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Terrorists kill 40 atIstanbul Ataturk

AAPA: FTKVOLUMES DOWN INMAY. DEMAND SOFT

cOMMUNIcATIONAND ShIPPErFOcUS FOr TIAcA

SATISFAcTOrYGrOWTh AcrOSSTrADE LANES

JANAILLAc TAKESThE hELM ATAFKLM

The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals

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SERVICES at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport have started returning to normal following a terrorist attack on 28 June, which left more than 40 people dead.

Three men attacked the hub and though no group had claimed responsibility at the time of Air Cargo Week going to press, it was believed to be the work of so-called Islamic State.

The day after the attack, carriers such as Turkish Airlines resumed services with a number of cancellations, while other air-lines cancelled flights on 29 June, starting again on 30 June.

The International Air Transport Association condemned the attack as “a cowardly and murderous act”.

Director general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler praised the airport and Turkish people in reopening Ataturk so quickly.

Tyler says terrorism will not stop avi-ation, saying: “The desire of the human spirit to explore and trade will always tri-umph over suspicion and fear.

“That Istanbul airport is operating today is a testament to the resilience and de-termination of the Turkish people and the aviation industry.”

The UK government is to defer a decision on airport expansion at Heathrow Airport until the new Conservative Party leader is elected.

Politicians had said they would make a deci-sion by the summer, but the UK’s decision to leave the European Union on Friday – the so-called Brexit – has forced a change of plan.

Brexit has seen Prime Minister (PM) David Cameron resign, leading to a leadership battle in the Conservative Party, on which a decision is not expected to be made until 9 September.

Maidenhead MP Theresa May is vying to be PM along with MP Michael Gove. None are thought to support the building of a third run-way at Heathrow.

In December, the UK government delayed a decision on whether a runway at Heathrow should be approved to carry out further envi-

ronmental impacts.The government had been expected to for-

mally respond to the Airports Commission, which it appointed to evaluate increasing avi-ation capacity in 2012, by the end of this year.

The Airports Commission, chaired by Sir

Howard Davies, published its report in July 2015, recommending Heathrow should build a third runway.

After it was put off in December to further assess the environmental impact of a third runway, the government insisted it does not oppose expansion and agreed there is a need for more capacity by 2030.

Building a third runway was seen as the preferred expansion option, though extending an existing runway at Heathrow was also con-sidered, as was building a second runway at Gatwick Airport.

The British International Freight Associ-ation (BIFA) expressed its concerns over the delay and BIFA director general, Robert Keen says the forwarding community had expected the government to make a decision.

UK’s vote to leave the EU set to impact air cargo

The UK’s historic decision to leave the European Union (EU) - the so-called Brexit - is set to have an impact on air

cargo and aviation in general.On Friday, June 24, 52 per cent of

the electorate (17.4 million) voted to leave the EU. The EU Referen-dum divided the UK with London and Scotland voting to remain, but England and Wales voting out.

The UK has yet to trigger Arti-cle 50, which it needs to officially leave the EU and the exit process is set to take at least two years.

The International Air Trans-port Association (IATA) warns prolonged uncertainty will influence the magnitude and per-sistence of the economic impacts.

IATA estimates the near-term impact on the UK airfreight mar-ket is uncertain, but freight “will be affected by lower international trade in the longer term” while the number of UK air passengers could be three to five per cent lower by 2020, driven by expected down-turn in economic activity and the fall in the sterling exchange rate.

The association says a big issue is with aviation regulation as the UK faces a trade-off between accessing the European Single Avi-ation Market and having the policy freedom to set its own regulations.

IATA’s director general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler says: “It is critical that whatever form the new UK-EU relationship takes, it must continue to ensure the common interests of safe, secure, efficient and sustainable air connectivity.”

After Brexit - the Airports

Council International (ACI) Europe called for the UK and EU aviation markets to remain inte-grated - to safeguard and promote vital air connectivity for consum-ers as well as continued economic development.

