Issuu

GLOBAL A

MANAGEMENT

WORLD ACW Digital is sponsored by AIRPORTS.COM FREIGHTERS.COM

FREIGH

FRE

Tabloid page bled.indd 1

13/02/2020 10:16

The weekly newspaper for air cargo professionals No. 1,068

17 February 2020

Devoted to sustainability Yasmin joins ACW team

Page 6

INSIDE UK SCHOOL CHILDREN TUNE IN

THIRTY-FIVE thousand students from three hundred UK schools tuned into ‘Aviation Live’, a realtime broadcast designed to inspire young ... PAGE 2

A321P2F NEW MILESTONES

THE first A321 cargo conversion will enter service later this year as the European Aviation Safety Agency is expected to issue the Supplemental ... AZURA International welcomes Yasmin Turner as Staff Writer on Air cargo Week today. The University of Birmingham graduate is taking her first steps in a media career she hopes will last for decades. ACW editor James Graham says: “Having interviewed Yasmin for the role, I am confident that she brings many good qualities and enthusiasm to the role and I look forward to introducing her to the rest of the team.” A pupil at Millais School and later Horsham College of Richard Collyer, this is not the first time that Turner has worked in media. She has had spells on The Telegraph in Kolkata, India and The Times. Other work has seen her travel to Colombia as an English teacher at the New Western School, Acacías, Colombia and the American School, Bogotá.

Lufthansa Cargo and ANA Cargo fly aid Down Under

ufthansa Cargo and ANA Cargo have jointly transported about two tonnes of relief supplies to Australia. Starting on 3 February, 2020 in Frankfurt, Germany, Lufthansa Cargo was responsible for the transport to Tokyo, Japan. From there, ANA Cargo took over the transport to Sydney, Australia. DB Schenker supported the project in logistics and took care of the collection of the donations. On board were about two tonnes of hand-made pouches and nests for Australian animal babies. These were handmade by volun-

teers in the private initiative “Deutschland hilft Australiens Wildtieren!” (Germany helps Australia’s Wildlife!). More than 20,000 animal lovers from all parts of Germany have organised themselves via Facebook to sew, knit or crochet nests and pouches according to the precise directions of an Australian animal rescue organisation. The textiles are urgently needed at the Australian aid stations for orphan and injured animals suffering in the bush fire.

PAGE 3 GO WEST! SYDNEY’S FUTURE

WESTERN Sydney International Airport will have the potential to handle 1.8 million freight tonnes a year in the 2050s, after entering ... PAGE 4

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

SITUATED in the centre of the US andf Canadian populations and manufacturing capacity, Rickenbacker International Airport (KLCK) serves ... PAGE 5

aircargoweek.com

U-Freight grows in South Korea with eCommerce fulfilment

U-FREIGHT Korea, part of the Hong Kongbased U-Freight Group, has opened a new logistics hub in Incheon to support its growing e-commerce business. The eCommerce fulfilment centre (EFC) will process domestic and cross-border shipments for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) fulfilment. With the anticipated increase in e-commerce logistics volumes, especially from South Korea to Vietnam, U-Freight Korea decided to invest in a bespoke temperature-controlled facility with easy access for e-commerce vendors and buyers based in South Korea. U-Freight Korea’s new EFC in South Korea will also house the company’s headquarters, which is moving from the the existing multipurpose warehouse located in Incheon airport’s free trade zone. This multipurpose warehouse, which is not suitable for e-Commerce logistics operations, will continue to be used for more conventional general and bulk freight forwarding operations. Over the course of 2020, the U-Freight Group will also roll-out e+ Solutions, its logistics product designed for e-Commerce start-ups, to the South Korean marketplace. U-Freight Group chief executive officer, CEO Simon Wong says: “For several years, U-Freight has been showing its commitment to developing e-Commerce logistics services; initially for cross-border e-commerce in China, but increasingly with other parts of the world. “The decision to remodel many of our multiple warehouses so that they are capable of providing e-Commerce logistics services, is a demonstration of our commitment to delivering the type of logistics services that will be required through e-Commerce.”

