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NEWSMidEast carriers topworld for cargo growthin January 2013Etihad Cargo, Swissport agree onglobal partnership dealMiddle Eastern airlines continued tosee the fastest growth in cargo businessin January, according to latest figuresreleased by the International Air TransportAssociation (IATA). The region’s carriersreported a demand increase in freight of16.3 percent over January 2012. This wasahead of a 12.4 percent capacity expansion.IATA said the Middle East’s airlinescontinue to benefit from route and capacityexpansion into rapidly growing economiesin West Africa and Asia. The Januarycargo performance continued the stronggrowth seen in 2012. Freight demandgrew 14.7 percent in the Middle East lastyear, compared to 8.2 percent growth inthe previous year. The cargo growth wascoupled with 14.3 percent uptick in demandin January, which was evenly matched by a14.4 percent rise in available capacity.Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO,said: “The air freight business is showingsome encouraging signs. But it’s too earlyto be overly optimistic. “While the declinehas stopped, overall volumes are still belowthe levels of 2010 and 2011. Load factorsare low. And the global economy is fragile.Our forecast remains for modest demandgrowth of 1.4 percent. But with weak loadfactors, yields are going to continue to beunder severe downward pressure.”52 April 2013Etihad Cargo has certified internationalground handling services company SwissportInternational Ltd as its first PreferredHandling Partner (PHP). Only companieswho meet the high service performancestandards of Etihad Cargo and can assureconsistency in quality across their regionaloperations can be certified a PreferredHandling Partner.Etihad Cargo has specific performancebenchmarks in the areas of safety, securitymanagement, regulatory compliance,training, IT interfaces, business planningand risk management. The two-year PHPcertification with Swissport is focused initiallyon six Etihad Cargo stations; Athens,Geneva, Larnaca, Nairobi, Seoul and Toronto.Etihad Cargo hopes to expand cargooperations with Swissport at other destinationsover time, in addition to enhancingcargo handling at more than 100 off-lineSwissport destinations which Etihad Cargooffers in conjunction with partners.Kevin Knight, Chief Strategy and PlanningOfficer at Etihad Airways, said: “Swissportis world-renowned and has an enviabletrack record in providing high-qualityand efficient ground services to cargo operators.“Following an extensive audit of theircorporate procedures and compliancewith Etihad Cargo’s expectations, we believethis PHP certification not only makessound business sense, but the synergiesderived from the deal also raise the bar forother suppliers to join our Etihad CargoPHP program.“The Etihad Cargo-Swissport PHP dealwill standardise the product and servicewe jointly deliver, strengthen our networkoperations, and enhance the reliability andquality of ground handling services to ourcustomers. We look forward to developingthis partnership into one of mutual confidenceand trust, and maximising the returnson our commercial operations.”(L) Etihad Airways Vice President Cargo, David Kerrand Swissport Executive Vice President Cargo Services,John Batten shake hands on the new PHP deal.John Batten, Executive Vice PresidentCargo Services at Swissport InternationalLtd. said: “We are proud Etihad Cargo haschosen us as their first ever Preferred HandlingPartner and we look forward to closecooperation as we provide the highestquality services and processes to furtherdevelop and expand our partnership intothe future.”Swissport International Ltd. and EtihadCargo are both members of the InternationalAir Transport Association’s Cargo2000 (C2K) industry group. The group’smission is to create and implement a C2Kquality standard and management systemby bringing about greater efficiencies, improvingcustomer service and reducingcosts in the worldwide air cargo industry.Etihad Cargo serves 86 destinations internationallyand operates a fleet of twoBoeing B777F, one Boeing 747-400F, twoAirbus A330-200F and one Airbus A300-600F. To ensure capacity stays ahead ofdemand, Etihad Cargo will take delivery offour additional freighters in 2013 and 2014,comprising one Boeing B777F, one Boeing747-400ERF (wet-leased from KLM Cargo)and two Airbus A330-200F.