ACI Europe director general, Olivier Jankovec says: “Securing legal certainty over the contin-ued integration of the EU and UK aviation markets must be one of the key priorities of the future EU and UK relationship. This is about avoiding any risk in terms of con-

nectivity and business disruption.”The International Consol-

idated Airlines Group (IAG) predicts there will be no long-term impact on business following Brexit, which comes despite shares falling in IAG, the owner of Brit-ish Airways, from 528 pence on Thursday, June 23 to 375 pence on Thursday, June 30.

Heathrow Airport says better connections to the world are more important than ever and urges it gets the go ahead for a third run-way as “only Heathrow can help Britain be the great trading nation connecting all regions of the UK to the world”.

And the Freight Transport Association (FTA) says com-ing out of union risks new costs, restrictions and bureaucratic requirements being imposed on moving goods in and out of Europe.

The FTA says additional burdens could add costs for FTA members and disrupt the UK’s supply chains. It urges priority for international freight transport and says addi-tional legislation and costs must be kept as minimal as possible.

Decision on heathrow runway expansion delayed again

Volume: 19 Issue: 26 4 July 2016

aircargoweek.com

NEWSWEEK

3ACW 4 JULY 2016

C argo continues to struggle in Asia Pacific with freight tonne kilometres (FTK) declining by 0.7 per cent in May, the Association of Asia Pacific Air-

lines (AAPA) says.Volumes in FTKs were down by 0.7 per cent

to 5.36 billion from 5.4 billion in May 2015, with cargo continuing to struggle compared to passengers, which saw revenue passenger kilo-metres increase by 4.5 per cent to 84.58 billion. The May decline followed a minor increase in April of 0.1 per cent to 5.4 billion FTKs.

Year-to-date (YTD) cargo volumes are down 3.9 per

cent to 25.78 billion from 26.83 billion in January to May 2015, with the region having suffered weak months in February

and March.AAPA director general,

Andrew Herdman (pictured)

says: “International air cargo demand remained soft, with year-to-date demand registering a 3.9 per cent decline compared to the same period a year ago, reflecting the weak trading conditions in the global economy.”

Capacity in available FTK (AFTK) surged two per cent in May to 8.75 billion and 2.2 per cent YTD to 42.65 billion. The load factor fell by 1.6 percentage points to 61.3 per cent in May and by 3.9 percentage points YTD to 60.4 per cent.

One carrier to see the slowdown is Cathay

Pacific Airways, which saw cargo and mail ton-nage fall in May, and it said yields remain under “intense pressure”.

The carrier and Dragonair combined, car-ried 145,102 tonnes of cargo and mail in the month, which was a decrease of 1.3 per cent compared to the same month last year. Capac-ity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, fell by 4.8 per cent while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) fell by 4.6 per cent.

AAPA: FTK volumes down in May. Demand soft

CHAPMAN Freeborn is to focus on India as it expands its on board courier (OBC) as the nation sees strong economic growth.

India has seen economic growth of 7.6 per cent and manufacturing industries have been strong, helped by the gov-ernments ‘Make in India’ initiative. This has increased demand for hand-carry services for automotive cargo, electrical compo-nents and other time-critical equipment.

Chapman Freeborn has strengthened its business develop-ment team in India by appointing Franklin Henry and Paraq Joshi, who both have served in management and sales posi-tions at cargo airlines.

Chapman Freeborn India country manager, Shailendra Seth says: “We are delighted to welcome Franklin Henry and Paraq Joshi to Chapman Freeborn. Working together with our interna-tional offices we will focus on expanding our specialist aircraft charter and OBC activities in India.”

Chapman Freeborn OBC general manager, Nikolai Bergmann says: “We have experienced a significant growth in demand for OBC services to and from India over the last year as the bene-fits of our hand-carry services have become known.” He adds Indian presents a “real opportunity”.

FlyUs fits the bill for EgyptairEGYPTAIR has appointed FlyUs as its cargo general sales and service agent (GSSA) for the Benelux region, cover-ing its Amsterdam and Brussels flights and road feeder services.

FlyUs will be responsible for the Egyptian national car-rier’s daily flights to Amsterdam and four times a week services to Brussels.

The carrier’s six weekly freighters ex Ostend and Cologne will be served by road feeder service ex Luxembourg, Brus-sels, Maastricht, Eindhoven, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

FlyUs managing director, Carlo de Haas says: “We expect Cairo to be the main destination for cargo. In addition there are also excellent onwards opportunities for freight to more than 40 cities right across the Egyptair network.”

