EasternEuropeReview Katos Logistics enjoys an increase in volumes


According to Karel Pokorny, co-owner of Czech forwarder Katos Logistics: “The first three months of this year were better than 2011 in terms of tonnage – we gained about 7 percent.” However, he admitted


that margins continue to be squeezed as customers are sensitive on price and run- ning costs are high. In order to mitigate this


pressure, Katos is working to encourage airlines to reduce their rates, Pokorny said. The company has also


been working to expand its range of services for the transportation of speciality cargo, such as the shipment of live


Pokorny: squeeze on margins continues


animals, dangerous goods and perishables. “We have attracted some


new customers who need transport of these commodi- ties,” he confirmed, adding: “It is very sensitive work to sat- isfy all the conditions of the customers and airlines, so in these specialities you can gain better profit.” Pokorny said he is confi-


dent that the Czech Republic’s air freight market is in a favourable position within Central Europe. He concluded: “I feel that there is a better atmosphere


here in the Czech Republic than there was last year.”


SkyXS nets Virgin Cargo work


UK-headquartered Virgin Atlantic Cargo has appointed SkyXS as its first ever general sales agent in Poland, where the airline has launched daily trucking services to London that connect with its net- work of widebody flights to the US, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. This will enable freight cus-


tomers in Poland to easily access the carrier’s global network of 350 destinations. Nick Jones, Virgin Atlantic


Europacific sees changes in Slovenia and Croatia recent times, despite the very difficult financial


“The development of air freight at Europacific in the past year has made us grow from having an agent in Ljubljana airport to establishing a fully owned operations office in Ljubljana air- port,” remarks Rok Kobal, general manager at the Slovenian forwarder. Europacific is, he said, aiming to become a


leader in the country’s air freight forwarding industry, having previously focused on other modes of transport. Kobal said that the air cargo industry in


Slovenia is still mainly driven by pharmaceuti- cals, as well as to some extent by automotive and electronics. However, he stressed that many


shipments are trucked in from big European gateways such as Vienna or Frankfurt. “As the markets develop in Slovenia, I have a


strong belief that Croatia – with its entrance into the EU in 2013 –will take a piece of Slove- nia’s traffic,” Kobal considers. “I have a feeling that it is now the last moment to establish an office in Croatia to try and secure our business there prior to its entrance into the EU”. Europacific has yet to decide how it will


enter the market – whether through an acquisi- tion, joint venture or the establishment of its own branch office in Zagreb. The company also hopes to expand into the Balkans.


Cargo regional vice president sales, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) said: “Many of the manufacturers in Poland work with Vir- gin Atlantic Cargo in other regions so we have been closely monitoring the market for some time since we extended our GSA coverage to Hungary and Czech Republic in 2010.” Jones noted Poland’s economic growth in


climate, adding that “with a number of manu- facturing industries relocating to Poland there is a significant market for air freight”. Founded in 2002, the SkyXS Group


strengthened its presence with the purchase of the Central and Eastern European branches of the Danish group WECO in 2006, renaming these under the ASN brand. Today, SkyXS and ASN operate in 13 countries.


Budapest Ferihegy mourns the passing of Malév


Since the collapse of Malév Hungarian Airlines in February (ACW, 13 February, p1), Budapest Ferihegy airport has recovered over 80 percent of its lost point-to-point traffic. However, the gateway noted that it is still losing out on business opportunities to Prague


and Vienna, due to a lack of Hungarian aviation agreements in some markets. A statement said that both the Austrian and Czech governments have capitalised in


recent years on liberalising flights between their countries and markets such as Israel, Rus- sia, Turkey and Ukraine. Kam Jandu, aviation director of Budapest airport, said: “We see great potential in these


routes and think that Hungary should not delay any decisions further as there is a sig- nificant negative impact on Hungarian aviation, whilst our neighbours continue to capitalise on this delay.”


23 April 2012


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