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Welcome to Air Logistics China
As the air freight business begins to show signs of emerging from the gloomof the global economic downturn and airline and airport figures start to look more positive, it is an exciting time to launch a new publication covering the subject ofmoving goods by air with a specific focus on the huge Chinesemarket. Logistics is the business – fast becoming a science – of planning,
organising and managing the transportation and distribution activities that provide goods or services, or that source the rawand prefabricated materials required for the production of goods in the first place. The ability tomove cargo by air is a hugely important part of that process – but while economic peaks and boomtimes can drive the business to new highs, air cargo also suffers badly in the hard times. The air logistics industry has been hit again and again in the last
decade by a series of problems: the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001; the SARS epidemic, which began in November 2002; the second war in Iraq that started in March 2003; the high price of aviation fuel, when it hit US$147 a barrel in October 2008 – and thatwas atmuch the same time that the global economic slump, which was to overshadow 2009, really began to bite. The first decade of the new millennium was a tough time for the air
cargo business – as soon as one problemwas overcome, another arose. Itwas hardly surprising that everyone in the industrywas asking: “What next?”Well, in the first fewdays of April 2010,who could have predicted that a massive volcanic eruption in Iceland would unleash a cloud of dangerous dust that would put airline flights across most of Europe on the ground for longer than they were down in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks? The volcanic eruption and its effect on the airline world was yet
another disaster in a string ofmisfortunes that the air cargo business has had to battle against. It illustrates that the airline industry and the air freight flows it handles can be at themercy ofmore than just economic forces and consumer trends. In good times and bad, you need to be well informed. I hope that
Air Logistics China will grow to become a valuable source of information in your work, and help you face and overcome the challenges that confront you.
IN BRIEF
EXPRESS services provider DHL says it is focusing on the growing trade between the North Asia Pacific region and the emerging markets in the Middle East and Africa. Prompted by a growth in exports such as clothing, chemicals and life science products, DHL believes that air cargo exports out of the North Asia Pacific region destined for the Middle East and Africa will grow in the period up to 2015 at a rate of 8.3 percent every year.
RUSSIAN scheduled cargo carrier AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has taken delivery of a sixth B747- 400ERF (Extended Range Freighter), taking its fleet to nine B747Fs of varied types. ABC executive vice president Tatyana Arslanova observed: “Enlargement of our fleet is one of the core parts of ABC’s strategy, which is being targeted at development and enhancement of our service.”
FEDEX has launched a five times a week round-trip service between Hong Kong and Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, enabling the express delivery company to offer a next- business-day service on the route as part of its strategy to strengthen links between Asia and Europe.
IanMartin Jones,
Editor, Air Logistics China; Editor, Air CargoWeek; Editorial Director, The A-Z Group
AUSTRALIA-BASED low-cost carrier Virgin Blue has signed a deal to buy up to 105 newbuild B737 aircraft, with delivery scheduled from June 2011 through to 2017.
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