Plenty of passengers – but where’s the freight?


MALTA\\\


While Malta International Airport’s passenger business has soared to an all-time high, cargo traffic has been stuck in the doldrums. Total traffic in 2011 was 4% down on the previous year, and while some of the drop can be explained by the crisis in Libya that temporarily brought a once thriving trade lane to a grinding halt, there are other factors at work. The relentless growth of the low-cost carriers may have spearheaded the surge in passengers, but they of course carry no cargo. As the airport’s head of airline marketing, Alan Borg says, “there may have been a direct correlation between passenger and freight traffic at one time, but that is no longer true.” With so many passenger flights


now in the hands of low-cost carriers, there is also a risk that bellyhold space on passenger aircraſt – vital for serving most markets from Malta where


freighters are few and far between - will be seriously reduced. Attempts by Air Logistics to sell bellyhold space on Easyjet planes to the express courier industry were not a success and the experiment was called off. Still, Malta International has especially if Libya


potential,


comes fully back onstream. It used to be a major market, as recently as 2010 and Malta had an advantage of being the closest EU country. At the time of writing, all Libyan carriers have been banned from EU airspace due to safety concerns, but flag carrier Libyan Arab Airlines has taken a wet- lease on an A320 passenger plane and has plans to reinstate flights. Air Malta, meanwhile, resumed its services to Libya aſter hostilities ceased and has plans to expand its operations. Marseilles - terminus of a regular freighter service operated mainly


for the express operators – is the top inbound origin point for cargo at Malta airport, followed closely by Frankfurt and then Dubai. Outbound from Malta,


Frankfurt remains the top destination despite the loss of one direct freighter service a week, then Dubai and then London Heathrow. Plans for a cargo village at


the airport remain on hold, as they have been for a number of years. The only part of the area currently in use is that operated by DHL Express. “It is something we’d like to develop – cargo would generate more revenue for us than would other activities such as maintenance – but it takes two to tango,” says Alan Borg. So far, the freight industry has been unwilling to pay the sorts of rents that would be demanded for airside land. The island still has its own


Issue 3 2012


Luſthansa’s


Lufthansa Cargo efforts to push e-business in Malta have been recognised by an award from the Malta Communications Authority. Around 95% of the carrier’s cargo is now electronically booked, the highest proportion of any station other then Frankfurt, says Lufthansa Cargo’s man in Malta, Tony Mifsud. As well as Lufthansa itself, “we’ve also has the support of the authorities here. One of the stumbling-blocks to the e-airwaybill could have been customs, but they have accepted both e-AWBs and electronic customs documents.” Now, as well as striving to push


national airline, Air Malta, but what is now one of the EU’s smallest flag carriers is undergoing a huge transformation project that has seen hundreds of staff let go. Many in the forwarding community fear that the blood-letting has gone too far and the carrier is in danger of losing vital cargo expertise.


the proportion of e-AWBs towards 100%, he is also working with systems specialist Traxon to electronicise the remainder of the document ‘pouch’ that travels with consignments such as invoices. There have been important


changes to the Lufthansa airfreight product in Malta. While the German carrier is maintaining its Sunday 757 freighter to Frankfurt operated in conjunction with Air Malta – previously there were freighters on


29 e-efforts rewarded


Saturday as well – it has also taken space on the freighter aircraft operated by DHL to Brussels four days a week, with truck connections on to Frankfurt operating under Lufthansa flight numbers. It has also developed a two-flights a week passenger service to Munich, and while the freight capacity on the A319 and A320 aircraft used isn’t massive, does offer some potential to southern Germany. There is also a daily passenger A321 to Frankfurt, but that tends to be very full. All in all, the new services give a


much more even spread of capacity throughout the week, which shippers seem to appreciate now that the market is picking up again, says Tony Mifsud. “Our passenger flights in the week tend to be busy, so the extra freighter capacity has helped a lot,” he enthuses. He and the Lufthansa Cargo team


are especially pushing the carrier’s courier and express products, which best fit the needs of the market for urgent, relatively small shipments – electronics and, in particular, pharmaceuticals.


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