Rate-slashing could entice cargo back to air

Gulf flights jump from 14 to 26 flights a week
ALAN PEAT
AIR CARGO export rates are being cut to ribbons, according to Max Mariotti, MD of general sales agents, Aviation GSA. It’s largely due to a combination of two factors, he told FTW. Airfreight cargo capacity has jumped in the last year while SA’s air exports out of Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) have dropped 9% - a whacking drop in volume in anybody’s language. “Put these two together,” Mariotti said, “and you feel the wheels have fallen off in the aviation industry. “There’s no way to avoid it. Each incoming flight has to return to its home base anyway, and is looking for a share of a diminishing volume of export cargo. “So airlines have had to cut rates to fill their space.” That’s certainly true on the routes into Europe, where SAA and British Airways (BA) are just two of the major airlines which have just sent out blurb sheets advertising cut rates. It’s also true on the Far Eastern airways and for specific destinations in the US, according to Mariotti. But where it’s all happening, he added, is on the Middle East routes. “It’s all become so cut-throat competitive,” he said, “you might call it the new Gulf War.” This is happening because the Middle East airlines have started flooding flights in-and-out of SA. “It used to be an Emirates monopoly,” said Mariotti, “allowing them to control all the space and the rates. “But, in the last few months, things have started to stir.” In November last year, Qatar Airways went daily. Then in December Etihad started a twice-a-week service into Abu Dhabi, and Gulf Air started three-flights-a-week into Bahrain. That, said Mariotti, means that the number of flights to-and-from Gulf airports has gone up from 14 in the latter part of last year, to 26 flights-a-week now – an increase in scheduled flight numbers of over 85%. You can add to this the fact that Emirates has also changed its aircraft from the Airbus A330 to the A340 – and find that their cargo space capacity also jumped by 30%-40%. The end story, Mariotti said, is that rates to the Middle East have just been slashed to the bone with special offers. “In the last two months, rates to these destinations have been cut by more than 50% - and remain so.” The good thing is that these discounted rates are being passed on to the exporters. “That’s got its advantages,” Mariotti told FTW. “It should see development of what is currently a fairly small airfreight market, and we should be looking to get more of the cargo which is currently transported by sea moved back into the air.”