"To be, or not to be..." is the opening phrase of a soliloquy in the "Nunnery Scene" of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which Prince Hamlet contemplates death and suicide.
He bemoans the pains and unfairness of life—but acknowledges the alternative might be still worse.

     Fast-forward to next week as The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) is conducting the final, multi-based, grand air cargo event of 2014 in Seoul, Korea, from October 7-9.
     But our sources tell us all may not be well in TIACA Land.

ACF Lite

     One source estimates that TIACA sold approximately $1.5 million in exhibition space for Korea and approximately $1.4 million was not sold from the original floor plan.
     “That's a catastrophic scenario,” the source said “and unprecedented in the over 50-year history of the ACF.
     “There has been a 50 percent drop in exhibitors.
     “No trade show in any industry can survive that,” the source said.

Other Factors

     No doubt other circumstances played into some of the no-shows.
     Take the withdrawal of India’s GMR/Delhi International Airport from 27th Air Cargo Forum and Exposition at Seoul.
     Usually, as in past events, GMR (the promoters of Delhi International Airport and Hyderabad International Airport) team up and purchase several booths.
     “It is a joint effort by GMR, the Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal, and the Cargo Service Center (CSC),” Sanjiv Edwards, head of Cargo at Delhi International Airport, who also serves on TIACA’s Board of Directors, told FlyingTypers.
     “Both Celebi and Cargo Service Center have seen changes in the top management,” Mr. Edwards said.
     “As a result, we were not able to get together and decide about the participation in the Exposition,” he said.
     Sanjiv Edwards went on to say that the Delhi Airport withdrawal from the Expo should not be seen as due to any other factors than the one mentioned.
     "Now, everything at TIACA is going well and we are doing a lot of positive things," he said, adding that he will be “attending the show and hoped to play an active role at the Board meetings and the workshop.”
     People with knowledge about the participation of GMR/Delhi International Airport are not surprised.
     “It was all a matter of getting all the participants together for the exhibition in a short time,” a source close to the situation confirmed.

AGM Hangover?

     Although this may not be connected, we recall a conversation earlier this year whilst attending the TIACA AGM in Istanbul honoring the great Jacques Ancher. A high-ranking member of Celebi, which co-hosted the opening cocktail hour event complaining bitterly at “the puny turnout and the cost of sponsoring the event.”

On The line Backing ACF . . . Emirates SkyCargo shells out over USD $80,000 to place its multi-storied stand at ACF and (according to sources) more than six times that amount to move and staff the double decker during the show.

Adding Things Up

     We did a bit of quick figuring and a sampling of some of the companies who are appearing at TIACA 2014 Incheon.
     Based on published rates for space, FT came up with the following:
     WFS and Airbus have 8 booths ($44,320), EK has 15 booths ($83,100), and Changi Airport has 10 booths ($55,400) among others.
     Of course, the space cost is only a fraction of the cost to exhibit.
     These large booths require transportation, storage, days of labor, as well as staff that must be flown in, housed, and fed.
     A source told FT the cost to Emirates, for example, can run over six times the cost of the floor space.

Past Is Prologue

     We have been thinking about The ACF 2014 event long and hard at FlyingTypers, ever since TIACA kicked out its long serving and universally respected Secretary General Daniel Fernandez—a move that came on the heels of awarding Daniel another two-year term, which would have added to his 14 years of service to the organization.
     The Fernandez ouster in August 2013 came at a time when some industry giants were professing displeasure with the way TIACA was operating.
     The voices of dissent included, notably, air cargo and transportation guru Issa Baluch, who abruptly quit the TIACA Board in fall 2013 in protest of the operations.
     Baluch put things on the line, saying about TIACA:
     “I only hope the underlying reasons of my departure will help this organization move forward.
     “One of the commentators stated that I should have not come out in public with dirty linen about TIACA.
     “Sorry, I spent the last 5 years working from within and it appeared I was making progress.
     “In actual fact, the contributions I made seemed fully acceptable but when it came to implementation, it was entirely something else.
     “I gave this process the benefit of the doubt for many years until it reached a point when I could not take it anymore.
     “A number of current board members are my personal friends and fully agree with me. I respect their positions that they decided to keep quiet and not come out in public. Everyone has their own reasons and while I do not like what I see, I still respect their position.
     “One thing I am very certain about is that my departure will continue to have an impact since the last chapter has yet to be written,” Issa Baluch said.

