Rising Tide Lifts India Agent Meet

     The Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) is holding its annual convention at Bengaluru from November 25-28, 2010. The agents are meeting at a time when the air cargo industry in the country is on a high, having weathered the storm.
     Speaking about the convention, President J Krishnan said that the Bengaluru meet was the second one held in India after a gap of many years, a gap used “primarily to focus on the rapid changes occurring in the country on various fronts that will directly affect our business in the coming years.”
     With its theme “Air Logistics - Industry Resurgence,” members of the association want to send a strong message to policy makers to take them seriously. First and foremost, there is an increasing need to address the infrastructure issues that have gone from bad to worse during the past year.
      Bharat Thakkar, Vice President, ACAAI, emphasized: “We want to generate awareness that the convention that is in its 37th year is not a familiarization trip. This is a very serious convention. It will be a platform to not only interact but debate on the issues among the various sections of the industry and between the stakeholders and the policy makers.”
     Convention chairman G Raghushankar has organized a long list of policy-makers. The star attraction, hopefully, will be Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel. Arvind Jhadav, CMD, Air India, and Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Director-General, Civil Aviation, will join him.
      This convention could see wider participation since it is being held inIndia. In fact, at last year’s annual convention in Goa it was realized that staging the meet in the country ensured the participation of government heads.
     The convention will consist of seven business sessions spanning over a period of two days with speakers from the airline industry, ACAAI members, various government agencies and departments. The topics covered would be issues that the industry currently faces, the infrastructure development, the existing deficiencies and the congestion at several air cargo complexes at major metro airports of the country.
     The association is looking at easing out issues faced by the industry with the participation of the government and stakeholders. One of the major issues is the development of cargo villages at major airports.
     Said Thakkar: “Bengaluru is the second airport where the authorities have provided the facilities for the development of the cargo village, the first being the Shamsabad International Airport, Hyderabad. Almost
85-90 warehouses of 500 sq ft each, with additional 250 sq ft of office space, have been provided at the Bengaluru airport. “There is another building where there is space for 100 offices of 250-500 sq ft each.
     “This is a fine example of a very well planned cargo village that is almost ready but due to the lack of power supply, it is not fully functional yet. Only during the daytime can it be used for storing cargo.
     “Most freight forwarders are operating from the old downtown warehouse in Bengaluru city.”
Tirthankar Ghosh

African Transport Views Bridge

     The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), an organization located in Johannesburg Midrand, South Africa is worth following. It has marshaled interest and moved the marble toward a Pan-African led solution to challenges facing the continent, challenges that many in air cargo are thinking about as South Africa shows itself to be the next big market, with many already actively seeking partnerships there.
     During this meeting season, with the glitz-and-cheese-tray air cargo bunch about to meet next week in Amsterdam, it is also worth taking a moment to step back and consider everything as part of an expanded season of enlightenment.
 

Pictured at NEPAD 2010—Journalists covering the event.

    Earlier this month from October 13-15, NEPAD conducted an important albeit overlooked conference, The 2010 African Transport Summit, which was held in Gallagher Convention Center in Johannesburg.
     The gathering followed the first ever NEPAD Transport Summit, held in South Africa from the 25th to the 26th of November in 2009.
     The bigger 2010 Transport Summit continued the NEPAD mantra of working toward uncovering ways in which to prioritize, develop and fast-track Africa's cross-border networks in all forms of transport—road, rail, air and sea ports—to promote trade, investment and growth through the integration of national action plans and national economies.
     Virtually every dignitary, African Minister and guest speaker from both the public and private sector reiterated this statement in one way or another during delivery of their presentations.
     Africa stands poised to explode with development and investment opportunities, but it will take good governance and transparency from the politicians and the PPP’s (Public Private Partnerships) to sustain this growth going forward.
     Africa’s economy is similar to Asia’s economy 15 years ago, and while 34 of the world’s poorest 48 nations are in Africa, recent growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) suggests that the continent is becoming increasingly competitive, analogous to the experience of Asia 15 years ago. In particular, economies in Southern Africa grew significantly over the last decade. The region’s abundance of natural resources (e.g., minerals, energy) and its productive agricultural sector has led to exponentially increased trade with emerging market partners such as China, India, and Brazil. However, while the region’s balance of trade is moving in a favorable direction, inadequate transport infrastructure (as well as energy and information and communications technology) poses a major bottleneck to the region achieving its full growth potential.
     This year’s Transport Summit explored issues such as the NEPAD concept of a New East-West transport corridor (NEWCOR) that will eventually operate across the center of the continent (from West to East) as part of an attempt to augment the already established North-South Corridor.
     Delivering a speech dedicating a newly completed Beit Bridge Weigh Bridge between South Africa and Zimbabwe last week (a great example of the NEPAD push to open and simplify trade lanes) African Director-General, Department of Transport, Mr. George Mahlalela said:
     “Africa must find solutions on our transport infrastructure's missing links across the country and in the region.
     “We proved by the successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when we hosted 3.1 million spectators through an efficient transport infrastructure and systems, that an improved infrastructure is a remedy for development.
     “In preparation for the most exciting global soccer spectacular for 2010, our road, rail and aviation transport infrastructure proved to Africa and the world that sound and improved infrastructure to include energy, telecommunication, stadium and transport can contribute to countries achieving wonderful and memorable events of a life time.
     “Through this October 2010 African Transport Month, we highlight our loopholes in infrastructure and discuss possible interventions to address challenges.
     “In the last two weeks we experienced high profile infrastructure conferences. These included the NEPAD Transport Conference in Midrand, the Road Conference hosted by the South African Roads Federation in Cape Town and the Roads Indaba in the Eastern Cape.
     “All these platforms are a clear indication of the importance of transport infrastructure in our economies.
     “The launch of the Beit Bridge Weigh Bridge between South Africa and Zimbabwe signifies yet another milestone in the development of cross-border transport infrastructure.
     “The Beit Bridge Border Post between South Africa and Zimbabwe close to Musina is regarded as one of Africa's gateways to the world.”
     NEPAD says that a top goal of its transport program is to close Africa’s gap in transport infrastructure systems and services by reducing the costs of transport and improving the quality of services by increasing both public and private financial investment in transport infrastructure.
     NEPAD’s core belief is that improving the maintenance of transport infrastructure will require continued removal of formal and informal (physical and non-physical) barriers to the movement of peoples, goods and services by supporting regional cooperation and the integration of markets for transport services and improving the safety of all transport modes (air, land, rail, sea and pipeline).
     “Major transport corridors are under constant review with a view to transforming them into viable spatial development initiatives driven by transport infrastructure development,” NEPAD says.
     With respect to aviation, NEPAD says that it has come up with a concept to implement the Yamoussoukro Decision on the liberalization of air transport in Africa.
     NEPAD has signed an MOU with the African Civil Aviation Commission to implement the Yamoussoukro Decision, with a focus on promoting aviation security and safety in Africa.
     NEPAD is also working with Afrique Rail and the South African Government to identify and promote regional rail improvement.
     NEPAD Agency, it should be noted, is involved in agriculture and food security, climate change, human development, economic and corporate issues and more.
Geoffrey/Flossie
http://www.nepad.org/.

