INTERVIEW
imbalance there is always
a case of imbalance on the
level of airport-airport or
city pairing. For us as an
international carrier, this is
where the main headache
lies, because we need to level
out the imbalance between
certain airports from various
regions. With this in mind,
we have been trying to build
our network, orchestrating
various destinations and
operating some routes in
conjunction with other
origins and using trucked
cargo to level out the
imbalance and increase the
efficiency of our operations.
We hope to see this imbalance
shifting but for now we have
masterminds to synchronise
our network and analyse trade
flows with precise attention.” INDUSTRY
The Boeing 747, in several guises, is the aircraft
of choice for ABC
The problem of schedules
Needless to say, with such
a dedicated operation, the
network needs to be spot-on.
But isn’t optimising this a
headache?
“Indeed, there has always
been a major imbalance
in the bi-directional trade
flows on major trade lanes
between various regions, when
westbound traffic exceeded
eastbound by almost a factor
of two. However, the positive
trend of the recent years is
such that the Chinese middleclass
population is growing
its appetite for the Western
lifestyle, which covers not
only consumer goods labelled
“Made in Europe/USA” but
also food and beverages, which
constitute a rather remarkable
part of the cargo.
“Other than regional
CARRY THAT LOAD
AirBridgeCargo, as a heavyweight specialist, is called upon to carry all manner of freight. One of the most challenging and noteworthy
loads in recent times was a 40 tonne equipment shipment which it transported from Frankfurt to Singapore.
The handling side
Ground handling is a niche
sector and sometimes ground
handling agents face personnel
challenges relating to
manpower shortages, especially
in major cargo gateways. This
can cause problems for carriers
such as ABC, admits Lazarev.
“We are working together
with them on tackling these
situations to better manage the
ground handling process and
bring benefits to our customers.
We have developed a mixed
approach, where we have our
in-house operations and load
masters team with the support
from our local handling agents.
We have an Ops team at all the
stations we operate at to make
sure that the cargo handling
process is under control and
goes as smoothly as possible.
However, this is a time- and
labour-consuming job and
could not be operated only
in-house. We work with reliable
and trustworthy handling
partners which not only
provide high quality services
but which also share our
approach towards customer service and experience, understand the
whole complexity of the process, and are experienced in handling
all types of cargo, including special products.”
To what extent is ABC restricted by airport infrastructure
suitability?
“With the emerging volumes of special cargoes (such as
pharmaceuticals, oversize, animals, dangerous goods and
e-commerce) we need to make sure that an airport’s facilities
and premises (including coldchain storage areas, animal
lounges, extensions for high loaders to offload super long
shipments and so on) are suitable for the handling of special
commodities, with experienced and qualified personnel
to handle these delicate cargoes. Efficient and successful
operations for special cargoes depend on what is happening
on the ground. Sometimes we are restricted by the lack of an
airport’s infrastructure, and even though we carry large volumes
of special commodities, we see that airports are not always
ready to handle them. In such cases, we work together on
developing sufficient infrastructure and creating a favourable
cargo ecosystem. Even though this takes time, it establishes a
reliable platform and bolsters further growth.”
And the future…
Finally, what lies in the pipeline for ABC?
Lazarev says that the carrier will concentrate on provision
of high quality services. “We will have a special focus on
leveraging volumes of dedicated cargoes like pharmaceutical
products, oversize and heavy and dangerous goods. Following
our customers’ needs, we will expand our network and enlarge
the fleet, as well as work on improving the digital environment
our customers expect to experience while working with a top tier
cargo carrier.”
36 August 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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