18


Issue 8 2013 Freight Business Journal


///FRANCE


Have the French really said adieu to la recession?


Just lately, the French economy appears to have snapped out of a deep and prolonged recession. According to Bloomberg, it posted its best quarter since President Francois Hollande came to power in May 2012 - not that that’s saying much, his opponents would argue. But consumer spending does appear to be recovering and exports are growing. But there are many who feel that France isn’t out of the woods just yet. Throughout the country, there is widespread distrust of any official pronouncement as just government or official ‘spin’ Moreover, with President Hollande threatening huge public spending cuts in 2014 – a move which has garnered him criticism from both the leſt and right – next year promises to be a bumpy ride.


The French government needs cash – lots of it – which is why personal taxation levels are among some of the highest in the world, especially for top earners. Another manifestation of the government’s need for income is the Ecotaxe


kilometrage-based truck toll, despite protestations that it is a ‘green’ tax designed to encourage freight to switch from road to rail or waterway. Most French truckers, certainly, see it as a way of parting them from yet more of their hard-


earned earnings. Inevitably, there have been demonstrations and blockades, especially in far-flung Britanny, which feels it will suffer most from the new regime. The fact that the Ecotaxe has had to be hastily put on ice, just


two months before its planned introduction, should not come as a surprise to France-watchers. As a writer in the London Daily Telegraph observed recently, new taxes are being announced all the time, in chaotic fashion,


Air France adds routes, but cuts its freighter fleet


A new weekly round-trip 777 freighter service from Paris Charles


de Gaulle (CDG) to


Shanghai, a new thrice weekly return 777-200 passenger service to Panama City, a reinstated thrice weekly return passenger service to Cape Town using Boeing 777- 200ER and a reactivated return service to Cancun with Boeing 777-300ER planes are among the highlights of Air France- KLM Martinair’s new winter programme, which came into operation from 27 October. The Franco-Dutch carrier is


also adding new services from its Amsterdam base, including a new weekly freighter service. It has also increased frequencies to a number of existing destinations from Paris CDG, for example to Bangkok, up from four weekly flights to six, operated by an 777- 300ER, while services to New- York JFK go up from 28 to 35 a week, (operated by a B777-200ER) Cargo is important at AF-KL-MP.


The airline remains one of the few national flag carriers to operate its own freighter fleet and although it has announced plans to cut its all-cargo fleet by four aircraſt, it will remain faithful to the all-cargo concept


insists executive vice


president, Erik Varwijk. He told a press conference in


Amsterdam on 10 October that the carrier would still operate ten full freighters, including two 777Fs based at Paris Charles de Gaulle, along with an eight- strong fleet of 747s and MD11s at Schiphol. And while the number of planes has reduced, the worldwide freighter route network


would be largely


maintained – and some new destinations could be added, such as Caracas and Cairo. True, some full-freighter


capacity had been reduced to China and Japan, but this could be reinstated when and if the market recovers, he says. It was likely that AF-KL-MP would still be operating


full freighter aircraſt for at least a decade, if not more, he said. The


freight market has


been affected, not only by the global economic downturn, but also because of the new types of passenger planes being introduced into airline fleets such as the A350, B777-300 and B787s had much more bellyhold cargo capacity than the planes they replaced. Like most airlines, the carrier’s


freight is already overwhelmingly flown in the bellyholds of passenger aircraſt - around 80% from Paris currently, but set to rise to 90% when the freighter fleet there is reduced. However, there are some shippers, for example those sending large indivisible items or those with dangerous goods, who still value full freighter aircraſt. The total overall airfreight market has also been affected by structural changes, notably the switch from air to sea for some commodities such as


pharmaceuticals, cut flowers and fresh fruit and veg. Other carriers, such as IAG,


have opted to lease freighter capacity in a more ad hoc arrangement, but operating your own planes still brings benefits in terms of flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to changes in demand, says Varwijk. AF-KL-MP is currently in


the midst of a cost-cutting programme in the face of a tough global market for cargo. The carrier’s Transform 15 programme has succeeded in reducing losses by a third. Meanwhile, there are signs of


an improvement in the market in the second half of 2013, Varwijk added. There were signs of the long-awaited European economic recovery, consumer confidence was returning and electronic goods manufacturers were launching new products – always good business for the airfreight carriers.


nearly every week, only for them to melt away again in a welter of


leaks, technical glitches and horse- trading.


Road costs take their toll


The French Ecotaxe road toll may have been postponed, but there are still plenty of other pressures on road haulage costs, says logistics specialist Espace France. In fact, for truckers already the


using existing péage


motorway toll system, the Ecotaxe would be fairly nominal as the fastest routes are already covered by the péage system. However, for routes off the autoroutes, for example from the UK to Biarritz in the South West from Calais, the charge could be €40 while full load rates to and from Iberia would attract an extra €36 to and from Caen or €40 to and from Calais, according to the website of Ecomouv, the company appointed by the French government to collect the tax.


A relatively stable diesel price


and Sterling-Euro exchange rate have helped to stabilise export rates to France from the UK in the last 12 months, says Espace but it has still seen a 20% increase in export rates since the start of the recession which coincided with poor availability of French back load trailers. Availability of equipment to France has greatly improved in the last year or two but rates have remained at their increased levels. Espace moves about 450 part


and full loads to and from each month. French full and part load shipments have been Espace’s speciality since it started in 2000. Growth, however, in its French express service has rocketed since it introduced a Money Back Guarantee for late delivery and a 30 second price promise for all European express deliveries.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36