MALTA\\\ Every so oſten, at regular


intervals a truck in the bright red- orange Express Trailers livery leaves the company’s depots in London, Birmingham or Manchester bound, not for Malta, but the burning sands of the Libyan desert. Long haul trucking from Europe to the Middle East is nothing new, of course, but surely


this is one of the longest regular groupage runs – as opposed to one-movements of full loads - to operate in Europe? The UK/Libya service operates


to the toe of Italy and then by ferry to Tunisia and across the land border into Libya. It can reach Tripoli in around 10-12 days, very competitive with the sea transit


We could be a superb sub-hub, says airport


Cargo at Malta airport is static – declining, even – but there is no reason why it has to be that way,


says chief


executive officer, Markus Klaushofer. “This could be a perfect Mediterranean sub- hub for an integrator,” he says. “It has two runways, 24-hour operation and no problems with noise curfews. We could offer facilities directly on the apron.” With Libya opening up, there will be a definite increase in courier traffic as the oil and gas industry gears itself up again. “It would make sense for those companies to have their storage here and fly goods and equipment into Libya when it’s needed.” The current situation


for cargo at Malta isn’t so rosy. Traffic development executive, Alex Cardona says that there was a 2.9% decline overall in 2013 compared with 2012,


although the picture


is very mixed depending on route and whether it is imports or exports. France and the UAE were up by 15% but Germany and the UK were down, by 11% and


33% respectively.


Exports have also shrunk as a proportion of total cargo, to 43%, compared with the roughly 50-50 split between imports and exports in 2012. There aren’t too many


prospects for increasing airfreight exports from Malta per se - “the market is what the market is,” Klaushofer says – but there is definitely potential to boost transhipment traffic through Malta. It would also be important for the airport to work in tandem with Malta Freeport to develop sea-air traffic – that, after all, was the catalyst


for Dubai’s explosive


growth in the 1980s and 1990s. Developing multimodal logistics is also an important part of the new Maltese government’s strategy. “The Freeport is so close,


the end of our runway almost touches it,” Klaushofer continues. He previously worked for Vienna Airport – both Malta and the Austrian airport are part of the same group – and there he witnessed the sudden and rapid growth of air cargo once the first full freighter operator was attracted in – and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be the same story in Malta. Significantly, before joining Vienna Airport Klaushofer worked for a freight forwarder, so he knows the cargo business well.


In Malta’s case, though, he


predicts that the integrator boom could partly be based on passenger bellyhold capacity. There is plenty available to Libya on the scheduled Air Malta and Libyan Airlines flights and with the increase in Emirates flights – some of which also operate via Tripoli – in August, there will effectively be a daily service before long. And there are already regular freighter flights from Frankfurt, Brussels and Marseilles. Interest from the integrators


might also kick-start Malta’s long-awaited cargo village, although integrators don’t necessarily need much in the way of fancy, automated facilities, says Klaushofer. “There isn’t any need to build a cathedral for cargo. The only really important thing about cargo is that it shouldn’t get wet, and in fact most integrators do everything on the ground. But we have plenty of land here.”


time of around 35 days; ships oſten have to wait several days to get into Libyan ports, whereas the road route from Tunisia is relatively trouble-free. The UK/Libya


service does not touch Malta, by the way, but it’s wholly appropriate that a Maltese company is involved, as the island has very strong links with the North African country and Maltese operators have a better awareness than most of the pitfalls of operating there. The high streets of Libyan


cities are reassuring to Brits in that all the familiar names are there – BHS, Debenhams, M&S and the like. (The shops themselves are franchises, very oſten Maltese-owned). The odd gun battle may break out in the evening in this still troubled country, but nothing interferes with the important business of shopping. But while Express Trailers


is more than willing to operate direct services, it also recognises the value of its home island as a gateway, not only to North Africa but Europe. “Malta has invested in its fiscal regime, and it works very well for services like finance, but also for the movement of goods,” explains


Issue 4 2014 - Freight Business Journal Express Group conquers the desert


37


bought by an English collector in the 1970s and brought back to the UK, but it is now being reimported into Malta, with Express Trailers doing the transport. (It will travel in a specially sealed compartment in a groupage trailer, not on the regular car transporter.) Internet fulfilment


into Malta is another growth area for Express Trailers, through its


Express Trailers chairman and CEO, Franco Azzopardi. “For instance, you could import goods from the Far East for sale in Europe or North Africa, and warehouse them here, which gives you advantages in terms of deferred VAT payment and cash flow.” And while southern Europe as a whole might have been overlooked somewhat by the logistics industry in the past, there has lately been an increase in enquiries from businesses looking for a secure stepping stone to North Africa. Malta is a lot closer to the region than the Netherlands, it has a good jurisdiction and it is politically stable. There has also been major


investment in warehousing. The Express Group can offer space on a ‘pay as you use’ basis, and it can also consolidate traffic on its


trailer services from the UK and all over Europe. As one of the main road


transport operators, it can also offer some specialised services into Malta, including two car transporters. As Malta drives on the leſt, it is one of the few foreign markets for secondhand British vehicles. But there has lately been an


export trade from Malta to the UK. Until quite recently, Ford Anglias, Hillman Minxes and Ford Cortinas were common sights on Maltese roads, and many of these 40-year-old-plus veterans have been snapped up by UK car enthusiasts and brought back to the country of their birth. The traffic in old cars isn’t


all northbound though; the first ever car to be registered in Malta – a 1904 Siddeley was


Shiplowcost.com product. It’s still quite a small proportion of Express Group’s total traffic, but it’s a very fast growing one. A Maltese online purchaser


quotes Express Trailers’ UK depot as a delivery address, the goods are delivered there and then transported on a trailer service for final delivery to Malta, generally within a week, with prices starting from €15. “We’ve made a huge investment in the back end to ensure that it works smoothly,” Mr Azzopardi explains. “And we have no size limitations; on occasion we have even moved marine diesel engines.” Maltese businesses have also


cottoned on to internet delivery as a way of


keeping


stocks lower, ordering smaller quantities instead of whole pallet loads.


their


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  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40