(Dubai Exclusive)—Hiran Perera, Emirates Senior Vice President Cargo Planning & Freighters, is a long-standing veteran of all-cargo aircraft—the relationship has been ongoing since 1994.
     You could call him Halcyon Hiran—like the mythical bird tasked with soothing the sea, his demeanor is calming, pacific; the big job at Emirates SkyCargo for which he assumes responsibility has not ruffled his feathers, and you would be hard pressed to find an edge to much of his conversation.
     Still, he makes his points in a clear and concise manner.
     He is quietly determined and from all indications doing quite well managing the role of a lifetime for the past half dozen years.

     “As we go on with more freighters coming in, there’s obviously more risk, and therefore more complexity of operation, which at one time was mainly Europe/Asia centric and is now more global.
     “We cover the globe both ways, transatlantic, transpacific. Because of the divider markets, it’s become more complex. Each market reacts or acts differently, or is impacted differently.
     “Over the years you see crises that take place; for example the Ash cloud in Europe or what happened in Japan, and you have to manage things differently.
     “We look more into the passenger belly operation and look at that synergy—we use to do it before, but now more structurally, to look at the cost of the belly operation and put more science behind that.
     “Some aircraft bellies, as long as the aircraft are operating within the maximum range, they are fine; you can get the maximum payload.
     “We view B777-300ERS as freighters in disguise. SkyCargo can carry 20-25 tons of freight with a full load of passengers – that’s more than on some full freighters. Emirates now operates fifty-four of these 300ers, and we were one of the initial customers for the 300ers.
     “Our team actually drove the cargo aspect of that B777 and quite a few others, including the A380 and A330-200—we pushed the manufacturers to enhance the offering and capability of the airplanes for air cargo.
     “For us the issue is that we have these airplanes operating shorter- and medium-haul sectors, but we also have our long-range operations.
     “Those longer stage lengths get beyond the maximum range of the airplane to carry a lot of air cargo, but because B777 is so great, the economics are so good, and because that is the kind of airplane that, from a passenger perspective, is suitable for those routes, we do operate them to places from Dubai like Sao Paolo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.
     “But with cargo capacity compromised, we need to manage that as well. This is why we look more closely at the equation; as our fleets and belly capacity have evolved, we need to identify more clearly what our true belly capacity is as one of the key elements of what we do.
     “It’s all about about optimizing our assets for the organization.”
     The A380 has long been heralded as a new wave passenger plane, but the question moving forward for both the A380 and the air cargo community is whether the A380 can work for the cargo community.
     “It remains to be seen whether the Airbus can offer service as a freighter, because that variant was scrapped. Now in 2011 things have changed; the A380 cargo offering will have to be completely different, because today the B777 does the job.
     “We have 15 A380s in the fleet and it’s a great airplane. The cargo capability of the airplane is much better than we expected it to be. We are able to carry 13-15 tons on average on the A380.
     “We worked closely with Airbus in order to optimize the underbelly cargo capacity, and that’s paid off. We had to push them to make some design changes; for example we specified the ability to carry pallets in what we call the tunnel area—the area in between the gear.
     “The original specs only allowed for containers, and that volume is very beneficial when you have a full passenger load. When these are operating on air lanes like Heathrow, Paris or Incheon, that freight capability is important. With that volume, we are now able to achieve 13-15 tons and have even gone up to 18 tons depending on the density of the freight.”
     In terms of the evolutionary cycle of developing more capacity as new airplanes come online, Hiran Perera admits that he was involved in the early stages of the A380 development.
     “Ram (Menen) and I worked quite a bit in order to get that belly capacity. We are happy to see that it’s actually benefitting us.
     “As we go along, we’ll do that with new aircraft that come in as well, working with manufacturers to ensure that belly capacity.
     “For an airline like us, the freight in the belly is extremely important, you cannot understate the importance of it. It represents 17+ percent of our business.
     “Also working with the passenger business requires deep dish understanding of what their seasonality is, so that we can optimize and ensure that the available capacity is utilized.
     “You have seasonality of freight and also have seasonality of passenger demand, and we have good data surrounding both. So using that data and the systems more effectively, you can leverage your assets quite well.
     “With SkyChain, we have that capability to be flexible and bring in all the data. SkyChain is a brilliant system.
     “Worth noting is that on the passenger side there are various systems as well. So integrating inputs provides us the information that is needed for making decisions.
     “It’s been a team effort. I don’t really get involved on the system side of things, but what the teams have been able to achieve is brilliant.
     “For myself I am particularly proud of keeping tabs on the cost side of things, identifying freighter related costs, etc. Having all of the costs available in the system so that you have up to date costs, and having revenue information available so that you can forecast ahead of time what is going to happen, and what needs to be done is critical to our success.
     “Capacity is perishable – being in the industry for time immemorial, I know that.
     “Having information early, you know what costs will be, what expected forecasted revenue will be based on volumes, and to see ahead of time what you can do to redress that.
     “Reality dictates that you can’t tell how freighter costs will fall in the long-term, so that’s why we’re putting our focus on using the data in the short- to medium-term to see if we need to change things.
     “As example maybe we need to combine some points in order to protect load factor, volumes, etc.
     “You have to weigh that up against your schedule integrity, customer commitments – find a way to bring all this together in order to deliver the service levels and not compromise any service levels, and at the same time make sure you are agile enough to manage the volatility to which we are all subject.”
     Listening to Hiran, it’s easy to see how others can look to Emirates for answers. We wonder, given all of Emirates’ success, whether there is anyone they need look to.
     “We watch all the competitors, and I think what we’ve created is a unique response to what we have learned from the industry.
     “What is unique about the Emirates organization is that it is a team, and we have a great team with great leadership, and that’s set us apart from everyone else.
     “I don’t think you can replicate what we do here. It’s the coming together of these different individuals as a team, and it’s evolved over the last 25 years into something that is extremely special.

