ISSUE 1 2010

MALTA Supported by

Air Malta cargo turns the corner

These are difficult times for the airfreight industry, but Air Malta’s cargo traffic started to recover late last year, says head of cargo sales, Norman Clews. “We saw a 9% increase in October 2009 (compared with the same month last year), followed by 12.6% in November, 16.3% in December, 21.4% in January and 9.6% in February.” Any growth is good news in today’s difficult market, and he hopes that February’s relatively small rise is not a sign that the recovery is tailing off. Courier also did well, as

did mail. Postal volumes may be declining in other parts of the world, but a recent survey showed that 43% of Maltese

now buy goods over the internet. DHL has recently been granted a licence to carry mail above 50g, which could provide competition for Malta Post but the packages could still be carried on Air Malta planes. The airline is going

through a financial restructuring, but the basic fleet and pattern of services will remain the same – indeed, the route network is being added to and Air Malta is working its small fleet (seven A320s and five A319s) ever harder. A daily Düsseldorf flight has been added, along with

The internet is boosting courier traffic

services to Bologna and Stuttgart. London Gatwick is now twice daily in summer and Heathrow is served 16 times a week. The Italian network continues to grow and there are now regular flights between Malta, Reggio

Airport traffic holds up in a tough year

At Malta International Airport, head of airline marketing Alan Borg says that the overall airfreight market in Malta did not fare too badly by international standards in 2009. Total cargo was down 5.2% as against a European average of -13%. “This year is looking better,” he adds. “We are expecting growth of perhaps 2.5 to 3%, though cargo is difficult to predict.” Pharmaceuticals are expected to lead the

way, along with the nascent aero engineering industry, while the electronics business has stabilised. Major manufacturer ST Micro is now working a full week again. The airport still has plans for a cargo village, but this is not being actively pursued at the

moment. DHL Express is already on the site, and indeed it is expanding its facility, but hopes of attracting other cargo agents and operators have been put on hold due to the recession. Cargo agents also complained that the rents being sought were too dear. However, points out the airport’s senior administrator for airline marketing, James Baldacchino, airside access of the type being offered “doesn’t come cheap.” At the moment, it is possible for airfreight

agents to find lower-rental sites close to but not actually on the airport, but that could start to change if the Maltese government tightens up planning laws, as it is threatening to do.

di Calabria and Rome which could carry fresh produce and newspapers within Italy itself, says Norman Clews. Air Malta also continues to operate its base at Catania, the main commercial centre in Sicily. There is also to be a thrice-weekly flight to Damascus in Syria from 24 May which could

be extended to a year-round operation if the demand is there. “We are expecting it to be a good cargo route and we would have the option of changing the aircraft from an A319 to an A320 at short notice if there is heavy

cargo demand on a particular day. That’s the advantage of being a small airline.” Air Malta also operates year round to Libya and seasonally to Tunis; Larnaca can be serviced through an agreement with Emirates. On the latter airline, Norman

Clews says its new connection through Dubai to Tokyo could compete for the tuna traffic, though he points out that capacity on Emirates’ new Dubai-Tokyo service could be limited, given that it will also be taking up traffic from all the other stations on the Emirates’ network.

Meanwhile the eight-tonne

capacity ATP freighter aircraft run jointly with Bridges Worldwide

flies Monday to Friday between Malta and Marseilles. A larger aircraft may be introduced, but there are no definite plans yet. Air Malta also has a joint

757-200 Sunday freight to and from Frankfurt; Lufthansa has restarted its block space agreement with Air Malta for this service. Lufthansa caused a flurry

in the island’s normally placid cargo market when it started a regular MD11 freighter flight from Bangalore, Chennai (Madras) and Sharjah to Malta and then on to Frankfurt. This is continuing but a Lufthansa spokesman said that, despite rumours, there was yet no plan to add a second weekly flight.

BAS’s Bonello sees bright start to 2010

Lino Bonello, operations manager at local agent BAS Ltd says that ocean freight has been building up well. In airfreight, “2009 wasn’t all that bright” but the market is now showing signs of life, up by around 30% overall. Import-related business is going down, but that is mainly because Malta’s EU membership has killed off much of the customs brokerage role of local agents. But DHL’s Airfreight Plus door to door product is doing well, he adds.

Like all local agents, BAS has

had to diversify into a wide range of different segments to create a viable business. As well as being DHL Global Forwarding’s local agents, it runs an ‘Aircraft on Ground’ 24-hour desk for urgent shipments for Lufthansa Technik. It also has staff based in house at a number of major manufacturers. It also breaks down and

builds up pallets and handles local deliveries and collections throughout Malta and Gozo.

Smaller plane but no loss of service at Emirates

Emirates service between Malta, Larnaca and Dubai reverted to a 330-200 last August following a short-lived upgrade to a 777 about a year ago. However, service to customers has not suffered, says Anthie Antoniou, Emirates’ cargo manager for the two islands. “We can still offer four pallet positions daily,” she says. “In fact, we’re increasing our market share in Malta and we’re now the second-largest carrier. We’re very pleased with the way the market has picked up.”

Good communications between the Larnaca and Malta stations means that the available space can be maximised, so customers rarely have to be disappointed, she claims. Emirates’ new five days a week flights from its Dubai hub to Tokyo that started on 28 March could

also boost Malta business, she continues. The seas around Malta are one the main fisheries for tuna, an important ingredient in sushi.

Tuna, electronics and pharmaceuticals are the main airfreighted exports from Malta and the latter have been growing exceptionally well, recession or no recession, says Lino Bonello. “Demand for space is becoming greater than supply, which I suppose is healthy in a way, but you can struggle for space at times.” There are days of the week when local exporters could use more space, though freight does tend to come in peaks and troughs.

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