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Issue 4 2014 - Freight Business Journal Dubai World Central open for business


Emirates SkyCargo’s freighter fleet has officially started operating from its new cargo terminal at Dubai World Central’s (DWC) Al Maktoum International Airport. The occasion was marked by


the very early morning arrival of an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 Freighter from London Heathrow, carrying over 100 tonnes of cargo. The load included vehicles, ship spares, pharmaceuticals, oilfield equipment and an aircraſt engine. Construction of phase one of the cargo terminal and


supporting facilities began in July last year, and with its completion operations are now in full swing with 250 staff on site. The newly opened terminal will be able to handle 700,000 tonnes of cargo a year and have 500 staff when phase two, scheduled to


be completed by September this year, comes into operation. The terminal can be expanded to 1 million tonnes capacity. The terminal features a fully


automated material handling system which is one of the world’s first to have an automated


Quick Dolly Transfer System that enables transfer of six ULDs simultaneously. In addition, an automated pallet handling system, advanced storage system, offices, workstation areas, modern communication and


security systems and


many amenities for employees, including canteens have been installed. The perishable area has been designed to handle about 140,000 tonnes of cargo a year. The terminal also includes 45


truck docks and 80 truck parking spaces and 12 aircraſt stands directly in front of the terminal.


Farewell freighters?


the economics of freighter operations, putting them under pressure, he told delegates At the same time, the rise


Larry Coyne, CEO, Coyne Airways, urged carriers to embrace change to survive in a new airfreight landscape at the tenth annual meeting of the Air Cargo Club (ACC) at St Paul de Vence, France on 16 May. Cargo migrating to surface transport or passenger planes has changed


of a small number of global brands will cause casualties amongst independents and force a seismic shiſt in the way the industry operates, he said. Passenger carriers were becoming bigger and more aggressive players in the long- haul freight business, and ownership of large freighters was becoming an unattractive proposition. “There is a likelihood that


more and more carriers will exit that business,” he said. He added that deliveries


of wide-body planes, which were, in effect, “mini-freighters”, were predicted to grow by over


We’ll work weekends, says AMI


AMI - the global trade-only freight wholesaler - has started weekend working, and added an additional spot rate specialist to its team, to strengthen its UK import offering. The imports department now


operates on Sundays, preparing import customs entries for submission first thing on Mondays, allowing inbound airfreight shipments to be cleared more quickly and released earlier to the importer’s agent at London Heathrow. Shipments bound for the north


and Scotland are also leaving London earlier for AMI’s regional cargo centres, oſten trimming a day off transit times.


A second spot rate executive has


also joined AMI’s imports team, to provide faster quotes for enquiries from UK freight agents. AMI is now connected to CNS


(Southampton’s port community system) and Destin8 (its Felixstowe counterpart), and recently introduced import clearances for ocean FCL and LCL traffic entering the UK through the two ports, to cater for occasional ocean imports. AMI says its import service is proving particularly popular with regional airfreight agents, as it eliminates the need for an office, warehouse, customs clearance staff or transport facilities in London, Birmingham or Manchester.


8,000 in the next 20 years, bringing more services to more destinations and cutting into the main deck freighter market. “There are only about 500


wide-body freighters operated today, mainly by express carriers, so you can see what adding passenger cargo capacity equal to around 100 freighters a year will do to this market,” he said. He pointed to a recent survey


by Seabury revealing that an estimated 15.2 million tonnes of airfreight had been lost to surface between 2000 and 2013, equal to 11,000 B777 freighter flights a year. “It is creaming off some of


the growth that air used to enjoy and has reduced it from a potential 7.3% growth to 2.6% a


year,” he said. Meanwhile, legacy carriers


are lining up to co-brand, and younger airlines are using minority ownership to create powerful single brands as an alternative to alliances or code sharing. “I see the emergence of global


brands in various forms, as an alternative to consolidation,” he said. “A smaller number of world


brands is going to make life difficult for independent carriers unless they have a special niche they can protect. “Airlines not part of one of


these global brands will find it increasingly difficult to compete and many will be forced to join in or risk being driven out of business.”


AA sees chilly future at Heathrow


American Airlines Cargo has opened a controlled room temperature facility at its London Heathrow Airport cargo warehouse, the carrier’s first in Europe. The new 300-square-foot facility maintains a temperature range of 15 to 25 degrees Celsius and will be used for healthcare shipments such as pharmaceuticals and biologicals. Managing director of cargo sales


in Europe, Tristan Koch, said: “This new facility will help us to ensure shipments transiting, originating or connecting in London are placed in the best possible environment while they are in our care, giving our customers the peace of mind they deserve.”


The facility can log temperature


data and offers alarms and notification. Koch added: “The facility will


be of special interest to our Irish pharmaceutical customers, who have goods that transit London Heathrow on the way to other international destinations.”


///NEWS NEWS ROUNDUP AIRFREIGHT & EXPRESS


Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways are to swap flights between London-Heathrow to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and from Heathrow to Los Angeles International Airport this winter. The US carrier will begin operating one of two daily Heathrow- Los Angeles flights currently operated by Virgin Atlantic, while Virgin Atlantic will begin operating one of Delta’s three daily flights between Heathrow and Atlanta.


Etihad Cargo started a new weekly freighter flight from its Abu Dhabi to Entebbe, Uganda, on 26 May. The service will operate every Monday using a 64-tonne capacity Airbus A330-200F, with a capacity of 64 tonnes.


TNT Express has opened a new depot in Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It will help the carrier offer later cut-off times and collections.


Qatar opened its new Hamad International Airport on 1 May when a Qatar Airways flight became the first to officially land on the East runway, carrying the Minister of Transport and other VIPs. Ten carriers have now started operations at the new hub with the remaining carriers, including national carrier Qatar Airways, expected to move to the new airport by 27 May.


FedEx Express has acquired Supaswiſt’s businesses in South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia as part of its strategy to increase its African business. It gives the carrier direct access to 40 facilities and over 1,000 team members in the seven countries.


Pegasus Airlines has added four times a week services to the northern Caucasus city of Mineralnye Vody to its route network from Istanbul. Connections are available from London Stansted.


Cargolux says that it expects to operate scheduled services to Zhengzhou, China from 14 June and that it


is confident that


operational authorisation will be received in due course. It follows the cancellation of the inaugural flight initially planned for 24 April.


All-cargo carrier Coyne Airways has appointed Liana Coyne as chief operating officer. A director of the company since 2010, she will head five new market-focused divisions, including Iraq, the Caspian and Central Asia, Afghanistan, Africa, and Contract Logistics. Her appointment is part of a restructure in which current managing director John Batten is leaving the airline.


IAG Cargo has started its new five times per week freighter service between Hong Kong and London Stansted operated by a Qatar Airways Boeing 777F.


Aer Lingus officially launched its new service from Dublin to Toronto on 17 April - its fourth new transatlantic route in recent months following the start-up of a new San Francisco Dublin service in March. The new 757 service will operate daily between Dublin and Toronto during the summer season and up to four times a week during the winter.


American Airlines Cargo has introduced seasonal wide-body capacity into the European market, with daily non-stop 767-300 services between Chicago O’Hare and Dublin as well as New York Kennedy and Rome. The services will continue to 25 October.


The European Commission’s DG Transport is to hold a preliminary inquiry into Etihad’s purchase of stakes in European airlines to see if they breach EU rules on ownership and control of European companies. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier has already taken stakes in Air Berlin and is in the processing of buying part of Italian flag-carrier Alitalia.


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