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Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Growth of Global Middle Class to Benefit Air Cargo

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Figures indicate that globally, the middle class is larger than previously thought. Ignazio Coraci explains why the expanding international middle class could prove a valuable asset to the air cargo sector.

Driving trade

The global air freight sector depends on international trade to drive revenue, as when consumers buy goods from other countries, they generate business for the industry. Cross-border e-commerce is a particularly strong driver of air-freight growth, as it creates robust demand for air cargo services, and with this sector due to record strong long-term growth, the future looks bright for air freight firms.

The middle class, meanwhile, serves as the engine of the global economy, driving trade forward. These consumers have enough disposable income to execute big-ticket transactions on regularly, while the middle class is sizeable enough to ensure that they generate serious revenue for businesses. It is key that we have a strong middle class to spur global economic growth, and this appears to be the case.

Ignazio coraci air cargoGrowing middle class

The global middle class was estimated to measure 3.2 billion people – around half the world’s population, in 2016. But according to Global Trade Mag, an industry publication, this could be inaccurate. A paper published by Homi Kharas, a Senior Fellow at research group The Brookings Institution, suggests that the middle class could be up to 500 million larger than previously thought.

The Senior Fellow decided to re-visit his middle class calculations, due to four important developments. First, a poll of purchasing power parity prices has drastically changed, providing an improved understanding of relative economic strength. Also gross domestic product (GDP) data has improved, weakness in global economic growth has continued, and there are now new polls which provide a greater understanding of income distribution, leading to the change in middle class figures.

Moving into the future

By re-examining these factors, Homi gleaned some interesting insights. The Senior Fellow noted that Asian and African countries “were estimated to be far richer, compared to other countries, than previously imagined… Asian households in particular, are now thought to be much richer, relatively speaking, than before.” The research also showed how the global middle class will grow in future.

According to the study, the middle class is estimated to expand by 0.5% to 1% annually in advanced economies, but by 6% per year in emerging economies. Continuing, Homi wrote in the report: “Within a few years… based on current forecasts, a majority of the world’s population could have middle-class or rich lifestyles for the first time ever,” as middle class growth accelerates in the next decade.

Benefitting air cargo

Commenting on these findings, Ignazio Coraci said: “The projected growth of the global middle class during the next decade could prove beneficial to the air cargo industry. It will hopefully provide carriers with a lot of new business, especially as international e-commerce growth picks up steam, allowing them to rack up more revenue and chart a brighter future across the next ten years.”

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Malpensa Airport to See Strong Growth in 2017

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New reports indicate that Milan’s Malpensa airport saw strong air cargo growth in early 2017, and this momentum is only set to pick up further throughout the rest of the year. Ignazio Coraci comments.

Base of operations

Malpensa is the most strategically placed airport in Southern Europe. It is located in Lombardy, which is the richest region in Italy and a key driver of its economy, providing a multitude of opportunities for air cargo firms. Malpensa is also the only Southern-European hub to be ranked among the top 10 European cargo airports, making it very attractive for carriers who wish to serve this profitable market.

Malpensa airport also serves as our base of operations here at SW Italia. From Malpensa, we provide all-cargo services around the world, flying to far-flung destinations such as Azerbaijan, China and the US. We have quickly established ourselves as one of Italy’s leading all-cargo services, partly due to this advantageous location, and we are now expanding our fleet, to grow our company further.

Malpensa growth

There is a lot of potential to be found at Malpensa airport. Figures quoted by Air Cargo Week, an industry publication, suggest that for the past three years, the amount of air freight which passed through Malpensa grew at an average of 8%. But Malpensa’s air freight volumes expanded by a staggering 13% in the opening two months of 2017, showing that business is booming at the airport.

Meanwhile, this data suggests that in 2016, Malpensa’s air freight volumes rose by 7.4%. The airport’s air cargo volumes kept rising in early 2017 due to a stable economy, robust imports and exports and recovering road feeder service volumes. Experts believe that these same factors will ensure that Malpensa’s air freight volumes keep growing during the rest of the year, benefitting air cargo firms.

