“Our move will touch Mumbai, the economic heart of India, said a smiling Marcel de Nooijer, EVP Air France KLM Martinair Cargo.

Big Comeback To Mumbai

      The youthful executive is referring to the resumption of KLM flights after “almost two decades.” Services recommence between Mumbai and Schiphol-Amsterdam starting on October 29, 2017.
      “By introducing Mumbai, the economic heart of India, to our schedule from Schiphol we are able to further increase our already existing network presence in India.
      “Together with our flights operated from Paris Charles de Gaulle, we will offer the market a total of 28 services during the 2017-2018 winter season.
      “KLM will operate three weekly flights to Mumbai operating a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, offering a belly cargo capacity between 15-20 tons.”

Adding Lift Where It Counts

      The Mumbai flight will boost Air France KLM in India and challenge Lufthansa, which may no longer rule the roost as the largest European carrier.

Powerful Partner

      The big news is that AF-KL has a solid partner in Jet Airways.
      Together the carrier will offer 61 flights to Amsterdam and Paris during the winter season, which will help boost its presence in the Indian market.

Better Connections India To Europe

      Apparently, the strategy is to connect the networks and bring in passengers and cargo from Tier-II cities in India to Tier II towns in the U.S. via Amsterdam. 
      In fact, AF-KLM is looking at areas of co-operation with Jet Airways and that will include cargo.
      After Brexit, the carrier is keen to increase trade between India and Europe. In a conversation with a business daily, President and CEO Pieter Elbers, who was recently in Mumbai, said “A Boeing 777 aircraft has 15-17 tons of cargo capacity and we are exploring opportunities involving cross selling, sharing of aircraft belly space, and cargo handling with Jet.”

Dreamliners & Visions of Belly Lift

      The introduction of the Dreamliner is in line with the carrier’s thrust to boost belly capacity and reduce the number of freighters by strengthening partnerships with other airlines.
      Marcel is optimistic about the Indian market.
      For AF-KLM, e-retail and pharmaceuticals from India have seen substantial growth. “India,” Marcel assures, “will play a key role in air cargo.
      “The positive drivers are pharmaceuticals, given the time-sensitive nature,” he said. “AFKLM has made investments in pharma infrastructure and the CEIV pharma certification.” 

Other Carriers Move Into India

      Other than AF-KLM, European carriers have been eyeing the Indian market.
      Low-cost long haul carrier Norwegian recently reported that “as an ambitious airline with a huge aircraft order, Norwegian are always looking at potential new routes and while there are no immediate plans to serve India at this stage, it remains a market we are interested in, in the future.”
      And while Norwegian’s plans are still in the making, Lufthansa was committed to boosting its presence in India.

Lufthansa Grows Market Presence

      Dieter Vranckx, Lufthansa Vice-President, Asia Pacific, said that the carrier wanted to continue investing in India.
      “We’ve opened new routes, like the Mumbai-Brussels route; we’ve increased frequencies—the Pune to Frankfurt service has increased from four to six times a week. Another element in how we invest in India is to bring all our flagships to the market.
      “Our Airbus A380 connects Frankfurt and Delhi and our aircraft with the newest technology—the Airbus A350—is flying now to Delhi and Mumbai from Munich.
      “This is important to mention because when you introduce a new fleet of aircraft, everybody wants to get the new aircraft to its market.
      “Most of the time you look at strategic markets and a balance between the U.S., China, and India and see how everything fits together.
      “Out of the first three Airbus A350s that came in, two of them now fly to India.
      “This is how we are growing in the market,” he said.

EU Notes Growth

      During her recent visit to India Federica Mogherini, High Representative-Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President, European Commission (HRVP), pointed out that “with work ongoing to conclude a comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement, the EU accounts for 13.5 percent of India’s overall trade, which makes the EU India’s largest trading partner.”
      “European carriers have been offering high uplift capacity for priority cargo movement between India and European nations,” she said.
      According to estimates, the volume of Indian exports to European countries total around 30,000 tons per month with Delhi accounting for around 6,500 tons of that total.
Tirthankar Ghosh

Antonio Fernandes was sitting in a chair as the sun and the warmth of a late Spring day set over Amelia Island, Florida, this year at the EMO Trans Global meetings.
     Antonio and the expanding world of EMO Trans’s partners and colleagues had been locked in an agenda-filled encounter that included meetings and social events, but on this last evening, as he leaned back in his chair, taking a long thoughtful drag on his cigarette, Antonio reflected aloud about priorities:
     “The most important asset we have in the forwarding business is the experience and dedication of our people.
     “There are still elements of the freight forwarding business, so well represented amongst the brilliant gathering here at EMO Trans worldwide, that bring experience and resources to shippers and offer total reliability with safe, fast transport and hands-on service every step of the way,” Antonio said.