The GSSA explains that it will focus on developing prod-ucts including pharmaceuticals, fresh, express and live animals.

Egyptair is looking to expand the cargo side of the busi-ness from its hub at Cairo International Airport and the carrier is one of the fastest growing in Africa.

OBC in India targeted by Chapman

aircargoweek.com

NEWSWEEK

4 ACW 4 july 2016

AIR France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP) will enter new markets and bolster its pres-ence in others this year as it looks to expand its business, the carrier tells Air Cargo Week.

The carrier is returning to Tehran later this year to tap into the opportunities on offer in Iran, is increasing services to Cuba into Ha-vana and will start flights to San Jose, Costa Rica in the autumn.

Investment in infrastructure will centre on the pharmaceutical and express sectors, which the carrier says - “remain promising paths of developments for the present time and in the future”.

Meanwhile, Air France will receive its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in November this year as it continues to upgrade its fleet.

At Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Air France explains: “In line with the general rel-atively dull global economic context we see in the cargo environment for some time al-ready we all suffer of the existing worldwide overcapacity which has a negative effect on yields and revenues.

“However we manage to keep things rel-atively stable, thanks to a well balanced and varied network, a recognised expertise on some specific products - which need air cargo transportation, such as pharma prod-ucts or express for example.”

AFKLMP says the situation is better on the North American sector than Asia, which is seeing downturn compared to a few years ago, while Africa is also a steady market, but Latin America has decreased due to lower Brazilian economic activity.

The new Sodexi Hub Express opened in April/May last year is boosting business for express and pharma cargo, while express facilities at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol are also to be enhanced.

But challenges remain for AFKLMP includ-ing overcapacity and sluggish markets, but a focus on customers is seen as the key to future success and growth.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo has appointed VN Cargo Connect as its new general sales agency (GSA) partner in Lagos, Nigeria.

The airline operates daily Airbus A330 flights to and from Nigeria’s largest city where it has been operating to since 2000.

In support of the Virgin Atlantic Cargo con-tract, VN Cargo Connect has increased the size of its sales team in Nigeria from seven to 12 peo-

ple to maximise revenue opportunities for the airline and to meet customer service standards.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo head of GSA territory management, Ryan Ellis says: “Lagos has been a popular passenger and cargo route ever since it joined our network in 2000. There is good growth potential in this market and we expect to see positive results from VN Cargo Connect’s investment in its sales team to support the Vir-gin Atlantic Cargo product and to ensure our customers continue to enjoy the best possible level of service.”

Virgin Atlantic Cargo has also appointed Steve Buckerfield as its vice president sales, which will see him lead the airline’s global sales team and run sales across its international network.

Buckerfield says: “That is particularly import-ant in such a competitive air cargo market because while rates and yields get the headlines, customers more than ever want to work with partners they trust to be reliable.”

Wellcamp has lofty cargo ambitions

BRISBANE West Wellcamp Airport is hop-ing to become a major international export hub for local agricultural produce following the government removing restrictions on international flights.

The plan was announced by minister for infrastructure and transport, Darren Ches-ter in Toowoomba, with LNP candidate, Groom John McVeigh (pictured).

Chester says: “South West Queensland

already produces around a third of Queensland’s agricultural output, and maximising export opportunities for the industry is critical to future growth. Under our plan, there will be unrestricted capaci-ty and frequency for direct air cargo flights into Toowoomba, to and from Australia’s international markets.”

McVeigh says the plan will help local businesses develop stronger links with Asia and will strengthen Toowoomba’s ability to serve as an inland port for road, rail and air transportation.

He notes: “With annual agricultural pro-duction of more than $660 million it is critical that we establish Wellcamp as a major international air freight hub for South West Queensland. By pushing the door wide-open to international markets, we anticipate that there will be endless possi-bilities for producers in our region.”

New GSA in Nigeria for Virgin Atlantic

THE Rhenus Group has set up a country or-ganisation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and opened its first business site in Dubai.

It operates there through Rhenus Logis-tics Gulf DWC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rhenus Group, which has been operat-ing since 1 May 2016.