Contributing factors

There are various factors, which have attributed to the recent growth of Malpensa’s air freight numbers. The airport has long-been as a hub for the transport of goods such as pharmaceuticals, clothes, machinery, sports cars and perishables e.g. wine. Some of these, most notably pharmaceuticals, are seeing rapid growth, and coupled with the rising number of both small and heavy packages that are being transported from the hub, this is helping grow Malpensa’s air cargo volumes.

ignazio coraci looks at growth at Malpensa AirportWe should also not that Asia and the US – which is set to see robust air cargo growth long-term, account for over 70% of exports from Milan. Due to the recovery of import flows and increasing capacity of both direct and indirect services, the US market was a practically prominent driver of Malpensa’s growth in 2016. Meanwhile, Malpensa-based carriers are increasingly targeting new markets, such as South America, and this could boost the airport’s fortunes further going forward.

It is particularly interesting to note that Italy is only set to experience modest economic growth over the next few years, as it is not viewed by foreign companies as an easy place to do business. However in spite of this, Malpensa airport is expected to post further air cargo increases, in part because e-rising commerce is creating a climbing, constant stream of traffic for couriers based at the airport.

New opportunities

Commenting on these figures, Ignazio said: “Our location has allowed us to turn SW Italia into one of Italy’s leading all-cargo services. As Malpensa airport fulfils its potential and sees its air cargo volumes expand further in 2017, there will be new opportunities for us to capitalise on, allowing SW Italia to grow its operations and launch services to new markets, so we can thrive going forward.”

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Air Freight Grows Significantly in Miami

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Ignazio Coraci comments on recently-released figures, which indicate that during the past year, air cargo traffic volumes grew significantly in the US port city of Miami.

Amazing opportunities

There is amazing potential to be found in the US air cargo sector. A study published by the US’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projected that in terms of RTMS, total American air freight traffic for domestic and global routes will climb by 1.4% during 2017. Meanwhile, the FAA forecast that total US air freight RTMs will grow on average by 3.1% per annum between 2017 and 2037.

It appears as though a fair share of this potential lies in Miami – a city located on the sea-coast of Florida, one of the US’ most populous states. Miami is a centre of business, finance, commerce and pharmaceuticals, while its location makes the city one of the primary entry points into the lucrative US market. These factors are making Miami an increasingly attractive destination for air cargo firms.

Booming air cargo

According to Freight Week, an industry publication, the city’s rising status as an air cargo hub, is leading to a rise in air cargo rates for its Miami International Airport (MIA). The US’ Department of Commerce recently revealed that the value of air cargo which passed through the hub increased by 8% during the previous year, to reach US$5.3 billion, showing that Miami’s fortunes are rising.

ignazio coraci looks at growth at miami airportIt is important to note that for a decade, Florida has ranked as the US’ fourth largest state in terms of gross domestic product (GDP).  It held this position in 2005, when the state’s GDP was US$700.3 billion and it retained this ranking in 2015, with a state GDP of US$888.1 billion. This has benefitted Miami’s air cargo industry, which accounted for a colossal 92% of Florida’s total air trade value in 2016.

Stronger prospects

Commenting on this news Carlos Gimenez, the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, where the city is located, said: “MIA’s continued growth means a stronger economy and more job creation for our community… That’s something each of our [county’s] 2.7 million residents can be proud of.” Data also shows that the lion’s share of MIA’s air cargo growth can be attributed to pharmaceuticals.

Between 2011 and 2016, MIA’s air cargo rates for pharmaceuticals jumped by 140%, with a rise of 48% registered in the past year alone, to reach US$4.4 billion by the close of last year. Expanding, Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio González argued: “Our efforts to maximize pharma freight traffic at MIA continue to pay dividends for Miami-Dade County, the state and the nation… The World Health Organization projects that the global pharma industry will rise in value from US$300 billion to US$400 billion within the next three years, and we want to position MIA at the centre of that growth trend.”

Tapping US markets

Speaking out on this news, Ignazio noted: “We can see, from the release of these figures, that along with other East-Coast locations such as New York, Miami is set to be a prosperous market for air cargo firms going forward. At SW Italia we are looking to tap into the lucrative US market, by developing a Milan to Chicago service and we may expand to East-Coast locations as time passes, so we can harness the potential to be found in the US, and build a booming international all-cargo operation in future.”

Cargo News, Ignazio Coraci

Global Air Cargo Demand Climbs in February 2017

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New data has recently come to light, which illustrated that global demand for air cargo climbed at a phenomenal pace during the second month of 2017. Ignazio Coraci gives his take on these figures.

Changing fortunes

2016 was a challenging year for businesses. An uncertain geo-political climate, with events such as Brexit damaging investor sentiment, coupled with a slowing Chinese economy to ensure that 2016 only saw moderate trade growth. This inevitably had an impact on the fortunes of the global air cargo sector, which depend upon trade to thrive, ensuring it too only recorded moderate growth last year.