     “I want to address an aspect of our business that may get less attention—air charters. Emirates developed the charter business over the years; it doesn’t run separately, it runs within the freighter unit. We’ve found it’s proven to be absolutely invaluable to do that – it brings in a different stream and you can manage the cyclical nature of our business and take advantage of it.
     “Our unique global position helps as well, we can take advantage of opportunities around us."
     The Fertile Crescent earned its moniker for a reason—Emirates’ unique proximity offers a bountiful vantage point on the rest of the world, and the company is not shy about taking advantage of that.
     “Right now the charter markets that intrigue us are Africa and Japan.
     “We’ve not been able to take advantage of the Japan market as much as we would like to.
     “We continually look at new routes and new business; earlier this year, for example, we launched twice-weekly freighter service to Iraq—that’s a scheduled operation.”
     In terms of expanding SkyCargo into a second hub, Mr. Perera said:
     “At this point we’ve shied away from creating any new hubs. Dubai is our key hub because of the interaction between the freighters and the passenger belly and how it feeds in and out.
     “But, never say never in this business! We are open to anything.
     “We started freighter services a year ago last month (October) to South America, but the cost of fuel is quite challenging. We pay more for fuel here than in Europe or Asia.
     “I also want to mention that responsibility for all of the components in the freighters—including their environmental impact—is an ongoing collective responsibility here. At the outset we decided that we needed to look at new fuel-efficient airplanes, industry leading airplanes that are also environmentally friendly.
     “But broadening environmental issues a bit, if you look at green initiatives, mostly getting efficiency in the airway systems would go a long way.
     “Look at the congested airports in Europe. You get overhead on time and then you spend time in the hold—that is not environmentally friendly.
     “The industry has done a lot in order to achieve efficiency in terms of the airplane and manufacturing, but others need to come to the party in order to bring in significant change.
     “We can’t wait any longer.
     “That’s not only in cargo—that’s throughout aviation.
     “For us in air cargo, the B777s provide us the best of everything, by far, and that’s why we have a strategy surrounding B777s as the future.
     “We have more aircraft delivering this year; in August we received an airplane, in February 2012 we will receive our fourth B777F airplane, and we expect to get more as we go along.
     “That is going to be the backbone of our fleet.
“We’ll have the most efficient, most environmentally friendly freighter fleet going forward. Can’t say it enough—the B777 is a great airplane from all aspects.
     “In terms of containers we’ve trialed a lot of new technology – lightweight containers that would bring the overall weight down, research into weight on the airplanes and where weight can be shed. In the 777s there was an initiative that was part of the design of the airplane that would change out the rigid cargo barrier, which would save weight on the airplane.
     “We look at ways that will reduce weight on the airplanes as well, some of which gets specified because it’s an airplane for a larger community, and if you don’t need certain things, then we need to remove them to shed weight.
     “For example, there is a certain type of lock we won’t use for efficiency reasons.
     “If you can shave 10 minutes in holding, 10 minutes off of taxiing, waiting in line to take off, the amount of fuel you save brings more efficiency in the system, cuts emission and reduces costs.
     “Everyone along the chain must get on board,” Hiran Perera said.
     We couldn’t agree more. And we rest assured that Hiran will remain diligent in his post, lulling the turbid waves of air cargo into passive submission.
Geoffrey/Flossie

