“India has a special place for Ethiopian Airlines’ cargo business,” said Berhanu Kassa, Director Global Cargo Sales & Services, Ethiopian Airlines Cargo, when he was recently in Delhi to meet cargo agents and thank them for their business in 2015.
       ACNFT managed to get him away from his meeting to find out Ethiopian’s cargo plans in general and India, in particular. Pointing to his airline’s age-old contacts with India, he said, “Ethiopian Airlines has been in India for over 40 years, connecting the sub-continent to all African nations in its wide network.
       “Hence, India has a special place for Ethiopian Airlines’ growth and its global presence.”

Lifting 18 Tons Weekly

       Kassa began by saying that currently Ethiopian was systemwide transporting internationally an average of 18,000 tons on freighters and 6,500 tons in belly per month.
       As for India, he said, “Ethiopian uplifts an average of 300 tons from Mumbai and 50 tons from both Delhi and Chennai per week.”
       He was quick to add that the “traffic has seasonal variances, but there has been a steady growth over the years,” but import volumes were insignificant.

Lion Of Africa

       For the lion of Africa—as Ethiopian would like to be known—India plays a very important and strategic role. The country has had relations with African nations for many years and with the recent improvement in Indo-African ties, Ethiopian Airlines views India as a huge source of its future revenues. Trade between the two nations has risen over the years, approaching $1 billion by 2015 from $660 million in 2011-12.
       It is at such a juncture that Ethiopian Airlines has said that it would partner with its Star Alliance fellow member, Air India, to expand its business in the country.
        
Expansion Strategies

       The carrier has, in fact, charted out two expansion strategies to improve connectivity of Indian market to Africa and the world.  In the first one, it is planning to increase frequency and upgrade capacity to current online destinations. 
       The second involves working to revise the bilateral relations, which would open avenues for expanding operations to other major Indian metro cities besides Delhi and Mumbai.
       Kassa mentioned that the carrier had been “operating daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai and both our routes are doing well, and we had an average load factor of more than 75 percent on both routes.
       “We are aiming for much better performance in 2016 and have been seeing good results in the last few months.”

Freighters Rising

       Speaking about cargo and the freighter flights to India, Kassa said Ethiopian has been serving Delhi with twice-weekly B777 freighter schedules (the flight operates the Shanghai-Delhi-Addis route).
       “The flight shares 40 percent of its capacity for Delhi to uplift cargo mainly to African destinations,” he said, mentioning that “the frequency can grow further based on increasing demand.”
       The cargo chief went on to state India's contribution to Ethiopian’s global presence. “Indian products like garments, fabrics, industrial products, and medicines are consumed across African countries.”
       As part of its India strategy, Ethiopian has targeted Bangalore to be the next freighter destination.
       “Flights have been planned and services will start in the first week of November 2015,” Kassa said.
       Having talked about the India market, Kassa moved on to the ambitious vision the airlines had charted out in November 2010: “With the increasing capacity in terms of fleet and the cargo facility, we are confident that we are on a good track to meet our target of 725,000 tons yearly uplift by 2025. Our year-round uplift for the year ending June 2015 was a record: 290,000 tons,” he said.
       Ethiopian’s fleet too is shaping up: “We have six B777s and two B757s.
       “The B777 freighters are used for long haul services like Europe, Far East, and Indian Sub-Continent, while the B757 are used to cover Gulf and African destinations,” he said. 
       “The freighters will serve 30-odd international destinations with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Dubai, and Liege (Belgium) being the major ones outside Africa, and Johannesburg, Kinshasa, and Brazzaville the top stations in Africa.”

Building Bole?

       The airline plans to reach its target of 725,000 tons will not be possible with the existing cargo terminal at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.
       As Kassa pointed out:
       “The existing cargo terminal has become small to accommodate the growing cargo traffic.
       “The new expansion will provide a total of 1.2 million tonnage capacity per year, which is four times larger than the existing facility. ‘The first phase of the expansion will be completed in the next 12 months and will offer additional cold room facility to cater to local perishable exports such as flowers, fruits and vegetables, meat, and for transiting temperature-sensitive products.”  Additionally, Kassa mentioned that “cargo agents will have enough office and working space to expand their business and facilitate services.”
       One of the two cold room facilities in the existing terminal is used exclusively to handle flowers, fruits, and vegetables. “These products,” said Kassa, “are exported to Europe and the Middle East. This can accommodate two B777 freighter loads at a time. The second cold room is used mainly to handle meat exports and for storage of other temperature-sensitive products, including pharma,” said Kassa.

