Emirates upbeat on Aust, with a Qantas deal ‘delivering great opportunities’
Cargo Archive Stories Issue #218
Wednesday, 03 October 2012
AIR freight may be struggling in the wake of continuing global economic turmoil, but it hasn’t dented the optimism expressed by Hiran Perera, Emirates SkyCargo, senior vice president -Cargo Planning and Freighters who was in Australia this week to meet key forwarders and shippers ahead of the carrier’s planned November launch ofB777-300ER flights to Adelaide - and to meet senior executives of proposed alliance partner Qantas Freight, writes Chris Hurd..
Perera has been in the airline Industry for more than 23 years. He joined Emirates Airline in 1986 as a cargo instructor and has since worked in various capacities within Emirates SkyCargo. He was involved in the development of the freighter operation within Emirates from the onset, playing a key role in developing and expanding the 747 freighter network. He is also involved in the assessment/development of the future freighter fleet, currently comprising four Boeing 777-Fs, two 747-400Fs and two 747-400ERFs. Perera has an MBA from the University of Bradford, UK and a Post Graduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.
Perera gave the go-head to start freighter flights to Sydney last year. “The Australian economy is still quite strong compared to other trading partners and there is significant demand for imported goods.” (Emirates Skycargo does not push outbound cargo too much as it has significant payload contracts ex Hong Kong. From Australia the freighter is routed via Hong Kong to offset costs). “We started off with one flight but demand quickly warranted a second flight and now we operate three flights a week with a fourth doing ad-hoc rotations when required. Global demand is still trending weak but Australia is performing to expectations for us.”
Emirates and Qantas have announced a co-operation pact which is before the Australian regulatory authorities. Perera sees some “wonderful opportunities based on the extensive network coverage” that could be offered should the proposed deal get the go ahead but was reluctant to comment further as there had been no detailed discussions with Qantas Freight on how the pact would actually work. He met briefly with senior Qantas Freight management and both carriers identified opportunities for growing trade and developing new markets, particularly in the mining and agricultural (perishables) sectors. He said detailed discussions would follow if the regulation authorities approved the closer ties.
Dubai-based Emirates senior management have always maintained a strong policy of remaining independent and running the airline without resorting to alliances and this will not change, even with closer ties to Qantas, he said. The proposal with Qantas was ‘more a bilateral agreement between two carriers’ and both would remain independent. “Both airlines will still be free to work with other airlines; the main benefit will be for industry and consumers.”
Both Emirates’ and Qantas’ fleets are very much geared to the A380, with Emirates the world’s largest operator of the aircraft. If the collaboration pact is cleared, the two airlines will jointly offer 98 weekly services between Australia and the UAE gateway city of Dubai including four daily A380 flights. The A380 with a full passenger load can limit cargo uplift, particularly at certain times of the year. Should significant growth return to markets, Perera said he would look at increasing freighter flights to meet demand – though at this stage that was unlikely.
“From a capacity point of view Qantas will continue to operate via Singapore, so it would not be a problem,” said Perera. “We have significant belly capacity on passenger aircraft serving Australia for the foreseeable future. The A380 with a full passenger load ex Dubai can still carry between 10 and 13 tonnes. In addition to the A380 we also operate the versatile B777-300ER to Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and the new Adelaide services.
“With a passenger load factor of 75 per cent, we can carry anything between 14 and 24 tonnes per flight. When we get large outsize freight movements such as mining equipment it is relatively easy to use the interstate trucking services to carry it to Sydney for carriage on our freighters.”
Etihad and Virgin’s alliance is expected to offer significant competition, with Etihad expected to be operating from more Australian ports with feed from Virgin, but Perera does not see cargo capacity overkill offered in what is a relatively small market and says he welcomes competition.
“Emirates has always faced competition and thrives on it,” said Perera. “It makes us a better, more innovative airline. We focus on our service excellence and on delivering an excellent product. Competition is good for the consumer. It gives them choice.”
Perera said he does not think there will be excess capacity problems for Australia and that the market will grow sufficiently to support new services. “Capacity is often weight restricted at certain times of the year, which is why we introduced the freighters to this market; they have subsequently proved themselves. I expect global markets particularly in Europe and the USA to slowly start improving. Australia has a strong economy along with heavy investment in the mining sector. Africa is emerging as a mining heavyweight. In the years to come I see more air freight moving out of Perth.”
Perera also sees good growth in the agricultural sector particularly with Emirates’ extensive global networks. It now serves 126 destinations in 74 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, North America, South America, and Asia-Pacific. This year Emirates increased its European network to 34 destinations, with new services operating to Dublin, Barcelona and Lisbon. Lyon and Warsaw will bring the European network to 36 destinations, when they come online on 05 December 2012 and 06 February 2013 respectively.
Looking ahead, Perera is optimistic and sees steady growth in the air freight sector for the next five years.
“I remain confident in the Australian freight market,” said Perera. “However, it all depends to a certain extent on how quickly Europe and to a lesser extent the US markets recover. The entire world is now inter-linked, so we really need a global recovery. I don’t think the problems will last forever. It tends to be cyclical. When it does recover,Australia is going to be very well placed to take advantage of new opportunities.”