Rhenus Logistics Gulf DWC specialises in handling air and sea freight and providing

customs clearance for imports and exports.The business site is located in Dubai Lo-

gistics City, one of six clusters at the Dubai World Central (DWC) free trade zone.

Meanwhile, Bolloré Logistics has expand-ed its presence in Myanmar with a logistics centre in Mingaladon, located near Yangon’s airport and seaport terminals, spread over 6,000 square metres.

Rhenus expands in UAE, Bollore in Asia

New markets on the horizon for AFKLMP

aircargoweek.com

ACW 4 JUly 2016 6

T he International Air Cargo Associa-tion (TIACA) is focusing on improving its communication to all operators within the supply chain and giving shippers more air time.

TIACA has taken action by improving the advocacy knowledge bank on its website and setting up a Shipper Advisory Committee.

Speaking at TIACA’s Executive Summit in Hollywood Beach, Miami at the end of May, secretary general, Doug Brittin (pictured) explained more needed to be done on both areas.

On better communication around air cargo industry issues such as supply chain security, PLACI and other areas, he says: “We still as an industry can do a better job to get-ting information out as people are hungry for it and we need to do more.”

At the Summit, TIACA launched an improved advocacy knowledge bank on its website as it looks to enhance the communication of per-tinent issues with members from across the supply chain.

The information will now be sorted by topic, including Pre-Loading Advance Cargo Infor-mation (PLACI), dangerous goods, security programs, research and development, e-com-merce, as well as market access and trade

facilitation.Brittin says: “When people only see things in a snapshot, when you look

at a balance sheet, that is one of the things in our conversations, we see things on a weekly basis talking to various people (ICAO, WCO the EU

etc) but some people may only get a snapshot of these.“One of the telling moments today (at

the Summit) was a shipper, Lars Droog (Tosoh Corporation), saying I don’t know enough about an issue and it will affect me and my ship-ments and my customers, which emphasised the point why we need to do more and to put this in one place and see the impact.”

TIACA’s Air Cargo Forum (ACF) takes place from 26-28 October in Paris and the Global Shippers’ Forum will host a pavilion and

hold a range of workshops for shippers from across the globe.

Brittin explains: “Without the shippers we would not exist and be in business at all and we need to make sure we understand their needs.”

Shippers will also take centre stage in the ACF speaker line up, with CHANEL Fragrances and Beauté head of transportation and customs, Pascal Meyer and Tosoh Corporation manager of supply chain and general affair, Droog tak-ing part in a discussion on new manufacturing trends amongst other sessions.

The three-day event will also include discus-sions on e-business, multimodal challenges, and the cargo hub of the future, as well as work-shops on the new EU Customs rules and the latest security regulations.

Brittin says ACF is an opportunity for decision makers to find ways of moving cargo more effi-ciently, meet new suppliers, and network.

Commucation and shipper focus for TIACAASSOCIATIONS

THERE is uncertainty among freight for-warders world according to Belgium-based Minerva International Freight Forwarders Association (MIFFA).

The association’s founder and manag-ing director, André Van Lancker explains: “Political developments and a worldwide turbulent international economic environ-ment unfortunately maintain a high degree of uncertainty.”

But on a positive note he says: “The forwarders community in Belgium has a cor-rect perception of the future of our industry and investments in specialisation and niche markets are encouraging signs.”

Van Lancker says Belgium is well posi-tioned for freight forwarders: “In the heart of Europe, with close borders with main economical places as Amsterdam, London, Paris and Frankfurt, Belgium can be con-sidered as a logistic platform for Western Europe.”

He hails the creation of the Air Cargo Belgium organisation with the participation of the stakeholders of Brussels Airport and especially the airfreight forwarders

association (BAFI).This will focus on e-freight, security, train-

ing, innovation, e-commerce, operational efficiency and other areas, and Van Lancker adds: “Brussels Airport shows determina-tion to strengthen its position in Europe as Air Cargo operation centre.

“After years of decreasing, the concentra-tion in the sector has brought stability in the number of licensed forwarders in Belgium and less bankruptcy. In addition, we note an increasing turnover and profitability despite general economic uncertainty and prudent forecast for 2016.”

