GSSARoundUp Amsterdam agent remains Active
Active Airline Representatives, the Amsterdam-headquartered general sales and services agent, has had a busy summer. Accord- ing to managing director Ton Smulders: “We are doing extremely well.” He pointed to the very
strong business on ArkeFly operations
to the Dutch
Antilles, for example, while Coyne Airways flights to the Caspian are also seeing high load factors. There has been good traffic on Aeroflot’s twice- daily A319/A320 services out of Schiphol – which have been “pretty full”, Smulders observed – and on Olympic services to Greece. The biggest challenge was the Saudi Airlines operation to Jed-
Airline Cargo Resources (ACR), a Johannesburg-headquartered general sales and services agent, is weathering what has been a tough year for most GSSAs. General manager Stuart Tonkin notes that, as with any business, there is aways room for growth, but generally the news has been good. Brussels Airlines, represented off-line, has been “a strong con-
tender in the West African market,” he noted, with ACR seeing monthly increases in tonnages. “Thai Airways has also proven to provide exceptional services,” Tonkin continued. A new carrier customer is Korongo Airlines, which offers a ser-
vice between Johannesburg and Lubumbashi, while in Tanzania ACR has also signed up Oman Air. “Africa has always been a strong market full of possibilities,
and it will continue to grow,” he predicts, adding that ACR is well placed to exploit any of that growth. “We are looking forward to
dah, representing a lot of capac- ity on the sector. Rates fell and then on 1 September this year, the Saudi cargo carrier took its business elsewhere. Despite this, Active Airline Representatives is above budget this year, he noted, and proving successful. What the future holds is dif-
ficult to say, Smulders considers. What is for sure is that the weaker value of the euro has stimulated
exports while
impacting imports, and certain- ly some of the GSSA’s client
airlines plan to increase their network coverage in the near future. “We will just keep doing what we are doing now,” he pointed
out, trying to maintain the success that the sales agent has seen so far this year.
Airline Cargo Resources looks forward to the peak season
the peak season and are ready to face any challenges thrown at us,” Tonkin declared. “We have a strong and dynamic team situated in South
Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda,” he pointed out, ready for all eventualities. One particular challenge that never goes away is the ques-
tion of rates. And, as Tonkin observed: “As long as the South African market has overcapacity, rates will have to remain extremely competitive.” Another obstacle comes in the form of exchange rates, cur-
rency prices that have hit ACR over the last year and meant that “business has not been what it should”. Nevertheless, he remains upbeat, concluding: “We will focus
on core business at hand but if opportunities should arise to grow, we are ready.”
BCS keeps feet on the ground
“We clearly have an imbal- ance on the Brazilian air freight market, especially when it comes to trade with the US, EU and China,” explains João Ferreira, commercial manager of São Paulo-based sales agent and charter broker Brasil Cargo Service (BCS). “There’s much more
inbound cargo compared to exports,” he pointed out. Boosting imports are the robust growth of the Brazil- ian economy and the weakness of the US dollar. Meanwhile, Ferreira
Ferreira: “we have to live one day after another”
noted, exports are being hit by the uncertainty felt within the US and European economies, which has affected demand for Brazilian goods, especially its automotive products. As for the performance of BCS: “Filling the aircraft is not
the problem, it’s the yield that really matters. Our sales team has been working hard to ensure that we achieve our air- lines’ revenue plans and their respective market shares. ”We’ve learned a lot from the worldwide economic crisis
at the end of 2008,” he continued. “Since then, we’ve become much more prepared and stronger, regardless of the eco- nomic situation. BCS has diversified its business units and is a financially strong and independent organisation.” This puts the cargo GSSA in a strong position, Ferreira
considers, despite a somewhat uncertain future. “We share the optimism for the Brazilian air freight industry,” he pointed out, “but we are down to earth, and based on our experi- ences in Brazil we have to live one day after another and not make huge plans. This is a dynamic country, but you have to know how to go about it.”
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3 October 2011
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