But the fortunes of the worldwide air cargo sector are changing this year. Despite the fact that January is a traditionally bad time for the sector, air cargo volumes expanded on some key routes during the opening month of the year. On the Hong Kong/US and Hong Kong/Europe routes, for example, air freight rates were 9.1% and 6.5% higher respectively in January 2017, than they were in January 2016.

Strong demand

Figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) indicates that the global air cargo industry kept growing in February 2017, according to Airport Technology, an aviation sector news hub. The IATA notes that worldwide, demand for air freight climbed by 12% – way higher than the five year monthly average of 3%, in terms of freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) in this month.

Commenting, IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac noted: “February further added to the cautious optimism building in air cargo markets. Demand grew by 12% in February—about four times the five-year average rate. With demand growing faster than capacity, yields got a boost. While there are signs of stronger world trade, concerns over the current protectionist rhetoric are still very real.”

Further progress

The organisation also found that when compared to February 2016, demand for global air freight ticked up by 8.4%. The IATA further noted that when measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), the capacity of the worldwide air freight industry dropped by 0.4% in February 2017, while there was also a slight uptick in global trade volumes, which correlated with the air cargo demand rise.

Turning his attention to the air cargo market’s future prospects, Alexandre said: “Any optimistic look at the future sees growing demand for specialised value added services. Shippers are telling us that the key to turning the current uptick in the cargo industry’s fortunes into longer-term growth is modernising our antiquated processes. We must use the current momentum to push ahead with the elements of the e-cargo vision—including the e-air waybill which is nearing 50% market penetration.”

Brighter future

Giving his commentary on the IATA’s latest data, Ignazio Coraci noted: “The global economy is starting to recover from a rocky 2016, benefiting the worldwide air cargo industry and boosting demand during February 2017. With cross-border e-commerce, an increasing lucrative market for air cargo, set to grow rapidly over the next five years, the future is looking brighter and brighter for the industry.”

Cargo News

Improving Global Economy Benefits Air Cargo Sector

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New figures indicate that throughout the first two months of 2017, the global air cargo sector rode the “wave of an improving world economy” to record strong growth. Ignazio Coraci comments.

Revised fortunes  

The global economy underperformed in 2016, due to shock events such as Brexit, but things picked up towards the end of the year. This was reflected by figures released by Absolute Strategy Research, which showed that “there is a reported pick-up in airfreight confidence,” which can be ascribed to increasing carrier efficiency and rising e-commerce volumes, which create new business for the sector.

Experts also recently suggested that the current economic environment has benefitted air cargo. This was recently illustrated by the semiconductor sector, which is seen as an indicator of what’s happening in air cargo. In January 2017, semiconductor industry sales climbed by 13.9%, hitting US$30.6 billion, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, suggesting that the air cargo market has been boosted as a result.

Expanding volumes

WorldACD logoThis trend has been confirmed by analyst WorldACD’s latest market update, which showed that the recovering economy is boosting the air freight industry. WorldACD found that in weight terms, global demand for air cargo ticked up by 6.3%, YoY, from January to February 2017. The firm said that after Chinese New Year, a traditionally weak period for air cargo, demand rose straight away.

Urging caution, WorldACD was quoted by Air Cargo News, an industry portal, saying: “Are these signs a harbinger of good times to come? Air cargo seems to ride the wave of an improving world economy, making for a good outlook for this year. Yet, we should caution against expectations of the present YoY growth percentages continuing. After all, the impressive growth percentages of the past half year were possible because of the relative weakness in the equivalent period one year earlier.”

Findings breakdown

WorldACD also broke their findings down along regional lines. During the opening two months of this year, air cargo demand expanded most rapidly in the Asia Pacific (+11%), North America (+7%) and Europe (+6.5%). WorldACD also discovered that in this time, global air cargo yield dropped by 5.9%, in dollar terms, when contrasted with the same value recorded between November and December 2016.

Expanding, WorldACD continued: “Viewing January/February 2017 against January/February 2016, we see a yield drop of 2.6% in US dollar-terms, but a 0.6 % yield rise, when measured in euros… So, the good news is that January/February revenues increased YoY. However, seen against the backdrop of jet fuel prices rising strongly YoY, margins for airlines continued to be fragile.”

