Air Cargo Germany traffic up 50 per cent
10 / 11 / 2011
AIR Cargo Germany (ACG) expects its year-end traffic to be up 50 per cent to 140,000 metric tonnes from 2010.
The forecast coincides with the launch of twice-weekly 747-400 freighter services from Germany to South Korea and flights between Hong Kong (China) and Paraguay.
The Korea service will operate on a direct route to Seoul Incheon International Airport. The weekly service from Hong Kong to Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) stops in Sharjah (UAE) and Lagos (Nigeria), before crossing the Atlantic.
The flight will stop in Buenos Aires (Argentina) or Santiago (Chile) on the return trip to Hong Kong. A stop in Lima (Peru) will be added to the service at the end of the month.
ACG may have seen weak demand and low rates this year out of Asia however its average load factor is about 80 per cent and the carrier expects to reach about US$317 million in revenue this year.
“Currently nobody knows for sure if the worst is already over or still waiting around the corner to come,” chief executive officer Michael Bock said.
The company mitigates some of its risk with charter operations that have grown to about a third of the airline’s business this year compared to about 20 per cent last year.
ACG began operations from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport in 2009 and runs services to Armenia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and Sudan.
