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CharterBrokersReport
Aircontact looks further afield
ACS keeps on expanding
Whilecargocharteringrepresentsonlyabout30per-
centoftheOslo-basedAircontact’stotalbusiness–the
Air Charter Service (ACS) has growth at ACS over recent
restismadeupofpassengerchartering,actingasa
just opened a Paris office, years, and while that rate of
passengergeneralsalesagentandsomeACMIwork–
bringing to eight the number expansion may have slowed
thecompanyhaschosentospecialiseintheareaofmil-
of branches that it maintains during the recession, it is still
itaryandreliefcharters.
worldwide. there – and that is something
Unfortunately,accordingtoAircontactmanaging
The local contacts and that not many of the smaller
directorUlfGregersen,moreandmorecharterbrokers
knowledge that this move gives cargo brokers can claim,
arealsonowtryingtomoveintothisareaofwork.
the company, plus the inherent Bauckham commented.
Withanemphasisonhumanitarianoperations,the
buying power that is a ready He believes that those
UNWorldFoodProgrammeisanimportantcustomer,
advantage of the larger broker, smaller brokers may be forced
Gregersenconfirmed,asistheRedCross,butgiventhe
has left ACS very well equipped to co-operate more among
growingcompetitionforthisbusinessAircontacthas
to weather this current down- themselves, or with the larger
lookedtobroadenitsbusinessscope.
turn in the market. concerns such as ACS, or they
Geographically,theBalticregion,formerCISstates
Gregersen – the market is
getting extremely competitive
Indeed, so far this year rev- may look to specialise in niche
andthenewcountriestohavejoinedtheEuropean
enue is up and profit is on a par geographical or industry areas.
Unioninthepastfewyearsallofferpotentialforbrokers,henoted,astheylackatra-
with last year, observes man-
Bauckham: “good for us and
The industry is changing in
ditionofusingcargocharteringasawayofhandlingbusiness.Moreover,the
aging director Tony Bauckham.
good for our customers”
other ways, too, he said. Cus-
NorwegianfishmarketisnowlookingforB747FcharterstotheUSandpossibly
That widespread geograph- tomers are shopping around for
Japan,Gregersenobserved.
ical coverage is “good for us and good for our better deals and rates have been put under
customers”, he commented. Moreover, he severe pressure.
believes that such are the benefits of scale to the Clients are also looking only to those bro-
broker that the sector is likely to become more kers who are known to be financially secure and
and more dominated by the three or four cur- can be fully trusted. Charter brokering may be
rent big players. seeing a significant restructuring on the way it
That viewpoint is supported by record works, Bauckham concluded.
Kales Charters completes the service
KPeter Kales, founder and have also been seen from
CEO of the Amsterdam- customers on transport
basedKalesGroup,believes solutions to or from China
that maintaining a charter and elsewhere in East Asia.
operation means that he “People now know us,”
can offer a more complete Peter Kales continued.
service to customers, pro- “We’re really involved in
viding added value to organising the movement
clients as well as making of all sorts of cargo and
additional revenue for the customersarecomingback
group. tousforfurtherwork.”
Although the group is While he does not rule
bestknowforitsGSAactiv- out taking on more
ities, business has been employees in the charter
goodfortheKalesCharters operation, Peter Kales
division, he observed, with
Kales: “we have the right people
observed that it can call
it moving some valuable
and the right contacts”
upontheexpertiseofother
cargo out of the Nether- parts of the group to sup-
lands recently. Day-old-chicks have also port its operations; what is more: “We
been shipped on movements organised have the right people and the right con-
by Kales Charters, while a lot of requests tacts,”heconcluded.
Vulkanconsidersthattheindustryischanging
“It has been a tough year in 2009 and a time the charter business will ever return to what it
of innovation just in order to survive,” says used to be. Many clients have seen that it is pos-
Anthony Zelenyuk, head of the commercial sible to survive by using alternative means.
department at South African broker Vulkan. Clients are also getting more and more used to
The situation has seen many carriers learning paying one-way or part-charter rates and they
to work differently – and often together, he said. are unlikely to switch back to the mindset of
“The sales capabilities and market out-reach of paying for full charters.”
each operator can differ considerably and com- So what does it take to survive and prosper?
bining sales and operational knowledge can “You have to stay ahead of developments and
result in operators complementing one another, tendencies in the market,,” Zelenyuk remarked.
rather than working against each other.” “You should be open-minded to new ideas
But the changes have been even more far- ... and be able to learn quickly and to
reaching, Zelenyuk believes: “It is doubtful that implement changes in practice.” a118
Page 22 19 October 2009
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