“The mood is very upbeat at this year’s gathering of Air Cargo Europe (ACE) in Munich.
     “With every passing month, as the increase in business continues, the sentiment grows stronger that this expansion in world trade, and of volume growth exceeding capacity growth, may not be just a temporary correction but a long-term trend,” “Fast” Jacques Leijssenaar, Vice President, United Cargo Sales - EMEIA tells FlyingTypers as United and Lufthansa banner their new partnership at an ACE gathering on Tuesday.

Opportunity And Change

      “At United Cargo, we’re gratified and thankful to our customers for contributions to this positive movement,” Fast Jacques said.
      “Through April, our cargo ton miles are up 20 percent over the first four months of 2016, and our first-quarter revenues were up 13.4 percent from the same period last year.”

Not A Self-Congratulatory Tour

     “Of course, our team, and the industry as a whole, did not come to Munich to congratulate ourselves on recent successes.
      “If you study the four days of conference programs, the two words that appear most frequently in the program titles are ‘opportunity’ and ‘change.’
       “I think that sends a productive signal that most of us in the industry are not content to celebrate our survival of the recent years of slow growth and stagnation—and we know we need to do more than be happy things are looking up.”

Time To Seize The Moment

      “I sense,” Fast Jacques insists, “a prevailing opinion up and down the line in air cargo that this is the moment to forcefully address the issues that will promote the industry’s long-term success, and that there is no better time than now to imagine, prepare for, and create our future.”

Lufthansa & Greater Reach

      “Speaking of an upbeat mood and the opportune moment, the whole United Cargo team and our partners at Lufthansa Cargo are very excited about the joint venture we announced a few weeks back and are celebrating at Munich this week.
      “At United, we’re all proud of the scope of our network and the long-term service relationships we’ve established with customers around the world.
      “But our ability to expand our network and customer base is somewhat defined by United’s passenger flight network.
      “The joint venture with Lufthansa Cargo will allow us to reach more cities and serve more customers more effectively without adding to our fleet or confronting the logistics challenges of opening new stations.
      “It will also lead to more efficient use of our existing flight and trucking capacity throughout the U.S. and Europe.
      “That’s a very inspiring prospect as we progress through 2017.”

Pharma Phlavor Of The Month

      “Another frequent theme highlighted throughout the Air Cargo Europe programs is pharma and other temperature-sensitive commodities.
      “This is an area of sharp focus for United Cargo as well, with developments and expansion in our TempControl service.
      “There are now 30 certified TempControl handling locations across Europe: more locations than any other United region worldwide, and Europe has also become the number one region in the export of TempControl. 
      “In addition to expanding our network and taking advantage of new, bigger, TempControl-friendly aircraft, we have established dedicated teams of pharma business experts in our primary export countries, with plans to extend this program to more countries.
      “Our experienced teams and specialized processes deliver the exceptional reliability these valuable shipments require, and our 24/7 Control Tower team ensures that customers are kept current on critical data at every stage of the shipment’s journey.
      “I think the pharma business is an excellent model to follow as our industry confronts the challenges of the future.
      “As companies develop their cool chain products, they strive to be ‘customer centric,’ to be as close to shippers and forwarders as possible and base the specifics of their offering on what customers want most.
      “Another common practice is to deploy whatever new technologies are available to improve the quality and timeliness of data and service.
      “Whatever the next generation of shippers demand, our industry will be served well if we apply the same spirit of innovation we bring to the pharma marketplace to every product and everything we do for our customers.”
Geoffrey

     “Our rapid growth from 16th to 3rd position based on IATA’s FTK ranking in merely 5 years would not have been possible without the tremendous support from our global customer base.”
      Qatar Airways Cargo Chief Cargo Officer Uli Ogiermann smiles, and his kind face lights up as he spins a tale of business and life coming together. Uli is the architect of an airline story for the ages.
      The former top executive at Cargolux, he has put in his time.
      He has also given back generously to this industry several times, like when he guided the fortunes of TIACA as its President.

Talk & Listen

      When Uli Ogiermann talks, others should listen and take in the paradigm of advanced thinking and decency in air cargo today.

Priorities Straight

      “Our priority at Qatar Cargo remains in delivering our customers’ needs and we constantly remind ourselves that customer first and service excellence is key to our sustainable growth.
      “This reflects in everything we do and we go to great lengths to ensure our customers’ cargo is handled professionally, efficiently, and with care.”

