EUROPEAN
ANALYSIS
Viral spir l?
Readers will not need reminding that cargo
has been on the equivalent of a theme
park ride this last 13 months. But whereas
that white-knuckle ride is normally
of limited duration, for cargo the roller
coaster arresting mechanism seems to
have failed… Alwyn Brice looks back.
So, has it been all doom and gloom around Europe? Or have
there been glimpses of blue skies? Sadly for ALI, Cargolux
felt unable to comment on the last 12 months but happily,
other carriers were more forthcoming. For Gertjan Roelands, VP
Europe at Air France-KLM Cargo, it has been an interesting, albeit
challenging, period.
“In 2019, we saw a slow-down in world trade and
consequently airfreight demand, driven by trade disputes, a
decline in the automotive industry and various geo-political
circumstances. However, at the same time, we are seeing that
overall capacity in the market is growing: this is being fuelled by
growth on the passenger side and new types of aircraft, which
have a relatively higher payload.
“As Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, we have a clear roadmap
in order to constantly improve all the services offered to our
customers, in order to make the difference from a competitive
perspective. We invested a lot last year (and will do so this year)
in the further improvement of our coolchain processes and
facilities in order to offer a higher service for both our pharma
and fresh customers. Also, we
invested a great deal in terms
of facilities and technology in
both our Charles de Gaulle and
Amsterdam hubs. We further
optimised our proposition
for our small and medium
specialised customers, called
‘What Counts’.
“From a technology
perspective, we made big
steps. Our myCargo portal
has been enriched with many
new functionalities and
there’s a lot more to follow
in the coming months. We
are aiming to practically have
the full customer journey
incorporated. This, combined
with the API solution, will
create significant efficiencies
for our customers. Last year,
the online sales percentage
exceeded 30%. And last year
we also took several steps
when it came to the matter
8 February 2020 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com