AIRFREIGHT\\\ Together we’re stronger says IAG boss


British Airways and Iberia have been working together to weld the two carriers into a harmonious whole. The result is IAG cargo, officially launched in December. The management of the new entity shared their thoughts with FBJ on the future direction of the new business. Steve Gunning, the boss of IAG


Cargo may not be able to promise an exciting future but at least a stable one for airfreight at one of the world’s largest carriers - IAG being the new entity formed from the merger of British Airways and Iberia and which was officially unveiled to the press at British Airways’ Heathrow Cargocentre on


3 December. With other European flag carriers


cutting back their freighter fleets at the moment, it is unlikely that IAG Cargo will in the foreseeable future be looking to add significantly to its own full freighter operations – which are all Atlas Air 747 capacity provided on specific segments to supplement bellyhold capacity on passenger planes. Airlines that have their own


freighters are finding life pretty tough at the moment, so it is unlikely that IAG will want to plunge into that particular pool any time soon. IAG’s management feels that it has just about got its capacity right.


Is that light at the end of the tunnel? - Luſthansa


Europe’s airfreight market is set to see a small recovery during 2013. But the level of improvement is far from clear due to the wide range of economic and other influences around the world. That was the scenario outlined


at the 4 December annual ‘Meet the Trends’ press briefing held by German carrier Luſthansa Cargo in Frankfurt, although the organisation admitted that current uncertainties made any industry forecasting “really difficult”. In fact, Andreas Otto, Luſthansa


Cargo’s member of the executive board, product and sales, opened the event by stating that while previous briefings had focussed on projected future market figures, that would not be the case this year due to the fact that “currently, any kind of forecast or prediction in this industry is really difficult”. He said he would provide a


few industry numbers recently published by global consultancy and investment management group Seabury but that would be all. The Seabury numbers, reported


Otto, suggested that overall annual airfreight growth into and out of the Eurozone region would be a marginal 0.1% in 2013 and 4.3% in 2014,


following a 5.1% drop


in 2012. Within those totals, he continued, Seabury suggested the key German market, which had experienced a 6.3% decline in 2012, would see a further drop of 1.5% in 2013 before recovering with 4.5% growth in 2014. However, continued Otto, Cargo


Luſthansa itself cautiously optimistic that


was the


numbers for Germany and Europe as a whole next year would actually be a little better than the


ones projected by Seabury, with both those markets seeing growth of 2-3% over 2012. “Globally, we are talking about a minimum of 2.5-3% market growth,” he added. Otto also quoted Seabury


figures relating to three other key markets for the European airfreight industry – the US, China and Japan. In the case of the US, he stated,


that forecast projected a further 3% drop in 2013, following a near 4% decline in 2012, followed by a 3% increase in 2014. In the Europe/ Asia sector, Chinese airfreight traffic had fallen by 0.6% during 2012 but the Seabury forecast suggested that trade would return to growth in 2013, with a near 3% improvement, followed by a 5.2% increase in 2014. Meanwhile, the Japanese market, which had experienced an 8.6% decline in 2012, would see a further fall of almost 2% in 2013, followed by a small increase of 1.2% in 2014. As for Luſthansa Cargo’s own


plans for 2013, Otto said the organisation hoped to bring back into full operation two of its MD11 freighters which had previously been taken out of service as part of a capacity-cutting programme in response to declining traffic levels. “We will bring those back as soon as we signs of the market picking up,” he stated. Meanwhile, he admitted,


those previous capacity cuts had resulted in Luſthansa Cargo losing market share in its home German and European sectors. On the plus side, though, the carrier had recently started improving its share of the key Asia-Europe airfreight trade. “US to Europe is also currently very positive for us – recent figure show a slight gain in market share”, said Otto.


