Only six months after opening its first U.S. office near JFK Airport, general sales agent Kales Airline Services expanded its reach to Miami, Florida. Responsible manager for stirring the
GSA’s business in the southeastern region of the States is Yaima Sanchez, who has been in the cargo industry since 12 years, working among others for Kitty Hawk Airlines, Arrow Cargo, Arik Air
and Brussels Airlines. Yaima told us in this exclusive interview that joining Kales as their Regional Sales Manager is a tremendous professional challenge and huge opportunity to enlarge the
agent’s North American footprint.
We spoke with her one day after she took office.
Q: Yaima, your first day in office – how did it go?
A: My first day in the MIA office this past Monday October 12th was very exciting. Getting organized for my new role with Kales has kept me very busy.
After having met the team in NY this past week, I already feel part of a great team and looking forward to working with them very closely.
Q: As far as we know, leisure carrier Thomas Cook is your only mandate airline up to this point. Which routes do they serve to / from Florida and how much lower deck capacity do they
offer the market each week that you are supposed to fill with U.S. exports?
A: For Kales I will be representing various carriers in the MIA area, including Thomas Cook as online carrier and also SN Brussels Cargo, as offline carrier. Certainly Thomas
Cook will be of great interest to our customers in MIA with two direct flights to Manchester with an estimated capacity of 10 tons per flight. We have already experienced this week that the
flight is attracting perishable cargo customers. There will be some additional carriers soon, including an online carrier. We will let you know in due time!
Q: Speaking about clients - where do you see additional potential, on which trade lanes?
A: Based on my experience I foresee that potential PER, PHARMA and COURIER customers could benefit from our online services on TCX and AM. All of the other forwarders will
consider our services of regular cargo to support the other offline airlines we are representing.
Q: According to Kales’ U.S. chief Tiedke the Florida office that you head shall target Latin America to widen the scope of business. Considering the local market situation, where do you
see realistic opportunities to put this aim into practice?
A: I would emphasize on interline agreements with the major carriers operating to and from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Q: Low rates, overcapacity are the main two burdens plaguing the cargo industry not just in the U.S. What’s the situation in Florida in this respect?
A: Indeed, we face strong competition from online carriers ex MIA with extra capacity offering very low rates. Even more competition than from other points in the USA, since many
seasonal carriers operate into Florida year round.
Q: When do you think will you announce the acquisition of your first mandate airline?
A: We are currently working on new projects for next year, and hopefully we will have good news in the coming months.
Heiner Siegmund
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