“Leveraging our sponsorships to showcase Emirates is a key part of our overarching brand strategy,” said Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, as EK sponsored placement of a near perfect replica of the Emirates A380.
     Made of fiberglass and polyurethane foam and equipped with a camera, the model offers an “eye in the sky” view of all the action below at The French Federation of Tennis Roland Garros Tennis Tournament, also known as The French Open.
     Roland Garros (inset) was a French World War One fighter pilot hero who began his aviation career in 1909 as pilot of the wispy-elegant Demoiselle Monoplane, designed and built by Brazilian Alberto Santos Dumont.

(Leipzig Exclusive)—If style and high profile meetings of the powerful in government and business mean anything (and both certainly do), then a big transportation conference gets high marks even though the most important news to come out of The Annual Summit of the International Transport Forum (ITF), held last week in Leipzig, Germany, from May 22-24, 2013, is that Leipzig will continue to host ITF until at least 2017. “We are pleased to continue to host this event in Leipzig,” proclaimed German Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Peter Ramsauer.

     In its broadest sweep, transport has important implications all over Germany, so while the lead up to ITF was pushed in the media, expectations were raised that an Airbus 380 of policy initiatives might take wing in Leipzig.
     At first blush the reality seemed more akin to the celebratory launch of a hot air balloon: there was a series of panel discussions and speeches between stakeholders and government officials, side jaunts down bicycle paths, a trip into an auto factory, and other tech briefings.
     Sure, there were good feelings all around, and maybe under the microscope of closer examination, something big will emerge.
     But the takeaway for Germany from Leipzig last week is that German transport in most cases will continue across the board, following a familiar course at least into the near future.

     Secretary-General Jose Viegas told conferees at ITF that massive resources are needed, as air passenger volumes alone would double by 2030, with cargo freight volumes to triple over the same period.
     According to the OECD, the construction or extension of existing aviation hubs, ports, and rail tracks would cost about $11 trillion (8.5 trillion euros) over the next 17 years.
     Funding for essential infrastructure should be sought from private investors, he said.
     He differentiated between developing nations requiring massive expansion of transport-related infrastructure and developed nations, for which “green mobility” requirements would be the challenge, resulting in the need to establish entirely new forms of sustainable infrastructure.
     Mr. Viegas emphasized that in times where governmental funding may not be available, states must turn to measures of public-private funding and establish environments suitable for such investments from private enterprises, generating a suitable return on such investments.
     Viegas said only public-private partnerships could resolve the massive funding problem.


     The City of Leipzig is a bit of a success story in regard to transport itself, since LEJ airport used to rank at the bottom of German airports until 2007.
     But since DPWN/DHL inaugurated its European Hub in Leipzig, LEJ has steadily risen to the number two airport in Germany in terms of cargo tonnage handled (863,665 t), according to ACI figures, surpassing both Munich (272,000 t) and Cologne-Bonn (751,183 t), second only to Frankfurt (2,100,747t).
     Sure enough, moving the European Hub for logistics giant DPWN/DHL was a much touted event and driver for the local economy here (DHL directly employs more than 3,500 staff in LEJ); however, as speakers at ITF continued to point out, transport and economy are globalized in nature these days, and the settling of DHL in LEJ came at a considerable cost of job losses in Brussels, Belgium, where DHL had located their European hub previously.
     Some of the main reasons, as we were reminded, for DHL picking LEJ was the ability to operate 24/7 in LEJ (ironically, there is a night curfew in LEJ for passenger flights that does not extend to cargo express flights) and the low salaries in the German East, which has been plagued by record unemployment since German reunification.
     Today, with LEJ as home base of DHL and Lufthansa joint venture Aerologic, LEJ is also an MRO location for Antonov 124, stationed in LEJ under the NATO/EU transport agreement—two AN 124 are permanently stationed there with four more on backup.
     A number of other logistics providers have chosen to settle in LEJ, such as Amazon, K & N, and Schenker.
     Whether this has propelled Leipzig into the “world elite of world transport,” as Minister Ramsauer fabulated in his remarks at ITF, is debatable.

Delegates cycle through Leipzig.    Delegates enjoying the Bicycle Tour of Leipzig on the last day of ITF last Friday.

     There was an event of immense color and glamour, and an obvious message that this gathering wanted to send out to the world, as many of the delegates on the last day of ITF 2013 put on their helmets and went out into the streets and parks of Leipzig for a self-powered “ride on a bike.”
     But a broader look at the content of ITF 2013 reveals that actually none of the speakers—either from the political side or industry stakeholders—at ITF delivered commitments to the “sustainable,” “green,” or “environmentally friendly” ways of transporting both people and freight.
     Minister Ramsauer, among others, admitted that just “preserving the infrastructure would require additional funding,” highlighting the fact that Germany, fortunately, still has economic growth and a rising tax volume. The fact is that out of a current price of roughly 1,60 Euros per liter of conventional E10 fuel in Germany, about 0.906 Euros are taxes: fuel tax, including the so-called “eco tax,” make up for about 0.655 Euros, 0.003 Euros fuel resource contribution, and the 19 percent German VAT.
     It is important to understand that the aforementioned “eco tax” is not used to fund ecological research or projects, but merely is a means to prevent further hikes of German social insurance contributions.
     Also, the German government pushed the E10 fuel (mineral-oil based fuel with a 10 percent bioethanol content) into the market, loudly threatening gasoline companies when they were abandoning the previous E5 fuel (5 percent bioethanol content) for lack of a sufficient number of gas pumps at stations.
     Eventually E5 was abandoned, and car owners whose engines could not make do with the E10 mix had to resort to the much more expensive premium fuels (which, in turn, also generated much-welcomed higher tax contributions).

