search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
Air cargo faces a perfect storm 4


Brexit and the annual change from summer to winter airline schedules could combine to create a perfect storm for the cargo market, says Ian McCool, managing director of Dublin- based Irish general sales agent International Airline Marketing (IAM). He is expecting an upsurge in


demand for direct air services in and out of Dublin towards the end of October, as shippers avoid transiting the UK just in case there are problems at the ports. At the same time, many


of the summer-season-only


direct services between Dublin and North America come to an end as scheduled on 27 October, so he is predicting a rush as shippers try to beat the deadline. Any problems in transiting the UK will though be short-lived, he expects. The EU has signed the common transit convention that would allow Irish airfreight heading to or from UK or Continental gateways to transit without problems – provided, of course, that the airfreight trucks are not stuck in a queue


of hundreds of other vehicles trying to get through Holyhead. IAM does though have a


contingency plan. One would be to switch away from the Dublin-Holyhead ferry crossing to Rosslare or possibly crossings from Northern Ireland – a longer way round but likely to be less congested than the central corridor route between Dublin and Holyhead. For traffic to or from Continental European gateways there is also the option of the direct ferries between Ireland and France.


Emirates does in fact move


a portion of its cargo via the UK – dangerous goods and out-of-gauge traffic mostly – so anything that could hold up trucks at the ferry ports is naturally of some concern. Still, there is little if anything


Emirates offers direct capacity of around 50 tonnes a day between Dublin and Dubai on its twice daily passenger flights so is less directly affected by Brexit than some other carriers, says cargo manager- Ireland Michael Meagher. “Nevertheless, it is still affecting customer confidence,” he says. It’s hard to give advice when no one knows that the situation will be on whatever date Brexit finally goes ahead.


“Nevertheless, Emirates will be in a position to provide significant uplift, provided of course that the costs were acceptable.” The carrier has its own all-cargo aircraft that could be positioned into Ireland if need be. Indeed, its freighters already do operate into the country from time to time; one had flown a horse charter into Shannon in the southwest of the country only that week.


Port of Waterford 210x140 Advert1.pdf 1 30/09/2019 17:02


anyone can do for the time being, other than to plan for a possible last-minute rush of cargo if and when Brexit looms. It is possible that shippers will try and stock up ahead of anticipated problems, though as Meagher points out, there is now very little spare warehouse capacity on the east coast of Ireland. Business meanwhile remains


pretty strong, he continues, with carryings ahead of the same time last year. The prime air cargo customer is the life


Issue 7 2019 - FBJ There are some other major


changes in the offing to Irish air routes. One is the cancellation of Hainan Airways’ and Cathay Pacific’s


direct Dublin flights,


which could push further demand onto the via-UK or via- Continent options. The other is scheduled ending for the winter of American Airlines’ Dublin- Dallas flights, Ireland’s first direct service to Texas. “It’s been a huge success,” says McCool. “Without a doubt, if it was down to the cargo department and ourselves,


the flights would


continue over the winter.” However, he hopes that American will consider a longer


///IRELAND


operating season next year and, eventually, a year-round service. There is meanwhile the


compensation of extra capacity between London and Dallas this winter – provided, of course, that there are no difficulties in accessing it. Overall, the Irish airfreight


market is fairly steady. The boom in milk powder to China has tailed off, as expected, but there has been an increase in pharma business which has helped contain recent market declines to around 1-2.6% or so – a good performance by current world standards. The long drawn out saga of


The great cover-up


IAM is offering Silverskin thermal covers and


Berlinger


devices for temperature-sensitive cargo, says director of marketing and business development, Karl Louwrens.


“We’re getting logging


from agents for pharma cargo but, also, increasingly, perishables as well,” he says. Temperature-controlled account


consignments an increasing number of enquiries


sciences industry, although perishable foodstuffs are also


developing well. The


investment made by Emirates in its Dubai hub is bearing fruit, Meagher says. The Middle East


is a big


market, naturally, but China and Asia, served via Dubai, are also strong. Emirates can get food consignments


to places


such as Hong Kong within 36 hours, so everything arrives fresh.


for


major slice of the Irish market, and shippers are becoming ever more


“We are in fact the second-


biggest carrier out of Dublin (after IAG),” Meagher points out. It is though a competitive


market with Etihad and Qatar also vying for a slice of the business. Cathay Pacific is out of the picture for the winter, but is expected to resume flights for the summer season. Dublin has also emerged as a


transit hub for Emirates. Traffic shipped from Dubai is on- forwarded on flights operated by its interline partner IAG on to the US and Canada, taking advantage of the spare capacity on each leg and the quick transhipments available in Dublin. Emirates has also been doing


C M Y CM MY CY CMY K


good business in Northern Ireland. It operates a scheduled truck every evening to and from Belfast and there is also the option for customers to access its Manchester flights via ferry services. It can offer a much later cut off than the alternatives. Northern Ireland has a large


manufacturing sector in areas such as aerospace; one of the regular traffics are aircraft seats being flown to Asia for fitting into refurbished planes. So, everything is going well,


but there is the small issue of Dublin airport’s new cargo terminal to consider. This is linked to a second runway for the airport, which is going ahead, but it will occupy much


a


Dublin Airport’s second runway continues. The Department of Aviation wanted to increase passenger service fees to pay for some of the associated infrastructure work, including the second cargo terminal, but has been rebuffed by the government. This means that while work on the runway itself is still likely to go ahead, building the new cargo terminal is likely to take longer – and the temporary arrangements including arranging for escorted, enclosed dollies


to


move traffic to and from the temporary terminal, will go on for longer.


exacting in their requirements, he says.


IAM also offers training in


dangerous goods for both new entrants and refresher courses, an area it is looking to expand. It can offer these either at the customer’s own premises or ‘public’ courses at local hotels.


of the existing cargo terminal. Moreover, redevelopment of the site is likely to be protracted as the airport authority has not been able to secure the increase in passenger fees that it had been hoping for to fund the development. Unfortunately, says Meagher,


“There are no real plans yet for where cargo is going to go. Some of the cargo buildings, including Swissport and IAG, will be levelled, so we’re in a limbo.” What he wouldn’t want to


see is the cargo terminal being permanently moved to a far- flung satellite location, with the all the extra expense and inconvenience that would entail. At the moment, the terminal can be reached with airport dollies, but if road-going trucks have to be used, it will be much more expensive, and there is also the risk of trucks being caught up in congestion on the public roads, not to mention the increased carbon emissions or the greater risk of cargo loss or damage. It would be a pity if all the


recent good work by the Dublin airfreight industry were to be undone – perhaps to the extent of making some routes unviable and negating the reason for building the second runway in the first place. “Without cargo’s contribution,


some of the frequencies could be significantly different,” says Meagher.


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