Suspension of Air France flights Vietjet to go into cargo business to and from mainland China in Malaysia

ON 30 January this year, Air France announced the suspension of all its flights to Shanghai and Beijing until 9 February 2020. Following a reassessment of all the information at its disposal, Air France has decided to extend the suspension of services to these destinations up to and including 15 March 2020. As from 16 March 2020, depending on the evolution of the situation, Air France and KLM plan to gradually resume operations to and from Shanghai and Beijing, alternating one daily flight to each destination. In this way, Shanghai and Beijing will be served daily from

Europe, via Paris by Air France or Amsterdam by KLM, depending on the day of operation. A normal flight schedule should be resumed as from 29 March 2020. The resumption of Air France flights to and from Wuhan is also scheduled for 29 March 2020. Air France is monitoring the situation in China in real time and has been working closely with national and international health authorities since the outbreak of the coronavirus. Air France would like to state that the health and safety of its customers and staff are its absolute priorities, said an airline statement.

AEI announces order for two MD-83SF freighters for Aeronaves TSM

Aeronautical Engineers, Inc (AEI) has signed a contract to provide Saltillo, Mexico-based Aeronaves TSM SA. de CV (TSM) with two additional AEI MD-83SF freighter conversions. The first MD-83 (MSN 49945) will commence modification in March 2020, followed by the second MD-83 modification beginning in November 2020.

Touch labour for both modifications will be performed by Commercial Jet’s Miami, Florida facility, which is an authorised AEI Conversion Centre. These two additional MD-83SF freighters will represent the 13th and 14th AEI MD-80SF series freighters in the TSM fleet. TSM currently operates 11 AEI MD-80SF

series freighters and is AEI’s largest operator of the platform. The 12th conversion commenced modification at the end of November and is scheduled to be re-delivered by the end of March this year. The AEI MD-83SF shall provide TSM with an Ancra CLS capable of carrying:(12) 88” x 108” Containers/Pallets, P1 to P12.

sian carrier Vietjet has announced that its subsidiary and cargo arm, Vietjet Cargo is opening a tender for a cargo general sales agent (GSA) in Kuala Lumpur and is inviting companies to bid for the first time in Malaysia on February 2020. The GSA will be responsible for all the commercial activities for sales, marketing and promotion on Vietjet’s flight network connecting to over 400 flights daily covering more than 140 destinations across Vietnam and internationally such as Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, which includes a daily flight from Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh City. The GSA will also be actively controlling the pricing policy and space management, working with the cargo warehouse and ground handling agency, supervising the operations, maximizing the uplifted cargo and securing the service level commitment to clients directly. Nguyen Thanh Son, Vietjet vice president, said: “At Vietjet, we believe in diversification to create sustainable business prospects. Following the establishment of Vietjet Cargo in 2014, we have independently and strategically developed and grown demand for air cargo services in Vietnam in addition to our main function as a commercial airline. Today, we have grown internationally, taking necessary steps to expand our cargo business to the Malaysian market. To date, Vietjet has transported nearly 100 million passengers in Vietnam with a fleet of 80 Airbus aircraft, comprising the Airbus A320/A321 aircraft, a high-tech airplane in the aviation industry, with a capacity of four to five tonnes of cargo per flight.

UK school children tune-in to ‘Aviation Live’