But he sees more pressure to the sector from shippers operating more globally and increasing challenges to international for-warders to reduce the margins, which he says could affect the “quality of the logis-tics services”.

He adds: “An increase in employment in 2016 will be a tangible sign of the confi-dence of the sector in the future and its strategic position in Europe.”

Founded in 2006, MIFFA has 87 members, covering 190 locations and 74 countries.

Uncertainty but also optimism among forwarders

SFN membership paying dividendsBAHRAIN firm Nini Movers saw seven new shipments within 45 days of membership of joining Specialist Freight Networks (SFN).

SFN managing director, Kelly Bunyan says: “At SFN, we pride ourselves on provid-ing a platform for our members to develop their business. We also strive to accept only the best quality forwarders and will proac-

tively work with their fellow members.“To hear first hand that a new members

has not only found SFN agents extremely responsive and welcoming, but has com-pleted seven shipments in just over a month of membership is incredible news and in-dicative of the standards and ethos of our network.”

aircargoweek.com

Perishables have seen “satisfactory” growth, with steady volumes across important trade lanes, Cargolux Airlines International manager global product man-agement, Stavros Evangelakakis (pictured) tells Air Cargo Week (ACW).

He says: “Perishable shipments have traditionally formed a major part of our cool chain business and our long expertise in this field, combined with a superior, high-quality product offer-ing, have benefitted Cargolux in this field.”

The trade lanes to South America, Africa to Europe, North America to the Middle East, and Europe to the Middle East have seen steady shipments and growth. Customers have also ben-

efitted from the recent move of Americas – Netherlands services from Maastricht

Aachen Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

Evangelakakis says: “We have now moved our flower flights from Central America directly to Amsterdam and

have thereby shortened the transit times for these shipments considerably, that

was highly appreciated by our customers.”

Cargolux customers also benefit from the airline’s CV Fresh product, with temperature-controlled facilities and smooth han-dling processes at destination until customer pick up.

Evangelakakis tells ACW: “The complete process is supervised and handled by an expert team versed in the precise organisation of these shipments. CV Fresh also offers customised onforward-ing solutions worldwide, automated shipment tracking and tracing, vacuum cooling facilities and thermal blankets to ensure constant freshness every step of the way.”

He says customers benefit from the use of Boeing 747 Freight-ers, with its long range and separate temperature zones. “With

the four separate temperature zones on board, the 747 is ide-ally suited for these delicate commodities and we can transport different types of perishables with varying temperature require-ments on the same flight.”

In addition to CV Fresh, Cargolux also has its ‘LuxFresh’ joint-venture company to bring fresh European food products to China through an e-commerce platform as well as local shops, and the airline’s Chinese project, ‘Cargolux China’ will benefit from this. “Cargolux China will directly benefit from the Cargolux expertise and offer the same superior product in its own markets.”

Evangelakakis believes that Cargolux’s expertise in perishables puts it at an advantage as the industry struggles to cope with overcapacity. “As with the rest of the markets, overcapacity is a challenge and many players offer similar products but lack the expertise, Cargolux can guarantee to maintain the necessary tem-perature range as requested by the shippers.”

He also says freighter aircraft remain essential for the per-ishable market. “Freighters are definitely the drivers for certain perishables where passenger airlines don’t offer the necessary frequencies and capacity, that’s where Cargolux comes in with regular scheduled services and dedicated aircraft in markets, destinations and on routes that suit the shippers, not passengers.”

ACW 4 july 2016 8

PERISHABLES

Volumes might see fall

Flowers, fruits and vegetables volumes may fall as cus-tomers shift from scheduled freighters to charter services and belly flights, lufthansa Cargo head of operations Fresh/td and cross functions, Oliver Blum tells Air Cargo Week.

Blum says: “On the routes from Ecuador and Columbia, we have recently shifted from scheduled freighters services to our network on demand charter service, and to interline partners and passenger flights.

“Thus, we might see a decrease in tonnage of flowers, fruits and vegetables. For the berry and cherry business from Chile, Argentina and Mexico we are again expecting an increase in fall.”

