endpiece
It’s about perception
MichaelMeagher, executive vice president of Saudi Airlines Cargo Company, explains why the freight carrier is appearing at world air cargo events like the recent Air Cargo Forum2010 in Amsterdamwith its executives occupying a large stand prominently sited in themain exhibition hall
“
We are selective about the industry eventswe attend, limitingourselvestoabout threeor four
major exhibitions every year. It’s not just the airlines and the airports we want to meet, the key is the freight forwardersandtheir shipper customers. Sowe look for events that attractpeople fromthewhole spec-
trumof the air logistics industry. Fromthe air freight point of view we then assess if an event is going to be a good place tomeet thesepeople. Alongwithmeetingour customers andsuppliers, these events
are also an opportunity tomeetwith our own regional staff and discuss themainissues andchallenges thatweface.
We have raised the prominence of SaudiAirlines Cargo at theindustryeventsweattendwithanincreasedboothsize. Wehavebeenworkingfor twoyearsnowonchangingthe organisation andwe need to communicate this fact effec- tivelytoourcustomersandtheindustryingeneral. This iswhywehave increasedourpresence andthe visibilityof
ourairline.LastmonthwewereatACF2010inAmsterdamandwe were atother recent air cargoevents inMumbai andShanghai… andwe have committed to exhibit atmajor events next year in Nairobi andMunich.
With an extensive international route network, Saudi ArabianAirlineshasawholerangeofB777andB747aswell as A330widebody passenger aircraft in operation and in broad terms about 50 percent of our business travels as bellyholdcargo. In terms ofmain-deck capacity, SaudiAirlinesCargoCompany,
aprivatestand-alonesubsidiaryof theparentairline,hasafreighter fleet of fourMD-11Fs, three B747-400Fs and one B747-200F, and wehave just startedoperatinganA310F – that takesour all-cargo fleet toninestrong.
30 AIR LOGISTICSCHINA
Ourmessageis thatwant tobeseenbytheair freightbusi- nessasamajorcarrier,notjustwithintheMiddleEastbutin Asia,Europe,AfricaandNorthAmericaaswell. Our strategy is to develop the perception of Saudi Airlines
Cargo beyond its current level. In Europe, in particular, Saudi Airlines is perceived as a point-to-point carrier between Europe and the Kingdom. Yes, of coursewe provide our services at that level, but we also havemajor uplift beyond into the Gulf area, AfricaandintotheIndiansub-continentandChina.Wewant tobe seenas a carrierwithaglobal reach,not just a regionalone.
Within SaudiArabiawe have embarked on the construc- tion of new hub facilities at our airports. Our plan is to upgrade our air freight handling at themain hub airports andwehavelaunchedanimmediateandmedium-termin- vestmentprogrammeinJeddahandRiyadhtoimprovethe cargofacilities. Wewant to build state-of-the-art facilities that arewell-suited
to handling special cargo like pharmaceuticals and perishables. That’s the long-termview, but at Saudi Airlines Cargowe have an immediate requirement to upgrade our cargo hubs and are cur- rentlyinvestinginRiyadhandJeddahtothateffect.Weareanxious toget thingsmovingonthis front.
Ifyoulookat thelong-terminfrastructuredevelopmentsin SaudiArabia‰
versities, road and rail links‰
theconstructionofneweconomiccities,uni- fromour point of viewit can
only have a positive impact on business coming into the Kingdom. Inthe longterm, the spin-off fromthesedevelopmentswillbe
ofhugebenefit to thedevelopment of the air freight industry inSaudiArabia.
”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32