The event was organised by Gatwick THIRTY-FIVE thousand students from and Learn Live – an organisation that three hundred UK schools tuned into brings live learning into the classroom ‘Aviation Live’, a real-time broadcast – in a partnership specifically designed designed to inspire young people to to encourage young people to pursue consider a career in aviation. Science, Technology, Engineering and Children from as far away as Scotland Maths (STEM) related-careers. and Cornwall tuned into the broadcast Liberty Frankland, engineering apat Oakwood School, Horley, and put prentice at Gatwick Airport said: “It questions to airport staff in a ‘Top Gearwas so inspiring to see the amount of style’ studio format. engaging questions and the interest The event was purposely timed to that everyone had in apprenticeships. coincide with the UK National ApprenAviation Live at Oakwood School Horley with I really hope they came away from ticeship Week. Questions were put to presenters - Gatwick's incident operations manager Luke Mosley and Gatwick family lead Aviation Live with a new and positive easyJet’s first apprentice cabin crew Lauren McDaniel view on the job opportunities there member and a Border Force employee who completed an apprenticeship. The live broadcast also are at Gatwick and in the aviation sector.” The Aviation Live event is part of Gatwick’s Education Em‘patched in’ to two Gatwick engineering apprentices standing beside the runway, while telling the 35,000 viewers about what ployment and Skills programme, which includes other Learn Live broadcasts and airport roadshows designed to encourage inspired them to become an apprentice. Throughout the broadcast, the children and young people local children to take Science, Technology, Engineering and were particularly interested in getting advice on the appren- Maths (STEM) subjects by demonstrating their relevance to a wide range of careers at the airport. ticeship application process.

ACW 17 FEBRUARY 2020

aircargoweek.com

ST Engineering, Airbus and EFW’s A321P2F solution marks new milestones

he first A321 cargo conversion will enter service later this year as the European Aviation Safety Agency is expected to issue the Supplemental Type Certificate for the A321P2F still in Q1 2020. The STC will allow the expansion of the P2F programme run by Dresden-based Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), after an agreement by its parent companies, Singapore-based ST Engineering Aerospace and Airbus at the Paris Air Show in 2015. It will firstly allow Qantas to operate a former Onur A321 that was originally owned by British Midland in 1998. The Qantas Freight A321P2F, leased from Vallair, will be operated on behalf of Australia Post after the flag carrier and government-owned mail company announced a strategic alliance

in August last year. Lim Serh Ghee, president of STEA, said: “After our A321P2F unit receives certification and starts operating, we expect our programme to gain greater traction, joining our pool of Airbus P2F platforms to provide the global air cargo market with cost and fuel-efficient freighter options.”

By Stuart Flitton Lim added: “Using the strengths we possess as an integrated aviation solutions provider, we are able to bring to the market unique and bespoke solutions under one roof. At the same time, our innovative solutions in aircraft leasing and freighter conversion extend the life cycle of mid-life aircraft to provide operators cost-effective options in fleet management.” A second A321P2F is expected to be in op-

eration later this year. The aircraft, owned by San Francisco-based BBAM is already undergoing its conversion and to be leased to Titan Airways. The A321 P2F-STC will subsequently also cover the conversion of the smaller A320. Another STC for the wide-bodied A330-300s and -200s was received already in the years 2017 and 2018 respectively. Steve Zissis, president and CEO of BBAM, said: “As the first conversion solution for narrowbody freighters to optimise volumetric capacity by introducing a containerised lower deck, the A321P2F has the potential to be the game changer for any hub and spoke or pointto-point air cargo operation. For this reason, we made the decision to offer this conversion solution to our customers." Andreas Sperl, CEO of EFW, said: “The A321P2F conversion programme is the first in its size category to offer unique containerised loading in both the main deck with up to 14 container positions and lower deck with up to 10 container positions. It is not only the ideal narrowbody freighter aircraft for express domestic and regional operations, but it also has a generous payload-range capability to fly over 2,300 nm, carrying up to 27.9 tonnes.” Conversion works for the A330s are done at EFW in Dresden as well as at STEA’s conversion house in Singapore, whereas the smaller A321 and A320 conversions will in future be performed in Singapore, China, the US and Dresden..

Charter industry responds to coronavirus

eading aircraft charter company Air Charter Service has said that it has been inundated with requests for charters relating to the travel disruption caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus throughout China and Asia. Justin Lancaster, ACS’s Commercial Director, commented: “Since the outbreak our offices around the world have been arranging flights on local charter aircraft as the world deals with the travel disruption and overall cut to capacity to the region. We have flown everything from four passengers on a private jet, to hundreds on larger aircraft, to 100 tonnes of surgical masks – it has been all systems go since the epidemic was first reported. “Some customers have tried to avoid infection by flying with their families on private jets to avoid travelling on commercial aircraft with a large amount of people, whereas several organisations, as well as governments, have evacuated en masse on larger aircraft, such as an Airbus A380. “We have also flown various relief cargo into the region, including, protective overalls, medical gloves and millions of surgical masks. “We have faced various challenges in booking the flights, including passengers requesting crew that had not been to China since the beginning of January, clients not willing to put their cargo on aircraft that have recently been to the region, obtaining diplomatic permits and staff from our three regional offices working from home, to minimise their risk of infection.”