Winning Strategy

      “Our strategy and innovations are anchored towards winning our customers’ trust and helping them grow their business.
      “Of course, the velocity of our network and fleet expansion has been a great stimulus to our success, and we will continue to grow our market shares.
      “At Air Cargo Europe this week we announced our fleet and network expansion, our product enhancements, our investment at the hub and the opening of our new cool chain facility, Climate Control Center.
      “Our booth in Hall B1, stand number 318 welcomes everyone.

Growth Continues In 2017

      “We achieved record growth in 2016 through a combination of fleet and network expansion, innovation in our technology, creative interline agreements and by deploying capacity on expanding into untapped markets.
      “This year 2017 has started off with strong demand for both air and sea freight.
      “Across the world demand continues despite capacity crunches in some markets. Current purchasing indications signify a positive outlook in the next few months.
      “In general, 2017 should be a year of growth for air freight, although the total growth result will rely on our sales performance during the peak season.”

Destination Moon

      “In terms of destinations, we expanded our network in the Americas with freighters to Sao Paulo, Miami, Buenos Aires, and Quito, giving a major boost to the pharmaceutical and perishable exports out of the region.
      “Qatar Cargo recently launched our fifth freighter destination for 2017 to the Cambodian capital city Phnom Penh.
      “Intra-Asia air cargo has grown considerably over the years, and we have observed substantial migration of manufacturing trade from China to Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam.
      “Leveraging our extensive network in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and the Americas, we are in the lead to provide our customers in the Southeast Asian region adequate capacity, flexibility, and world-class air freight solutions via our state-of-the-art Doha hub.”

22 Freighters By December 2017

      “On the fleet front, we have injected additional capacity in the market with three Boeing 777 freighters inducted in 2016 and the 12th B777 freighter in March 2017.
      “In tandem with the extensive deliveries of A350, B777, and A380 passenger aircraft taking place this year, another B777 freighter is due to join our fleet before October, which will bring our total cargo fleet to 22 freighters by end of 2017.”

Digital Dynamo

First In The World

      “Qatar Airways Cargo is the first carrier to fully adopt, implement, and integrate the next generation messaging standard, Cargo Extensible Mark-up Language or Cargo-XML in its core cargo management system, CROAMIS. XML development, integration, and implementation within CROAMIS has been very interesting.
      “Given the wider scope of XML language, we have also implemented these standards with major customs authorities, including the Customs Department in our home base, Doha.
      “This has a positive effect, leading to improved data quality and faster e-AWB implementation.”

Happy Customers The Best Reward

      “Our customers are happy with these technical developments, which actually ease the way we do business, make us the preferred choice of air freight service provider amongst our customers, and help grow our business.
      “We will continue to drive digitization in coming years and enhance our products, which will differentiate us from our competitors.”

Chasing Air Cargo Growth

      “Significant growth in the tonnages of pharmaceuticals, perishables, express and live animals transported on Qatar Airways Cargo is our major focus factors,” Uli said, adding:
      “The charter business also continues to boom, with triple digit growth where tonnages via our charter freighters alone rose over 150 percent in financial year 2016-17 compared to 2015-16.
      “Our most recent charter was the successful transportation of 50 horses from Amsterdam to Eppley Airfield in Omaha for the Longines FEI World Cup™.
      “It’s the age of e-commerce and it is driving our business because we have such density in our network.
      “High capacity to the major distribution hubs like Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong enable us to accommodate the demand for short transit times.
      “Our operating pattern on the passenger and freighter side makes us a responsive partner to both forwarders and postal authorities, who handle a large share of e-commerce goods.”

Five By Five Measure Up

      “In 2016, our top destinations where cargo was uplifted in terms of belly hold and freighter were Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan, and Liege, and top five destinations where cargo was flown into were Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Liege, Chicago, and Dubai.
      “The new South America freighters, including Miami in United States, that commenced this year will drive the perishables and pharmaceutical exports out of the continent,” Uli said.

Location Capacity And Outlook

      “Qatar’s strategic location in the Gulf combined with efficient hub connections make Qatar Airways and Doha an ideal choice for airfreight to and from manufacturing centers in Asia and consumers in the United States, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Transit cargo constitutes over 85 percent of the volumes flown on our flights and freighters. 
      “Qatar’s location at the crossroads between East and West gives us a distinct advantage over our competitors in other regions.”

