Here a group of men play football in the snow at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday, January 23, 2016.
     The U.S. east coast from Washington, D.C. to New York City was slammed with record snow, shutting down all airports, banning motorists, and closing bridges, tunnels, and almost every form of transportation.
     The snow in New York City totaled 26.8 inches, missing the all time record by one a tenth of an inch.
     Airports that were otherwise closed down tight maintained non-stop plowing of runways and aprons so that flights could resume by late Sunday afternoon.
     However, it could take a few days to clear the backlogs caused by across-the-board flight cancellations before the record storm.

     A pre-Chinese New Year peak season? Air freight managers certainly hope so. But while some Asian markets could see dynamic growth in 2016, the overall market is expected to be relatively flat.
     China’s official holiday celebrations to mark Lunar New Year in 2016 are due to start on February 7th and last until the 13th, but in reality many workers in coastal factories will depart for distant villages earlier than the 7th and return far later, if they return at all. The upshot for most production lines is a complete closedown for at least a week, but output levels are usually reduced for 3-4 weeks in total. For retailers, the race to get urgent products out of China before the shutdown is often intense and many fall back on air freight to ensure they have adequate supplies as the holiday approaches.
     Ravishankar Mirle, (right) Vice President of Cargo Commercial - Far East & Australasia at Emirates SkyCargo, told FlyingTypers that markets had been slow to pick up in the first weeks of January, “but we foresee a traditional pre-Chinese New Year rush for a very short duration.”
     Mirle’s European counterparts echoed this prognostication. “We expect to see an increase in demand starting mid-January through to Chinese New Year,” said Frank Naeve, (left) Vice President Asia-Pacific at Lufthansa Cargo. According to Naeve, most of the extra freight would be moved through China’s main gateways, but he also predicted other markets, such as Vietnam and Singapore, could benefit.
     A spokesman for Air France KLM Martinair Cargo said this year’s early New Year (last year the New Year holidays started on February 18) would give January volumes a boost. “Chinese New Year will be sooner this year, with the main positive impact expected in January and negative impact expected in February, whereas last year the major impact was in March with a drop of the European market above 30 percent year-over-year,” he said. “More than ever the market is very volatile and difficult to predict, so it’s difficult to say what will be the intensity of the pre-CNY peak and how deep the drop will be post-CNY. As always, reactivity, more than forecasting, will be the name of the game.”
     Looking further forward, the spokesman also said air freight markets would have to cope with structural overcapacity during 2016, which would make maintaining yields difficult.
     Naeve said forecasting future air cargo demand was never easy, because total demand consisted of multiple markets with specific requirements driven by customers and industries. “So we need to understand these requirements and offer high quality products and services as well as remain flexible with our network so that we can tackle opportunities as they arise,” he said. “Generally, we expect a solid year. There are risks but also chances to further develop our business.
     “We think that China will remain a very important market and expect the performance to be better than some experts are expecting. In addition, Vietnam and Bangladesh offer attractive opportunities moving forward.”
     Mirle said he expected 2016 demand to be “relatively flat” overall, but predicted that Asian countries focused on manufacturing hi-tech commodities would see growth. However, he warned, “the challenge in 2016 in Asia will be the lack of consistent demand and shorter peaks.”
     He added: “There will be pressure on yield due to excess capacity and weakness in demand. However, at SkyCargo, our network, aircrafts and product offering are key elements which we will be leveraging to power our growth.”
     He also said that Emirates SkyCargo would continue to grow its capacity as the airline received new aircraft and expanded its facilities at Dubai International Airport. “We will also continue to expand our network and have already announced plans to launch services to Yinchuan (INC) and Zhengzhou (CGO) in China, and Panama in Central America, as well as Cebu and Clark in the Philippines in 2016,” he added.
SkyKing

