14 November 2014 • Volume 34, No. 11B The Air Freight and Express Industry Newsletter of Record • www.CargoFacts.com Blue Sky Aviation Services, a startup all-cargo carrier based in Dubai, acquired an A300-600 Freighter (788, ex-Maximus Air) and says it will soon launch operations from Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) [FAT 001965]. This is hardly the first small all-cargo carrier to operate in the Gulf Region, and the acquisition of a 16-year-old A300 freighter is not earth-shaking news either, but in an open letter on the company’s website, Blue Sky Vice President Javed Ahmed said the carrier would add two A330-200Fs to its fleet. He did not say when the new freighters would enter service, but A330-200Fs are neither plentiful nor cheap, so the question of where Blue Sky will find two of the type is interesting. Airbus has informed Cargo Facts that it has no order or commitment from the carrier, so the potential sources are limited. • BOC Aviation has three A330-200Fs on lease to Qatar Fresh from the paint shop, Blue Sky’s A300-600F awaits Airways. Terms of the lease agreement have not been reentry into service. leased, but Cargo Facts believes it is a relatively short-term deal, so it is possible Blue Sky could be a new home for two of these freighters when they come off lease at Qatar. • An existing A330-200F operator could lease or sell two freighters to Blue Sky. The obvious candidate here is MASkargo, the cargo arm of Malaysia Airlines. MASkargo already ACMI-leases one of its four A330-200Fs to Turkish Airlines, and could be interested in similar deals with other carriers. And, of course, there is a third possibility: That Blue Sky has not yet made a formal arrangement to acquire the aircraft, but rather is planning to do so at some point in the future. Ireland-based Fly Leasing (which is managed and serviced by US-based BBAM LP) said it has “agreed to sell eight of the 11 Boeing 757 aircraft in its fleet.” No information was provided regarding the purchaser of the eight aircraft, but Cargo Facts believes it is likely to be either DHL Express or SF Airlines, both of which are known to be in the market for a large number of 757-200s that they can have converted to freighter configuration. In its announcement of the sale agreement, Fly Leasing said all sales were expected to close by the end of 2015, so the eight 757-200s would be (More news on page 2) units coming off lease by that time. SUPERIOR SERVICES. UNRIVALED ASSETS. Airborne Global Solutions draws upon the expertise of our affiliated cargo airlines to deliver long-term scheduled operations, shortterm contracted airlift, and emergency one-time charters to customers around the globe. The key to our value proposition is our access to the most efficient converted freighters for medium range needs, including the Boeing 767-300ER, 767-200SF and 757-200PCF, which boast lower operating costs than comparative aircraft. +1.937.366.2216 [email protected] AIRBORNEGLOBAL.COM CARGO FACTS UPDATE and its sister publication, CARGO FACTS, are published by AIR CARGO MANAGEMENT GROUP, 2033 6th Ave, Suite 830, Seattle, WA 98121 USA Tel: 206.587.6537 • Fax: 309.414.6476 • email: [email protected] • web: www.cargofacts.com • David Harris, Editor Associate Editors: Randy Woods, Robert Dahl, Alan Hedge, JJ Hornblass • Circulation: Hattie Thomas • Advertising: Alyssa Stebbins • Marketing & Events: Molly Stewart ISSN 0278-0801 · Copyright © 2014 Royal Media Group. Air Cargo Management Group is a Royal Media Group company (www.royalmedia.com). All rights reserved. None of the contents of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of the publisher. 