NewsWeek Lynxs inks deal for Shannon cargo hub


GORDON DEWAR, CEO of Bahrain Airport Company, says new contracts will be awarded soon for a major expan- sion of Bahrain International airport, aimed at increasing its capacity by nearly 50 percent.


THAI AIRWAYS is to begin a three times a week widebody B777-200ER (Extended Range) service between its hub at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International airport and Brussels in November.


THE PROJECT CARGO Network, which focuses on the international transportation of oversized and heavy-weight items, says that membership of the association has now reached 100 companies in what it describes as an “incredible year”.


AIR CARGO property devel- oper Lynxs has signed an agreement with Dublin Air- port Authority (DAA) to develop a new global air freight hub at Shannon Inter- national airport. Under the deal, Lynxs


plans to construct a new temperature-controlled freight logistics facility at the west coast gateway with infrastruc- tural support from DAA. The facility will include


chilled, frozen and heated areas for cargo, which would enable Shannon to bid for more high value, high volume freight business. Shannon Airport Authority


chairman Brian O’Connell commented. “Lynxs will give Shannon airport an excellent opportunity to exploit its cen- tral location between the major economies of the US, Europe and Asia.” The gateway has a large


industrial hinterland that gen- erates significant amounts of freight. Much of this is moved by road to other airports out- side Ireland and the Lynxs facility will aim to repatriate that lost business. O’Connell added: “Shan-


non has always led the way in international air trade, with its pioneering duty free and free trade zone operations, and


more recently with the suc- cessful US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pas- senger and general aviation pre-clearance facility.” He said the opportunity of


extending CBP to cargo at a future date could develop a whole new range of air cargo services bringing “substantial investment, employment and more business to the region”.


Aviacargo bucks the trend in difficult markets


NEW YORK-based sales agent Aviacargo is “continuing to suc- ceed in a difficult market”, notes president Michael Cox. This year’s coming peak sea- son growth will


take in


additional capacity availability on Jet Airways flights, the India- based airline moving to a B777 – which will double the available cargo space. And, in Africa, Kenya Airways is intro- ducing a freighter service which is going to boost West African routes and increase capacity in that market. What is more, despite the


and transparency. We recognise that we are in the ‘people busi- ness’ and that relationships underpin our business model.” The company’s recent move


to Manhattan “significantly added” to capability, Cox con- tinued, while


a near-term


expansion in the company’s sales force is planned. Any further sales staff will


difficulty of the air freight industry at the moment: “Our numbers are healthy and our volumes are up,” he declared. “There are several reasons for our growth – we maintain our core values of integrity, trust


COLOMBO-based SriLankan Airlines


weekly A320 services


Cox believes “service is the differentiating factor”


come on top of recently added sales managers who are cover- ing the Houston/Dallas and Los Angeles/San Francisco areas – “because we recognise that service is the differentiating factor”, he said.


Aviacargo is also developing in-house systems that offer “greater efficiency in booking, track-


ing and tracing cargo”, Cox concluded. nGSSA feature, pages 15-18


SriLankan adds direct service to Moscow Domodedovo inaugurated twice-


to


Moscow Domodedovo via Dubai on 17 September. Although no other carrier


currently flies direct between Colombo and Moscow, Sri- Lankan will face competition when Russian airline Aeroflot resumes twice-weekly non-stop services between Moscow Sheremetyevo and Colombo on 1 November Sources in Colombo say the national carrier


is set to launch services to three new countries in the near future, including Switzerland.


nSriLankan Cargo carried 14,000 tonnes of air freight in July, bringing its total uplift for the first seven months of the year to 90,719 tonnes.


Page 8


3 October 2011


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