One year on from IAG Cargo’s Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route launch, the service has exceeded expectations, the carrier said, proving itself a valuable gateway for manufacturers and high-tech shippers into this important Asian trade hub.
Demand from pharmaceutical customers has also been high, IAG said. Since the launch in May last year, IAG Cargo has seen weekly tonnage volumes of Constant Climate shipments out of Asia Pacific increase by an average of 50 per cent compared to the previous year. The route is operated by a B787-9.
Similarly, pharmaceutical volumes into the region have seen an average 30 per cent weekly rise versus the same period in 2015. This improved performance was supported by the launch of a new Constant Climate enabled station at Kuala Lumpur in December 2015.
While there has been a broad slowdown across emerging economies, Malaysia’s economy has proven resilient, beating market expectations with 4.2 per cent growth annually in the first quarter of 2016. This growth has been driven by the region’s growing manufacturing industry which is expected to continue to thrive this year.
“One year on, this route continues to offer real benefits for our customers with high technology goods, machine parts and raw materials driving both imports and exports,” said David Shepherd, head of commercial, at IAG Cargo. “More recently we have seen significant demand for specialist pharmaceutical transportation and following significant investment we are now able to service that demand though our Constant Climate centre in Kuala Lumpur. This addition brings our temperature sensitive network to 110 stations across the globe.”
IAG Cargo’s premium product portfolio benefits the wide range of businesses that fly in and out of Kuala Lumpur. Constant Climate provides customers with precision temperature control for pharmaceuticals and life sciences, supporting temperature requirements as low as minus 20˚C and as high as 25˚C.
Businesses looking to trade with Kuala Lumpur benefit from up to 22 tonnes of capacity on each daily flight. Flights depart Heathrow daily at 20:15, arriving into Kuala Lumpur at 16:00 local time. Returning flights leave Kuala Lumpur at 23:05 and arrive into Heathrow at 05:25 the next morning, enabling next day connections to almost all destinations on the IAG Cargo network.
