Manfred
Kuhne, Director Air Transport at the German Airports Association ADV;
Fernando Gonzalez, Manager Key Account Development Automotive Solutions
at Kuehne + Nagel; Hendrik Khezri, General Manager Airfreight Germany
of forwarding agent Hartrodt; Volker Dunkake, Head of Global Sales and
Services of Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency. Interviewer was Heiner Siegmund.
Around fifty forwarders, handling agents,
airline managers and shippers attended the meeting.
ACNFT: Is
air freight secure in Germany?
Hille: The
effort the decentralized concept demands from shippers, truckers, agents,
airlines, and airports is tremendous and disproportional to the advancement
of security. The entire framework is monstrous and proves to be extremely
costly. I presume that in the future most shipments will be x-rayed at
facilities within the airports or at neighboring warehouses. Here I see
some advantage for hubs like Hanover where we have an assessable amount
of tonnage that can easily be controlled in contrast to the huge cargo
gateways with their masses of freight.
Gonzalez: According
to the known shipper and regulated agent program, air freight is supposed
to be secure, at least officially. The daily reality however shows that
this is a distortion of the facts.
Kuhne: Yes, shipments are
secure according to papers and documents. The issue remains not only one
of the major problems in aviation, but through the entire cargo supply
chain. Unfortunately, attempts to find manageable solutions always fall
on deaf ears when trying to talk to the civil aviation authority LBA.
Khezri: Small
and medium sized forwarders especially will not be able to pay the huge
amounts of cash the regulator demands of them to submit or finance the
many mandated training courses for their staff. So at the end of the day,
the security regime we currently have to comply with will kill many jobs
and drive forwarders into bankruptcy.
ACNFT: How
about the future of night flights in Germany?
Dunkake: The Berlin
government’s master plan on logistics and aviation opts for night
flights at certain airports…
Hille: namely
Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig/Halle and Nuremberg. That’s it. At Hanover,
we are privileged in some way because our concession for night traffic
is grandfathered and dates back to the times of the British occupation
right after World War II. Therefore, we are on the safe side and not threatened
by any possible curfew.
Khezri: In
Frankfurt we are already facing a number of bottlenecks. The next one
is right at the doorstep with the Federal Judges’ decision on night
flights coming up soon. Rhein/Main airport is by far the most important
European gateway for cargo. We therefore would suffer a lot if the airport
were forced by law to switch off its lights during the nighttime.
Kuhne: No doubt, the majority
of the German airports, especially Frankfurt, should offer 24/7 traffic.
This is a vital issue for shippers that have an interest in rapid and
uninterrupted flows of their goods. Germany is one of the strongest export
nations, and highly dependent on seamless air transport. Therefore shutting
down Frankfurt during the night hours would severely harm the country’s
entire economy.
Gonzalez: This
is, of course, where the shippers can mobilize to take positive action
and express their concerns. The leisure industry has to be told that the
cost of future travel becomes more expensive if planes can’t depart
or land at airports during night hours. I don’t believe they have
realized this point so far.
ACNFT:
Unlike automotive or retail, the broader public in general sees air freight
and aviation quite negatively. What must be done?
Kuhne: This issue is one of
our biggest problems. We are seen as environmental sinners, polluting
the air and producing noise. But we are not the environmental devil, as
some are seeing us – that’s what we have got to clarify.
Hille: An
ICE speed train running from Hanover to Munich needs an equal amount of
energy per passenger as an Airbus A380. The tracks divide landscapes and
forests. Airports don’t. Sustainability is something else. This
difference is only one example out of many. That’s precisely what
we have to communicate in a public dialogue.
Khezri: Again,
we need to do this in a unified manner with the shippers on board as well.
It’s mainly up to them (as they are the direct link) for the sake
of the wellbeing of the entire supply chain, to convince people to change
their attitude about the necessity and importance of air cargo transport.
ACNFT: low
and lower wages on one side, ever improved quality of the supply chain
on the other. Can this work?
Khezri: We
put price constraints on our handling agents. But then our shippers place
demands on us as well, urging us to deliver more for less. Unfortunately,
this downward pressure keeps spiraling.
Gonzalez: I
don’t believe people can really be motivated to do a good job if
their wages are between 6.0 and 6.5 euros per hour. Under these conditions
the negatives are enormous. It is my belief that fair pay results in a
competitive advantage, since breadline wages cause higher spending at
the end of the day.
ACNFT: Finally,
what positive news can you deliver?
Hille: Air
freight will go on growing in the coming decades, making it one of the
most dynamic industries in Germany and elsewhere.
Kuhne: No means of traffic
is going to be as energy efficient as aviation. A reduction of green house
gases by 50% by 2050 is foreseen with the introduction of bio fuels. We
should come out with the slogan “Flying saves the environment.”
Gonzalez: Transport
will always be necessary. That’s a great perspective for people
seeking jobs.
Khezri: Plus,
versatility is what is being offered by the transport industry and logistics,
be it air freight, ocean freight, land or rail transports. We are a highly
globalized industry. So everybody working in this challenging biz can
interact with other cultures, learn new languages and work for some time
abroad.
Dunkake: We are not
the old, dirty and noisy industry any more. Instead, aviation and logistics
in general are highly innovative. This is fascinating and extremely thrilling
for young people who are starting their career. But with the fast growing
economies of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries there
are looming challenges around the corner for the EU and ‘logistics
world champion’ Germany specifically.
Therefore, we need to constantly enhance our infrastructure and refrain
from closing big airports at night.
Heiner Siegmund/Flossie
|
Sometimes,
you just have to put yourself out in front of an issue.
These
were fundamental questions that brought environmental experts to the scene;
biologists came, measured and weighed the individuals. After about a year,
the picture became clear: there was a colony of roughly 500 natterjacks
living in and around the puddle. Once officially counted, the evacuation
began by catching each of the creatures cautiously and bringing it to
a pond some distance away from the airport fence – a costly undertaking,
but good for the conscience of Frankfurt’s cargo community and even
better for the fate of the toads.
“Who
Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts of Men…”
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