Airfreight à la française
The air cargo industry is flourishing, but how can an airport contribute even better to growth? ITJ editor Andreas Haug recently received some answers to this question from Marc Houalla, who has been the executive director of the airport operator Aéroports de Paris (ADP) since early 2018, as well as managing director of Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG).
Mr Houalla, Charles de Gaulle airport is one of the two leading freight hubs in Europe...
...but globally we haven’t yet attained the goals we want.
So what is ADP doing to achieve them?
We aim to invigorate airfreight activities at CDG through the specialists’ Air Cargo France Association (ACFA), which we founded in spring 2018. We focus on solutions that benefit all of the players. We aim to gather partners with common interests in specific projects. We’re in regular contact with the civil aviation authority, with whom we discuss strategic air cargo issues, for example concerning the development of air traffic rights. Over and above this we keep a keen eye on what is going on in the EU. We consider providers that invest in full-freighter fleets to be a great opportunity for CDG, for operating such services can secure the long-term export of key goods. This is a field in which Paris can really differentiate itself from neighbours such as Amsterdam, which is struggling with overcapacities or other constraints.
How free is CDG from the operational perspective?
We have a great potential to grow, thanks to our four runways that enable us to handle up to 300,000 additional movements a year. The airport is operational around the clock, even if there are a few operating restrictions between 24.00 and 05.00 hours. So we’re still a long way from operating at maximum capacity.
What other measures have you taken to give airfreight some uplift?
One new initiative that will grow further in the short term is collaboration with certain airports. We entered into the first of such deals to provide a stronger air cargo dynamic with Hong Kong airport, the largest airfreight centre in the world. It covers four domains; pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, perishables and luxury goods. The latter may not be the volumes leaders, but they are the added-value leaders. At Tiaca’s Air Cargo Forum in Toronto in October we signed a partnership agreement with Dallas / Fort Worth airport (DFW) that focuses exclusively on freight.
How do these relationships work in detail?
Our considerations set out from the premise that the requirements of shippers’ from a variety of industries are key. Thus we’re currently seeking to establish a quality seal for luxury goods ‘Made in France’, for example. We’re looking at how setting up special corridors between different airports can reduce the transit times for this category of goods. Our foreign partners are on board and they also want to offer services that provide higher quality, that are harmonised and sustainable. The fact that Air France is set to serve the CDG–DFW route from March onwards and that LVMH is setting up a production plant in northern Texas will surely result in cargo volumes in this segment increasing at both ends of the line.
We’re convinced that plenty of air cargo stakeholders will welcome such highly differentiated services. Our overarching aim is to weave a global network of premium service providers for certain types of goods. Of course we can’t achieve that without the support of various partners in and around the airport, including the French customs authorities, which in turn is an invaluable partner for the nation’s SMEs.
How are your pharmaceutical logistics activities progressing?
Pharmaceutical products are another category that’s right at the top of our list of development efforts. We’ve teamed up with the freight community at CDG to achieve certification in accordance with Iata CEIV Pharma. Most of our partners have already attained this goal.
What other cooperation agreements do you envisage?
We bank extensively on ‘typical’ French goods that are well-known and appreciated all over the world, especially in growing conurbations that are served by airports that are similar to CDG. We’re in the fortunate position that we work in a country that is ideally-located in Europe, that has an active economy and that has the necessary human capital and ability for technical innovation.