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Issue 1 2021 - Freight Business Journal


///CARGO AIRPORTS These volumes eclipsed what


Back in the spring when lockdown 1 had grounded most passenger flights across the world, East Midlands Airport (EMA) was briefly elevated to one of Europe’s top 10 busiest airports as the its cargo flights still continued - and this side of the business is still performing strongly EMA, owned by the MAG


airports group, is home to the UK’s largest express freight operation with the likes of DHL Express, UPS, FedEx and Royal Mail all having bases here. Typically they handle mostly consumer products ordered online and business-to-business traffic, for example, pharmaceuticals or parts for manufacturing. A smaller percentage of flights are


ad-hoc carriers and these can contain anything including racing cars, luxury vehicles, aero parts, satellites or industrial equipment. Increasing reliance on


e-commerce during the pandemic has turbo-charged the shiſt to online shopping, and EMA has felt the impact. Earlier in the year, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the proportion of UK shopping carried out online rose from 19% in February to almost 33% in April as lockdown restrictions took hold. Over the summer months,


traditionally the quieter time of year for air cargo, volumes at EMA were significantly up on the same time last year with increases, in


July and August, of 21.2% and 18.5% respectively. The shiſt towards dedicated


air cargo operations is also being driven by the lack of traditional belly-hold operations. With many airlines scaling back long- haul passenger operations in recent months, the availability of belly-hold capacity has reduced significantly to key markets, especially on popular routes to the US. For example, during June, July and August there has been an average of 60 additional cargo flights to and from East Midlands Airport and the US and, most notably, a 120% increase in the volume of goods travelling between EMA and JFK airport in New York.


Edmonton moves to Canada’s top spot for freighters


Recent events have changed the scope and nature of cargo at Edmonton International Airport in west-central Canada. “Covid has had a dramatic


effect on all of our business,” says Alex Lowe, manager of global cargo network development


homes, and the resulting increase in on-line shopping, we have seen a huge surge in e-commerce volumes. All our freighter operators are experiencing significant growth in their volumes and capacity, and this year’s peak looks to be


investments in our cargo infrastructure over the past 10 years have led to an increase in business and opportunity, and positioned the airport and our stakeholders well to handle the increase in cargo business in 2020.” The airport has seen


a significant number of ‘preighter’ flights (passenger aircraft pressed into service as cargo carriers). Handling companies “have developed safe and very efficient processes for offloading these aircraft,” says Lowe - which at times meant venturing into parts of the aircraft that they possibly didn’t even know existed. Seats as well as the


at Edmonton International Airport. “On the cargo side, the effects were positive. Edmonton was for a time the busiest airport in Canada for freighter flights. Our overall cargo charter volumes have increased 185%.” In its cargo statistics for 2020,


the airport reported that total air cargo was up 10%, scheduled freighter volumes by 15% and cargo charters up by no less than 197%. Moreover: “With people spending more time in their


one of the busiest ever.” Edmonton airport handles a


wide mix of cargo. The Canadian gateway is traditionally known for oil and gas imports and exports but continue


to see


“in addition, we increase


in


perishables, pharma and a steep increase in e-Commerce volumes.” Edmonton has always had a


strong focus on both passenger and cargo growth and this continues to be the case, Lowe continues: “The many strategic


bellyholds of aircraft have been pressed into service, so unloading them is more of a task than for a palletised full freighter. Fortunately, though: “One of the hallmarks of the PPE flights was active communication. We developed a very solid plan, and we used catering equipment and other devices to offload aircraft.” The PPE rush brought


huge volumes of freight to Edmonton, which at one stage had three Antonov 124s on the tarmac at the same time, along with numerous 747Fs.


would normally be expected during the weeks leading up to Christmas, which is traditionally the busiest time of year for dedicated air cargo and express freight airlines. It comes aſter the airports played a central role in transporting essential goods during the pandemic, with shipments of vital medical supplies and PPE helping add to the increase in volume. An EMA spokesperson


said that this is likely to be the busiest Christmas on record with so many people doing their Christmas shopping online. Group aviation director


prepares itself for ever-increasing demand in the months ahead.” Chief executive of the East


for


MAG, Aboudy Nasser, said: “The last few months have seen a seismic shiſt in the way we live our lives. While much has been made of the changes to the way people travel, behind the scenes our airports have been leading the charge in helping the logistics sector adapt to rising demand for dedicated air cargo and changes in the way goods are transported. This underlines the vital role MAG airports play in supporting the UK economy as it gets back on its feet, and the critical role of air cargo in moving essential products quickly across the globe. We look forward to continuing our work with this important sector as it