Some areas of the world are still doing well, particularly berries from Argentina, Chile and Mexico, strawberries from Egypt and various fruits from Brazil.

To meet customers’ perishable needs, Lufthansa Cargo uses its Fresh/td product, giving a temperature controlled environment during flight and storage, as well as special-ly trained personnel to ensure quality, as well as using the Perishable Center Frankfurt (pictured above), with features including vacuum cooling.

Blum comments: “Our worldwide logistics network offers fast flight connections to some 300 destinations in more than 100 countries. Our customers benefit from our very long experience in handling special cargo and our rec-ognised expertise in the area of perishables.”

Lufthansa Cargo is part of the Air Cargo Community Frankfurt and its working group, Perishable Professionals, is aiming to make Frankfurt Europe’s perishable import hub.

Blum says: “We want to further speed up the processes in Frankfurt either during transit or for import shipments. Furthermore, together with our partners we are further im-proving our Fresh/td To-Door Services to reach a seamless supply chain, which is safe and transparent.”

aircargoweek.com

Satisfactory growth across important trade lanes for Cargolux

M iami International Airport (MIA) is developing a seven-phase plan to optimise existing facilities and replace older ones to cater for future growth, as well as helping to improve the road network.

Its operator, Miami-Dade Aviation Department tells Air Cargo Week (ACW) the seven-phase Cargo Optimization, Redevelopment and Expansion (CORE) Program is still in the con-ceptual stage but it is expected to be finalised this year, identify viable funding sources and commence the first phase. The first two phases are expected to be completed by 2021.

Miami tells ACW the plan involves optimising the use of exist-ing facilities and space to provide additional near-team capacity; remove and redevelop select existing facilities, which are costly to maintain with newer, more efficient ones; and develop incremen-tally to serve demand-driven needs and growth.

“We expect a significant portion of the optimisation projects for existing facilities to be funded through grants, while much of the redevelopment work is expected to be funded through public-pri-vate partnerships.”

It adds: “We are also working on our cargo master plan, which includes plans to expand our perishables facilities by the year 2035.”

In addition to upgrading its own facilities, MIA is partnering with the Florida Department of Transportation to improve the road network around the airport, which has become heavily congested. MIA says the N.W. 25th Street Viaduct Project corridor between the Westside Cargo Area and the warehouse district West of the airport, which provides access to the cargo area and the Florida Intrastate and Federal Highway System. It handles about 200,000 truck trips annually but has reached capacity with congestion from both air-port and non-airport traffic.

MIA says: “MIA has partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation to widen the existing roadway and construct an elevated viaduct above non-airport traffic, which will provide expe-

dited cargo truck operations to and from MIA. The final phase of the Viaduct is scheduled for completion in July 2016.”

Miami handles 66 per cent of all perishable imports to the US and 90 per cent of flowers to the US. Perishable imports have increased by 21 per cent from 2011 to 2015 to 514,920 tonnes, with flowers the highest, representing 193,206 tonnes in 2015.

Its trade community includes nearly 1,400 licenced customs brokers, freight forwarders and other companies specialising in international trade and logistics, trade law and advocacy, finance, and import and export. There are also more than 100 consulates, foreign trade offices and bi-national chambers of commerce in the area.

MIA says: “MIA has 24/7 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations and extended hours for US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections on site, which help importers reduce costs in the processing and clearing of goods.”

The volumes of perishable imports are causing strains, due to lim-ited numbers of CBP and USDA inspectors in Miami. MIA comments: “Increased delays in the inspection process may result in additional business being diverted elsewhere. USDA providing 24/7 opera-tions similar to CBP would greatly expedite the inspection process.”

Seven phase plan to improve facilities in Miami

9ACW 4 JUly 2016

PERISHABLES

SEATTLE Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) is expect-ing a considerable increase in the number of freighters as the cherry season blooms.

July and August are busy months, particularly for cher-ries for the Asian market. In 2015, Sea-Tac handled 12,700 tonnes of cherries for export worth almost $85 million, and the airport is hoping for another big year in 2016.

The airport’s operator, the Port of Seattle says cherry ex-ports to Asia can be up to five times higher in July than other months, and the most common freighter for transporting this product, the Boeing 747-400 can carry up to 220,000 pounds worth of the fruit.

