The seafood sector has been volatile, with
McWhorter, President for the
Americas.
Halifax needs both
warehouse capacity and
ramp space to keep up
with traffi c growth. Having
secured funding from several
government levels, it is getting
ready to start the development
of a Can$36m (US$26.7m)
Air Cargo Logistics Park. The
fi rst phase of this will consist
of a cargo building of over
47,000 square feet and fi ve
parking positions for widebody
freighters. Glen Boone,
the airport’s Director of Cargo
and Real Estate Development,
expects the apron expansion
to be completed by the end
of next year, with the cargo
facility due early in the
following year.
Meanwhile, Brendan
Harnett, Chairman and CEO
of Flying Fresh Air Freight,
Canada’s largest perishables
forwarder, is looking forward
to the new building at Halifax.
It will allow his company to
consolidate its operations
there, which are currently split
between one on-airport facility
and another one off-airport.
American Airlines has had to weather
several storms already this year
While its tariffs on US origin tariffs going up as well as down
lobster went up another 25%
to reach 40% altogether,
China actually lowered duties
on crustaceans from Canada,
resulting in a massive surge
in exports from Halifax. The
airport’s tonnages rose 8.5% to
36,938 tonnes last year, which
included 11,495 tonnes of
lobster.
Halifax has seen a sharp
increase in freighter operations
over the past couple of years,
including trans-Pacifi c fl ights
by Skylease Cargo, Korean Air
and Suparna Airlines. Further
west, growing demand from
Asian consumers for higher
quality protein prompted
Nippon Cargo Airlines to route
some of its fl ights from the US
to Japan via Edmonton to load
up on chilled beef and pork.
“The airport has been
promoting this to shippers.
We stop in Edmonton instead
of Anchorage,” says Shawn
while JFK has been a source of
frustration for years.
For United Airlines, a
major focus during 2018 was
to reorganise processes and
change infrastructure at its
San Francisco and Newark
gateways. “We had to walk
away from some business,”
admits Jan Krems, President
of Cargo. “This year, it’s back
to our roots. We have to be
careful we don’t grow too
fast.”
The pressure has now
eased off, with all sides
better prepared for volume
surges, according to Imbriani.
“Airport capacity across the
US has now pretty much
settled down. Some shift from
air to ocean has helped,”
he remarks. He adds that
tight, on-airport capacity has
prompted companies to go
for warehouses some 12 or 15
miles away from gateways,
where supply is more
Halifax is not the only
airport where Flying Fresh
fi nds life a bit cramped. The
company has expanded its
footprint at Vancouver but
still needs more space there,
reveals Harnett.
Congestion at major
gateways has been a headache
south of the border, too. The
massive surge in imports
during the 2017 peak season
led to lengthy delays, as cargo
facilities at airports like JFK,
Newark and Los Angeles
were clogged up with cargo
– as were the access roads
for truckers. According to
one forwarder, Los Angeles
has been the most affected,
Everybody is
down some
Tim Strauss, VP Cargo, Air Canada
www.airlogisticsinternational.com June 2019 13
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com