NewsWeek Heavyweight: Ethiopian is a US success
DRAGONAIR, part of the Cathay Pacific Group, is to inau- gurate three times a week A320 services to Jeju in South Korea on 1 May and a four times a week seasonal service to Chiang Mai in Thailand on 1 July.
BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL airport recently welcomed a new B747-8 freighter operated by the British Airways World Cargo arm of IAG Cargo, when the 140-tonne payload air- craft landed in the island kingdom for the first time.
MUMBAI-HEADQUARTERED forwarder New Globe Logistik recently helped move a lion from Hyderabad to Prague as part of an exchange programme between Nehru Zoologi- cal Park in the Indian city and Prague Zoo. New Globe also handled Customs clearance of some cheetahs in February, which were imported into India from the Czech zoo.
UK AND CHICAGO-based general sales agent Heavy- weight Air Express has reported good freight loads on the Ethiopian Cargo services that it sells in the US. The company supports the
African carrier’s B777 passen- ger services into Washington DC as well as its scheduled MD-11 and B747 freighter operations that fly into its Addis Ababa hub from Bel- gium’s Liège airport. “Both turnover and ton-
nage have realised steady year-over-year increases since the start of our contract in 2006,” says Ian Hutchinson, the sales agent’s vice president in the US.
“The 777 flights from
Washington gave us a healthy increase in non-stop uplift, so we’re working to take full advantage of this. The freighter capacity is ideal for outsized cargo, part-charter loads and unknown shipper commodities,” he explained. “Having Liège as a hub ...
allows us to effectively address irregular cargo of almost any type and with extremely good transit times and reliability,” Hutchinson said. “We continue to invest in
our products in close associa- tion with our partners. As a result, we have employed operational support in both Liège and Addis Ababa.”
With regard to Ethiopian,
he considers that the carrier’s extensive network coverage and reputation as a world-class airline eases Heavyweight’s task of selling its capacity. Hutchinson added: “Every-
thing about this carrier is on the move – from the new B777 and 787 passenger planes to the pending 777 freighters, it makes for a prod- uct that has fantastic growth prospects.”
LUG notes the ups and downs
PATRIK Tschirch, manager key account, sales and business development at Frankfurt- based handler LUG aircargo handling, says that while Jan- uary was not a good month due to the Chinese New Year shutdown falling entirely with- in that period, he does not expect this year to be as bad as some analysts predict. He pointed out: “Frank-
furt-Main airport is not as busy as it was at this time last year. The volumes are just not there, which means that while the traffic is stable it is not con- stant throughout the week like it used to be. “Rather, the airport tends
to be busy at the weekend and mid-week, but flat the rest of the time. Automotive ship- ments are still going strong though,” he noted, as Ger- many’s manufacturing sector continues to thrive. In terms of customers,
Tschirch highlighted China Southern. He said the Guangzhou-based airline’s six times a week B777F services to Frankfurt were inaugurated on 1 February this year and have had a “successful start”.
HANJINLogistics Europe – a subsidiary of South Korea’s Hanjin Logistics – has opened a new on-airport base at Ams- terdam Airport Schiphol. The new facility, which
includes both bonded and non-bonded warehousing, will act as a Benelux distribution centre for the company’s large volumes of import traffic arriv- ing at Schiphol. Hanjin Logistics is particu-
larly active with customers in the automotive, electronics, chemicals, apparel, fast-mov- ing consumer goods and heavy industrial sectors. According to Jan de Kreuk, head of Hanjin’s Benelux air
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Tschirch: “automotive shipments are still going strong”
He went on: “We’re waiting
to hear from Thai Airways, which wants to increase its freighter services in April, phasing out its leased all-cargo aircraft and instead introduc- ing its own B747 converted freighters.” Finally, he said that Korean
Air started operating twice- weekly B777 freighter services between Frankfurt and Seoul on 24 March, replacing the B747F services that the carrier had previously flown on that
route. n Cargo handling, pages 8-9
Hanjin Logistics expands at Schiphol
freight division: “This is an important next step in our European expansion, taken in response to our customers’ needs. “Schiphol’s location, excel-
lent road connections and wide range of international air services make it ideal as a plat- form for distributing our customers’ goods throughout Europe.” Hanjin Logistics has
worked hard to ensure that it is fully e-freight enabled, and its new Schiphol operation joins an air freight community that is amongst the most forward- thinking in terms of paper-free air cargo shipping.
26 March 2012
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