14 November 2014 – page two Etihad and First Priority in scheduled charter deal. Dubai-based forwarder First Priority Cargo launched twice-weekly A300-200F service between Sharjah (SHJ) and the Kenyan city of Eldoret (EDL, 260 km northwest of Nairobi), using a freighter chartered from Etihad Airways. First Priority said it would use a road feeder service from Eldoret to Nairobi, where inbound shipments will clear customs. Deutsche Post DHL reported third-quarter net income up 17.3% y-o-y to 468 million, as total revenue rose 4.1% to 14.00 billion. Operating profit (EBIT) for the quarter was up 4.8% to 677 million. As shown in the chart at right, the growth was led by the DHL Express division, which saw revenue increase 7.6% to 3.11 billion, and EBIT jump 23.0% to 305 million. Revenue growth in the company’s other three reporting divisions was in the low single digits, but while the Post - eCommerce - Parcel and DHL Supply Chain divisions reported EBIT gains, the DHL Global Forwarding, Freight division continued to struggle. DP-DHL said that despite increases in both air and ocean volumes, “high pressure on margins and transformational costs had a noticeable impact on the Global Forwarding, Freight division.” Looking more closely at the DHL Express division: • Revenue increased in all four geographic regions. The overall gain was clearly led by 11.7% growth in the Asia Pacific region, but revenue from European operations was also up nicely. • Looking at revenue by product, DHL Express saw a 6.9% increase in its Time Definite International product, whereas Time Definite Domestic revenue was unchanged. • In terms of average daily shipment volume, growth was again led by a 7.0% jump in Time Definite International, while Time Definite Domestic was flat with 3Q13. Volume up at ABC: AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC, the scheduled service subsidiary of Moscow-based Volga-Dnepr Group) reported cargo volume up 14% y-o-y to 291,000 tonnes for the first three quarters of 2014. The carrier said its load factor for the period was 71%. DP-DHL Third Quarter 2014 Results 3Q14 Revenue Post - eCommerce - Parcel Express Global Forwarding/Freight Supply Chain Total revenue Operating profit (EBIT) Post - eCommerce - Parcel Express Global Forwarding, Freight Supply Chain Total operating profit Net Profit Operating margin Post - eCommerce - Parcel Express Global Forwarding/Freight Supply Chain Overall operating yield €million 3,731 3,112 3,803 3,660 14,001 €million 288 305 72 110 677 468 7.7% 9.8% 1.9% 3.0% 4.8% YTD % Chg 2.4% 7.6% 2.7% 4.0% 4.1% % Chg 4.0% 23.0% -42.9% 10.0% 4.8% 17.3% Change 0.1pp 1.2pp -1.5pp 0.2pp 0.0pp €million 11,333 9,080 10,964 10,784 41,265 €million 873 912 221 303 2,057 1,431 7.7% 10.0% 2.0% 2.8% 5.0% DP-DHL Express Division Revenue and Volume Details 3Q14 0 YTD Revenue by Geographical Region (millions of Euros) Europe Americas Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa 1,386 558 1,137 230 5.4% 2.0% 11.7% 0.4% % Chg 2.0% 4.1% -0.4% 2.4% 2.0% % Chg -4.3% 18.3% -35.0% 15.6% 4.2% 8.5% Change -0.5pp 1.2pp -1.1pp 0.3pp 0.1pp 0 4,142 1,632 3,219 678 3.9% 0.2% 7.1% -2.4% 36.5 3.8 8.3% 0.0% 674 357 7.7% 0.6% Average Daily Revenue by Product (millions of Euros) Time Definite International Time Definite Domestic 35.6 3.7 6.9% 0.0% Average Daily Shipment Volume by Product (thousands) Time Definite International Time Definite Domestic 661 344 Source: DP-DHL Note: totals may not add due to consolidation 7.0% 0.0% CARGO FACTS -- November 2014 Canada-based Cargojet took redelivery of a 767-300BDSF (27918, ex-Alitalia) following conversion by M&B Conversions at the Bedek Aviation Group facility in Tel Aviv [FAT 001929]. Since winning a contract from Canada Post/Purolator earlier this year, Cargojet has undertaken a massive fleet expansion and modernization in anticipation of the contract’s coming into force at the beginning of the second quarter next year. In addition to nine 727-200Fs, the carrier’s fleet now includes three 767-300 freighters (two BCFs and one BDSF), five 767-200BDSFs, and four 757-200Fs. Cargojet also has one 767-300 and two 757-200s either in or awaiting conversion. Cargojet reported a third-quarter net loss of US$2.0 million, despite an 8.8% increase in revenue to US$41.5 million. October cargo traffic – first reports: Several carriers and handlers have now reported their October cargo traffic. A more detailed discussion will be available on our website, but briefly, October cargo traffic was down 1.2% y-o-y at Air FranceKLM, down 1.3% at Lufthansa Cargo, down 2.4% at International Airlines Group, up 14.4% at China Southern Airlines, down 1.45% at China Eastern Airlines, and up 16.5% at Turkish Airlines. Pactl (the biggest handler at Shanghai Pudong Airport) reported its October handle up 13.3%. cf