Pre-pandemic, Bournemouth Airport did not handle cargo to any level but the pandemic gave it the opportunity to pivot its business and now cargo volumes have exceeded 20,000 tonnes annually.
In April, it established a dedicated cargo handling service, Cargo First, with a unique One Team approach, offering a more efficient and cost-effective service than the established hubs.
Speaking to Air Logistics International in mid-August, Iain Edwards, Managing Director of European Cargo said that interest from China was already high, pressing the airline for more aircraft.
European Cargo has a fleet of Airbus A340-600s, which will be converted to freighters, the first freighter conversion for this model.
At the end of June, Bournemouth Airport hosted a launch event for its Cargo First service attended by customers and partners, and the Chinese market was pushing European Cargo to ramp up operations.
Much of the demand was based around Shanghai but the regions are expanding, with Chengdu and Changsha establishing themselves as important regional airports.
Edwards said, “The customers have much more control over those airports and can add pressure to get paperwork moving. Those and the east coast of China are the big ones. China to South America is ramping up, we have done a lot of work around Mexico and Brazil.”
Covid-related cargo has reduced; now cargo to the Americas mainly consists of e-commerce along with automotive cargo.
Due to its zero-Covid policy, operating in China was challenging but the teams got through it. Edwards said that working at the airport was fine, the problem was getting the cargo to the airport.
He said, “Right from landing to having to put on full PPE suits on, it was the full lot right through to the hotels, it was all very disciplined and thought out and planned but as long as you stick to their rules and once they see that you are abiding by all the Covid restrictions, it became quite smooth and we could work through it quite quickly.”
Converting its A340-600s into full freighters will add much needed capacity. Testing on the first one had just started when the interview was conducted and, all going well, will be in service by the time you read this article.
Being able to fly the cargo into Bournemouth is proving popular with customers; it lacks the congestion or slot delays, and the One Team approach makes it more like a family who, if Edwards needs to talk to someone urgently, it is much easier to pick up the phone and talk through any issues.
Edwards said, “Bournemouth is not far from London and the hour and a half drive is not the issue, it is the speed of how quickly you can land and get the cargo off the aircraft, which we can do very quickly.”
When working with one customer, European Cargo promised them that their freight would land in Bournemouth and be in London in eight hours, it took six and a half.
When a similar consignment lands at Heathrow, getting it to the same warehouse can take twice as long.
Bournemouth is putting money into upgrading facilities and European Cargo has also secured funding to convert up to 10 of its A340-600s into freighters.
It has another 15 in storage, all owned by European Cargo, so it can ramp up operations very quickly if needed.
“We are ready to operate the first aircraft, we have plenty of customers who want them and have paid deposits for them so we are in a good place,” said Edwards.
Industry data says that cargo demand is falling but, despite passenger flights returning, there is still a lack of capacity.
The Russia-Ukraine war also means a considerable number of freighters are unavailable.
Looking into the peak season, Edwards said, “I can only go by what our clients want and communication from our commercial department, which fills me with confidence. Once the modified aircraft are certified, we are going to be in a good position.”
Strong demand
Steve Gill, Managing Director of Bournemouth Airport sees strong demand getting more acute as the peak season gets closer, adding that there are e-commerce backlogs in China.
He said, “If you put that alongside peak that we understand, the growth of e-commerce, and Christmas approaching, all of those things combined are going to lead to additional demand in an already constrained market.”
Belly capacity is not back to pre-pandemic levels and cargo-in-cabin services have stopped, so Gill predicts that it will be a more costly peak season with a more difficult supply chain.
For Bournemouth Airport, having a based airline, European Cargo, which has ambitious growth plans is a great benefit.
“We work with them in partnership; their development plans are ours and ours are theirs. They are now effectively the largest UK-based widebody cargo airline. We, as an airport, have capacity, they, as an airline, will have capacity and between us, we will be able to offer a different level of service to the market which will put us in good stead to handle the peak season,” said Gill.
Bournemouth Airport has been planning and investing to provide the right level of service to grow. It is investing in staff, equipment and infrastructure, which Gill says is giving the airport more capacity than it has ever had.
The airfield has benefited from a multi-million pound investment focusing on cargo, giving it two more widebody parking stands for freighters, and two transit sheds have been kitted out with infrastructure and equipment, along with staff who have received training.
The airport has been handling on average three inbound flights a week from China carrying e-commerce and one client is eager to drastically increase frequencies for the peak season.
Due to handling issues elsewhere, there have been numerous ad-hoc services, meaning Bournemouth has been handling daily widebody flights, with capacity for more.
Faster connections, better services and lower costs with the interest and ability to support growth are what Bournemouth offers, says Gill.
“We have an unconstrained airport and airspace, we control all of the operations at the airport so we have got a very flexible approach and a One Team approach so one discussion with one entity and all of their requirements are catered for,” he said.
Conversations with clients are becoming easier as Bournemouth has established itself, but convincing people to think away from the established hubs is an ongoing task.
Gill said, “We are conscious that we need to continue to raise awareness and change behaviour; too many people think in a traditional way and don’t think outside of the established hubs but now we are able to demonstrate not just the capacity and opportunity but demonstrate a track record. That is helping and leading to more meaningful conversations.”
Though Bournemouth is further away, the speed of service means cargo can often get to London quicker than processing it at Heathrow Airport itself.
Customers, particularly in the e-commerce sector have appreciated this; Rob Johnson, the airport’s Aviation and Cargo Development Manager said going forward, Bournemouth will be emphasising these benefits, especially once Heathrow fills up again.
He said, “As that capacity becomes limited, we will be pressing the scheduled flexibility that not only can we do everything within a time that is favourable to the bigger London hubs, we can offer the flexibility so if they need to land early in the morning, get it to the distribution centre within the same working day and onwards for next day delivery that makes the difference to them.”
This article was published in the October issue of Air Logistics International, click here to read the digital edition and click here to subscribe.