Aviation plays a vital role in trade facilitation where air freight has proved to be a very timely indicator of overall world trade volumes. At present, the Middle East region should focus on restoring investor confidence in order to permit international trade to thrive despite unsavory conditions. Twinkle Sahita
From airport infrastructure to developments to increase capacity to handle operations, Middle East air cargo industry makes its own way to emerge and evolve bigger and better despite turbulent times hindering trade. The region stands at the center of global trade and enables easy transit of air cargo and links crucial markets. The Middle East region flies high where air cargo industry developments are concerned.
The large volume of air cargo that flows through Middle East cargo hubs reflects the region’s history as the crossroad between Africa, Asia, and Europe. Estimating, one can deduct the fact that Doha, in Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, follow Dubai in traffic volume. New infrastructure developments have been reinforcing the region’s role as a hub. All three of the largest cargo centers in the region, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha, are expanding their cargo-handling capacity to meet growing passenger and cargo demand. Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, world’s largest cargo hub is home to an integrated operation, combining different transportation modes, logistics, manufacturing, and assembly in a single free-trade zone. These significant developments in UAE such as Dubai South - Al Maktoum International Airport, and the planned GCC-wide railway contributes to Middle East prominent position as a logistics hub well into the future. Hamad International is Qatar’s new airport, opened in 2014 next to the city of Doha and the glittering Arabian Gulf. The air cargo terminal can process nearly 6,000 shipments simultaneously, and will be capable of processing almost 1.5 million tonnes of cargo annually (upon final completion). In addition to a live animal facility the terminal includes a dangerous goods facility as well as a perishables storage area. The airline’s new cargo facility combined with the current facility, will allow Qatar Airways Cargo to handle 4.4 million tonnes of cargo a year, an increase from current 1.4 million tonne capacity. To handle additional capacity at the airport, Qatar Airways Cargo recently takes delivery of two freighters, the seventh Airbus A330F and first Boeing 747F nose loader aircraft. Akbar Al Baker, chief executive, Qatar Airways group indicated that, “Future plans include building further capacity for cargo at Hamad International Airport, to upto 7 million tonnes, after current expansion plans are complete.” Sharjah International Airport has five cargo terminals with a total floor area of 32,000 square metres served by separate cargo aircraft parking positions, equipped for handling up to 16 different type aircrafts. The terminals are for cargo holding, import, freight forwarders, customs and overflow imports, and export. The latest National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) report studies the contribution of Emirates to the Indian economy. For Emirates, which completes 30 years of operations, India is a key market as far as its cargo division is concerned. According to Keki Patel, cargo manager for India & Nepal at Emirates SkyCargo, the capacity is good for India. “We have about 14,000 tonnes of uplift from India and we expect to record 10 to 15 percent growth year over year,” Patel said. Among commodities that top the chart by volume are perishables, which include pharmaceutical products, chemicals, automotive and electronics. “We are very focused on pharma export from India and we offer various solutions to meet different temperature requirements of the pharma shippers,” Patel said. In fact Emirates SkyCargo recently did a charter carrying 100 tonnes of pharma products from Mumbai to Osaka in Japan via its Dubai hub. NCAER estimates deduced the fact that Emirates operations have contributed over $848 million annually to India’s GDP, supporting over 86,000 Indian jobs and generating almost $1.7 billion in Foreign Exchange Earnings. The report also forecasts the increased contribution that Emirates would be able to make if capacity entitlements were expanded. The NCAER study underlines the importance of air transport and its role as an economic driver in India. Aviation facilitates trade and tourism, and creates employment in many different industries. Saurabh Bandyopadhyay, NCAER, said, “The current NCAER report observed that Emirates makes an important contribution to the Indian air transport sector in terms of passenger traffic and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE). The airline’s economic contribution to the air transport sector is seen to percolate to the economy at large through various multiplier effects. The study predicts further escalation of economic benefits for the Indian economy as Emirates grows the number of seats into India. This growth would result in direct economic contribution, multiplier effect on output and job-creation along with an induced effect on tourism. Apart from the quantified benefits from Emirates operations in India, the identified qualitative benefits also entreat an expansion of its operation in India.” The NCAER study models the economic value of potential future bilateral increases and forecasts that, if Emirates were to operate an additional 4,500 weekly seats between India and Dubai, an additional 4,800 jobs would be created, Foreign Exchange Earnings would rise to $1.8 billion with the arrival of almost 40,000 more tourists a year. Another clear evidence of the Middle East carriers enhancing presence in the Indian market is the recent launch of flights to Nagpur from Doha by Qatar Airways, taking the airline’s total weekly passenger flights from 95 to 102 across 13 key cities in India. Oman Air and Cargolux have added an extra frequency to their freighter partnership between Oman and India, and plan to add further destinations to the tie-up in the future. The two airlines initiated second weekly flight between Chennai and Muscat. “India will be a very important market for Cargolux in the future and we will look at further expansion soon with planned addition of Mumbai as a second destination,” said Niek van der Weide, executive vice president sales and marketing, Cargolux. “Our new services will generate increased cargo traffic that will not only attract important revenue streams, but will also demonstrate to the global market the outstanding, modern cargo infrastructure that Oman offers.” Following the initial agreement, signed in April, Oman Air agreed to provide Cargolux with access to the freight capacity of its passenger fleet, which flies to 11 destinations in India and three in Pakistan, as well as to destinations in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Lately, airlines are extending their reach to the Middle East region. Turkish Cargo continues to expand its distribution network in the Middle East as it has included Iraq in its land transport services. With the land transport network built throughout Iraq, more efficient distribution to a larger area has started to be provided. By this means, home-delivery distribution can be provided to 18 regions including Zakho, Dohuk, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, Mosul, Baghdad, Al Anbar, Tikrit, Diyala, Ramadi, Najaf, Karbala, Maysan, Hillah, Diwaniyah, Samawah, Nasiriyah and Basra through an Erbil-based distribution network . Ensuring that the development takes place from the Middle East region to other important markets as well, Qatar Airways launched new services between Doha and Durban on December 17, 2015. Qatar Airways Cargo also launched new freighter route to Dallas/Fort Worth commencing operations on January 19, 2016, increasing its network to six freighter destinations in the Americas. In total Qatar Airways Cargo provides service to 13 destinations in the Americas, with additional upload provided in the belly hold of the airline’s commercial aircraft. Emirates SkyCargo handled a very important load of 84 tonnes of heavy machinery and steel parts for a new bridge currently being constructed across the Nile River in Uganda. The cargo consisted of machinery, including a winch, down-the-hole hammer, and steel parts for the bridge. Being on the right track at the right hour is the need. Considering the breadth of Middle East carrier’s network and how the demand for air travel is expected to double in the next five to ten years in India, air cargo shall contribute to bring a growing number of tourists and business travellers to the country, further enabling trade and investment.