ASM appoints Ray Beeks to board of directors

AGENCY Sector Management (ASM) has appointed Ray Beeks, operations manager of Concordia International Forwarding to its Board of Directors replacing Brian Drakeley who has retired. “It’s a privilege to be part of the team and I am excited to be associated with ASM who have been respected throughout the industry for many years,” said Beeks. “I am hoping to help play a part in ASM finding resolutions for the future challenges our industry faces.” Beeks said he is particularly interested in the problems and solutions to the current issues of Customs Declaration Service (CDS) and Brexit. “We are delighted to welcome Ray as a director and look forward to having his knowledge and expertise on the ASM team,” said Peter MacSwiney, ASM chairman. “A big thank you to Brian for all his work and insight as a director at ASM and we wish him a happy retirement.”

(Artist’s impression)

Go West! Sydney’s cargo future

estern Sydney International Airport will have the potential to handle 1.8 million freight tonnes a year in the 2060s, after entering memoranda of understanding with 12 major international cargo companies to collaborate on the design of the new freight precinct. Marise Payne, the Senator for Western Sydney, said that when the $2.7 billion airport opens in 2026 it will have capacity for around 220,000 tonnes of freight a year. Toll Group and dnata are the latest freight companies to sign MOUs with Western Sydney Airport. They join Australia Post (with Star-

Track), DB Schenker, DHL Express, DSV Air and Sea, FedEx, Menzies Aviation, Swissport, Qantas Freight, Skyroad Logistics and Wymap, who signed up in August last year. Payne said: “Expanding the capacity of the freight network through the delivery of a cutting-edge freight precinct will help connect consumers with more goods from across the globe.” Mathias Cormann, the Australian Finance Minister, said that partnering with leading international freight companies provides valuable insights into the optimal design of a freight precinct. “These partnerships help pave the way towards a genuinely world-class facility. Ongoing discussions with freight companies about potential operations will be focused on

maximising efficiencies delivered by the new airport,” Cormann said. Alan Tudge, the Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure, said Western Sydney International’s freight capacity would contribute significantly to the tens of thousands of jobs generated by the new airport. “Western Sydney International will provide an important freight hub in Sydney, with the advantage of 24 hour air operations meaning that perishable or time sensitive Australian products could leave Sydney at night and arrive in Asian markets in time for sale the following morning,” Tudge said. The airport, at Badgerys Creek, is expected to support almost 28,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2031.

(Artist’s impression)

Rhenus buys logistics specialist LTK THE Rhenus Group has launched operations in the aeronautics market through its acquisition of Spanish logistics specialist, LTK. LTK, an integrated supply chain specialist, has a number of locations across Spain. With its headquarters in Madrid, LTK’s additional business sites can be found in Álava in the Basque region, Andalusia, Seville and Cádiz. The business, which was founded in 2002, has more than 26,000 sq m of warehouse

capacity available in the region. LTK specialises in providing logistics solutions for the aerospace and automotive sectors, with its customers including the Airbus Group and Alestis Aerospace. Andreas Plikat, managing director of Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Europe, said: “LTK’s warehouse sites will form the basis for the further expansion of Rhenus Warehousing Solutions in Spain.“

PML achieves BRC global standard PML, the global perishable cargo specialist, is celebrating an unannounced audit for its packing facility which has resulted in the company achieving a rating of AA+ under the new BRC Global Standard Issue 8 for Food Safety. The in-depth audit was carried out over two days and the updated BRC Global Standard for Food Safety takes into consideration new risks and revised legislation and practices intended to improve food safety. PML provides a packing service at its ideal-