Amazing progress

Commenting, Ignazio Coraci said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that a stabilising global economy is benefiting the worldwide air cargo sector, as demand surged in the first two months of 2017. Demand was particularly strong in powerful consumer markets, for example the US, a nation which is set for major-long-term growth in the air freight segment, due to strong economic fundamentals and rising e-commerce activity. The global air cargo sector, therefore, holds incredible potential, as more people are now buying goods online, and the resurging economy is helping the sector to tap it.”

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GCC Set For Strong E-Commerce Growth

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The Gulf-Cooperation Council (GCC) region, which includes all the Persian Gulf Arab states except Iran, is a profitable market for the global air cargo sector. New reports indicate that the region could become more lucrative, as the GCC is set to record strong e-commerce growth in the next few years.

Lucrative region

Ignazio coraci looks at Gulf-Co-Operation Council (GCC) regionThe GCC possesses a thriving collective economy, which according to EY – a banking sector specialist, could become the sixth biggest economy on earth by 2030. The region, therefore, has high rates of consumer spending, for example people in the GCC spent US$9.3 billion on beauty and personal care products alone in 2016, a rise of 10% from the year before. This is proving beneficial for air cargo.

As internet coverage rises in the GCC, more consumers are choosing to buy products online. This has provided new business for carriers, as they can supply the speedy product transport services, which many people have come to expect in the digital age. The GCC’s air freight sector is a US$7 billion market and the Middle East, which includes the GCC, saw its air freight volumes keep growing in 2016.

E-commerce growth   

It looks as though the GCC’s air cargo market will record further growth in future, as a new report from consulting firm A.T Kearney argues that the region could become the fastest expanding e-commerce market on earth. According to Freight Week, an industry portal, in 2015 online shopping contributed US$5.3 billion (0.2 of its gross domestic product), to the GCC’s economy. But A.T Kearney forecasts that this contribution will increase almost fourfold, to a massive US$20 billion, in the period to 2020.

Commenting, A.T. Kearney Partner Laurent Viviez said: “We expect the growth of e-commerce in the GCC to transform the future of businesses, economics and lives across the region – but only with the right set of enablers in place… And it doesn’t rule out traditional retailers, who can be on the winning side of e-commerce by adopting an omni-channel approach. We see the future for the sector as not digital-only but ‘physical with digital’ – traditional retailers can really tap into this.”

Serious potential

Speaking out on this research, Ignazio Coraci commented: “At ASC Cargo, of which I am CEO, we perform cargo and ground handling services for GCC-based carriers, such as Kuwait Airlines. We have seen first-hand how the rise of e-commerce has boosted the region’s air freight sector, as consumers increasingly choose to buy goods online, generating more business for carriers in the GCC region.

“It is clear, therefore, that if A.T. Kearney’s forecasts prove accurate, and the GCC’s ecommerce sector expands to US$20 billion by 2020, air freight firms could benefit from the additional income generated. Also, air cargo’s fortunes could be boosted further, by Amazon’s recent decision to buy Souq.com, the largest online marketplace in the Arab world. With Amazon’s technological investment and expertise, Souq.com will be able to improve their services, making it easier for GCC consumers to purchase goods online, and creating more business for air cargo, so the future is looking bright for the sector.”

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Heathrow’s Freight Expansion Outpaces Passengers

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London’s Heathrow airport is one of the world’s busiest air cargo hubs. It faces little risk of losing this position, as new figures show that Heathrow saw such strong air cargo growth in 2016, that the rate of this expansion outpaced the rise in passenger numbers it experienced during the same period.

The expansion has been overwhelming

Massive hub

The UK’s capital is an economic powerhouse. London is one of the planet’s leading financial markets for global businesses. It is also developing lucrative technology sector, with its financial technology industry doing particularly well. According to We Are Top 10, a technology resource, London’s gross domestic product (GDP) is currently US$731.2bn, making it the world’s fifth wealthiest city.

A significant amount of London’s GDP comes from exports, which currently stands at roughly £92bn per year. London depends on its logistics sector, to transport goods to consumers overseas and capitalise on its export potential. Heathrow is London’s biggest airport, making it the lynchpin of its logistics landscape and it is growing fast. In December 2016, Heathrow’s air freight volumes increased by 5%, despite the fact that this is traditionally a slow month, reflecting rising industry confidence.

Rising volumes

Industry confidence in Heathrow’s air cargo prospects seems to be founded. Sector portal Air Cargo News reports that across 2016, Heathrow experienced a 3% climb in air freight volumes. This means that 1.54m tonnes were flown out of Heathrow across last year. This was attributed to its new services to Inverness, Santiago, San Jose and Jakarta, as well as to the £674m in investment it saw in 2016.

