Whether facing a boom or bust scenario, airport handlers always had to plan several steps ahead, said Lilian Chan, general manager marketing and customer services for Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL).
She contrasted the Boeing predictions of 6.1 per cent per annum cargo growth with the current sluggish market performance. “What will happen next we just don’t know,” she told delegates.
On the boom side of the argument, there were the new freighter airlines and joint ventures in China, including Great Wall and Jade, and Boeing predictions that the freighter fl eet would double to 3,600 aircraft by 2025.
Chan also noted the “mushrooming” of terminals and airports in China, the investment of FedEx and UPS in new hubs in the PRC, and the country’s continuing performance as a manufacturing powerhouse.
But she saw a possible bust scenario too, with the global air cargo industry facing higher oil prices, the threat of diseases such as avian flu, turmoil in the fi nancial markets and rising interest rates.
Added to this were possible changes in shipper demand patterns, with increasing competition from sea freight due to the enhanced capacity and technology of ocean lines. “Studies show maritime cargo started to grow faster than air cargo in 2005,” she noted.
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment was declining in the Pearl River Delta and increased connectivity to mainland China – particularly with its open skies policies – could mean less China cargo would come via Hong Kong.
Despite these threats, Chan said HACTL was “prudently optimistic” about the continuance of the boom scenario, and was continuing to invest in its operations. “For example, we are trying to buy the land at the northeast corner of our terminal, and may even add more terminals at Hong Kong if the boom continues,” she said.
She pointed out that Hong Kong remained dominant in Pearl River Delta air cargo, handling 3.58 million tonnes last year, out of a total market of 4.1 million tonnes. By contrast Guangzhou had handled just 218,757 tonnes – though this was a growth of 26 per cent compared to the previous year – and Macau had seen a 7 per cent fall to 210,811 tonnes.
To keep ahead of the competition, HACTL was investing in its services, in particular IT projects. A seven-year IT road map included launching a business partner integration platform in the fourth quarter of this year to facilitate data exchange with business partners.
Other current innovations included rolling out handheld terminals, so that staff could be always linked to the COSAC system, and championing paperless initiatives such as electronic booking for pick-up services. A key account management system was also being put in place to ensure that customer concerns – spoken or unspoken – were always at the forefront of HACTL’s operations and planning.