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Issue 2 2014 Freight Business Journal


///IRELAND California comeback for Aer Lingus


Ireland’s air freight exports boomed in the first eight months of 2013, compensating for a relatively weak inbound market. But the year ended disappointingly, says Peter O’Neill, director of cargo at Aer Lingus. “The peak was later and less dramatic than in 2012,” he says. Aer Lingus had to squeeze


additional volume from existing routes last year but sees its re-entry into the US west coast market as a big opportunity. San Francisco will be served


five times a week from April, using an Airbus A330-200 that will offer five pallet positions plus, typically, two ULDs. O’Neill expects to move a lot of fresh produce on the route, a higher density product


that complements volumetric pharmaceutical and high-tech cargo. Pharmaceuticals and medical


devices account for 80% of Ireland’s air freight exports and 10% of this traffic is actively refrigerated. Aer Lingus is in prime position to compete for this aſter signing a master lease agreement with Envirotainer covering medium and large-sized refrigerated containers as well as the previous dry-ice type. The


carrier also offers


actively managed temperature- controlled containers from rival manufacturer CSafe, and should have received its Good Distribution Practice accreditation for pharma


products by the time of the San Francisco launch. “We


have upgraded the


warehouse in preparation for this and we’re pushing the concept through to the guys who have to build the pallets off the back of the truck,” O’Neill says. “You have to take great care when three months’ production of a particular drug might be going in one consignment.” The carrier has replaced its


single A330 based at Shannon with two Boeing 757s, to enable transatlantic frequencies from the airport to increase from seven to 13 flights per week. Shannon-Boston will operate daily all year round and there will be six services a


week to New York. The 757 offers limited capacity


but O’Neill says: “We’re trying to get a little freight on Shannon-Boston, as well as working on mail. We still have the A330 on Dublin-Boston for larger freight.” Dublin to Toronto also becomes


a year-round service for Aer Lingus, again served by 757s, but the carrier is braced for intense competition. Air Canada’s low- cost subsidiary, Rouge, launches on this route in May with Boeing 767s while another Canadian LCC, WestJet, enters the market the following month (though operating smaller Boeing 737s), which will mean no fewer than four services on certain days of the week.


UK truck tax alarms exporters


The Irish Exporters Association has warned that the UK’s incoming Lorry Road User Levy will reduce the competitiveness of Irish


companies exporting to Northern Ireland or the mainland UK and could threaten jobs in the haulage sector.


The new levy, to be imposed


from April 1, will require any commercial vehicle, of 12 tonnes or more to pay a daily charge of £10


in order to enter the UK. The IEA has called on the Irish government to negotiate an exemption for vehicles registered in the Republic.


Middle East carriers rewrite the rulebook


Emirates is to double its Dublin capacity when it adds a second daily flight to Dubai using a Boeing 777- 300ER in September. Since Etihad will already have gone double-daily on its Abu Dhabi service from July, using exactly the same aircraft type, Ireland-UAE passenger capacity will have increased to an astonishing 600,000 seats per year. This is just as alarming


for cargo competitors - since the 777 has a capacious belly, each airline will be able to carry up to 700 tonnes per week in and out of Ireland. Not that the Middle East is the point of origin or the ultimate destination: both carriers are promoting the strengths of their networks into Asia and Australia. Emirates launched the


Dublin-Dubai route in early 2012, initially using A330s, but rapidly upgraded to the larger aircraft. “We grew our share of the Irish market by 30% in our first full year with the 777, compared with growth in the general market of 3-4%, and we’re now established as the number two operator out of Ireland with a


schedule reliability also makes it a preferred choice for perishables such as razor clams and live crabs, which it flies to Shanghai, Hong Kong and the rest of Asia. Regular twice-weekly shipments of cheese, yoghurt and other dairy products are delivered to supermarkets across the Middle East.


to Dublin when we have our second daily service,” Meagher says. Perishables traffic destined for


the Middle East will migrate to the evening departure when the second service starts. “Shipments could arrive here in the evening and arrive in Dubai next day at 09:00, freeing up the existing flight


17% market share,” says Michael Meagher, Emirates’ Ireland cargo manager. “EMC computer cabinets, which


are exported globally from Cork, account for a lot of our business out of southern Ireland,” Meagher says. The carrier’s industry-leading


Emirates operates road feeder


services to and from Dublin, Shannon and Cork, enabling it to access freighter services from London or Amsterdam. “Where there is excess demand for lower-deck capacity, we truck to Manchester. That will mostly revert


for transit traffic to Hong Kong and China,” Meagher says. Inbound shipments represent


40% of Emirates’ overall Ireland business, including raw materials for electronics assembly and off-season foodstuffs such as strawberries and blueberries from sources such as South Africa and Egypt. “They were previously trucked from the UK or Europe, so they’re at least 24 hours fresher,” Meagher says. Etihad claims


Dublin has been one of its most successful routes since it was launched in


2007.


Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister), Enda Kenny, visited Etihad’s Dublin headquarters in January. During the visit, Etihad hosted workshops with 12 Irish aviation companies


and suppliers. Aer Lingus acts as Etihad’s


handler in Dublin and has an interline


agreement with the


carrier to the US. But Aer Lingus cargo director Peter O’Neill expects this relationship to wind down as Etihad develops its own transatlantic services.


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