   AF/KL/MP Cargo flew works by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian from Amsterdam to Brazil last week.
   Two shipments with a total of 70 famous works by renowned Dutch painter Piet Mondrian were packed and shipped for Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (The Hague’s museum of modern art) aboard KLM’s scheduled B-777 service between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Sao Paulo in Brazil.
   These works are part of a twelve-month touring exhibition in Brazil, where they will be displayed in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro.
   “The transportation of these priceless artworks demand specialist expertise, including technical know-how and experience in handling in the best possible way,” AF/KL/MP said.
   Specially designed and highly protective packaging, coupled with special handling procedures during palletization and loading, placed the artworks into belly without a hiccup.
   “Constant temperature control and safety measures were met, guaranteeing a safe and uneventful journey,” the carriers said.
   We have a piece of Mondrian art in our own home knit by our editor Flossie, and we are happy to report it keeps us in a constant temperature control state of “cozy.”
   More information on AFKLMP Cargo’s Art Click Here.
Sabiha

Next time someone tells you that “somebody will always want to start up an airline,” believe it.
     Welcome to age of the super low-cost carrier! WOW Air has announced it will be flying four days a week from LAX to Iceland for as low as $99 each way.
     Wow Air, which joins Europe’s other super low-cost Norwegian Air, said it is also offering $199 flights for travelers who stopover in Iceland and then continue on to London, Paris, Berlin, and 18 other European destinations.
     Wow Air will feature the same starting prices at San Francisco International Airport. Service is set to begin June 9 from SFO and June 15 from LAX.
     Flights from L.A. to Reykjavik will operate four days a week with connecting flights to Europe. Service from San Francisco to Iceland will operate five days a week.

WOW Cargo Alliance at start up.

We Remember WOW Cargo

     A less than stellar attempt at an air cargo alliance, WOW Cargo began in 2000 as a partnership between SAS, Singapore Airlines, and Lufthansa Cargo (Japan Airlines joined in 2002) to operate an express product.
     WOW was launched amidst much ballyhoo at a presser inside the InterCity Hotel at Cargo City Sud Frankfurt in 2002.
     The carriers hired a corporate motivator type in the form of an Aussie advertising pitchman, who reminded us of one of those TV infomercial guys.
     For us, the best part of the show was the hour or so of questions lobbed like big fat softballs by members of the press at the executives.
     We recall someone at the presser asked Mr. Hwang Teng Aun, CEO Singapore Airlines Cargo, how he handicapped the chances for success at WOW. His immediate answer was:
     “Failure is not an option.”
     Later, as he attempted to make a point, Mr. Hwang drew a word picture, proclaiming that where he comes from, getting something going and performing properly takes a certain amount of “Oomph.”
     Why the founders of WOW didn’t just cut to the chase and name their product “Oomph” has never been answered.
     Lufthansa exited WOW in 2009 and JAL Cargo left the group in 2010.

WOW Today

Although it is hard to find much written evidence of it, according to Wikipedia, true to that “failure is no option” remark by Singapore Cargo, “The WOW Cargo Alliance is the world's second largest cargo alliance consisting of only 2 members and is currently competing with the only other cargo alliance, SkyTeam Cargo.”
Geoffrey

Delta Airlines landed high, wide, and handsome in 2015 and will (sources say) show the love, sharing $1.5 billion between employees, shareholders, and customers next month just ahead of Valentines Day on February 12. As the oil slick costs continue to shrink, estimates see as much as $3 billion in fuel cost savings at DL during 2016 . . . Elsewhere, last week United, Alaska, and Southwest reported flying lower oil costs to loftier profits. Shows a lot of heart—In reporting some numbers, United CEO Oscar Munoz, (left) who underwent a heart transplant in early January, conducted a live conference call, demonstrating that he is indeed on the mend and increasing his participation in company activities. The world also learned that UA upped its net income from $28 million to $823 million during the fourth quarter and will distribute $698 million in profit sharing with its employees for the year. Alaska Airlines said last week profits rose 29 percent during the final quarter of 2015, delivering passenger revenues of $1.2 billion during the quarter. “This was our best year for earnings in the company’s history,” said Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, as the airline reported $536 million in profits during the fourth quarter.

Vol. 15 No. 6
Delta Cargo Rallies In Atlanta
Gemütlichkeit On Marietta Street
Chuckles For January 21, 2016
ATC Goes Single Pfeil
Pharma & Healthcare Logic
Pumping Traffic for January 21, 2016