Emerging Markets Eastern Europe

David Kerr, the managing director of EMEA Cargo Sales for American Airlines (left) discusses growing the American Airlines Cargo business in Eastern Europe.

FT: What’s your presence like in Eastern Europe and Russia?
David Kerr: In order to serve the needs of our multinational customers in Central Europe, we established offices in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Bulgaria. With a combination of interline (partner airline service) and road feeder service we are able to allow customers to access our European gateway capacity to the U.S.
FT: What about Russia?
David Kerr: These customers are increasingly interested in Russia as a market. We don't currently have a strong presence there in terms of representation or interline partnerships, but this is something we would like to address.
FT: How's business?
David Kerr: We have seen recent growth in bellyhold capacity in Central Europe markets. Typically freighter and other volume competitors have traditionally dumped rates to fill spare capacity, so we choose carefully where we wish to compete.
FT: Finally, you recently built up a relationship with the Hungarian airline Malev, what’s that like?
David Kerr: Regarding Malev, we have an interline agreement that connects our two cargo networks. As well as feeding our European hubs, we also have a codesharing agreement to move mail from the U.S. to their Budapest hub via New York.

A Postscript: Seems like a good time to also remind our readers that the IATA Emerging Markets Series opens next Monday September 17 in Warsaw, Poland.
Aleks Popovich, IATA Head of Cargo is thinking about where the action is, while marking the rest of his 2007 priorities right now with a bullet that lands the energetic cargo builder smack dab in the center of Poland, up close and personal, while extending ideas and above all listening for a couple of days next week.
“The Eastern Europe air cargo business is booming.”
“But this growth also has its challenges,” Aleks said.
Not to be missed: www.iata.org
George Frey

     David Kerr, the managing director of EMEA Cargo Sales for American Airlines said American would start passenger service between New York – JFK and Milan and Barcelona starting on May 1, 2008. He said the company would also launch a second daily flight April 7, 2008 between JFK and London Stansted to compliment JFK-Stansted service scheduled to begin October 28 of this year.
     In an interview with Air Cargo News/FlyingTypers in Frankfurt, Kerr said the Barcelona and Milan routes would be served with 767-300s, offering more belly capacity and together with the U.K. flights increase American’s presence to and from New York both in passengers and cargo. Kerr called the upcoming official announcement “major scheduling news.”
     Kerr also said Andy Faes, a veteran of cargo sales with American, has been appointed to regional account and network manager EMEA, in order to “look after account relationships and develop the network through European gateways.” Kerr and Faes said, as service for particular accounts becomes more demanding, it’s increasingly important to have local and regional support with customers.
     “There are a lot of regional opportunities,” Faes, who was also at the interview said. “We will look to optimize the network, and leverage our global customers. A lot of customers have similar regional type goals. I want to bring people together, optimize our interline relationships and get freight feeding American Airlines and our interline partners.”
     “We’re also developing global solutions and adding to the network with our interline partners trans-Atlantic, both eastbound and westbound,” Kerr said.
     He said Emirates is one of American’s partners in the Mideast, and that American had a strong relationship with Jet Airways of India. “Jet compliments our own Delhi-Chicago flight,” Kerr said.
     Kerr also noted the recent development of American’s EZBook, a new online booking enhancement which allows greater access to premium flight capacity for small shipments of 100 kgs / 220 lbs and 75 cubic feet or less. The new functionality provides the customer with an automatic booking confirmation on the small shipments when utilizing the express freight product Expeditefs.
     Expeditefs shipments are 100 percent guaranteed to be flown-as-booked and can be easily tracked through the AACargo.com Web site. Electronic shipment notification is also available for the product, in addition to a range of other productivity enhancing tools that reduce transactional costs.
     Kerr said American is also working to develop a multi-channel approach to online cargo booking and information access through its own and other Web sites, like Global Freight Exchange’s and Cargo Portal Service’s. The airline claims to be the first carrier to provide three channels for online bookings, while its own website is the fastest growing of the channels.
     Kerr also said as part of American’s e-business strategy, it would participate in the Official Airline Guide, and AFRA, the airfreight rates database.
     “It’s an efficient way to provide our own rates to customers securely,” he said of AFRA. Kerr said American would announce the AFRA service in Europe first, and then offer it in the U.S. as well. He said American would make an official announcement on offering the Web service in the coming weeks.
George Frey