Strong export business


Germany has undoubtedly been the ‘strong man of Europe’ over the past year or so, as so many of the Continent’s other nations have fallen victim to damaging economic recession and to various industrial disputes. However, even some of Germany’s logistics services providers are now feeling the pain


over the same month of last year but capacity reduced by 7 percent, its cargo load factor at least remained relatively steady at 72 percent. Over the course of the first quarter of this


L


year, the picture was similar. Lufthansa Cargo flew 426,000 tonnes of freight and mail over the three months, down by 9.3 percent over the same period of 2011. The freight carrier pointed out that the year-


ufthansa Cargo had a difficult March. During the month, the carrier moved 160,000 tonnes of freight and mail, down by 12.6 percent year-on-year. With cargo traffic down by 7 percent


on-year quarterly comparison is harsh, however, given the strength of performance in the first quarter of 2011 and the comparative difficulty of the market environment in which it is now operating. Nevertheless, Lufthansa Cargo said that it


had reacted quickly to changes in customer requirements, employing “flexible and demand- driven capacity management” tactics. The airline had restricted the freight space


available across all regions, it noted, reducing capacity by 8.2 percent to 3.08 billion available cargo tonne-km. With traffic down by 8.7 per- cent to 2.14 billion cargo tonne-km, the cargo


load factor fell by just 0.4 per- centage points to 69.5 percent. Across the various regions,


the volume of freight and mail moved in the Europe sector fell by 5.6 percent year-on-year, in the Americas by 8.2 percent, in the Asia Pacific region by 14.3 percent and in Africa/the Mid- dle East traffic was down by 11.6 percent year-on-year. Moreover, Lufthansa Cargo


observed that it is still adding new operations, adapting to evolving demand. New to this year’s timetable are scheduled freighter services to Chongqing, to Detroit and to Montevideo in Uruguay. Karl Ulrich Garnadt, chairman and CEO of


the freight carrier, commented: “Lufthansa Cargo is confronted by immense challenges. “Restrained demand in the air freight busi-


ness and the drastic impact of the night-flight ban in Frankfurt demand that we exercise max- imum flexibility,” he added. “But we are a healthy and strong company,”


Garnadt declared. “When demand picks up, our excellent positioning in all traffic regions will enable us to utilise market opportunities over the course of the year.”


Meanwhile, Lufthansa Cargo’s home hub of


Frankfurt-Main International airport has been having its own problems. In March, the gate- way handled 11.8 percent less air freight – 180,332 tonnes – than in the same month of 2011. Airport operator Fraport blamed the decline on “uncertainties in the global economy and the night-flight curfew”. The situation over the first quarter of this


year was no better for the gateway. Frankfurt handled 476,777 tonnes over the January - March period, down by 12.2 percent year-on- year. Mail traffic was up slightly, by 3.5 percent, to 19,929 tonnes.


BRIEFS • BRIEFS • BRIEFS • BRIEFS


NEAR THE END OF LAST MONTH (March), Lux- embourg-headquartered Logwin beganusing its own x-ray scanner at Stuttgart International air- port, thus becoming – it noted – the first air freight forwarder at the gateway capable of inde- pendently screening its customers’ shipments.


FRAPORT CARGO SERVICES (FCS) has resumed cargo handling for Eritrean Airlines, the African carrier having begun operating three times a week A319 services linking Frankfurt with Asmara by way of Rome.


THE STATE GOVERNMENT of North Rhine West- phalia has imposed a night-flight ban on passenger aircraft at Cologne/Bonn International


airport; freighters are specifically not covered by the curfew. German carrier airberlin has already criticised the decision. However, the High Court of Administration in Münster has confirmed the legality of Cologne/Bonn airport’s night-flight regulations and their extension until 2030, as well as effectively excluding any restriction of opera- tions on the basis of noise.


BERLIN BRANDENBURG airport has handed over its new Cargo Center to customers. Specifi- cally designed for handling the freight carried in the bellyhold of passenger aircraft, it boasts the capacity to process 100,000 tonnes of cargo a year. Being modular, it can also be expanded from its current 12,000m2


area as required. Munich airport suffers slight fall in freight volumes


Munich Airport International handled 68,500 tonnes of cargo during the first quarter of this year, 1.8 percent down on the same three months of 2011. Aircraft movements over the quarter were


also down, by 2 percent year-on-year, although passenger volumes were actually up. This May will see the 20th


anniversary of the


official opening of the Bavarian gateway. On 17 May 1992, Munich airport’s operations moved from its former location at Munich-Riem to its present spot 30km away. According to the gateway’s operator,


Flughafen München: “Since then, Munich’s new airport has achieved enormous success and unparalleled growth.”


Page 6


30 April 2012


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