Bangkok Floods Keep
Don Muang Closed

Monday November 14 and what length (and depth) some reporters will go to for the story in Bangkok at Don Muang Airport is apparent as everyone else just tries to make it through the worst Thailand flooding in 50 years.

     If you’ve sworn off television, newspapers and light conversation with others, then might not have noticed that those floods in Thailand are continuing unabated, with Bangkok’s domestic gateway, Don Muang Airport, still closed.
     Thailand, which unfortunately lies below sea level, continues to struggle after being hit by a record-breaking rain season, now at its peak and expected to continue into December, which many believe to be an effect of global warming.
     “The impact on business and the local population is heightened as the government seemingly does not have a clue as to what will happen next,” said Smit Intaratuvasak (Smiti) of Commercial Transport International Ltd. (CTI Logistics Co.) from the Bangkok-based company’s New York office. (Contact:smit@cticargo.com. 718-917-7779)
     “Our approach at CTI is to stay close to our customers over there via day to day updates from the Port Authority here so that everybody knows what to expect from our folks on the ground at home.
     “Actually, the impact of flooding that has hit other parts of the country and Bangkok as well has more or less neutralized at the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport and its surrounding air cargo facilities – the water table has not risen to disaster proportions because of the massive amounts of landfill and flood walls that were incorporated into the facility’s construction technology,” Smiti declared.
     “Some road access can be problematic, with maybe 80 percent of all traffic right now in Thailand needing to be rerouted.
     “But thankfully, most of our newer road systems, meaning the express throughways and freeways, incorporate elevated (flyover) highways that are four and five lanes, with the government allowing people to utilize an outside lane to park private and commercial vehicles during the emergency.
     “We have worked diligently to create total transparency with our customers, so with everybody knowing what to expect in real time, we have held our losses to a minimum.
     “But despite our best effort, the 2011 flood impact on our air cargo business has caused as much as a 20 percent decline, including our vital transshipment operations via gateway BKK,” Smiti said.
     “In terms of routing from USA, we do quite well to Thailand via China Airlines cargo, especially from the USA east coast, and especially since Thai Airways pulled its flights from here.
     “Thai does operate from California, but from New York at least our CAL Cargo connections are fast and sure, JFK via TPE into BKK.”
     Thinking ahead seems almost impossible when dealing with a natural disaster, but Smiti seems ready and confident to handle any hurdles.
     “CTI is thinking long and hard about next flood season and will be ready in any case.”
     “We are counting on our 25 offices abroad to give the right information about the flood situation in Thailand,” said Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Suraphon Svetasreni (left) at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) last week.
     “It’s important to clarify many things,” said the Governor, who also said that he is eager to portray the “right” picture of the flood situation in the country.
     “The most important thing to clarify is that the Suvarnabhumi International Airport is open and will remain so.
     “There’s no flooding on the highways, and there’s transport from the airport to the city, including taxis, buses, and overhead Rail Link.
     “It’s only the domestic Don Muang Airport that has been closed,” Suraphon Svetasreni insisted.
     Although it was built on a swamp, Suvarnabhumi Airport has been ok, with flood-protecting measures in place, and “continues to have 120 airlines operating out of it, with 800 flights a day,” he said.
     “We are working to quell many of the wrong rumors going around.”
     “In addition, I’ve encouraged our international offices to do one-to-one meetings with those who want more information, and am personally monitoring this,” he stated.
     “If the problems of the floods are resolved by end-November, our international arrivals passenger numbers will drop by 220,000, with a revenue loss of $520 million.
     “And if they are resolved by end-December, our international arrivals will drop by 300,000 , with a revenue loss of $825 million (domestic and international),” he said.
Geoffrey/Flossie

