“We are carrying pretty much anything and everything for that industry, from drill bits to welding
equipment”
which typically might be in the UK or elsewhere in Western Europe. We air express the tool to the repair centre, where the work typically takes two weeks, and then move the repaired item back to the guys in the field as quickly as possible.”
Scheduled capacity The role of some major scheduled service airlines when it comes to meeting oil and gas industry air freight requirements is highlighted by Duncan Watson, manager cargo commercial operations Middle East and Africa for Dubai-based carrier Emirates Airline. He said that cargo carried for the oil and gas industry, both on its freighters and in passenger aircraft bellyhold space, includes equipment for new projects and replacement parts coming into the Middle East from overseas and parts being shipped out for repair/maintenance or relocation to operations elsewhere. “The oil and gas industry has got a lot
better in the last few years at rotating equipment, particularly drilling tools, because that equipment is expensive,” he commented. “You see that particularly with some of the major service companies such as Baker Hughes and Weatherford. They tend to hold equipment in certain regional hubs like Jebel Ali and rotate it around whatever they define as the region served by that hub.” A specific illustration of the role
scheduled passenger airline bellyhold cargo capacity can play in serving oil and gas sector requirements is provided by Kevin Bomer, an American Airlines Cargo regional sales manager based in Houston. He points out that some 80
AIR LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT 29
percent of the cargo carried in the bellyholds of the US carrier’s total of around 24 B767-300 passenger flights a week into Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, out of three US gateways (Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and New York JFK) comprises oil and gas industry shipments. “We are carrying pretty much anything and everything for that industry, from drill bits to welding equipment, much of it on an expedited basis rather than as a planned movement,” Bomer explained. “The frequency of our flights makes
them attractive for emergency shipments and we are involved in a lot of rig-down situations where the part is needed yesterday.” Michael Goodisman, business
development manager for Ruslan International which markets the AN-124 freighter fleets of its owners, Antonov Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Airlines, confirmed that the image of energy sector air freight movements involving “urgently-needed equipment and spare parts being flown on
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