NewsWeek K+N reports ‘unsatisfactory results’


LUFTHANSA CARGO Charter Agency (LCCA) has extended its contract with general sales agent Platinum Air Cargo in the US. Originally covering Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, with a focus on the oil and gas industry, the deal now also includes California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington and will look at industries such as aeronautical and high-tech on the US west coast.


LOGISTICS SOFTWARE solutions provider Descartes has announced a new release of its cloud-based Transportation Management suite.


AMSTERDAM AIRPORT Schiphol has received a certifi- cate of achievement from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in recognition of the gateway’s support of the e-freight programme in 2011.


EMIRATES SKYCARGO, the freight-carrying arm of Dubai- based Emirates Airline, has launched a second weekly B777 freighter service on its Dubai - Singapore - Sydney - Hong Kong - Dubai routeing, offering 103 tonnes of capacity.


TANDEM GLOBAL Logistics Network met between 25 and 27 March for the forwarder association’s AGM in Genoa. The event marked the network’s fifth anniversary. Its annual report indicated growing air freight volumes handled between members in 2011, a statement said.


ICELAND EXPRESS is to fly a weekly A320 services between Reykjavik and Krakow from early June until the end of August.


New charter alliance takes off


THE WORLD’S first consor- tium of independent cargo charter brokers has been formed by three companies joining forces to create the Global Charter Alliance (GCA). Founding members Pacific


Airlift in Singapore, US-based The Charter Store and newly- formed German concern NEO Air Charter want to see the network expand in a way that will ensure high quality of service. Members will benefit from


improved efficiencies, shared contacts, collective buying power and economies of scale, a GCA statement said. Stefan Kohlmann, joint


managing partner of Frank- furt-based NEO, noted: “The charter market has become dominated by a small number of major players, and we believe this has been detrimen- tal to service standards and


KUEHNE + Nagel, the Switzerland-based freight for- warder, has posted what it describes as “unsatisfactory results” for the first quarter of 2012, in spite of continued growth in traffic. The forwarder’s air freight


volumes rose by 4 percent year-on-year, performing sig- nificantly better than the 3 percent contraction seen dur- ing the period in the global air freight market as a whole. Business on the South


America, intra-Asia and Asia- Pacific to Middle East sectors has been encouraging, it said. However, K+N was fined


CHF65 million (US$10 mil- lion) by the EU in March,


following antitrust allegations pertaining to its air freight activities. This, in combination with


other challenges, led to a decline in the operational result to CHF153 million ($166 million) for the period under review. “In the first quarter of 2012


we had to cope with a number of adverse factors,” said CEO Reinhard Lange. “Our invest- ments in growth initiatives resulted in considerable cost increases. We will counteract this trend with strict cost con- trol and measures to improve productivity. “Furthermore, profit mar- gins declined in sea and air


freight. In addition, there are one-off charges due to a high antitrust fine... Nevertheless, we achieved growth above market average.” Lange added that with


“intensified” cost manage- ment measures in place, and with solid growth in volumes expected, he anticipates an improvement in K+N’s results in the second half of the year.


Kohlmann highlights “an alternative model”


competition; neither carriers nor shippers have benefited.” He concluded: “The Glob-


al Charter Alliance aims to provide an alternative model, in which size and infrastruc- ture do not replace customer focus, fair deals and competi-


tive pricing.” n Charter feature, pages 6-7


Arab states agree security strategy


REPRESENTATIVES from 13 Middle Eastern states came together in Bahrain on 10 and 11 April to agree collective action to improve both cargo and passenger security in the region. The meeting in Bahrain


marked the culmination of a series of regional conferences held in different parts of the


23 April 2012


world, all leading up to what will be a global conference on security to be held at the head- quarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in September. “We must all join forces to


eliminate the continuing threat of terrorism,” observes ICAO secretary general Ray- mond Benjamin.


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