New Climate Control Center

      “Investing in the future, Qatar Cargo will operate the advanced Climate Control Centre in response to growing global demand in specialized air freight solutions for temperature-sensitive products.
      “The new 2,471-square meter transit facility enables a turnaround of up to 780 tonnes of cargo each day,” Uli said.
      “We will also activate an industry-leading temperature-controlled ramp handling system, including temperature and location visibility on ramp.
      “From our state-of-the-art fully automated cargo hub at Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha, we reach approximately 80 percent of the world’s population within six hours, which means we are strategically located within the world’s key trade markets.”

The 3Rs

      “Every customer is important to Qatar Airways Cargo and we value the relationship with our clients. The three Rs—rates, reliability, and relationship—are at the very heart of our business.
      “Through understanding our customers’ needs and adapting our offering to exceed their expectations, we build our brand and business on high levels of customer satisfaction.”

A Lifetime In Air Cargo

      Uli Ogiermann landed in Doha—or did Doha land on him?
      No matter, at this point in the game he still professes surprise “to see the tiny nation of Qatar with the third-largest natural gas reserves play a key role and assert a powerful influence globally.”

Cargolux To Qatar Airways

      “Having joined from Cargolux with an all freighter fleet,” Uli said, “Qatar Airways’ competitive business model and the immense potential of operating belly and freighters was both interesting and challenging, and remains the case as we move forward.”

Also Likes Belly Lift

      “Additional belly capacity is important to the cargo business as it is very cost efficient, which is an important factor in an industry where yields are always under pressure. Flights are generally planned daily and the high flight frequency is a key selling point for high yielding products such as express freight or pharmaceuticals.
      “The Qatar Airways combination of efficient belly-space (in passenger aircraft) plus freighters that can flexibly adjust to the needs of the cargo business, is the most ideal and cost-efficient combination you can have, and this is what we at Qatar Airways Cargo offer to our customers,” Uli said.

Investing In The Future

      “Qatar Airways has been heavily investing in technology and innovation, simplifying business processes for the benefit of our customers,” Uli revealed.
      “Elsewhere in Qatar, major investments and developments such as the Qatar Rail and metro project, the Logistics Areas project, the New Port project, the second cargo terminal at HIA (CT2) and many others, are noted in line with the country’s National Vision 2030.”

Technology & Innovation

      “Our Freighter Load Control Center in Doha came on line last year, enabling us to maximize payload and available volumes by better planning and insight into the actual cargo pallet connections.
      “It also boosts our fuel efficiency, thereby reducing costs subsequent to the optimized aircraft trim.
      “With the implementation of this automated system, any costs associated with freighter departure delays due to unexpected or late changes in load planning are eliminated.
      “We are able to provide specialized support on oversized and special product shipments, offering customers more cargo space and greater efficiency and quality.
      “The automated system also helps us minimize the lateral imbalance of each aircraft, resulting in a significant reduction of fuel consumption.”

Looking Ahead

      “Economists expect global GDP to double by 2030, driven by emerging markets, bilateral trade relationships, as well as trade between developed and emerging economies.
      “This will definitely benefit the logistics industry and we will see a corresponding increase in cargo in the coming years,” Uli said, adding:
      “Mergers and acquisitions are also positively shaping the future of air cargo traffic.
      “To match our growing capacity with the quality of our products and services, we will continue to work with our key stakeholders such as IATA and regulatory authorities to ensure dedicated compliance and adoption of advanced business processes, technology, and operation procedures.”
Geoffrey

     The newsmaker out of Air Cargo Europe in Munich Tuesday is from IAG Cargo Commercial Director David Shepherd, (right) as he announces that IAG’s new long-haul, low-cost airline brand LEVEL will join cargo operations starting June 2017.
      LEVEL will offer three new routes into the Americas operating from Barcelona, Shepherd said.
     

Road Feeder Cool

      Lufthansa Cargo claims to be the world's first cargo airline to offer a “Road Feeder Service Cool” (RFS-Cool) booking option.
      Earlier, the carrier announced it is expanding its Cool Center at the Frankfurt hub.
      Following completion in late summer 2017, 8,000 square meters will be available for cool chain cargo.
      Additionally, the German carrier adds flights and opens new destinations in its summer 2017 schedule.
      Lufthansa Cargo currently serves 300 destinations in 100 countries.

Emirates SkyCargo Cargolux Partnership

     Also at Air Cargo Europe Emirates SkyCargo and Cargolux report signing a partnership MOU.
     As described EK will access Cargolux capacity, while Cargolux will utilize Emirates belly-hold lift.
Geoffrey/Sabiha