Centre point
Ian Putzger takes a look at the cargo aspirations of Central Asia’s airports. H
anjin Group, parent of Korean Air, has ambitious plans in Central Asia and opened a 160,382sqm cargo terminal at Navoi
International Airport in Uzbekistan in mid-August in order to support these. Modeled on Korean Air’s cargo facilities
at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, the building is equipped with a refrigerated storage area, vault and quarantine stations and has a capacity of 100,000 tonnes of freight per year, which can be expanded to 500,000 in the future.
Korean Air views Navoi as a transit point for cargo from a host of origin points and has operated twice-weekly freighters on the Seoul–Milan route and three all-cargo fl ights a week between Seoul and Brussels since 2008. Last year it added fl ights from Navoi to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangkok and Frankfurt, and more are on the way. Before the end of the year the airline wants to add
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freighter links from Navoi to Istanbul, Dubai, Almaty and Dhaka. “Navoi will play the role of our Central Asian hub,” explains Kim Ho Jung, manager of Korean Air’s cargo strategy and alliance team. In the long-term the Hanjin Group envisages a multimodal hub with rail and truck links as well as freighter fl ights. To support future investment from manufacturers, shippers and logistic fi rms, the Uzbek government has set up a free industrial and economic zone at Navoi. This means that foreign companies establishing export-oriented facilities there will enjoy tax-free and duty-free privileges. This is in conjunction with simplifi ed visa and employment procedures for between seven to 15 years, with a possible extension of up to 30 years.
The allowances could make Korean Air’s involvement more lucrative, believes
Dirk Steiger, principal of air cargo research and consulting fi rm Aviainform. “Korean manufacturers could shift labour elements in their products that are too costly to produce in Korea to an offshore point. That would help airlines and forwarders serving Korea,” he says. However, Larry Coyne, chief executive of Coyne Airways, a UK-based operator that was the fi rst Western carrier to launch freighter fl ights to the region, points out that challenges remain.
“Navoi as a hub only makes sense if airlines are allowed to fl y in with open skies. If the government allows international airlines to fl y to other countries like Afghanistan or Iraq – and not just one airline – that would be exciting. Navoi could then become a tremendous distribution point in Central Asia, with links to Korea and western Europe.”
www.routes-news.com
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