GSSAsReview Air Logistics winning ‘on a weekly basis’ Active enthused by good news
Stephen Dawkins, chief operating officer at Air Logistics Group, feels that being a general sales and services agent is “an exciting business”. He elaborated: “Things have changed so much
in the last 10 years. It’s very much a spot market now: you have to be reactive to tenders, reactive on pricing, because as with all commodities, capacity is changing daily. It’s a totally fluid mar- ket.” Add to this the rising cost of fuel and all air-
lines’ need to cut costs, and there is plenty of opportunity for a sales agent these days – although it is the company that invests and delivers what its clients want that will beat the competition, of course. “Most important is having that local contact
The GSSA set up a station in Nairobi on 31
March and will be opening branches in Sydney and Auckland within the next two months. Pre- sent in Bogotá already, other South American destinations that will be added to the network by the end of August include Chile, Peru and (prob- ably) Argentina, Dawkins confirmed. In addition, further into the future, Air Logis-
tics Group’s coverage in Asia is expected to grow; with branches in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Viet- nam, Singapore and Taiwan would be “interesting” but are not on the list for this year. Dawkins believes the rest of 2012 will remain
and local relationship, which we can back up by corporate finance,” Dawkins considers. This combination certainly seems to be paying off: Air Logis-
Dawkins: “everyone is watching to see how Europe will do”
tics Group is “winning contracts on a weekly basis” and is pushing ahead with its expansion plan.
On 8 June, Air Canada is to restart its direct Dublin to Toronto connection. Expected to operate until 26 September, it is designed pri- marily by Canada’s flag-carrier to meet the increased seasonal demand for passenger capacity, but it will also mean a significant increase in bellyhold cargo space between Ire- land and the state capital of Ontario. International Airline Marketing (IAM) is the
cargo general sales and services agent for Air Canada in Ireland and, according to its manag- ing director, Ian McCool: “The Dublin to Toronto flight is a very welcome addition to the already
fairly static. “The signals are that fuel costs are ris- ing, Europe is still in crisis (although the US has recovered a bit), and the volumes are not coming out of Asia. “So I don’t think there will be a real
turnaround in the air freight industry yet; it’s not in crisis either, it’s just neutral. Everyone is watching to see how Europe will do,” he observed.
IAM to reap benefit from Dublin to Toronto services
comprehensive daily flight options from Lon- don Heathrow to key destinations such as Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa. “Shippers and freight forwarders will also be
pleased to hear Air Canada will operate cargo- friendly B767-300s on the Dublin route.” As a GSSA, IAM claims responsibility for more
than 20 percent of the total air freight volume flying out of Ireland. As well as undertaking core general sales agent functions, the group also offers services such as handling, trucking and training.
“We are still progressing well for our airlines,” declares Ton Smulders, managing director of Amsterdam-based GSSA Active Airline Representatives. “Aeroflot business is stable, with us concentrating on the twice-daily Amsterdam - Moscow route, which connects a vast amount of domestic destinations in the Russian Federation. As these flights are operated by A321/A320 aircraft, they are perfect for time-sen- sitive shipments and perishables like fish.” Smulders went on: “Leisure Cargo, responsible for amongst
others ArkeFly, is progressing. This summer, ArkeFly will start weekly widebody flights to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles besides the already operating twice-weekly Miami and Orlando flights. Toronto will be served twice weekly. “Coyne Airways is also doing well to the Caspian. The Iraqi
destinations are a bit less popular at the moment, however, as a result of the withdrawal of the Americans.” Furthermore: “On 16 March, we signed a contract with
Pegasus Airlines, which is serving Amsterdam from Istanbul each day with B737 equipment. Before 16 March, the cargo management was done through Leisure Cargo, but Pegasus is now doing this under its own umbrella.” Disappointingly, Olympic Air has ended its direct
link between Athens and Amsterdam, probably due to falling passenger figures this summer to Greece.
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7 May 2012
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