22


Issue 1 2021 - Freight Business Journal


///CARGO AIRPORTS No more the ugly sister


Cargo, once the Cinderella of the aviation business, has gained a new- found importance as Covid turns the industry upside-down.


No stopping cargo growth at Doncaster Sheffield


While the passenger market has been in a state of turmoil, freight at Peel Group-owned Doncaster Sheffield Airport has had “a fantastic year” says head of cargo, Walter Jones, and could reach or surpass record levels in the current calendar and financial years. There has though been a change


in the pattern of freight passing through the South Yorkshire gateway. Around 60% of traffic used to be perishables from countries like Kenya, carried on regular freighters. But when the pandemic hit, “we saw a change, handling 3,000 tonnes of PPE between March and November and, more recently, a shiſt to testing kits in the last few months [to early December] with nearly 4,000 tonnes handled,” Jones explains. General cargo has dropped due to the pandemic, but still remains


significant. “It’s been a really good year, and


I can’t see why we will not reach at least the 20,000-tonne mark for the year; we are expecting to achieve record levels,” says Jones. The airport has handled a wide


range of carriers, including those from Europe and the Middle East such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, some of them for the first time.


Chris Harcombe, aviation


development director (now promoted to managing director) adds that a 25,000-tonne cargo figure for the financial year ending in March is in prospect. Now, movements of the Covid


vaccine and urgent movements of cargo at the end of Brexit transition could boost Doncaster Sheffield freight volumes still further. The airport has been preparing


Seats out, cargo in at Singapore hub


Singapore’s Changi Airport, like most airports, has over the past 12 months witnessed a massive grounding of passenger flights and a reduction in belly-hold cargo capacity, says managing director, air hub development at Changi Airport Group, Lim Ching


Kiat. But Changi has


worked closely with its airline partners to minimise disruption to supply chains.


“Our airline


partners were quick to respond by increasing utilisation of their freighter aircraft or repurposing their passenger aircraft for cargo conveyance, or both.” Between March and


December 2020, more than 60 carriers launched cargo- only passenger flights into Singapore, transporting freight on over 90 city links.


Singapore’s home-grown airline Scoot was one of the first to do so in August, removing seats from its A320ceo aircraft to double cargo capacity. More recently in November, Singapore Airlines announced that it had converted two of its B777-300ER aircraft for pure cargo


conveyance, also by


removing seats. During this period, Changi


also welcomed five new scheduled freighter operators – Kalitta Air, Sichuan Airlines Cargo, SF Airlines, Turkish Cargo and YTO Cargo Airlines. As of 1 December 2020,


weekly cargo flights at Changi Airport, including cargo-only passenger flights, had tripled compared to the same month the year before.


for either event, on the basis of the information available. Movements of the Covid vaccine, now expected from January or February 2021, could entail storing temperature- controlled airfreight containers or temperature-controlled road trailers. Neither would present any difficulty for the airport’s 50,000sq ſt storage space, says Jones. There has also been a lot of


interest from shippers in using owned Doncaster Sheffield as a ‘Brexit bypass’ in the event of


problems at the ports aſter the end of Brexit transition on 1 January next year. As he states, “airfreight is a very effective way to protect supply chains.” Passenger traffic at Doncaster


Sheffield is of course at a low ebb, although this scarcely affects cargo carryings. TUI might handle a limited amount of bellyhold when its long-haul charter programme restarts but Wizz Air handles no freight on its exclusively European network. Doncaster Sheffield is unusual


in that its cargo traffic is largely pure freighter operations and not reliant on belly capacity. It means that it can offer all-cargo carriers the flexibility, space and focus that


would probably be lacking in a busy passenger-orientated gateway and while some of the other hubs have recently developed an interest in freight during the Covid crisis, it’s likely that they will focus on their core passenger business once again when the crisis is over, says Harcombe. “We can offer solid solutions,


flexibility and quick turn-round times,” adds Jones. “Freighters are quite a specialised, niche market and, as passenger business returns, I can see slot constraints at other airports.” There is something of a niche for


mainly-cargo airports in the UK, in Jones’ opinion. There are examples in Europe such as Liege, where


the market for such gateways has grown rather more quickly, and further afield in Africa, where cargo is a mainstay for many airports. Indeed, the development of cargo gateways in this country could halt the ‘leakage’ of cargo to Continental gateways, he adds. Doncaster Sheffield can handle


the largest aircraſt in existence and has hosted the Antonov 225 in the past. The long runway – the airport was originally the RAF Finningley base - means that 747 freighters present no problems, says Jones. While opening hours were


trimmed slightly at the height of the pandemic, there are very few night flight restrictions and indeed none at all for quieter aircraſt.


also an IATA certified CEIV Pharma Hub, which means we have five certified companies on airport that have passed the rigid requirements set by IATA to


properly


With 1.9 million tons of cargo passing through Miami International Airport in October, the Florida gateway was on pace to surpass its all-time annual record of 2.3 million tons of cargo in 2020. September and October were record-setting months, as more than 200,000 tons of freight moved through the airport each month. It had also served a record


52,504 cargo-only flights, 7,000 more than last year. As the first airport in the Western Hemisphere and only the second in


the world to be


designated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a pharmaceutical freight hub, Miami was preparing to be a leading air cargo hub for Covid-19 vaccines. Airport director and chief


executive, Lester Sola said: “Throughout 2020, Miami International Airport has thrived in its critical role of facilitating essential trade and cargo delivery worldwide, to the point that we are on pace to set yet another


annual record for total cargo.” Mayor of Miami-Dade County,


Daniella Levine Cava, added that while the local economy had faced unprecedented challenges because of the pandemic: “I am deeply encouraged to see the record-setting growth in cargo traffic at our community’s largest economic engine. The local air cargo industry, under the leadership of MIA and Aviation Director Lester Sola, continues to support billions of dollars in business revenue and thousands of jobs for Miami-Dade County residents. I´m especially proud of the work Director Sola and his team did in a moment of crisis to swiſtly diversify and bring in new revenue streams, keeping many employed and business moving.” Emir Pineda, manager aviation


trade and logistics at Miami International, asked whether cargo


had become traffic relatively


more important compared with passenger


during the


Covid crisis said: “I would say yes, given our current situation. Cargo has continued to perform


extremely well throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with all- cargo airline freight tonnage up 8.69% and operations up 10% for the year to date October.” He said that Miami


International has consistently been a leader in cargo, handling 2.3 million tons last year, “positioning us as the number one international freight airport in the Americas. This year even with Covid-19, we are on our way to surpassing last year’s total cargo tonnage, so right now, cargo is having a very significant impact at Miami International and our trade community.” Moreover, Pineda expects


volumes to increase substantially when the Covid-19 vaccine starts being distributed: “We have the most robust infrastructure, over 27,000sq ſt dedicated to pharma and another 400,000sq ſt of cooler


space on-airport, more


flights to Latin America than any other airport and trained staff to handle the complicated logistics involved in the transportation of pharmaceuticals. We are


handle pharma


shipments at our airport. “Miami International is


the leading gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America and will play a critical part in the distribution of the vaccine in our region. No other airport has our connectivity, for both cargo and passenger flights.” Over 50 representatives from


Miami-Dade County’s air cargo community attended the second virtual meeting of a Miami- Dade Aviation Department task force on 16 December to lead preparation for the arrival and mass distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. The task force’s action plan


includes identifying additional cooler space available outside the airport itself, mapping out the airport’s parking capacity for large freighter aircraſt, designating potential cargo truck parking and staging areas and planning training sessions for freight


forwarders and brokers


regarding the latest federal guidelines for importing the


23 >>


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