It’s always nice to visit in Luxembourg. FlyingTypers sat down with Henrik Ambak, VP Ground Services and IT, and Martine Scheuren, Director Corporate Communications, to hear their take on the future of the all-cargo airline business in general and Cargolux in particular. Henrik is an old friend; despite his boyish looks, he has been at Cargolux for 12 years. Our path crossed fifteen years ago while working on the air cargo bar coded label—he was with Cargo Center Copenhagen and I was at IATA. Luxembourg was a connection then as now, because CCH was using the CHAMP system for handling and I had finally convinced Cargolux to become IATA members.
     Henrik is active in the Ground Handling Council and still uses CHAMP. Ground handling is outsourced to GHA in most network stations and Cargolux has outsourced its ULD management to Unitpool/CHEP. The one constant Cargolux mission over the last forty years has been the dogged determination to serve its freight forwarder customers. Panalpina is still its largest single customer. In these days of economic volatility, there is an increased awareness and much thought given to staying relevant; one must remember that the all-cargo airline history is littered with hallowed names, including Seaboard World Airlines and Flying Tigers, and we cannot forget what must be done to not to follow in their footsteps.
     Henrik now reports to Henning zur Hausen, Senior VP Sales & Marketing, who has had to take on additional commercial responsibilities over and above being the Senior VP Legal Affairs & Compliance.
     The demise of the all-cargo airlines is being bandied about with increased regularity and frequency of late—albeit mostly by combination carriers and the media. Henrik says that indications from recent studies have reaffirmed the need for the high quality and reliable service Cargolux provides. Take for example the Formula One Championship with its 2012 calendar that has 20 races all over the globe and requires precise and timely positioning of the teams’ multi-million dollars race cars, tires, and mechanics’ toolboxes. The passenger aircraft capable of carrying such a load hasn’t been invented yet. Oil rigs out of Houston? No problem. An ever increasing variety of commodities permitted on cargo aircraft only (CAO), and lithium batteries come to mind, which will continue to need all cargo aircraft, and only more so.
     Martine came to Cargolux from ArcelorMittal, a steel company, and is as such unencumbered by some of the baggage airline people frequently carry around, while at the same time being in a very good position to take a fresh look at the business and come up with new ideas. Her background is in finance and communications and she’s up for the challenge and certainly not shy about voicing her views. Martine works with a team of four that handles all communications work in house; they keep busy.
     Henrik emphasizes the flexibility Cargolux is known for, which opens unexpected doors at times. A case in point—not that long ago, GE had a problem getting an aircraft engine delivered on time to Airbus in Toulouse and contacted Cargolux to see whether they could help. Cargolux said, “let us take a look and we’ll get back to you”; it turned out the flight to LUX made a stop in Toulouse to deliver that engine and solved a big problem for the manufacturer. Since that time, that business spawned another 42 engines flown to Toulouse.
     The corporate culture is an interesting thing at Cargolux; for a long time it’s been a very multicultural company, employing people from all parts of the world and numerous countries. It is also rather particular about appointing local staff to run the business in the countries it does business, whether in China or Italy, and not necessarily someone from the head office. They succeeded in Italy with Cargolux Italia where others also tried; Cargolux has recently been named the best cargo airline in Italy.
      Time flies and people move on—special recognition and best wishes are in order for Lucien Schummer, who has recently retired from Cargolux after a long career serving as VP Corporate Strategy and subsequently as Managing Director Cargolux Italia.
     Middle management also plays an important part formal/part informal role. There is representation on the board of directors with five staff members and some tweaking of corporate guidelines often brings unsuspected positive results because there is some latitude in how these are interpreted and carried out in an “improved” fashion on the ground floor.
     The LUX head offices are spread out over several locations around the airport—for example, Henrik is in the Luxair Cargo Center, where the action is with all the trucks streaming in and out to drop off and pick up cargo day and night. Needless to say, Cargolux is the Cargo center’s biggest customer. And those gleaming B747-8F are still a sight to behold!
Ted Braun

      Over the last few years, while home-grown air cargo outfits have started and virtually withered away—the most recent example being Capt. G. R. Gopinath’s Deccan 360 and Capt. Mukut Pathak’s Aryan Cargo Express (ACE)—the role of non-scheduled air cargo operators who operate chartered flights is gaining importance.
      At the recent Indian Business Aviation Expo, Dhiraj Mathur, Executive Director and Leader of Aerospace and Defense Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers India (pwc) pointed out that India was ready to witness rapid growth in the business aviation sector primarily due to the country’s geographic location and economic growth. India’s geography offered an opportunity for growth of general and non-scheduled aviation due to the rising demand from the business houses in the country. India, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation records, has seen a whopping rise in the number of non-scheduled airline operators: from 36 in 2000 to more than 200 in 2011.
      The number of jets and helicopters is estimated to jump from 600 in 2011 to about 1,800 aircraft by 2020, according to Capt. Karan Singh, (left) CEO of Indo-Pacific Aviation and MD of Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA).