Voice Of An Attendee

     So what about attending TIACA ACF Incheon?
     We talked to Patrick Murray, head of Dubai-based Calogi, the IT company evident at so many global cargo conferences.
     Calogi will not have a stand at ICN, but dnata will be in evidence as will Patrick, who is attending ICN ACF as a delegate.
     “I believe the choice of venues is governed by a mixture of sponsorship and trying to position the conference in a different area every two years, thus we found ourselves in Amsterdam in 2010, Atlanta in 2012, and Seoul in 2014,” Patrick said.
     “For me, ACF has always been a great place to network.
     “The major issue I have is that the FIATA World Congress takes place the following week, another ‘must attend’ for Calogi, which effectively means two weeks out of the office.
     “Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to the Seoul conference and I wish Oliver Evans and team every success with the event.”

Check Your Calendar

     Our take on ICN is that folks who do not have a lot of booked appointments risk trying to squeeze results out of a possible low turnout.
     At the same time, even though we are not members, in addition to our no-holds-barred reportage we have tried to shine a spotlight on TIACA to drum up some interest in the event, and have created a forum for TIACA to make the case for attending ACF.
     We may have helped in that regard, but wonder if that will be enough, because as yet neither FedEx, UPS, or for that matter Lufthansa Cargo will have a display at the event.
     Even TIACA Chairman Oliver Evans’ own airline, SWISS World Cargo, has not purchased a booth.
     At last booth count, 50 percent percent of TIACA’s board of directors had not thought enough of Korea to support their own show there.

Building Attendance

     FlyingTypers was told that TIACA has allowed some forwarders to have booths for free or in trade—but no cash to TIACA—in order to fill space.
     That may be good for some exhibitors at the ICN ACF.
     Even some forwarders, however they arrive in Korea at ICN, would be better than TIACA managed at the ACF 2012 Atlanta, where there were but a few in attendance.
     Worse still, TIACA ACF in Atlanta was conducted at a venue that was also hosting the Council Of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), inside an adjacent hall to TIACA ACF.
     Yet there was little effort (or success) in bringing this group to the ACF in Atlanta.
     Attendees sat for three days, looking at each other across the way through plate glass windows.
     Now in 2014, we are also wondering what happened to the Air Logistics Network (ALN)?
     ALN was established by TIACA in 2010 to—among other things—develop a platform for forwarders, shippers, and airlines at the ACF.
     Our impression is that ALN, a “LinkedIn” type service for air cargo, had some success in Amsterdam and Atlanta as forwarders and others were provided a special ALN platform and venue for networking.
     Now ALN has become a “ghost” to many. Nothing is written or heard about it.
     The fate of ALN (to us at least) raises the question of where the focus of TIACA’s leadership lies.

Industry Needs TIACA

     So as ICN readies, we count up booths sold on TIACA’s website and the numbers still appear grim as compared to the very profitable ACF show in Atlanta.
     The industry needs a healthy TIACA and TIACA needs the revenue from its events to survive.
     We all want to be good sports and do what we can to support industry events that help build a better air cargo business.
     But personal views aside, as the years pass and global communication occurs instantly, we can all agree that we must work smarter.
     We certainly will afford TIACA 2014 proper regional coverage whilst hoping that the good lord will allow all of us to live long enough to attend TIACA’s next event at CDG in two years.
Geoffrey/Sabiha

Ahead Of The Curve

   President and CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWH) William Flynn is a very smart guy.
   Witness an interview Mr. Flynn did with U.S. cable channel CNBC in 2013.
   Mr. Flynn, in addition to some other comments, predicted that bigger smart phones could impact world air cargo markets, which apparently is exactly what happened.

