Anton Balazh/stock.adoe.com
EUROPEAN
REVIEW
FREIGHT
EXPECTATIONS
With Brexit looming large in the media,
sporadic pilot strikes and unusual global
weather patterns, there has been much
to influence the cargo sector in 2018,
observes the Editor.
For Air France-KLM Cargo’s
Gertjan Roelands, who
is Cargo Vice President
Europe, it has been an
interesting year, with the
upward trend that began
in the last quarter of 2017
feeding through to 2018. The
carrier’s yield per kilogramme
improved significantly, and
he notes that express freight,
together with fresh produce
and pharmaceuticals, were key
cargoes for the group.
Whilst no new freighters
were added to the fleet, in the
long haul passenger fleet three
Boeing 787-9s were added
for both KLM and Air France.
In 2019, it is expected that
both AF and KLM will further
increase their numbers of B787
aircraft.
Hub work is ongoing:
“We are investing heavily
to digitise the operational
processes at our both hubs,”
he says. “For example, a new
operating system and a second
elevating transport vehicle
for our new sorter system
have now gone into service
at Schiphol. We have also
introduced e-Acceptance at the
Documentation department.
At Charles de Gaulle we have
invested heavily to improve
the facilities of our G1XL
warehouse.”
E-commerce and digitisation
“We also see that our crossborder
e-commerce volumes
continue to grow. Demand
for air freight is changing
accordingly, to smaller loads,
with shorter lead times,
lower density and a higher
share of B2C volumes. Next
to traditional airfreight
products, such as mail and
express, with their own
typical characteristics, there
is an increasing need for
more innovative solutions.
Consumers are demanding
greater convenience, choice
and value for money, and
e-retailers therefore feel
compelled to offer multiple
delivery options.
“Our company is focusing
on the transformation of the
air cargo industry as a whole.
The main question is that of
how digital transformation
will shape the future - and how
will AF-KLM Cargo adapt to
these exciting dynamics. The
leading principle in this entire
change is that we want to
grow our business by being our
customer’s preferred partner,
by delivering our promise in
a transparent, easy to connect
way at a competitive price.
“We are convinced that
digitisation will be the most
important generator of change
in our industry. The key in
digital transformation is
thinking in one joint world of
opportunities where we have to
bring the outside in and show
our inside to the outer world.
Digitisation will fundamentally
improve and innovate our
commercial and operational
processes and will help us to
serve our customers best in the
coming decades.”
As a tangible result,
Roelands cites myCargo.
“This is a personalised,
online suite for our customers,
namely employees working at
the freight forwarder, and it is
focused on the individual user.
We show in one environment
all relevant information the
user employs on a daily basis;
we also give an overview of all
the booked shipments, and an
overview of and the status of all
the quotes. In addition, in this
portal you can find a schedule.
Our customer can completely
manage his shipment via
myCargo, like checking the
status of the shipment, making
bookings and requesting
quotes. It is a very interactive
way of making a booking
because it offers advice if you
have a booking for a specific
date.”
He adds that the booking
process through myCargo is
also available in an Application
Programming Interface. This
means that all of myCargo
services are directly accessible
in the customer’s own systems,
which benefits both parties.
“For 2019, we will continue
to realise our clear ambition,
which is that of maximising
our contribution to the Air
France-KLM Group, by ensuring
customer preference, through
delivering our promise in a
transparent, easy to connect
way at a competitive price.”
An extraordinary year
DHL Global Forwarding’s
spokesperson, David Stoeppler,
reckons that 2017 was an
extraordinary year for the air
freight market.
“The market grew around
9% in 2017: this was the
strongest growth since 2010.
However, as always, we at DHL
Global Forwarding have seen
an increasing demand for air
freight during the peak season,
especially on the westbound,
ex-Asia, but on a more
moderate level than last year.
This year, as usual, the trans-
Pacific outbound Asia is strong,
as well as the trading between
Asia and Europe and vice
versa. Also, intra-Asia trading is
performing well.”
Stoeppler predicts that
expanding cross-border
20 February 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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