In fact, recently there has been some persistent shortage in the air cargo capacity. “We think this sudden change may last till end of 2009 only. For example, previously you could hardly see a 100 per cent load factor during a long difficult period and now it is still there is continuing at the same rate.
“In addition to that, now many customers cannot wait and shippers who are facing high demand pressure are looking for charter flights which are not only costly but they are also scarce. We think the cargo flow will keep going till the end of 2009 for the North American and EU markets and maybe till the Chinese New Year for the Asian region.
“Then it may slow down in the first half of 2010 but the recovery trend will continue further in 2010. It is hard to believe and see that most exporters and shippers are now continuing to complain about a lack of cargo capacity for the goods carried out through their supply contracts such as footwear, garments and seafood,†Do says.
“We believe that the mini recovery in Asia will keep continuing, especially in the Asian economies together with China. A particular trend that we had seen happen when the global economic crisis occurred in the middle of last year was that most airlines that had come under huge pressure sought new and more capable sales agents, or they moved to adopt tougher and more secured sales approaches like hard block commitment, or the worst scenario was to stop existing flights or even drop the less effectiveroutes,†Do says.
A substantial portfolio
Vector Aviation has been serving as an airline GSSA and aviation services company in Vietnam for a number airlines. The company has been the cargo GSA for MASKargo since 2004, China Southern Cargo since 2005 and it is also the GSA for some other Asian Airlines such as K-Mile Air, Viva Macau, Cargo Garuda. It also serves some airlines from Europe such as SAS Cargo, Transaero, Aerosvit, Hahn Air and LTU as well as Middle East carriers like Etihad Crystal Cargo and Egypt Air.
Vector’s business portfolio also includes ACS on air cargo terminal equipment, Ruslan International on air chartering services and IFC on wet-leasing aircraft services.
In 2008, Vector Aviation says it handled 9,800 tonnes of air cargo in Vietnam, representing about 10 per cent of the market share. Of the figure, Vector handled 2,940 tonnes for Asia and 3,140 tonnes for Europe.
Between January to October 2009, Vector handled 6,500 tonnes of air cargo throughput with Do saying the cargo tonnage in the early part of this year was more impacted by the financial crisis, than the cargo tonnage handled last year.
He says the reason could have been the delay of world economic impact on Vietnam’s small-scale economy and also because the goods supply contracts were still in effect until the end of 2008. But the drastic impact on cargo flow was clear inthe first half of 2009, he adds.
“The situation improved just slightly by the end of August till now. We hope this trend keeps going further to recover the cargo market potential,†Do says.
Middle East business
As the GSA for some Middle East airlines, Do says his company observed that the business from Vietnam to the Middle East is increasing fast. Recently, the Vietnamese government signed bilateral trade agreements with some Middle East countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates allowing Vietnam to export manpower.
The deals also included boosting some specific commercial exchanges, as well as to increase exports like seafood, furniture, garments, footware, handphones and foodstuffs.
Up to now, Vietnam’s cargo export to the Middle East is around 600 tonnes compared with 450 tonnes in 2008. This year’s import-export value is forecasted to fall about 15 per cent versus the same period a year earlier. However, importexports to the Middle East are forecast to increase by about 15 per cent going forward.
Vietnam infrastructure adequate
Vietnam’s existing infrastructure including airport, terminal, ground handling facility and warehouses are good enough to support the current level of the air cargo activities in the country, including both import and export flows, Do says.
Vietnam currently has three international airports — Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) in Hanoi, Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang International Airport — which are all well equipped to provide ground and cargo handling services for all sized freighters including the large cargo carriers: AN124-100F; B747-400F; MD11F and IL96F.
“Noi Bai International Airport, the biggest airport in northern Vietnam, which serves the capital city Hanoi, has just completed its second cargo terminal which is now fully operational,†Do says.
Tan Son Nhat International Airport will soon launch an additional express cargo terminal and another new cargo terminal project — Saigon Cargo Service Corporation (SCSC) — which is now under construction, with plans to be operational around July next year.
Danang International Airport is working on a similar project to upgrade its air cargo service facility too. As SGN is the biggest of the three international airports, the Vietnam government has decided to invest about US$6 billion to build another new international airport in the nearby Dong Nai province area, around 30 km away from SGN to meet the country’s future growth.
This project, which is now under study, will be started after the highway system construction connecting this new airport is completed in 2012. In addition, the Vietnamese government is set to further invest in the country’s cargo business by establishing handling facilities for cargo agents and forwarders to consolidate their freight.