     One recent report from HSBC offers great insight into the shift of manufacturing away from China’s southern coastal regions. Authored by economist Jing Li, it details how, after decades of coastal regions dominating China’s export-led economic transformation, per capita incomes in coastal provinces are now double those inland, while coastal wages and land costs are also often more expensive.
     As this cost differential gives manufacturers a hefty push away from the coast, government policy also increasingly favors relocation.
     Major investments in road, rail, and air infrastructure are making interior locations more accessible, while subsidies and tax breaks are often available as part of provincial development incentives or under China’s “Go West” program, which is designed to push economic sophistication westwards and reduce income differentials between provinces.
     HSBC identifies three key areas of economic growth attracting new concentrations of manufacturing. In the north, Beijing’s wealth is now being dispersed, which is benefitting the development of Tianjin and Hebei.

New Silk Road

     From Shanghai, the Yangtze River is being used to spread industrialization up to mid and upstream cities in the regions of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, and Guizhou. HSBC also draws attention to a “New Silk Road” economic belt covering nine provinces, which, instead of viewing China’s coast as its umbilical cord to world trade, is instead concentrated on developing more direct links to Central Asia and onwards to Europe.
     Since 2007, provinces in the western region of the country have consistently recorded faster economic growth rates than their eastern counterparts, according to Li, who said the trend was also visible at company level.
     “For decades, the coastal region of China has led the export-dominated transformation of the country’s industrial landscape,” he said. “However, economic forces such as rising wages, land costs and recent improvements in transport networks and other infrastructure are making a move inland increasingly attractive for many companies, especially manufacturers. “Electronics giant Foxconn, [which makes phones, games consoles and computers for the world’s biggest brands, including Apple] which has moved production away from Shenzhen in the prosperous Pearl River Delta, is a good example of this trend.
     “In 2010 Foxconn opened a USD $2 billion plant in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, in western China. In the same year it opened another plant in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province in the central part of the country.”
     As regular readers of FlyingTypers will know, the provinces in the three growth areas identified by Li—not least those near to Foxconn factories—are also home to fast-growing freight airports.
     Cargolux also recently established a new hub at Zhengzhou, while UPS is offering flights out of Chengdu and Zhengzhou. Moreover, a spate of major legacy carriers is now offering freighter and passenger services from a wide variety of inland population and industrial centers.

The Forwarder Side

     Dirk Noelle, senior vice-president Airfreight North Asia Pacific, Kuehne & Nagel, said his company’s largest operation in China is currently located in Shanghai, but growth opportunities are increasingly located westwards.
     “Offices in western China such as Chengdu and Zhengzhou have rapidly developed as more and more manufacturing shifts westwards,” he said. “Rising costs in coastal regions in China have led to a shift in production inland.
     “This has had a largely positive effect in cities such as Chengdu and Zhengzhou, but of course a negative impact in South China and Hong Kong, from where the production has moved away.”
     Kuehne + Nagel now has a presence with a full service portfolio of exports and imports in all major and most secondary airports in China. The Switzerland-based forwarding giant also offers industry specific solutions for the Aerospace (KN EngineChain), Pharmaceuticals (KN PharmaChain), and Perishables (KN FreshChain) verticals.
     “Next quarter we will extend our online booking tool KN FreightNet to our Chinese customers,” said Noelle.
     He said if China’s domestic airlines started operating more long-haul services using wide-bodied aircraft linked to inland networks, it could transform air freight logistics options in China.
     “The domestic network in China is largely based on narrow body aircrafts, though of course exceptions exist,” he explained. “Subsequently, the connectivity for large air cargo shipments is limited. If these circumstances change, it would provide a real advantage for inland airports.”
     K&N plans to continue expanding its China air freight footprint and Noelle expects that rising domestic demand for imports will eventually offer more balanced trade for forwarders and airlines.
     “The ongoing shift of production-intensive industries to Central and West China offers much potential for logistics providers,” he said.
     “In recent years we have also seen a growing trend of air imports into China. This movement can be attributed to the increasing economic development of the Chinese middle class.
     “The growing imports, especially in secondary markets, will certainly improve the balance.
     “We will remain active in expanding our network and we closely monitor manufacturing trends to be present whenever opportunities arrive.”
Sky King

    LaGuardia, Instagram, Manhattan. Wow! Filtered an aerial view of Manhattan is seen from an airplane window last week.
   Makes the going great!

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