INDUSTRY
INTERVIEW
As easy as ABC
Members of AirBridgeCargo’s fleet may
not be too common a sight at an airport
but the carrier’s capacity and reach
are legendary. Alwyn Brice interviewed
Sergey Lazarev, General Director.
In total, AirBridgeCargo
operates a fleet of 18 Boeing
747 freighters, with the
average aircraft age being
around 6.5 years, making it
one of the youngest in the air
cargo industry. It consists of
twelve Boeing 747-8Fs, four
Boeing 747-400ERFs and two
B747-400Fs.
“As almost all the flights
are operated via our hub in
Moscow Sheremetyevo airport,
this airport is our domestic
one where you can actually
see a line of freighters being
loaded/offloaded. We are also
developing regional hubs in
Europe to get a better coverage
for our customers,” reports
Lazarev.
“For the last 12 months,
we have been working on the
improvement of our quality
performance, expansion
of our network and the
development of specialist
products and services for
dedicated commodities in line
with customer needs. This has
resulted in up to a 2% uptick of
our volumes in 2018. The first
quarter has been less favourable
so far and we posted a slight
decrease, which echoes market
situation and sentiments.
“Network-wise, we have
an increased number of
frequencies to and from Asia,
we’ve introduced Shenzhen,
Dhaka and Ho Chi Minh City
and are aiming at strengthening
our partnerships with airports.
This is supported by signed
MoUs with Leipzig and Liège
for further development of
cargo infrastructure in the
airports and our intention to
use them as regional hubs.
“With quality being of
paramount importance, we
were delighted to re-confirm
our Cargo iQ certification,
which stands as commitment
to our high quality services
and embraces not only services
for general cargo but for
special commodities as well.
The re-certification process
included a lot of preliminary
work and co-operation with
our ground handling partners.
We have been working on
developing and reinforcing
our specialty services,
strengthening our internal
processes and our dedicated
teams of experts. To follow the
needs of various customers, we
have significantly extended the
options for the lease of coldchain containers and are partnering
with SkyCell and Sonoco manufacturers now. On top of this, we
understand that transparency and accuracy of shipment data is a
rule of thumb nowadays and offer data loggers, which could be
authorised to go with the shipment.”
He adds that the same aim is being pursued through cooperation
with Unilode Aviation Solutions and the introduction
of digitised containers equipped with a Transmitting Portable
Electronic Device. This will help in getting real-time data across
such parameters as temperature, humidity, shock and light.
“Most importantly, we continue collaborating with our
customers and partners on the educational side of the process,
organising joint workshops, regular meetings to share the
updates, news of the industry and any forthcoming trends.”
The freight focus
For the last five years ABC has been consistently developing its
dedicated products and services for special commodities and
meeting the strict requirements of its customers from various
sectors. This has resulted in enhanced volumes for such special
cargoes as e-commerce shipments (which saw over 45% growth);
pharmaceutical products (up by 80%) and live animals (which
registered a two-fold increase) for the first five months of
2019. Aside from this were vulnerable goods (high-tech items),
dangerous goods (including shipments containing lithium
batteries) and outsized and heavy cargoes.
“Since its first day of operations, ABC has concentrated on
the China-Europe trade lane, with a major part of our volumes
being still leveraged here. We achieved increases ex-China to
Europe for the first five months of 2019, mainly thanks to the
introduction of Shenzhen into our network and the increase of
frequencies to and from other Asian points, including Japan.
With Japan and Korea being still among the leaders in imports,
we enjoyed over 20% growth from Europe to Japan and Korea:
this was down to the growth of dedicated volumes, namely
pharmaceutical products, fashion items, automotive parts and
equipment and perishables.
“The sky-rocket expansion and development of South-East
Asia as well as South Asia has bolstered export volumes and our
decision to introduce Ho Chi Minh City (in 2018) and Dhaka (in
2019) into the fold stimulated the growth of our volumes from
Asia to Europe (over 20%) and Asia to America (up by 80%).”
Lazarev mentions that the reinforcement of ABC’s dedicated
“abc pharma” and “abc XL” products facilitated the increase in
volumes from Europe to America, which tipped over 50%.
34 August 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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