Shanghai Airport’s focus and direction has been accelerated with the strategic aim of becoming a key passenger and air cargo hub, according to Wu Nianzu, chairman & president of Shanghai Airport Authority.
Speaking at the recent Pudong Air Cargo Terminal Ltd (PACTL) 2007 One Million Tons Celebration and The Unveiling Ceremony of PACTL West held in Shanghai, Wu said Shanghai’s air-hub target as a state strategy provided an excellent platform and opportunity for the development of all the participants in the air transportation business in Shanghai.
Shanghai airport, which handled an estimated 2.45 million tonnes in 2007, is forecast to handle 3.7 million tonnes and 5.9 million tons by 2010 and 2015 respectively. Wu said that with the progress of reform and opening of China, Shanghai Airport, which handled only 689,460 tonnes of cargo in 1999, had not only come a long way but had also developed at an unprecedented speed.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport, which was sixth in terms of global air cargo ranking in 2006, is expected to climb still higher after its extension – PACTL West – was completed in March this year. The new air cargo terminal is expected to become operational before year-end, with new business coming from the Beijing Olympics 2008 and ShanghaiExpo in 2010.
PACTL one of fastest growing operators
Since its founding in 1999, PACTL has developed into the second-largest independent cargo terminal operator in China and is one of the fastest-growing service-providers for airfreight handling. Its shareholders are Shanghai Airport Group with 51 per cent, Lufthansa Cargo 29 per cent and JHJ Logistics Management 20 per cent.
Within eight years, PACTL which started out with only four customers and a monthly cargo throughput of only 1,814 tonnes, now serves 38 airlines and handles 81,647 tonnes of cargo per month.
Chen Long, Vice President of Shanghai Airport Authority and also PACTL Board Chairman and PACTL West (Preparation), said PACTL had become the airport cargo terminal operator with leading technologies in management, security and services.
PACTL already operates two air cargo terminals- Terminal 1 and Terminal 2- one each at the two existing runways.
When Pudong International Airport’s third runway opens this year, it will be served by PACTL’s new Cargo Terminal (West). Shen Maoxing, Vice Chairman & President of Jin Jiang International Group, said PACTL provided a combination of both Chineseand Western managerial culture.
More cargo joint ventures for Lufthansa
Stefan H. Lauer, Member of the Executive Board, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said that aside from the JV with PACTL, Lufthansa had, among others, three cargo joint ventures in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and a fourth one was under construction in Tianjin, besides forming close commercial links with Air China and Shanghai Airlines. He said that the air cargo business would remain on the growth path.
"In particular in Asia we expect the continuation of a very dynamic development in this segment. In addition big events like the Olympics 2008 in Beijing will boost the growth of the aviation sector in this country,"he said. He was optimistic that the cargo business in China would open new perspectives for PACTL, despite the market being much more competitive and bargain driven.
"Despite good growth rates, we are a bit concerned about the increasing overcapacity that will cut into the profitability of cargo carriers and other logistic companies,"Lauer cautioned.