‘Preighting’ plus pooling
The market is still suffering from a dearth of intercontinental airfreight capacities. In March, the forwarder Fracht AG and Swiss WorldCargo started close collaboration on new airfreight options from China to Europe and the Americas. Sebastian Furler, Paolo Spagnuolo and Omar Bragatto talked to Christian Doepgen on Zurich Kloten airport’s apron and in the aeroplanes.
The unfamiliar quiet around Zurich airport came to an end late in May, with ‘preighters’ taxiing on the apron. A project taking place under the label of this neologism – a ‘preighter’ is a passenger unit that transports freight in the cabin – wasn’t only about new charter flights from China and aircraft put to new use, but also includes the innovative concept of aviation groupage services.
No success without compliance
On the apron of Zurich airport recently, Sebastian Furler, air cargo manager with Fracht AG, told the ITJ about the project. Standing beside one of the aeroplanes he told editor-in-chief Christian Doepgen that “we reacted to growing demand from existing and new clients by launching what we call our ‘cargo pooling’ services, with the support of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SCCC). One groupage flight alone serves the needs of 30 customers.” Fracht AG’s air cargo offices in Switzerland, in Agno, Basel, Geneva, Zurich, acquired the business jointly.
Success can’t be attained without breaking sweat, however – nor without complying with all of the applicable regulations. Swiss WorldCargo (SWC) organised the airfreight capacities, rights and time slots, which meant a lot of challenges had to be overcome in a very short time, according to senior manager Omar Bragatto. “The surge in demand meant we had to increase our existing charter capacities sixfold.”
Slots and opportunities
Today up to three aeroplanes flying in from Shanghai or Beijing land in Zurich in the course of a busy day, instead of the usual one. The contractual opportunities from those points of origin are thus exhausted. “That’s the maximum,” according to Bragatto, “on account of slots and the limits of the handling agent’s capacities.
Things are different for other stations, however. From 22 May to 8 June, ten charter flights to Zurich were operated from Shenzhen, where Lufthansa / SWC has a ground-handling organisation.
The first flight in Fracht AG’s project saw one of Swiss’s Airbus A340s fly from Beijing to Zurich as a full-charter operation on 31 March. The first pooled-cargo flight saw a Boeing B777 destined for Zurich take off from Shanghai on 13 April. Paolo Spagnuolo, air cargo manager with Fracht AG, said that “this service was particularly popular with customers that don’t have the opportunity or the quantities to book a full charter.” Medical protective clothing was a key category of goods handled.
Units and their capacities
How much cargo space – beyond the belly-hold itself – can actually be created in a passenger unit? Bragatto said that “the maximum volume of goods in a cabin comes to 235 m³. This means a loadmaster has to remain on board for the entire flight, however. If the seats are removed the maximum comes to around 275 m³.” Inspecting such a cabin from the inside makes the space that can be gained evident, with even the overhead lockers full of cardboard boxes.
A total of 21 flights from Shanghai as well as six from Beijing have been handled for Fracht AG so far in the course of this project. Furler and Spagnuolo appreciate the collaborative effort. “Swiss WorldCargo’s reliable services contributed decisively to the success of this cargo pooling. Not one flight was cancelled, with every one on time.”
