News Content

Baku air cargo summit warned ocean reefers put air freight at risk

AIR cargo carriers must improve perishable transport or perish themselves in the face of much improved ocean reefer service taking market share, delegates were warned at the Caspian Air Cargo Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Natasha Solano, Kuehne & Nagel's perishables chief, noted the switch to ocean freight, partly due to the lower cost on the Columbia-Europe flower service, but also because of improvements in seagoing refrigeration.

The temperature of goods when being flown tended to be more volatile than shipping because of the number of times it is handled, she said, reported London's Air Cargo News.

In contrast to sea freight, where goods are loaded into a container at an early stage in the supply chain and then not touched until delivery, air freight is exposed every time it is loaded and unloaded onto trucks and aircraft.

While temperature controlled ULDs [unit load devices] exist, low margin perishables mean these measures are too costly and more suited to pharmaceutical transport.

Ms Solano said air freight can reduce the risk of losing customers by making sure staff are educated about the impact of temperature fluctuations on perishable cargo.

She said flowers went bad during air transport because if stowed near cargo doors, they were more likely to spoil during waypoint stops when more cargo is loaded and perishables were exposed to heat.

Another example is perishable cargo being left on the apron for long periods while the aircraft is being loaded and unloaded.

Qatar Airways senior manager cargo products David Beecham said it had avoided this problem by using temperature controlled vehicles to take cargo directly to and from the loading ramp. This meant perishable cargo would be exposed for as little as 40 seconds.

The perishable industry continues to expand due to population growth, a growing middle class wanting more luxury produce such as salmon, and people becoming more health conscious.

The volume of transported horticulture and floriculture produce is expected to increase 460 per cent by 2050 while foodstuff volumes are expected to increase 260 per cent.