Emirates upbeat on Aust, with a Qantas deal ‘delivering great opportunities’
Cargo Archive Stories Issue #218
Wednesday, 03 October 2012
AIR freight may be struggling in the wake of continuing global economic turmoil, but it hasn’t dented the optimism expressed by Hiran Perera, Emirates SkyCargo, senior vice president -Cargo Planning and Freighters who was in Australia this week to meet key forwarders and shippers ahead of the carrier’s planned November launch ofB777-300ER flights to Adelaide - and to meet senior executives of proposed alliance partner Qantas Freight, writes Chris Hurd..
Perera has been in the airline Industry for more than 23 years. He joined Emirates Airline in 1986 as a cargo instructor and has since worked in various capacities within Emirates SkyCargo. He was involved in the development of the freighter operation within Emirates from the onset, playing a key role in developing and expanding the 747 freighter network. He is also involved in the assessment/development of the future freighter fleet, currently comprising four Boeing 777-Fs, two 747-400Fs and two 747-400ERFs. Perera has an MBA from the University of Bradford, UK and a Post Graduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.
Perera gave the go-head to start freighter flights to Sydney last year. “The Australian economy is still quite strong compared to other trading partners and there is significant demand for imported goods.” (Emirates Skycargo does not push outbound cargo too much as it has significant payload contracts ex Hong Kong. From Australia the freighter is routed via Hong Kong to offset costs). “We started off with one flight but demand quickly warranted a second flight and now we operate three flights a week with a fourth doing ad-hoc rotations when required. Global demand is still trending weak but Australia is performing to expectations for us.”
Emirates and Qantas have announced a co-operation pact which is before the Australian regulatory authorities. Perera sees some “wonderful opportunities based on the extensive network coverage” that could be offered should the proposed deal get the go ahead but was reluctant to comment further as there had been no detailed discussions with Qantas Freight on how the pact would actually work. He met briefly with senior Qantas Freight management and both carriers identified opportunities for growing trade and developing new markets, particularly in the mining and agricultural (perishables) sectors. He said detailed discussions would follow if the regulation authorities approved the closer ties.
Dubai-based Emirates senior management have always maintained a strong policy of remaining independent and running the airline without resorting to alliances and this will not change, even with closer ties to Qantas, he said. The proposal with Qantas was ‘more a bilateral agreement between two carriers’ and both would remain independent. “Both airlines will still be free to work with other airlines; the main benefit will be for industry and consumers.”
Both Emirates’ and Qantas’ fleets are very much geared to the A380, with Emirates the world’s largest operator of the aircraft. If the collaboration pact is cleared, the two airlines will jointly offer 98 weekly services between Australia and the UAE gateway city of Dubai including four daily A380 flights. The A380 with a full passenger load can limit cargo uplift, particularly at certain times of the year. Should significant growth return to markets, Perera said he would look at increasing freighter flights to meet demand – though at this stage that was unlikely.
“From a capacity point of view Qantas will continue to operate via Singapore, so it would not be a problem,” said Perera. “We have significant belly capacity on passenger aircraft serving Australia for the foreseeable future. The A380 with a full passenger load ex Dubai can still carry between 10 and 13 tonnes. In addition to the A380 we also operate the versatile B777-300ER to Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and the new Adelaide services.
“With a passenger load factor of 75 per cent, we can carry anything between 14 and 24 tonnes per flight. When we get large outsize freight movements such as mining equipment it is relatively easy to use the interstate trucking services to carry it to Sydney for carriage on our freighters.”
Etihad and Virgin’s alliance is expected to offer significant competition, with Etihad expected to be operating from more Australian ports with feed from Virgin, but Perera does not see cargo capacity overkill offered in what is a relatively small market and says he welcomes competition.
“Emirates has always faced competition and thrives on it,” said Perera. “It makes us a better, more innovative airline. We focus on our service excellence and on delivering an excellent product. Competition is good for the consumer. It gives them choice.”
Perera said he does not think there will be excess capacity problems for Australia and that the market will grow sufficiently to support new services. “Capacity is often weight restricted at certain times of the year, which is why we introduced the freighters to this market; they have subsequently proved themselves. I expect global markets particularly in Europe and the USA to slowly start improving. Australia has a strong economy along with heavy investment in the mining sector. Africa is emerging as a mining heavyweight. In the years to come I see more air freight moving out of Perth.”
Perera also sees good growth in the agricultural sector particularly with Emirates’ extensive global networks. It now serves 126 destinations in 74 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, North America, South America, and Asia-Pacific. This year Emirates increased its European network to 34 destinations, with new services operating to Dublin, Barcelona and Lisbon. Lyon and Warsaw will bring the European network to 36 destinations, when they come online on 05 December 2012 and 06 February 2013 respectively.
Looking ahead, Perera is optimistic and sees steady growth in the air freight sector for the next five years.
“I remain confident in the Australian freight market,” said Perera. “However, it all depends to a certain extent on how quickly Europe and to a lesser extent the US markets recover. The entire world is now inter-linked, so we really need a global recovery. I don’t think the problems will last forever. It tends to be cyclical. When it does recover,Australia is going to be very well placed to take advantage of new opportunities.”