Port of Seattle Commission president, John Creighton says: “With our expanded cargo facilities, we’re more than able to accommodate the increase of planes taking cher-ries to international destinations. We are proud to support jobs across the state by partnering with the Northwest Cherry Growers and our cargo carriers to bring the freshest Pacific Northwest cherries from Washington orchards to consumers across the globe.”

The Northwest cherry industry supports 19,000 jobs and Northwest Cherry Growers internal operations director, Keith Hu says: “Our growers and associated businesses depend on exports and Sea-Tac is a valued partner in our success. Nearly 31 per cent of the Northwest cherry crop was exported in 2015, the vast majority going to Asian countries. Consumers at home and abroad expect fresh and delicious Northwest cherries and we’re hopeful 2016 will be another banner year.”

In 2015, the Port of Seattle spent $23 million expanding two cargo areas to increase international trade and allow more capacity for larger freighter aircraft. Cargo volumes surged by 1.7 per cent to 332,636 tonnes with international freight jumping 7.1 per cent to 115,357 tonnes. About $12.7 billion of airfreight is exported and $13.6 billion imported.

aircargoweek.com

Cherry season in full bloom

Air France-KLM has appointed Jean-Marc Janaillac (above) as its new chairman and chief executive director and he takes over on 4 July.

The airline group’s board of director made the decision on 22 June and he replaces Alex-andre de Juniac, who has taken over as the International Air Transport Association’s new director general and chief executive officer (CEO) from Tony Tyler.

Air France-KLM says this appointment has been decided in accordance with the succes-sion plan determined by the board on 1 May, 2016.

Since 2012, Janaillac has been chairman and CEO of Transdev; an international transpor-tation group jointly owned by Veolia and the French Caisse des Dépôts.

He was previously chairman and CEO of RATP Dev from 2010 to 2012 and managing director of group development for RATP from

2004 to 2010.Janaillac was also previously the chief

operating officer of the AOM airline from 1997 to 2000 and he was an Air France director from 1989 to 1994, more than two decades ago.

ACW 4 july 2016 10

Janaillac takes the helmCARGO GATEWAY PARIS

DESPITE the negative impact pilot strikes have had on avia-tion across France and in Paris, cargo volumes have shown good growth at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport so far this year.

In the first four months of 2016, the Paris gateway han-dled 641,041 tonnes, according to the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, a 6.3 per cent year-on-year (YOY) rise.

In April, the hub processed 162,000 tonnes, a YOY in-crease of a significant 10.6 per cent and Paris CDG is all set for a good year.

New routes include from 20 June, Iran’s largest private airline, Mahan Air starting bellyhold flights to Paris, using an Airbus A340 from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Internation-al Airport to Paris. Mahan plans to launch three flights a week to the French capital.

Over at Paris-Orly Airport, the city’s second gateway the news is not so positive, according to ACI Europe.

In the first four months of the year it has handled 37,809 tonnes, a YOY fall of 4.9 per cent and in April the airport saw 9,630 tonnes pass through, a substantial YOY fall of 17.7 per cent.

Last month, Air France introduced a daily bellyhold ser-vice from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport to Orly using a Boeing 777-200 aircraft to add to its Paris CDG frequencies to the city.

In other news, according to reports, South Korea and France have reached an agreement to increase flights be-tween the two countries.

Reports in Korea say this will result in the number of flights from Seoul’s Incheon International Airport to Paris CDG rise to 14 from 12 every week.

This agreement was reached during the bilateral aviation talks that took place between government ministers in Paris from 21-22 June.

As to the exact timing of increased flights, the two cities will decide in follow-up talks scheduled for next March.

Both countries have also agreed to allow Korean airlines to operate cargo flights two times a week until March.

Cargo volumes up in Paris

SRILANKAN AIRLINES has revised its inter-national long-haul network plans with routes to both France and Germany to be axed during the last quarter of 2016.

The carrier said in a statement on 27 June that its four times weekly bellyhold service to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport will end of 6 November while its four times weekly service to Frankfurt Airport will finish on 30 October. Daily flights to Heathrow Airport will remain.

