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Issue 1 2014 Freight Business Journal


NEWS ROUNDUP AIRFREIGHT


The Swiss competition authority (COMCO) has fined 12 airlines a total of Sfr11 million (£7.4m) for price-fixing between 2000 and 2005. An investigation revealed that the carriers had colluded on freight rates, fuel surcharges, war risk surcharges and US customs clearance surcharges. The carriers concerned were Korean Air Lines, Atlas Air (Polar Air Cargo), American Airlines, United, SAS, Japan Airlines Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Cargolux, British Airways and Air France-KLM. Luſthansa was excused fines because it triggered the legal proceedings by “self-denunciation”, Comco added.


The European Commission cleared the merger between the airport ground and cargo handlers Swissport and Servisair on 18 December, conditional on Swissport disposing of its ground handling activities at Birmingham Airport and Servisair’s activities at London Gatwick Newcastle and Helsinki. The executive did not raise any competition concerns over land-side cargo and offline cargo handling.


Emirates is to double its Dubai-Dublin service with a second daily non-stop Boeing 777-300ER flight from 1 September. There are good onward connections from Dubai to major destinations in Australia and New Zealand, with shorter journey times into Auckland, Melbourne and Brisbane. The new flight also introduces new connections to the Far East, India, East and Southern Africa.


TNT Express has expanded its Intercontinental Express Freight to include ten additional countries beyond Europe, bringing global coverage to 80 countries. The expansion includes key business locations in North America, the Middle East and South America.


NYK’s Yusen Logistics forwarding arm has expanded its Transatlantic airfreight services. It now offers regular departures from a number of European cities, including London, to the gateways of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. It is aimed especially at electronics companies.


Austrian Airlines is to relaunch its services to the Iranian capital Tehran, from 11 March, subject to regulatory approval. Airbus A320 or A319 flights will operate five times a week in the summer schedule, departing Vienna at 20.10. Austrian dropped Tehran from its schedule in January 2013, citing commercial reasons.


ROAD & RAIL


The European Parliament approved a proposal for the next generation of tamper-proof satellite-equipped digital tachographs on 15 January. With the European Council already signed up to the plan, the new rules should be adopted shortly although the European Commission still needs to adopt technical specifications, which is expected this year. The devices would be fitted to new trucks from about 2018 but there will be a grace period for existing vehicles of up to 15 years.


The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has published International Guidelines on Safe Load Securing for Road Transport. Based primarily on the on the EN 12195-1:2010 European standard on load restraining on road vehicles, they also include other safe practices observed across the road transport industry, such as timber and vehicle transport as well as others, not covered by the European standard.


DB Schenker Rail UK is to take over track maintenance and rail operations at DP World London Gateway following the opening of the deep-water port. DBS will be responsible for controlling all rail movements and conducting safety checks at the rail terminal as well as providing dedicated ground staff services for rail freight operators using the facility.


///NEWS


New runways for Heathrow and Gatwick on Davies’ shortlist


The Davies Commission on airport capacity in the south- east of England has shortlisted a third runway for Heathrow and a second for Gatwick as possible options, but has not come out decisively in favour of a scheme for a new island airport in the Thames Estuary. It says that further work will be needed on the ambitious proposal – which has the backing of London Mayor, Boris Johnson – before it can be added to the list. The Commission is due to publish its final report by


summer 2015. A possible second runway at


Stansted did not make it onto the list either, although this is not absolutely ruled out. The Commission, led by


businessman Sir Howard Davies, says that while the runway shortage in the south-east is not yet quite critical, the equivalent of one complete new runway will be needed by 2030. However, any such scheme is likely to face entrenched opposition from residents and environmentalists,


Manston goes to Gloag for a pound


Scots businesswoman Ann Gloag has bought Manston Airport in Kent from New Zealand investment fund, Infratil, for just £1. Gloag, who was one of the founders of the Stagecoach bus and transport group in 1980, pledged to use her 30 years’ experience in the transport industry to optimise both freight and passenger growth at Manston. She has also taken on business


turnaround specialist Alastair Welch, who will lead the new team at Manston. Passenger traffic is currently


at a low ebb at Manston, with just a twice-daily KLM flight to Amsterdam, but the airport has recently been successful in attracting cargo operations. These include twice-weekly Saudi Airlines 747F flights from Kenya, plus flights by Allied Aviation, Magma, Cargolux and a new joint venture between ANA Aviation Services and Astral Aviation of Kenya. Another airport owned by


Infratil, Prestwick near Glasgow, has already been sold to the Scottish government.


Aeroscraſt Corporation, US-based inventor of a revolutionary


new type


of airship, has signed a memorandum of understanding with European-based freighter airline, Cargolux. Aeroscraſt is developing a new design of airship that can control its own buoyancy, capable of handling heavy payloads but without the need to add or jettison ballast as


Airship plan ready for liſt off for


while the present Government has already reversed the previous Labour administration’s plans for a third runway at Heathrow, saying that it will not revisit the issue during the lifetime of the current Government. But while welcoming the


report’s call for new runways at


Heathrow and Gatwick,


British International Freight Association’s (BIFA) director general, Peter Quantrill, described it as “an exercise in damage limitation”. He said: “Over the


past decades, successive UK governments have shown a singular lack of vision in the face of a massive surge in air transport and consequent pressure on existing airport infrastructure in the South East. We can only hope that aſter the general election in May 2015, the welter of evidence as presented will be such that politicians will give the green light and adopt these recommendations in full. We trust that today’s report will finally lead to some action.”


Samskip partners in new Turkey link


European multimodal transport operator Samskip Multimodal and Intercombi (ICL) Transport, a subsidiary of the leading logistics company Turkey Netlog Logistics Group have launched a joint service between Turkey and Europe. Initially


the GreenBridge


Multimodal service will offer three block trains per week between the Samskip Multimodal


rail terminal in Duisburg to the Port of Trieste with connection to ships operating between Trieste and


Istanbul. The company


expects the block train service frequency to increase to five departures a week soon. Connections to and from the


UK are available. GreenBridge quotes journey times of between 10 and 19 days.


take-off and landing (VTOL) capability


outsized cargo, and ability to transport ISO containers vertically. The deal will also give


Aeroscraſt access to Cargolux’s airfreight network in Europe and the surrounding regions and the carrier’s project and general cargo expertise, as well as in providing maintenance services to support the Aeroscraſt’s European operations. Earlier, Icelandair Cargo said it


would also set up a partnership with Aeroscraſt


to


with existing airship designs. The two partners will


explore the benefits of using the Aeroscraſt’s capabilities to provide transport services through Europe and North Africa, and beyond. Aeroscraſt says it can


solve many current logistical problems through its vertical


develop


transport by airship in the Arctic region. The two partners would deliver standard ISO shipping containers via a hub in Iceland to destinations such as Greenland, Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada where infrastructure is currently lacking and which has hindered the development of natural resources in the region.


heavy and


Ellesmere Port back on the shipping map


Peel Ports Group has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle and B8 Real Estate to master-plan and market the former Bridgewater paper mill site at Ellesmere Port as a logistics hub. Plans for the development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal got the green light from local planning authorities earlier this year. Peel plans to transform the


75-acre brownfield site into a multimodal port hub. There is already an operating berth on the Canal with direct connection to the Port of Liverpool through Peel Ports’ container shuttle service, and an on-site rail link – plus direct access to the motorway network via junction 7 of the M53 which is within 750 metres of the site gate.


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