Tirthankar Ghosh

   Ralph Arend is in Washington, D.C., as Creative Director for NowThis News, which interviewed U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
   Ralph has created more than 100 videos for FlyingTypers since 2005, when this publication pioneered the first video coverage in air cargo.
   Now Ralph Arend’s lens puts the top politicians and leaders of the world in the picture.
   Way to go, Ralph!
   Twitter feed from Vice President Biden here. Ralph can be seen in the photo seated at the monitors.

     The rather tranquil picture of a beautiful Thai Airways International aircraft gently cruising on its way to Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok is clobbered by reports from Thailand of a year (2015) that many would rather forget.
     First a military coup. Then revelations of slaves in the seafood industry and other human trafficking horrors. In August, a deadly bomb struck central Bangkok. And now, the United States has declared Thailand’s aviation industry unsafe, striking at the heart of that countries image in the world’s top aviation market.
      As reported by FT in July 2015, an ICAO safety audit in early December found the Thai aviation system deficient and not matching international minimum safety standards.
      As a result, both the FAA and their European counterpart EASA conducted their own audits.
      But while FAA has taken action, EASA has not. Just ten days after FAA, EASA declared that it is satisfied Thailand carriers can operate into the EU.
      The fact that no Thai airlines appeared on the EASA “black list” list can be viewed as a lifeline for Thai Airways International.
      Of course as these things go, Thai Airways is the only major airline flying into Europe from that Asian country.
      Thai Airways said 35 percent of the airline’s total revenues are generated from EU.
      The FAA audit which took place in July 2015 cited three key problems: A shortage of qualified civil aviation inspectors to carry out safety inspections on aircraft and airlines registered in Thailand; a lack of qualified staff for aircraft being operated in Thailand (which includes qualified pilots, certified aircraft mechanics as well as postholders appointed by airlines, MRO organizations, and ground handling companies); and incomplete—sometimes even lacking—standard aviation manuals. The latter is a shortcoming identified in particular regarding low-cost operators, a booming business in Asia.
      While currently no Thai-registered airline operates scheduled services to and from the U.S. after Thai Airways (TG) had suspended their daily service from Bangkok (BKK) to Los Angeles (LAX) effective October 25th, the U.S. verdict on Thai aviation will effectively bar TG from executing code share agreements with star alliance partner United Airlines (UA) as well as prevent the company from taking up new services to the U.S.
      The FAA move also has a detrimental effect on cash-strapped Thai Airways’ access to lease and operate U.S.-registered aircraft and considerably drives up insurance premiums.