ABC Easy As 123

     If Russian line-haul carrier AirBridge Cargo’s announcement regarding the commencement of flights to Chicago or New York beginning in March 2011 goes as planned, it will be the first time the 2004-established Moscow-based airline lands in North America.
     Easy as 123?
     Well, stay tuned for the result and remember: since October 4, 1958, when a BOAC Comet landed at Idlewild Airport (now JFK) and became the first pure jet transport to arrive in the new world from Europe, there have been maybe four dozen other airline companies that have come and gone, trying to establish air service across the Atlantic route to the Americas.
     The new ABC service will be offered two or three times per week.
     “We are still elaborating the schedule and routing details, including the final destinations we’ll be landing in the U.S.,” stated ABC’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Wolfgang Meier, when asked by ACNFT during a press conference in Berlin last Thursday. He stepped back from his carrier’s earlier announced intentions for operating a trans-polar route out of Krasnoyarsk or Novosibirsk to destinations in Canada and the U.S.
     “Many parts of the polar region are still a white spot for air traffic control, so we better avoid them at least for the time being.” Although he didn’t further comment on the intended routing, the cargo flights will most likely depart in Shanghai, stop mainly for fuel and reasons of traffic rights at Khabarovsk in east Siberia, and proceed on to Chicago or New York respectively.
     “We can only fill up our extended range B747-400ERF freighters with sufficient loads if we commence the flights in China,” Meier said, indirectly confirming the hinted schedule.
     The line-haul subsidiary of Russian Volga-Dnepr Airlines transported 158,800 tons last year, making it Russia’s biggest scheduled cargo carrier. ABC currently operates a fleet of seven B747-400Fs and ERFs.      There are also two B747-200 “Classic” cargo planes and one B747-300 Special Freighter in service, making it ten aircraft altogether. An additional B747-400F is expected to arrive in December, and in mid-2011 manufacturer Boeing has confirmed for delivery the first of five firmly ordered B747-8Fs. Accordingly, new routes will be added to the network step by step.
      Said Meier: “We are transforming from a mere point-to-point carrier to a network operator by establishing Moscow as our central hub.” It is a dual-hub system, including Sheremetyevo airport at 30 km north of the Russian capital and Domodedovo International, situated 42 km southeast of downtown Moscow.
     “The trucking of cargo transit shipments between the two airports is strictly forbidden according to customs regulations,” Meier says, describing a bizarre hurdle for air freight traffic imposed by the authorities.
     As to upcoming decisions, he announced that a new destination will soon be added to his carrier’s network in central Europe, most likely Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany. Similar plans exist for China, where the capacity provider eyes an additional airport in the central parts of the country, keeping the name of the place in the drawer so far. ABC intends to strengthen its domestic services in Russia and the neighboring Asian CIS countries by deploying the two “Classic” Boeing aircraft plus the B747-300SP. Frankfurt and Shanghai will remain the airline’s most important destinations with 14 weekly flights each.
     The transport strategy will more or less remain the same, and thus not be affected by any notable changes.
     “We stick to general cargo and will offer the market a broader range of products only after we have accomplished our horizontal duties,” the chief of ABC sales says. In his terms, “horizontal” means further strengthening and enlarging the network. Consequently, for the moment, the “vertical” step of introducing different products like Express, Perishables, Valuables, and some others does not stand on the agenda of Russia’s biggest cargo airline.
Heiner Siegmund

This Date in Aviation History . . . October 23 1906—The 14-bis, also known as Oiseau de proie (French for "bird of prey"), was a pioneer-era bi-plane designed and built by Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont. On 23 October 1906, in Paris, France, it performed the first officially witnessed European, unaided takeoff and flight by a heavier-than-air aircraft.
The video created in Brazil to honor the event 100 years later is both lighthearted and fun and also amazing to witness as Dumont's aircraft again takes wing like some giant modern-day box kite!

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