ACW 17 FEBRUARY 2020

aircargoweek.com

ly located Heathrow headquarters, designed to follow the important protocols associated with packing temperature sensitive goods. Commenting on the accreditation, sales director Nick Finbow says, “Customers like to access our in-house packing facility as it represents a route to streamlining the supply chain, reducing road miles and cutting CO2 emissions, allowing their goods to pass directly from our packhouse to a regional distribution centre.“

AIR CHARTER

Open for business at charter airport of choice

Freighter dedicated facilities, attentive ground handling crews and modern equipment makes KLCK “your best choice for air charter needs”, says Bryan Schreiber, Rickenbacker International Airport manager, air cargo and business.

ituated in the centre of the US and Canadian populations and manufacturing capacity, Rickenbacker International Airport (KLCK) serves customers all over the eastern half of North America, to and from the world. Rickenbacker handles well over 3,700 freighter arrivals per year for the globe’s premier air freight operators. Over a third of these are large B-747, B-777 and An-124 arrivals for general air freight and charter needs. “Large auto manufacturers have experienced the Rickenbacker difference moving project charters and supplier parts for both US manufacturing and to destinations abroad,” says Bryan Schreiber, manager, air cargo and business development. The aerospace industry as well moves hundreds of aircraft engines per year, up to and including the massive GE9X. This past year the airport moved its 500th Thor-

Brandon Vaughn, GM of Total Airport Services, a handling partner on the field. In late 2018 and early 2019 Rickenbacker and TAS handled over 50 Boeing 747 loads of auto parts in a short few weeks for a particular large manufacturer. For this critical move, the manufacturer enlisted the charter services of one of the world’s busiest airfreight forwarders who chose Rickenbacker as the ideal entry point into the US. oughbred since becoming a Port of Embarkation for livestock and horses. “The customer was amazed that they could see their freight was already broken down and loaded aboard trucks rolling to destination within two hours of the aircraft landing,”says

The future has arrived!

Abate disruptions

The same service has assisted in helping abate supply chain disruptions like the 2015 US west coast port strike, assisted in defense industry equipment moves and played a large role in the unforeseen massive global airbag recalls and other highly impactful charter moves.

With twin 3,657m runways, CAT II ILS and all weather support, the airport is able to handle anything from single engine turboprops to the Antonov 235. The airport is open 24/7/365 with full-time air traffic control, no nighttime noise restrictions, US Customs and Border Protection on-site and has access to anything needed for specialty freight from cranes, to on-airport animal export facilities. “Whether it’s a few kilos of nuclear medicine destined for a research facility, or 40 tonne pieces of equipment destined for oil and gas operations, you no longer need to send your charter business to busy, congested hubs that put your time critical moves at the end of the line. Rickenbacker was built on cargo and we are dedicated to servicing your charter needs with speed, service and unbeatable turnaround time,” adds Schreiber.

By Ed Gillett, director, CharterSync WHEN developing CharterSync, we had three specific objectives. To make the process quicker, more intelligent, and to provide transparency. To be in a position where we are performing daily charters, clearly shows that there is a place for intelligent technology in the air cargo charter industry. Whilst we are not complacent, this early success clearly demonstrates that our early adopters are reaping the rewards of a new era! As a global top 10 forwarder liked to put it “the future has arrived”! We are fortunate to have a young and energetic team at CharterSync that are always striving for the latest innovation and to push boundaries. The huge advantage for us is that we don’t need to play by any previous guidebooks. As we are the first company in the world to pioneer this space, we have to constantly challenge convention. This is not a simple change over night, but a cultural change that affects the way we communicate with customers, and even the way we recruit new staff. Given our early success, we are certainly not complacent, but clearly our technology is providing a significant competitive advantage to our early adopters. It not only makes their life easier, but we are seeing an increasing conversion rate from request through to confirmation. The formula is simple really, to ensure that the best aircraft is selected for the request. We do not simply contact the first few operators in our address book, our platform automatically connects the request to the operators that could achieve the tight deadline. Two weeks ago this happened at 7,000ft on the Alps, when an executive jet operator responded to the request on our IOS native app whilst skiing. As their aircraft was in the right place in the right time they secured the booking, and were able to transport several carry-on-boxes within a short deadline. Having the correct number of partner airlines is also a key ingredient to ensuring we can deliver outstanding customer service. We do not simply want to have access to a database with thousands of aircraft. It is more refined than that, and we would rather work with fewer operators that can guarantee reliability, on-time performance, and safety. Having just become a member of the Air Charter Association, we want to show how our technology provides an added layer of protection and piece of mind when booking a charter. Automatic compliance monitoring of AOC, airworthiness, insurance documentation is vital when a customer is making a decision in minutes. The future is very exciting for CharterSync and we have already begun developing our latest innovations, that will make the process even quicker and smarter than before!

