newstodate.aero
Mar 25, 2009 (newstodate): A SAS Cargo business unit, SAS Airmail is among the industry's top-10 providers of global airmail services.
-As confirmed at the recent IATA world cargo conference in Bangkok, the global airmail industry is also affected by the current economic downturn, but is performing better than the cargo industry in general, says Michael Thomassen, SAS Airmail general manager.
-While air cargo volumes have shrunk by some 20-30 percent, y-o-y, during the first three months of 2009, airmail has forecast zero-growth levels in 2009 and is thus performing better than other air cargo segments.
-Driven by increasing use of electronic post and trade over the internet the general trend in the market is more parcels and less letter mail, while letters now cover shipments of up to two kilos, being rather small e-trade driven parcels.
Whenever feasible, SAS Airmail puts priority on filling SAS aircraft belly holds, but the company contracts other carriers to fulfill contracts with international postal customers on a world-wide scale.
SAS Airmail thus generates some 20 percent in the European market, 30 percent from traffic to and from Scandinavia, 30 percent in ths US postal market, and the remaining 20 percent from traffic in the Far Eastern markets.
Until some years ago, SAS Airmail's total postal volumes were about 40,000 tonnes per year.
Volumes are now around 1,000-1,200 tonnes per month after the loss a few years ago of the significant volumes of Norwegian domestic airmail.
-As confirmed at the recent IATA world cargo conference in Bangkok, the global airmail industry is also affected by the current economic downturn, but is performing better than the cargo industry in general, says Michael Thomassen, SAS Airmail general manager.
-While air cargo volumes have shrunk by some 20-30 percent, y-o-y, during the first three months of 2009, airmail has forecast zero-growth levels in 2009 and is thus performing better than other air cargo segments.
-Driven by increasing use of electronic post and trade over the internet the general trend in the market is more parcels and less letter mail, while letters now cover shipments of up to two kilos, being rather small e-trade driven parcels.
Whenever feasible, SAS Airmail puts priority on filling SAS aircraft belly holds, but the company contracts other carriers to fulfill contracts with international postal customers on a world-wide scale.
SAS Airmail thus generates some 20 percent in the European market, 30 percent from traffic to and from Scandinavia, 30 percent in ths US postal market, and the remaining 20 percent from traffic in the Far Eastern markets.
Until some years ago, SAS Airmail's total postal volumes were about 40,000 tonnes per year.
Volumes are now around 1,000-1,200 tonnes per month after the loss a few years ago of the significant volumes of Norwegian domestic airmail.