SHORT SHOTS

Korean Air connects Seoul with Budapest, operating a B777F

Today (24Feb), Budapest Airport welcomed the maiden cargo flight operated by Korean Air on the route Seoul – Budapest. In future, the twice-weekly B777F service will commute to Frankfurt and return to Seoul afterwards. The new connection is not only an excellent opportunity for Korean companies operating in Hungary but will also constitute a significant competitive advantage for the Hungarian economy in the import-export market, states Budapest Airport in a release.
South Korea became the largest foreign investor in Hungary last year. Large producers such as Samsung Electronics, Hanon Systems SK Innovations or Doosan and their suppliers rely on air freight to secure the permanent flow of components. On the occasion of Korean Air’s first flight, Levente Magyar, deputy minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade emphasized that “2019 was a special year in the relations between Hungary and South Korea. Trade also increased by one-third, compared to the previous year.” Korean Air will also launch a passenger flight to the South Korean capital on 23 May, which will operate three times a week between Budapest and Seoul during the summer schedule.

DSV to run charter air bridge between the U.S. and China from 25FEB20

DSV will be operating a B747-8F thrice weekly to Shanghai (PVG), China, from Huntsville (HSV), Alabama, U.S., from 25FEB20 on, in an effort to aid customers with cargo backlogs resulting from the lack of scheduled flight services currently. Estimations put the drop of available capacity at 5,000 tons per day, and this is causing major supply chain disruptions. The DSV charter solution will therefore be very much sought after.
DSV plans on leveraging its Huntsville hub and spoke model, stating that it can connect to all continents using its own charter network and DSV ground handling at uncongested airports. It also offers express connections from Huntsville to and from Latin-American countries and Canada.
DSV reports that production is picking up again and that many Chinese businesses are slowly returning to normal production. All DSV’s 21 Chinese branches (except in Wuhan, Hubei province) are open and running on limited staff, while some employees are working from home.
The company underlines that its employees’ health is its priority, and that it is closely following Chinese authority regulations.
The cargo prognosis is that there will be significant capacity shortages once production restarts in earnest.

Atlas Air looks to a better 2020, despite Coronavirus

In an investor telcon on 20FEB20, CEO John W. Dietrich stated “Airfreight is, and will continue to be a long-term growth industry, that is a critical part of the global supply chain. Atlas is well-positioned with a formidable fleet of aircraft” and pointed to flexible adjustment to cope with the current situation, along with a focus on growth customers and “Subject to uncertainties and potential opportunities with the coronavirus, we anticipate that our financial performance in 2020 will be an improvement over 2019.”
This came after posting a $410.2 million net loss for the fourth quarter of 2019 (though partly a result of a non-cash special charge of $485.2 million with respect to the write-down of the company’s whole 747-400F fleet due to lower cargo yields and aircraft utilization), bringing the 2019 result to a net loss of $293.1 million overall.
Low demand in the final quarter also led to the decision to park 4 converted B747-400s. While B747-400 ACMI operations decreased, Atlas Air saw an increase in charter operations and growth in 737, 747 and 777 CMI cargo flying.
Demand is already picking up for the second quarter of 2020, as manufacturing is starting up again and with belly-space mostly still very restricted as passenger flights have extended their restricted schedules. “We are also currently accommodating special charter demand, and we are well prepared for the anticipated surge of volumes once manufacturing resumes in full force,” he confirmed.

cargo-partner goes organic in Prague, Czech Republic.

cargo-partner’s iLogistics Center in Prague is now certified to store and handle organic products in accordance with EU Eco-regulations. Its 10,900 m² iLogistics Center located at Prague Airport’s Logicor Park has been operational since last year and Jiri Jelinek, Managing Director of cargo-partner in the Czech Republic, outlines the steps leading up to the organic certification: "Since we opened our iLogistics Center Prague in January 2019, numerous customers from the foodstuffs and perishables industry have been making use of the warehouse. We continue to optimize our facility for the requirements of this important market: In April 2019, we added a temperature-controlled section. In July 2019, our foodstuffs warehouse received the IFS certification for foodstuffs logistics. Finally, in January of this year, we obtained the organic certification, which allows us to ensure storage and handling of organic foods compliant with the EU Eco-regulation."
Certification was awarded on 14JAN20, confirming that the warehouse fulfills the requirements for the storage and handling of organic products according to Article 29 (1) of the European Union regulation (EC) 834/2007, also known as the EU Eco-regulation, which defines how agricultural products and foods that are designated as organic products have to be grown. Thus, the facility with its temperature-controlled storage area (+2 to +8 °C), is able to handle all kinds of perishable goods such as milk, meat, baked goods, beverages, fruits and vegetables in primary packaging and other similar products requiring temperature-controlled storage.

Brigitte Gledhill

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