On the back of this progress, Heathrow’s earnings vaulted from £2.7bn in 2015, to £2.8n last year. What was interesting, was that Heathrow’s passenger volumes ticked up by 1% across 2016, meaning that a record 75.7m people walked its halls throughout last year. From this, we see that Heathrow’s growth in air cargo business actually outpaced its rise in passenger visits in the past 12 months.

Heathrow milestone

Speaking on these figures Heathrow’s Chief Executive called 2016 “a milestone for Heathrow.” He added that Whitehall’s decisions to finally announce its support for the long-proposed third Heathrow runway and unveil a four-month public consultation on a National Policy Statement has boosted the airport’s fortunes. Going on, he noted: “I am very proud of what our 76,000 colleagues have achieved. We helped British businesses across the country trade more with the rest of the world.”

Adding commentary Ignazio Coraci, the CEO of ASC Cargo, which runs freight and ground handling services for airlines at Heathrow, said: “We have seen more firms fly goods from and into Heathrow than ever in 2016, as the rising e-commerce sector makes it easier for consumers to order goods directly worldwide. We are proud to provide the cargo handling services, such as warehousing and direct transport airside, that players need to make the most of this thriving global commerce hub.”

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SW Italia Starts Expanding its Fleet

SW Italia’s CEO, Ignazio Coraci, recently announced that the leading Italian all air-cargo carrier will pursue ambitious expansion plans in 2017, by extending its air shipment services globally.

Leading carrier

SW Italia has expanded. Cargo News from cargonews.it
SW Italia’s fleet has expanded.

Based at Milan’s Malpensa Airport, SW Italia was founded in January 2015. Right from its inception, SW Italia has aimed to become Italy’s leading completely air cargo service and to make headway in the lucrative European market. SW Italia is now increasingly connecting with the main cargo markets for Italy, from Korea, China and Hong Kong in the East, to the booming United States in the West.

SW Italia established its fleet with a Boeing 747-400F. This is the best-selling model in the Boeing 747 family of jet airliners. This full freight unit has been out on rent to Qatar Airways, one of the most prosperous carriers in the Middle East, for the past year. Qatar Airways has relied on this Boeing 747-400F to conduct key services from Doha, the Qatari capital, to China and on to Northern Europe.

Expansion plans

SW Italia has now added a second Boeing 747-400F to its fleet. It will be employed by the key Chinese courier STO Express on its Hong Kong to Prague service, which it established in late 2016. The plane, which now bears STO Express’ insignia, will travel this Hong Kong to Prague route three times a week, but is also expected to make stopovers in Brescia Montichiari and Baku on the return flight.

The company has also announced that it will add a third Boeing 747-400F to its fleet in November 2017. It is expected that this unit may serve the US market, where SW Italia recently secured flight authorisations to carry cargo between top European and American transport hubs. Reports have revealed, for example, that SW Italia is planning to cultivate a Milan to Chicago service.

Commenting on SW Italia’s expansion plans, Ignazio Coraci was quoted by Avio News, an online air news agency, saying: “In 2017 we expect to further increase our fleet with another and open new routes.” Ignazio also stated that now SW Italia has received the necessary US authorisations, it will start pursuing its American expansion plans and it also hopes to move into the African market, which is a small but growing export destination for Italian companies, at some point in the future.

Ambitious goals

SW Italia may have only been established two years ago, but the firm has already positioned itself successfully in the global air cargo market. It has also consolidated critical partnerships in the worldwide arena, to take advantage of new business opportunities. With its 2017 expansion plans, SW Italia will clearly continue to grow its air cargo delivery business across the world in future.

About Ignazio Coraci

Ignazio Coraci is a senior player in the global aviation industry, specialising in air-cargo delivery services. Ignazio is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Heathrow Airport-based ground-handling service ASC Cargo and holds the same position at SW Italia, one of Italy’s leading all-cargo airlines.

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SW Italia To Pursue Milan-Chicago Service

SW Italia, an air all-cargo services firm headed by Ignazio Coraci, has announced that it has initiated plans to set up a Milan to Chicago line, as part of its ambitions to establish operations across the US.

Serving markets

Image of an air hangar. Ignazio Coraci discusses SW Italia's new operations.
A new operation is being pursued.