Jens

     The artist Paul Simon wrote, “The mother and child reunion, is only a motion away.”
     As we get older that meaning extends to include friends who once were front and center in our everyday life, but somehow have melted away in the swirl of creeping years and geography.
     Another truism you may have heard: “When you are old and it's cold and nobody cares much if you live or die, the one consolation is a bit of money that may get you by.”
     So with a touch of pleasure tinged with sadness, we celebrate when somebody works their way through an airline career and manages to retire in one piece—not as the result of downsizing or ill-health, but with a parachute package and the ability to still enjoy a couple of shooters.
     That brings us to Jan Meurer.
     There has never been an airline guy we have liked better than Jan Meurer.
     Although today he has moved into service as Chairman of IHAB (International Hospitality Advisory Board) Hoge Hotelschool in Maastricht, Jan can still be seen at various air cargo functions with good friends like United Cargo President Jan Krems and Jacques Heerman, MD of Netherlands-based GSSA IAS Services.
     As long as we've known him in the business, he operated faithfully and with great determination and élan through a series of assignments at KLM.
     Although his KLM days are long gone and he is close to home in the Netherlands surrounded by friends and family, we recall some of the truly thankless jobs Jan accomplished during a stellar airline career.
     Jan began with Nedlloyd, moved onto Martinair, and after that to Pandair before joining KLM.
     You could say that for almost all his life Jan has been part of the team that held up the pillars of Dutch transportation heritage.
     The Dutch have always been great traders.
     In Amsterdam you can stand below Rembrandt's massive Night Watch painting, which anchors an entire floor of the Rijks Museum.
     Look into the expressions and body language of Dutch traders 350 years ago when the Netherlands ruled world commerce.
     Then go outside and take a walk along the Keisergracht.
     The same people appear as familiar faces in different clothes.
     Today, Nedlloyd to Maersk, Martinair to KLM with Maersk, Pandair into DHL and of course, most recently, KLM into Air France have all benefited from the steady, sure hand of Jan Meurer.
     Jan has always been involved with change, personally and professionally.
     New companies and challenges, new places to live and bring up his boys with his wife Annatine have resulted in an expansion of the character of the man, with knowledge of new languages and cultures and the global village. Professionally, change has been driven by business imperatives like growth, mergers, or reality.
     I guess Jan Meurer can best be described as a facilitator of change. He is a person who recognizes the human dimension of change and one who will work with people to understand, accept, and implement the inevitable.
     But what elevates this guy above the din has always lived inside of the man himself.
     Jan Meurer is tall, maybe 6-foot-five, so when you meet him he is bigger than you are.
     He is also very down to earth and warm hearted, often speaking in what sounds like a hoarse whisper.
     Jan gets lots of ideas and shares them all around.
     Something else is his downright refusal to think any task—no matter what the challenge—cannot be realized.
     When he was running the air cargo operation here in America (and later handling all of the U.S. for KLM) we described him as “Wild Thing” for his ability to enter a room full of people and make everybody think his visit was a personal, one-on-one encounter.
     But if you ask him, Jan Meurer will say the ultimate highlight of his career was being intimately involved in the KLM/Northwest relationship.
     Much has been written about the success of this pioneering aviation partnership.
     By any measure, KLM/NWA has certainly stood the test of time, serving as a model for others. “KLM/Northwest was built by people, visionaries who became my mentors and who continuously challenged me to adapt and grow with the opportunities that were created.
     “On the flip side, however, if there were lows in my career, the people impact of the KLM/Northwest relationship was the most difficult.
     “My last assignment in the U.S. meant handing over responsibility for the North American market to Northwest, strategically necessary but eminently painful.
     “I was the agent of change that had a high cost for wonderful, loyal people of both companies, either in the U.S. or in Europe where the process was reversed.
     “I'm sure that the strategy was successful but it was not without sacrifice.”
     We recall those days quite clearly.
     Jan Meurer, a giving and passionate human being by nature, was handed an unnatural and awful task to terminate legions of people.
     During that time we would see him attending retirement parties at places such as Russo's in Howard Beach near JFK International in New York, in the tough Italian neighborhood.
     Often we would kid with Jan, wondering when one of those “retirement parties” might net the big guy his own pair of cement shoes.
     Jan would always wince, not because of any threat or fear, but because he was genuinely bearing the pain and disappointment of others while attempting to reach out to them.
     “People have been pretty important to me.
     “I have been privileged to work with Martin Schröder, Ad Scheepbouwer, Jacques Ancher, Pieter Bouw, Mike Levine, and Leo van Wijk, all top management.
     “But at the same time, I have learned much and benefited from my friendships and association with secretaries, warehousemen, truck drivers, longshoremen, in-flight crews and my peers.
      “In this world it is all about what we can achieve together.
      “I am happiest when surrounded by people who are believers, implementers, and service deliverers—the core of any success, including my own.”
      At the end of his career as boss of the KLM cabin attendants, Jan's work was apparently quite a bit less strenuous, but as always Jan Meurer was up to the job and aced the assignment easily.
      Faithful, smart, effective, a real human being, down to earth and decent—those are just a few words to describe this guy.
      Now, in my 40th year on this beat covering air cargo, if you asked me why I love this business, the name I think of right away is Jan Meurer.

Geoffrey

RE: High Times USA

Dear Geoffrey,

  About Drones . . . You and I are old enough to remember MAD Magazine. I recall they did an article on the future when everyone would use private airplanes in the same quantity and frequency as cars.
  The cartoon showed a sky full of vehicles. I have a similar nightmare vision of drones. We have filled the roads and clogged up our cities, and now will fill the skies with these monsters. I dread it, as they are a menace and need strict controls.
  There have already been several serious incidents of drones at or near airports.
  Our skies are crowded enough without these annoying monsters.
  STOP THE DRONES BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!

Kind regards and Best Wishes for 2016,
Peter Walter
Marketing Manager
CHAMP Cargosystems (retired)
Moraira, Spain

Hi Peter,

  I not only remember MAD—as a sub-teenager I recall rather worshiping its spokesman “Alfred E. Neuman” (pictured here) for his rather uplifting outlook on life.
  It was Neuman who coined the phrase: “What, Me Worry?” and every time me and my best friend Paul Abrams would sit down and read another monthly installment of MAD, we would roll with laughter for days.
  Recall that MAD would occasionally publish smiling pictures of Richard Nixon in each issue with the caption:
  “Why Is This Man Laughing?”
  Later, when Nixon ran against Kennedy, I campaigned door-to-door for Nixon.
  Once at LaGuardia Airport, I told the ex-President that story and he laughed, saying that he loved reading MAD as well.
  In my mind, drones stimulate young imaginations about aviation and to me that is very exciting.
  Of course, safety issues certainly need to be actively addressed.
  Thanks for your letter, which stirred some fond memories as these days we are thinking about possibilities for the year ahead.

Always,
Geoffrey

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