      While no figures exist of how many of this number transport cargo, those in the business estimate that quite a few do. In 2010, for example, cargo traffic by NSOs from Kolkata Airport was highest in the country—9.6 percent of the total freight uplift from the airport, followed by Delhi (7.9), Hyderabad (7.1) and Bengaluru (6.7). Simply put, there is a demand for more cargo than that carried by regular carriers.
      According to Capt. Karan Singh, the mindset of the cargo industry in the country has to change. The idea of using business aircraft for air cargo is still a growing one. However, a number of companies have started using business jets to transport sensitive equipment, spares, documents, etc.—especially those that are time-critical.
      Despite the high figures and the potential, the air charter business as far as cargo is concerned has been facing headwinds. According to Shailendra Seth, Director, Chapman Freeborn, there are opportunities enough in India with the rapid growth in the economy. However, the business requires infrastructural support and an end to rules that make operators go around in circles. The air charter business between India and Africa, China, and even Europe and Russia is growing. Chapman handles a variety of airplanes regularly from the AN-124 to the A 310. The business has been growing so fast—the sector saw three times more growth in 2010 from India than 2009—that Chapman opened an office in Mumbai and is looking to start one in Chennai.
      Another international charter service, Air Charter Service (ACS), recently started its first Indian office in Mumbai, offering both cargo and passenger services.
      Said Tony Bauckham, (right) Managing Director, “India is a huge emerging market and the ninth largest economy in the world. We have been planning this office opening for some time now as we already have a strong client base here and felt that a local presence was essential to further grow our market share . . . Mumbai is one of the top ten centers of commerce in the world, and so was the stand out candidate for the office’s location.”
      Market-wise aircraft manufacturers also speak of the growth potential of India. “I would say India is the second most important market in Asia and will drive the growth over the next ten years,” said Jose Eduardo Costas, (left) VP-Sales and Marketing Embraer Executive Jets, Asia Pacific, while on the sidelines of India Aviation 2012, the country’s premier airshow held every other year at Hyderabad,
      The constant refrain from the handful of NSOs has been the lack of support from government agencies that provide infrastructural support. They have been demanding that the facilities provided to scheduled cargo operators should also be provided to non-scheduled operations.
      Initiatives, however, have been seen over the past few months. At the end of last year, for example, the first dedicated air cargo service was started in the North East of the country, a region of low connectivity. The service, operated by Rudra GTL Aviation Pvt. Ltd, started with flights from Kolkata to Imphal.      Incidentally, Rudra GTL’s routes stretch from one corner of the North East to the other, connecting Kolkata to Guwahati, Imphal, Agartala, and Bagdogra. The carrier has wet-leased two ATR-72 aircraft for the flights, each with a capacity of seven tonnes. According to Manosij Roy, Director of Rudra GTL Aviation, “The market is a huge and untapped one and to prove it we have got bookings for the next year.”
      On the other side is Naki Air Cargo, from far-away Miami in the USA. Based in Florida, Naki is preparing to start all-cargo air service directly from the southern coastal city of Vishakapatnam to Dubai. The new service, according to Capt Rajan Nair, COO, “will be of enormous benefit to local manufacturers, and other shippers, who currently have to move their goods through several distant airports in order to get to the UAE, or to connect with international air cargo flights to destinations in Europe and North and South America.” Vishakapatnam is home to one of the country’s leading sectors, pharmaceutical, and the IT industry based in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, the region is home to a large expatriate population in the UAE.
      Capt. Nair informed us that Naki Air was a leading, innovative charter operator that specialized in establishing new cargo and passenger services that is customized to meet the needs of its customers. In India, it will be offering services in conjunction with a UAE-based air-cargo operator. It has the capacity to utilize either A300-600 or B 727-200 freighter aircraft, depending on the cargo needs of customers. The carrier’s operation will be able to connect with major long-haul cargo carriers to provide seamless connections to Europe and North America, and to provide a global reach for its customers.
      According to Hercules Aviation’s Sujeen Paulose, though there was a great demand for air cargo charters, they would be going lower because of the infrastructure. He felt that there was a great need for X-ray machines that could take care of outsized cargo. Also, goods could not be delayed at the airport—such delays frustrated NSOs. He also mentioned that since most of the airports in the country were slot-based, a small delay of 10 minutes could lead to the diversion of flights.
      Another manufacturer also at the India Aviation show was the French Dassault showcasing their Falcon 2000s. Gilles Gautier, Vice President (Sales and Marketing), and Vadim Feldzer, Public Relations and Communications Manager, were vocal about the issues restricting the growth of general aviation in India. They pointed out that “regulations and infrastructure” were the main issues “because customers will need a bigger infrastructure . . . China started behind India but they are progressing very fast.”
      There are 150 airports in India that are capable of handling general aviation aircraft. However, there is significant variation in the level of infrastructure and facilities available at these airports. Aviation infrastructure capable of handling big commercial jets is not readily available in most of the Tier II and III cities in the country.
Tirthankar Ghosh

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