The Heaviest Item Transported
On A B777 Freighter

     Close on the heels of announcing a seventy B777 aircraft deal with Boeing, which marks the largest dollar volume aircraft order in history, at The Dubai Air Show on Tuesday Emirates said it moved a twenty-one ton oil part, the heaviest, single item ever transported on a B777 freighter.
     Weighing in at 21.157 tons (including packaging), the item—a specialized blowout preventer valve used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas—was transported from Iraq’s Erbil International Airport to Dubai.
     “Carrying cargo with a weight so close to the B777’s limit was very challenging,” said Nihal Wickrema, Emirates’ Manager Freighter Operations & Charters.
     “The highest level of care and precision planning was required by ground-handling operations at both airports.
     “The weight had to be spread along the aircraft’s structure and the shape of the item was such that it could have potentially rolled during the flight, so we had to ensure there was sufficient restraint in every direction.”
     Emirates SkyCargo noted that it worked closely with dnata, the ground handling agent in Erbil, the customer—Starlight—and its delivery agent in Erbil.
     "This operation was a great showcase of the expertise of everyone involved,” added Wickrema.
     “We always try to find a solution to even the most challenging customer requirements. It was a stern test of our operational capabilities so it is satisfying to have successfully completed the job, which is now testament to an enhanced level of service that we can offer customers.”

Get On Board Air Cargo News FlyingTypers
For A Free Subscription
Click Here To Subscribe

Celebrating Wolfie Els

     We are deeply saddened to learn that Wolfgang Els (known as Wolfie to many) passed away on Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
     Wolfie joined SAA Cargo in 1969.
     He began as a District Sales Manager and moved up the ranks to become the General Manager for Europe and the UK in 1998.
     In the final years of his career he was a great mentor and spirit to many in the air cargo industry.
     During his 35-year career with SAA, he was instrumental in positioning SAA Cargo Europe to become a market leader to Southern Africa.
     Wolfie’s intense knowledge of the business and his dedication and loyalty to the company undoubtedly played a major role in the success of SAA Cargo Europe.
     He shared a lifetime of passion for South Africa, South African Airways and for the cargo business with all of his colleagues, customers and friends.      Wolfie was a truly iconic figure across our industry, even after retiring in December 2004.
     His friend, Heiner Siegmund, recalls:
     “Wolfgang was much-respected and known very well by almost every member of the German and European cargo community.
     “We all lose an amiable person and a great industry veteran.”
     We will miss the well-respected and much-esteemed airfreight veteran, a dear friend and an outstanding person who has enriched many people’s lives.
     Our deepest heartfelt sympathy goes to his family and friends.
     Funeral services will be held on Friday, November 18, 2011 at 2:00pm at Neuer Friedhof; Otto Hahn Str., Maintal Dörnigheim.
     More information-Contact: Jana Laudien, Janalaudien@Flysaa.com
Geoffrey

If You Missed Any Of The Previous 3 Issues Of FlyingTypers
Click On Image Below To Access

FT110711