Making plans now the skies are open
The woes that have beset the airline industry following the tragic events on 11 September have not spared the French air freight market.
National carrier Air France experienced further severe disruption on its US services.
On new year 's eve, its Paris/Washington flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the discovery of a suspicious substance onboard.
However, the airline has rebounded following the signing of the long sought after US Open Skies agreement.
Clinched in February, the deal makes France the first major European market to sign up. The agreement grants its airlines anti-trust immunity, covering codesharing flights and pricing on alliance routes with US carriers. It also allows US airlines to fly to secondary destinations from French airports – consequently putting further pressure on the UK to follow suit.
The signing also allows Air France and its partners – Delta Air Lines, Alitalia and Czech Republic carrier CSA – to fully implement the SkyTeam cargo alliance. On 18 January, the alliance was granted immunity from US anti-trust laws so that it can now plan and co-ordinate services on international routes. The US granted this immunity on the condition that the Open Skies agreement was completed with France. Previously, the US had reached agreements with Italy and the Czech Republic.
Last year, Air France, together with the other SkyTeam members, announced that it is to resume a code-share agreement with Korean Air.
The carrier plans to begin joint flights between Incheon and Paris from 1 April, and intends to include other Far East and Pacific destinations later this year.
SkyTeam opened a US cargo sales office in Atlanta offering centralised reservation to the combined route network and common product line last year. The alliance plans to open branches in 14 locations throughout the US, and regional offices including Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
The news follows Air France's earlier partnership agreement with Alitalia, built around a joint commitment to develop a "multi-hub" system at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa, and the resumption of its flagship Concorde services.
Figures recently released by the carrier for the third quarter of 2001 show an gloomy picture. The effect of last year 's terrorist attacks in the US is estimated to have cost the airline €127m for September alone.
Excluding aircraft sales, the airline reported an operating income slump of 52.3% to €157m, compared with the same period in 2000.
However, state compensation for operating losses and extra security costs have not been taken into account.
Cargo figures are shocking.
Air France Cargo was unavailable for comment, but reported an operating loss of €4m last year, compared with an operating profit of €45m on 31 December 2000, although the airline is already making a fast recovery. The carrier also announced late last year it would withdraw its fuel surcharge of €0.10/kg in Europe, and US$0.10/kg for the rest of the world.
The reworking of the carrier 's winter cargo schedule in October, following the delivery of a 12th B747-200 freighter, had not been revised at the time IFW went to press. Flights to Mexico were increased from four to five weekly and two extra weekly flights to South American destinations – Lima and Quito – were added. Services to Sao Paulo were upped to three times a week, and twice a week to Montevideo.
Shanghai is now served four times a week from Paris.
Services to New Delhi and Chennai have been reduced from three to two times weekly.
Air France stopped working with La Poste last year, which now independently operates its mail fleet with its hub at CDG airport. Also the home of FedEx's largest hub outside of the US, CDG is operated by Aeroports de Paris (ADP).
Last year, the airport handled 1.36m tonnes of cargo in 2001 – a drop of 3.5% compared with 2000.
CDG is hoping to attract another integrator by expanding its cargo handling facilities – DHL, UPS and TNT all use the airport as a secondary European hub. A possible candidate is DHL, which is reportedly looking to move its hub from Brussels.
However, the integrator would not be drawn on speculation that ADP may win its patronage.
Construction of two 30,000sq metre cargo terminals is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year and will be operated by France Handling and Vinci.
Longer-term construction plans for the extension of the Air France Cargo terminal and FedEx and La Poste's facilities are scheduled for completion within "three to four years", according to ADP spokesman Claude Elbaz.
He says one of the main priorities for ADP in 2002 is to comply with government plans to achieve greater security in cargo handling at the airport, which includes designs for new roads and inspection posts.
"We are working with the government on new access plans to ensure that any truck not loading or unloading cargo cannot reach process points at the terminals, " he says.
Apart from terrorist security concerns, ADP has been particularly hit by cargo theft. Elbaz adds: "There is a concentration of high-value commodities in the cargo terminal and, like all airports, we have been experiencing theft.
With the tightening of the safety measures there is less theft, particularly with items such as mobile phones." He says the airport authority is working with the police and the army to improve security.
ADP recently completed a study into reducing the number of night flights from the airport, following fierce campaigning by local residents, and has concluded that a high-speed rail terminal is the answer.
"We are considering having a multimodal hub.
Trucks aren't rapid enough for the needs of integrators, they require fast transport to be able to guarantee that shipments will be delivered next day, " says Elbaz. "To achieve this, if cargo is not moved by air, we believe 25% of carryings could be transferred to high-speed cargo trains." The airport authority has identified five French cities that already boast high-speed rail freight terminals, and could receive such a service.
ADP has passed the ball firmly into the court of the operators and SNCF to work out a construction and service plan.
Meanwhile, at Europort Vatry, where the major business is cargo, volumes are growing. Tonnage handled at the airport doubled in 2001 to 1,779 tonnes – the first cargo flight was only received at the airport in May 2000.
The airport snatched cargo operator Coyne Airways from Ostend in November, which now sends freight to CIS countries, such as Armenia.
Swiss shipper Prutencia started a once-weekly service from Vatry, transporting perishables, such as foodstuffs and flowers, from three African countries last December.
Khalisa Airways, was the most recent new cargo business acquisition at the airport, when the airline launched its first cargo-only flight between Vatry and Algeria in January.
"Coyne moved its European hub to Vatry because it likes the location, with two major highways to north and southern Europe very close to the airport, " says Vatry's spokesperson Laurent Delarue. "By the end of the year we will have a link with the A26, which is the motorway which runs from the north to the south." A priority for Vatry this year is to promote itself as the government's choice for investment, as the third main airport for France. This follows the sensitivities over world war one graves dampening plans for the previously chosen site at Chaulnes.