EMO Excellence Noted

     “For example one consistent aspect of doing business with EMO Trans, whether in the Americas, Europe, or now in their expanding Asia presence, is a persistent effort to achieve service excellence.”

Accent Portuguese

     Antonio Fernandes describes himself as “an immigrant in Brazil,” having been born of Portuguese parents in Macau.
     Antonio smiles when he recalls his Dad insisted he attend a proper English school in Macau to learn to speak the language perfectly.
     The family moved to Sao Paulo in 1968 and today, the spoken Portuguese he learned at home is distinctly different from the Portuguese language spoken in his adopted country.

Varig At Eighteen

     “I started in the cargo department of Varig Brazilian Airlines when I was 18 years old,” Antonio recalled.
     “After about a year and a half, a company named Fink that represented multi-national freight forwarders in Brazil such as Air Express International (AEI), DLK, and some others and was impressed with my work, offered a me a job along with a sizeable increase in salary.
     “So my career came to a fork in the road,” Antonio smiled, “and I took it!
     “I began in the freight forwarding business doing consolidations for Fink and today, some 44 years later, I am still in the business, but of course as President of my own company, Greenwich International, an EMO Trans partner.
     “The next stop for me, after I had extended my knowledge quite a bit in the forwarding business despite my quite young of 22, was a sales position for Itapolis, a company that represented, amongst others, Panalpina.
     “I got to know some people at Panalpina, and when that company landed a big contract with Mercedes Benz and decided to open their own offices, they asked me at 24 years of age to join and serve as manager of the first Panalpina office in Brazil.
     “The Panalpina experience was great.
     “In fact, for the first of nine years spent at Panalpina I was handed complete responsibility for Brazil.
     “When I left the company, business had grown to the point where we had more than 190 employees in Brazil.
     “The split with Panalpina came for us after nine wonderful years when marketing objectives between the cadre of small to medium customers I was serving contrasted with the desire of Panalpina to concentrate in building its business with the emerging large multi-national shippers.”

Don’t Go To Strangers

     “It’s a funny thing,” Antonio notes, “often said but always true.
     “If you love this business and plan to stick around in forwarding for a while, your customers become like your family.
     “When the split with Panalpina came, I wondered what would become of the dozens of little and medium sized companies and the trust and friendships developed in all the years of my professional life in transportation.
     “So I decided to form Greenwich in Sao Paulo in 1986, and the rest, as they say is history.”

Customers First

     “Today, in addition to our original head office in Sao Paulo, Greenwich International & Customs Clearance has grown to include branch offices in Santos (since 1998) and Campinas (1999).
     “I can say our development was not easy, but in every case putting the customer first and being available to deliver a wealth of expertise and caring to our customer group has held us in good stead for three decades,” Antonio Fernandes said.

Greenwich Village

     Antonio came to name his company “Greenwich” after some time spent as a young man and musician in New York City, where he played his guitar and sang songs in some small café’s in and around Greenwich Village.
     “I guess that time and some of the passions in my life have never left me entirely,” he said.
     “Even today I often will sing and play in Brazil at various functions, including our family gatherings,” he said.

Vocation Avocation Full Circle

     Antonio’s music has a definite slant toward The Beatles and Beach Boys, he says. He expresses a “love for harmony,” a passion that can easily be seen spilling over into his freight forwarding career, serving the scores of companies Greenwich partners with in Brazil and around the world.
     Today, the man and his music bring vocation and avocation full circle. For a lot of people in Brazil and elsewhere, transportation is better because of Antonio Fernandes. He is a guy who brightens the room even after the sun goes down.
Geoffrey

Emirates Moves 100

      All of that brings us to the latest horse gag from Emirates SkyCargo. Recently, EK moved nearly 100 thoroughbred horses.
      But what a different ride it was in 2017. The stallions came to the airport in gleaming, temperature-controlled vans and handled in individual roomettes complete with grooms.
      The horses were transported from Liege, Belgium, to compete in the first three legs of the Longines Global Champions Tour in Mexico City, Miami, and Shanghai.
      EK operated a total of 10 dedicated freighter flights each carrying 25 horse stalls to transport the equine champions and their grooms.
      Nice!
      Here is a fond musical salute from someone you may have never heard before.
      In 1949, artist Vaughn Monroe sung this tune and it topped the hit parade charts, becoming the number one song in America.
      These days, every time we see another horse shipment arriving from places well travelled or taking off for somewhere yet to be discovered, the soundtrack that comes to mind is the eerie call of  “Riders In The Sky,” and we are brought back to the sweet, slight Irish voice of Bill Gillen entreating us to relax, the lamp is lit.
Geoffrey