Midlands Chamber of Commerce, Scott Knowles, added: “The East Midlands has, for centuries, been the epicentre of UK trade. Massively important to all of this is East Midlands Airport which sits at the heart of the UK’s thriving logistics sector. The airport is not only an important asset in its own right, but its impact is felt across the whole of the East Midlands, and beyond. Thousands of people are employed in businesses that support the airport’s operation and thousands more jobs are being created in neighbouring developments. As we all look forward to a post-Covid revival, the sectors that have continued to flourish during the pandemic are the ones around which a new economy will be built. The airport, and the logistics operations it facilitates, will be key to our region’s recovery.” In the Spring, critical PPE


equipment was being flown into EMA for use in hospitals and care homes. It remains to be seen if any of the handlers based at EMA have contracts to fly vaccines into the UK. Covid has however accelerated the demand for e-commerce which is the bread and butter of the express freight


Alaska gateway is on top of the world


An airport over on the far north- west side of North America might not be the obvious point through which to route cargo between Europe and Asia but the main Alaskan gateway of Anchorage is marketing itself as just such a gateway. Airport director Jim


Szczesniak explains: “We’re marketing ourselves to carriers in Europe, giving them the ability to fly into Anchorage where we offer good connections to Asia, especially to the smaller markets.” Such an approach has several


advantages, he argues. Rather than pick an Asian city and fly there direct, irrespective of whether there is enough cargo to fill the plane or not, and possibly have to further tranship to reach other destinations, European carriers can drop their cargo in Anchorage where it can be transferred onto the many flights that operate from there to numerous points in China


or elsewhere in Asia, many of which could not justify a direct service on their own. The trade imbalance between


Asia and North America means also that flights from Anchorage generally have plenty of spare capacity and traffic rights have been negotiated for Anchorage’s extensive Asian route network. Routing via Anchorage could


also be advantageous for cargo moving from Europe to some of the larger Asian markets such as Taiwan where capacity has traditionally been tight, Szczesniak adds. Anchorage already has


European flights operated by Lufthansa/Eurowings and Condor and hopes to gain others as the concept takes off. Ted Stevens Anchorage


International Airport has played a major role in aviation ever since it opened in the early 1950s. Anchorage – a city of around 200,000 population - and the wider region generated


operators based at EMA. There will be a further boost


to the airport if this region is successful with its bid for Freeport status centred around the airport and the neighbouring East Midlands Gateway and Rail Freight Interchange. UPS’s new facility is due to open


in 2021 on a date to be confirmed. This £114m investment will employ up to 1,000 people and occupies a new site on the east side of the airport. From June 2020, EMA was


served by a weekly DHL Hong Kong flight, at the time the UK’s only dedicated cargo flight to the UK from China carrying goods exclusively for the UK. Operated by a Boeing 747-


8 with a cargo capacity of 130 tonnes, the flight departs Hong Kong on Fridays arriving at East Midlands Airport on Sunday, allowing shipments


to be


distributed across the UK on Monday morning. Most of the goods on board are time-critical products, from medical and industrial supplies to consumer e-commerce shipments. In addition to the Hong Kong - EMA route, DHL Express has also introduced two new routes from New York JFK and Miami International into EMA, along with a flight to Los Angeles.


a reasonable amount of traffic but the fledgling airport was able to boost


its revenue by


becoming a refuelling stop between North America and Asia. Aircraft in those days did not have the range to operate sectors of more than a few thousand miles and, moreover, the then USSR was off-limits for overflying. These days, with ultra-long-


haul aircraft there is no need for most planes to stop en route, but there are markets where refuelling in Anchorage could pay off, Szczesniak argues. Operating shorter sectors means less fuel has to be carried and that could boost bellyhold cargo capacity on routes where the market is still in development such as India to the US West Cost. It could even pay off for routings such as Australia or New Zealand to Europe where the sheer length of the route means that a refuelling stop is still needed. Szczesniak points out that


Anchorage offers much lower landing and handling fees than other airports and, with three runways, congestion is never a problem.


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