aircargoweek.com

ACW 17 FEBRUARY 2020

FRUIT LOGISTICA REVIEW

Devoted to sustainability

ith exhibitors from 93 countries, FRUIT LOGISTICA was an international marketplace for the fruit trade and therefore an ideal place to discover new

markets. In total, there were 3,300 exhibitors and visitors from 135 countries. The partner country for FRUIT LOGISTICA 2020 is the home of the banana, anone, avocado, papaya and many other fruits - Ecuador. This year, Hall B in the City Cube was dedicated to “Booming south-east Europe”. There were larger stands and new regional products. FRUIT LOGISTICA was opened with a tour by German economy minister Julia Klöckner and her colleague from Ecuador, Xavier Lazo Guerrero. “You are selling a product that marketing experts could only dream of,” said Klöckner. “Your industry sector stands for quality and diversity, and you are contributing to a healthier diet.” At the same time, the industry is benefitting for an increased awareness of the importance of diet.

Coronavirus

In light of the global spread of the coronavirus, the Messe Berlin took some precautionary measures: at the instruction of the Berlin health authorities; admission to the trade fair was only granted to people who do not belong to coronavirus risk groups. To this end, all visitors had to provide a declaration, which was also available on site.

ACW 17 FEBRUARY 2020

Moreover, the hygiene measures at the premises had been enhanced. At the Logistics Hub, it was all about digitalisation: what are the prospects for the transportation of perishable goods, and what has changed about the way traditional logistics companies operate? Another key subject at the Logistics Hub was about food waste in the fresh fruit sector and how to avoid it. It is essential to reduce food waste during storage, say organisers. For this purpose, the Israeli firm, Post Harvest Solutions, provides outer packaging that absorbs the ripening gas, ethylene, produced by fruit, thereby slowing down the fruit and vegetable ageing process. The US start-up, StixFresh, is presenting an innovative sticker: featuring a special wax and organic ingredients, this sticker can extend the shelf life of fruit by up to two weeks.

Edible flowers

Batata do ce from P ortugal (in Englis h: “sweet potato”

Balkans

The Balkan State’s stand at FRUIT LOGISTICA is twice as big as last year, which says something about the importance of the fruit and vegetable trade, says Veljko Jovanovic from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “In the coming years, we will increasingly focus on the EU market, not only with raspberries, but also with nuts and tomatoes,” he says. To do this, they’re working closely with some very small companies. These must all be able to comply with international regulations and to expand trade with the EU.”

aircargoweek.com

Uurú banana (which translates as “gold”)

TRADE&EVENTSFINDER Freight Forwarders

World Air Cargo Awards 2020

Hong Kong

Freight Forwarders United Kingdom

Freight Forwarders

Industry Event

USA

Industry Event

aircargoweek.com 07_17 Feb 2020.indd 1

ACW 17 February 2020

7 12/02/2020 12:16

THE MAN WHO ALWAYS EATS HIS GREENS

Addressing the Thunberg effect Global air cargo trends re-shaping pharmaceutical transport BY DOMINIC HYDE, VICE PRESIDENT, PELICAN BIOTHERMAL

As we welcome the new decade and the exciting advances it is expected to unleash, many of the forces that shaped the past decade for transporting pharmaceuticals will continue. Price pressures, alternatives to airfreight and increasing automation are just a few. However, there are emerging trends that make 2020 unique. As we look forward, these are the air cargo trends expected to shape the transport of pharmaceuticals in 2020 and beyond.