SW Italia is fast-becoming one of the most important all-cargo services in Europe. This carrier service is majority-owned by Ignazio Coraci, via his firm Cargo Invest. Ignazio recently revealed that in 2015 – its first year of operation, SW Italia earned US$1.1m in net profit, on revenue equalling US$25.2m.

The firm has maximised profitability, by developing its network to include key cargo travel destinations for the Italian market. SW Italia operates scheduled services, for example, between Milan Malpensa and Baku, Incheon, Hanoi and Vienna, via a leased 757-400 freighter. It has now applied for an expedited U.S. Foreign Air Carrier Permit to run scheduled and charter flights to key US destinations.

US flights

Freight Week, an industry portal, lists more details on the application, which has been made under the US’ Open Skies Agreement with the EU. It would start with flights between Milan and Chicago. SW Italia has also applied for permission to eventually run scheduled and on-demand charter flights between any points in Italy, through any intermediate points, to any points in the US and beyond.

SW Italia is further seeking permission to run foreign scheduled and chartered air cargo services from any EU member state, via any EU member state or intermediate points, to anywhere in the US and beyond. SW Italia also wants to supply similar services between any points in the US and any other destination. It is additionally hoping to secure authorisation for any scheduled/chartered transports according to any extra rights that may become available to European Community carriers later.

The firm broke down the profits and costs of running air cargo flights between Italy and the US in its filing. SW Italia estimates that with an 80% load factor, its average revenue for running a charter flight between Milan and various destinations on the US East Coast would be US$163,200 at US$1.60 per kilo. The cost of this service would come in at US$275,125.00, but “with the estimated 96 flights in the first year of operations, the financial result per year is estimated to constitute $1,005,600.”

Major investment

It is key to devote significant capital to business expansion operations, in order to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to allow said operations to succeed. The US is the largest economy in the world, with a lucrative air cargo transportation sector. If SW Italia’s application succeeds, it will invest heavily into making its scheduled and chartered services between Italy and the US fruitful. With this strategy, it could harness the power of the US’ booming economy, to build a lucrative revenue stream.

 

Cargo News

SW Italia Builds On Partnership With HACTL

In late 2016, SW Italia extended its partnership with Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (HACTL), one of the world’s leading air cargo terminal services, with a new deal. This development was welcomed by SW Italia’s President, Iganzio Coraci, who labelled it “an exciting new project” for both firms.

Strong partnership

Ignazio Coraci discusses SW Italia
SW Italia is growing strongly

SW Italia is fast-becoming one of Italy’s leading all-cargo airlines, with the goal of eventually becoming one of the most important in Europe. SW Italia is increasingly developing its network, to connect with the main cargo destinations for the Italian market. The locations currently featured in SW Italia’s network include the US, as well as various Asian markets like China, Vietnam on Hong Kong.

Building its Hong Kong operations, SW Italia has formed an extensive partnership with HACTL. Operating out of Hong Kong International Airport, HACTL supports the import, export and trans-shipment of air cargo for this Chinese city-state, utilising innovative technology to supply world-class service. SW Italia has now tasked HACTL with handling its new weekly Boeing 747-8F service.

Exciting project

An article on Global Trade Mag reports that this service will operate between Hong Kong and Prague. It will be for the exclusive use of Sto Express, one of China’s largest express operators, in what is believed to be the first regular European freight operation undertaken on behalf of any Chinese express carrier. The Boeing 747-8F will carry the livery i.e. company branding of Sto Express in flight.

Speaking out on SW Italia’s Hong Kong to Prague service, Ignazio Coraci said: “We look forward to working with Sto Express on this exciting new project, and are very happy to entrust the vitally important ground handling element of the operation to our long-term service partner HACTL.” This strengthened partnership was also welcomed by Mark Whitehead, HACTL’s Chief Executive.

Commenting further, Whitehead noted that “we are delighted to extend our relationship with SW Italia to include this new operation, which clearly signals the growing role of the mainstream airfreight industry in e-commerce logistics.” HACTL will supply a comprehensive service, encompassing ramp handling, cargo terminal operations, cargo documentation and crew transportation.

New opportunities

Hong Kong boasts a vibrant economy, with a fast-expanding e-commerce sector. Hong Kong International Airport is the world’s busiest airport by cargo traffic, providing plenty of opportunities for firms like SW Italia. SW Italia relies on HACTL’s familiarity Hong Kong International Airport to tap these opportunities, so the firm was the obvious choice, for this new Hong Kong to Prague service.

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