IAG cargo is a fully-formed


business entity with its own board and a great deal of autonomy in day to day decision-making. And the new alliance with the Spanish flag carrier means that the existing capacity can be more effectively filled,


and with better-paying


freight. Putting the two carriers’


networks together meant that they were in a better position to tap into markets of which they had only scratched the surface in the past, most notably Asia to Latin America. British Airways and Iberia have


also laid on wide-body passenger capacity on routes between the UK and Spain to strengthen links between the two carriers main hubs, in London and Madrid. Jude Winstanley, senior vice-president for cargo network development and alliances says that there are now seven BA 767s and five Iberia A340s per week, an unprecedented amount of space. At the same time, one of the


Atlas Air-operated 747-8 freighters was now operating a rotation from London Stansted via Madrid on its way to Johannesburg, Nairobi and back to London. Such dual European hub concepts might be


Issue 1 2013


7


extended in the future, helping to improve load factors and boost yields on the freighters and make them more financially viable. Further new routes for the Atlas Air-operated 747-8s are possible, including direct services into Latin America. The policy though is not to move the freighters around


willy-nilly, as too-frequent changes tend to upset regular customers. The


opportunity has also


been taken to rationalise the two operators’ short-haul freighter fleets. A 737 operated by Iberia has been dispensed with in favour of capacity on DHL Aviation between Madrid and Frankfurt.


BIFA Freight Service Awards 2012


The following organisations and individuals have been recognised by the British International Freight Association as the ‘best in industry’ for each category in the Freight Service Awards 2012 competition.


The Winners General Categories:


Environment Award Sponsored by: Red Recruit


Finalists: - Damco UK Ltd - Seafast Logistics Plc - World Transport Agency


Winner: Uniserve Group www.uniservegroup.co.uk


Project Forwarding Award Sponsored by: Peter Lole & Co


Finalists: - Atlantic Pacific Global Logistics


- Denholm Global Logistics Ltd


- Sound Moves UK Ltd


Special Services Award Sponsored by: Forward Computers


Finalists:


- CRM Logistics Ltd - James Cargo Services Ltd - Uniserve Group


Winner:


Bellville Rodair International www.bellvillerodair.com


Staff Development Award Sponsored by: Albacore Systems


Finalists: - 512 Limited


- James Cargo Services Ltd - SDV Ltd


Winner: DSV Road www.dsv.com/uk


Supply Chain Management Award Sponsored by: BoxTop Technologies


Finalists:


- Allport Cargo Services - Freedom Logistics UK Ltd - Meachers Global Logistics Ltd


Winner:


The PSL Group Ltd www.pslgroup.net


Ocean Freight Award Sponsored by: CargoWise


Finalists: - Brunel Shipping & Liner Services


- Ideal International - PFE Express Ltd


Winner:


Allport Cargo Services www.allportcargoservices.com


Individual Categories:


Young Freight Forwarder Award Sponsored by: Virgin Atlantic Cargo


Finalists: - Greg Barnes, Panalpina - Charlotte Bartup, Kuehne + Nagel


- Uzma Ruhi, Globetrotters (GB) Ltd


Lifetime Achievement Award Winner:


Jimmie James Winner: Adam Blakemore, Insped Ltd Winner:


Asco Freight Management Ltd www.ascoworld.com


The awards are a true measure of performance quality within the logistics and supply chain industry.


Modal Categories:


Air Freight Award Sponsored by: IAG Cargo


Finalists: - Geodis Wilson UK Ltd - MOL Logistics - Uniserve Group


Winner:


NNR Global Logistics UK Ltd www.nnruk.com


European Logistics Award Sponsored by: TT Club


Finalists: - Freightex


- Ital Logistics Ltd - UFS Ltd


Winner:


Delamode Plc www.delamode.co.uk


British International Freight Association


Redfern House, Browells Lane, Feltham, Middlesex TW13 7EP United Kingdom T: +44 (0)20 8844 2266 F: +44 (0)20 8890 5546 E: bifa@bifa.org W: www.bifa.org/awards


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