e can’t ignore the effect that climate change activist Greta Thunberg is having on air travel that runs on fossil fuels. Thunberg’s reliance on trains to travel from her home country of Sweden to other countries in Europe connected by rail has triggered a material effect on passenger numbers in Sweden. According toBloomberg, Swedish air travel diminished in 2019 — while train travel jumped to a record level. What could this mean for shipping pharmaceuticals by air? As “extinction rebellion” shows no sign of slowing down, airfreight carriers — like their passenger transporting counterparts — will feel more pressure to seek alternative fuel sources and replace older planes with more fuel-efficient models. To further address the Thunberg effect, carriers and their logistics partners will also need to elevate their brand image by demonstrating they are adopting eco-friendly practices such as reusable or waste-stream friendly shipping containers made from recyclable materials. Especially for shipping pharmaceuticals, these shipping containers must still maintain strict temperature control to ensure valuable payloads arrive intact. After years of wrangling over the details of Brexit, the UK has departed the European Union (EU) — and entered a transition

period through the end of 2020. The effects of Brexit and the fact that Germany only narrowly avoided an official recession at the end of the last decade have been driving down European airfreight demand. Furthermore, US tariffs aimed at four counties in retaliation over subsidies to Airbus has hit Germany especially hard. Meanwhile, the US-China trade war began to thaw with the signing of an initial trade deal. But trading data showed the climate would have to improve significantly to combat the year-on-year 8.1% decline in freight tonne kilometres experienced in 2019. Price is the crudest and quickest tool at air freight’s disposal to address diminishing demand. However, long-term price cutting is not sustainable and in the face of continued change, airfreight companies will have no choice but to cut flights from their schedules and mothball aircraft — and cease to exercise purchasing options that did not factor in declining demand.

Diminished airfreight demand

Air freight remains the predominant mode of transportation for moving life-saving pharmaceuticals around the globe, especially for the most valuable and sensitive therapies that require strict temperature control.

Sea transport, accounting for approximately 20% of pharmaceutical shipments, made gains in recent years as an alternative transport mode for non-temperature sensitive products and the return of containers after payloads have reached their destination. However, for the foreseeable future, pharmaceutical companies will remain reliant on air freight for transportation of products that could succumb to temperature excursions. Declining airfreight and passenger demand combine to produce a double-whammy for the pharmaceutical industry. As airfreight capacity becomes an even more precious and dwindling resource, there are things that can be done to mitigate reduced capacity. For example, temperature-controlled packaging systems will need to step more into the foreground to reduce volumetric weight, providing higher performing insulation and phase change materials that can considerably improve volumetric efficiency. However, packaging systems currently available to reduce volumetric weight are typically more expensive unless they are re-used, and re-use can’t always be achieved efficiently for both financial and environmental reasons. The pharmaceutical packaging industry will need to look more closely at the installed capabilities of aircraft to manage temperature, which could make lower-grade packaging materials more acceptable. The capabilities of the aircraft will also need to be matched to ground conditions and reliable sourcing can be difficult in less developed regions of the world.

The days of choosing between a rickshaw or a tank are behind us. Pharmaceutical packaging manufacturers have broadened their product portfolios to enable the most efficient solutions to be selected, qualified and deployed on a lane-by-lane basis across truly global supply chains. Making the right selections and performing the necessary qualifications can be daunting compared to the old simplicity of “I’ll have a tank everywhere.” But this is the challenge we must face to deliver value and make responsible use of dwindling resources such as global air freight capacity. The good news is that cold chain consultants have the tools and resources to streamline this new approach. Packaging products have been engineered and tested to incorporate operational consistency and simplicity that might otherwise make it too complex to deploy. Networks and services have also been developed and deployed to enable efficient and reliable outsourcing of operations.

No longer rickshaw vs tank

When it comes to pharmaceutical packaging, one size does not fit all — nor should it.

aircargoweek.com