Big Winner Big Award . . . Of course there were awards, but at Leipzig too big is not enough!     Here, winner Keiichi Ando, President, New Kansai International Airport Company (NKIAC) gets a Transport Achievement Award that is so large he also receives an assistant to help hold up the honorarium at the Meet the Award Winners Media Event last Thursday.

     Interestingly, although the ITF event took place in Europe, some key USA stakeholders that are perhaps looking in the same mirror were present to take notes and even address issues last week in Leipzig. Reports indicate that U.S. and Canadian infrastructure is not all that much better off, albeit the direct and indirect tax levels in North America are admittedly at a less shameful level.
     Despite proclaiming that infrastructure and sustainable transport is a stronghold of the economy, European and other Governments continue to tax transportation to make up for lost income—most notably, the British and German Air Passenger Taxes levied on all passengers departing from these states (and therefore boosting traffic on airports close to the borders) or the much-challenged European ETS, whose implementation had lately been suspended pending an agreement on ICAO level.


     Discussion of the construction of the new Berlin Airport is a good example of why policymakers should not hold board seats or approve taxpayers spending.
     Cost explosions to build BER have gone from just above 2 billion Euros to about 5.4 billion Euros.
     Yet today these overruns cannot be explained in any rational way.
     When it became public knowledge that even the postponed opening in June 2012 (original plans called for opening in 2010) had to be abandoned because of the smoke exhaust system not being functional (and a lack of gate space), the inside joke was that the new BER airport could use a good dose of being “Managed by FRAPORT.”
     As it turns out, the joke has imitated reality: the supervisory board of BER fired airport manager Manfred Koertgen and Rainer Schwarz, the Berlin airport CEO, in order to bring Horst Amman on board.
     Herr Amman arrived at BER with a track record of overseeing a number of large construction projects in FRA, most notably the new runway Northwest that opened in 2011.
     Attempts failed to bring in former CEO of Frankfurt Airport Wilhelm Bender as a replacement for Schwarz after Berlin Mayor Wowereit and State of Brandenburg PM Platzeck broke confidentiality in negotiations.
     However, Bender will still serve as a consultant to the BER project as all hands are on deck to try and get that facility opened.
     At ITF, Minister Ramsauer was quick to lay blame and responsibility for the BER fiasco on architect Meinhard von Gerkan.
     It may be noteworthy that at this time the new BER management was still trying to get these issues investigated.
     Von Gerkan was to appear before an investigation panel of the German Transport Committee when the BER airport holding company refused to release von Gerkan from its confidentiality obligations. However, von Gerkan responded by going rogue and publicly accused the governmental stakeholders of “large-scale deception” in the German news magazine Der Spiegel, outlining that the delays and confusion at BER have mainly been caused by 286 design change demands from governmental stakeholders, and that the board members were all too familiar with the issues at hand, ultimately prompting the construction delays.
     In another recent article, Der Spiegel noted that just preserving the status quo of the BER airport construction facility costs in excess of 20 million Euros a month.


     In the context of uniform continuous commitment of political stakeholders to “green” transport, it is a bit spicy that “the energy consumption of the inoperative BER airport facility is higher than those of the existing airport Berlin-Tegel, owing to continuously running air conditioning in 750 construction containers and the entire airport building, and the 24/7 operation of all lighting.”


     The protest of citizens in the cities and communities near Frankfurt Airport has certainly made a big splash in the news.
     Similar issues exist in Berlin, where the noise protection measures undertaken by the airport company are also challenged in the courts (and may, depending on the eventual outcome, drive up construction costs another 300 million Euros).
     The main issue in the dispute is whether the alleged increased noise within the new northwest runway in FRA and the new BER airport are permissible under the general obligation of the government to protect the health and well being of its citizens. Although there is no easy answer to this question (and siding in these matters decides elections in the state of Hesse), it must be pointed out that FRA airport is Germany’s single biggest location of employment and the most important air logistics hub in the nation, so the imposition of a night curfew certainly had steep implications for the logistics companies present on and off the airport premises, and the airlines operating from Frankfurt—most notably Lufthansa, which uses FRA as its home base and as a result has decided to adjust the capacity of its planned new cargo center owing to the operating restrictions.
     A consensus of opinion amongst some in Leipzig last week and elsewhere throughout Germany is that as favorable as increased employment in the area of Leipzig may be, the German government would be well advised to care for the continued prosperity of FRA as well, since the traditional industry in the area— pharma giant Hoechst AG and German GM subsidiary Opel come to mind—have not been doing all that well lately.
     Often in the past, job losses have been offset by expansion of FRA airport-related businesses.

     The stakeholders—governmental, regulatory, and corporate—got together.
     Companies such as DHL and DEKRA were able to present themselves to the delegates and public, and a lot of cloudy statements were made to the commitment of “sustainability” and much other buzz and branding jargon was in ample supply last week in Leipzig.
Jens/Sabiha Arend

     “Let fantasy fly,” said Captain Claus Richter, Vice President Transport Management & Flight Operations at Lufthansa Cargo, announcing a contest to hang a name on its new B777F, first of five joining the Lufthansa fleet beginning in late October.
     “The winner will also be one of the first people to take a seat in the cockpit of the most efficient freighter of its class.”
     Lufthansa, it can be said, gets a great name for its airplane, and lots of good ideas for names to place on every freighter in its fleet.
     Your entry must be in by 15 July 2013.
For More Click Here.

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