Last year, SriLankan planned to scrap both

services only to keep them as it hoped the decline in fuel prices would help offset either route’s continued losses.

However, following a meeting last week with the carrier’s owner, the Sri Lankan gov-ernment, the SriLankan will now focus more on regional services to India, the Gulf region, and China.

The Asian carrier has also decided to scrap its planned order for seven A350-900s (pictured).

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SriLankan to stop Paris route

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11ACW 4 JULY 2016

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NEWSWEEK

DHL eCommerce has opened a distri-bution centre in Shenzhen capable of handling up to 18 million shipments annually, as it plans to increase Chi-nese coverage by 50 per cent by the

end of the year.The Shenzhen centre will serve as a con-

solidation point for international outbound

shipments from Southern China, and will have dedicated customer service support for online retailers in the city.

DHL also plans to expand existing distribu-tion centres in Shanghai and Hong Kong to cater for growth in online retailers.

DHL eCommerce chief executive officer (CEO), Charles Brewer says China – US e-com-merce has seen triple digit growth since 2015. He says: “With China accounting for more than 40 per cent of global retail e-commerce sales in 2015, our investments in China demonstrate our focus on developing efficient and reliable logistics services, to bring high quality e-com-merce services to Chinese retailers and meet changing consumer expectations.”

DHL says launching the Shenzhen centre fol-lows the success of Shanghai, which acts as a distribution point for outbound e-commerce goods for Eastern and Northern China.

The Shanghai and Hong Kong centres are being expanded so they can handle 48 million and 71 million shipments annually, respectively.

DHL eCommerce Asia Pacific CEO, Malcolm Monteiro explains: “Since its launch last July, the DHL eCommerce Shanghai Distribution Center has seen a 700 per cent increase in the

volume of e-commerce goods being shipped out of China.

“With our plans to expand our existing capa-bilities in Shanghai and Hong Kong, we are confident that this will provide our customers with the fullest support they need, in order to reach their global customer base.”

Volumes rise at ChangiCHANGI Airport has seen a small increase in cargo volumes in May, rising by 0.3 per cent following two strong months.

Cargo volumes increased from 157,000 tonnes in May 2015 to 157,500 tonnes this year. The May figures follow two strong months, with March seeing a 5.2 per cent increase while April was up 7.2 per cent.

The airport has seen volumes increase in each month of 2016, with January seeing a four per cent increase and February was also up 0.1 per cent. Year-to-date cargo volumes have increased by 3.4 per cent to 787,200 tonnes.

Since the start of May, Changi has welcomed thrice-weekly services to the Indian city of Amritsar, served by Scoot starting on 24 May, Garuda Indonesia started daily flights to Medan on 14 June and West Air increased frequencies to Chongqing from three times a week to five on 27 May.

Meanwhile, Chinese carrier Tianjin Airlines has appointed Jan de Rijk Logistics as its road feeder service contractor for its Gatwick Airport services.

The airline started twice weekly Airbus A330 Tianjin – Chongqing – Gatwick services on 26 June.Jan de Rijk Logistics senior sales executive air cargo, Robert Kleppers, says he is proud Tianjin

Airlines has chosen it to support their initial launch into the European market.

Lufthansa and ANA extend ties

LUFTHANSA Cargo and All Nippon Airways (ANA) will extend their co-operation on 12 July – which they say will provide great-er flexibility and speed for customers throughout all of Europe.

As of that date, Lufthansa’s entire European feeder network will be combined with the direct flights of both partners. As a

result, the carrier says customers from all European countries will benefit from access to the joint venture’s strong network, which has only been possible for customers in Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain and Belgium to date.

Lufthansa Cargo chief executive officer and chairman of the executive board, Peter Gerber (above) says: “We are now offering our customers throughout all of Europe even greater flexibility and speed.

“This is another important step with ANA. Our customers also gain time through joint handling at numerous stations.”

The joint network includes more than 90 weekly direct connections between Frankfurt, Mu-nich, Düsseldorf, London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Brussels and Vienna in Europe and Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya and Osaka in Japan.

Shipments can also be sent via Haneda to the industrial hub in Fukuoka in the south of Japan.

New China e-commerce distribution centre opened by DHL

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