newstodate.aero
Jun 22, 2010 (newstodate): The Lithuanian logistics provider Hoptrans, with own agents in China and offices in Lithuania as well as in Russia, is seeing its ex-China transfer cargo traffic to Russia constantly growing.
-It is certainly not a seasonal business, and seen over a half-year period we have now about seven freighter flights per month from China with transfer cargo to Russia, says Martynas Smitas, Hoptrans general manager.
-Even today we have two freighters on the tarmac of Kanuas Airport, and we are seeing traffic developing positively.
-The flights are primarily performed with chartered IL-76 aircraft from Belarus carrier TransAVIAexport Airlines, the largest civilian IL-76 operator with 23 aircraft, as well as other operators of this freighter.
-The IL-76 flights into Kaunas are operated on special permits that require individual applications with the authorities. But even so, the procedure is well-known to us and quite simple and the traffic works flawlessly.
-We have seen the ex-China transfer traffic via the Baltic region to Russia being re-located several times, but we will of course fight to keep it here in Kaunas where we manage the entire chain of supply from the shipper in China to the consignee in Russia, thanks to our presence in all three markets, says Mr Smitas.
The traffic has been instrumental in boosting airfreight volumes by 284 percent, y-o-y, to 1,393 tonnes during January-May 2010 in Kaunas Airport.
In contrast, the short-fall during the same period of the ex-China transfer volumes through Estonia's Tallinn Airport caused its volumes to drop 31.3 percent, y-o-y, to 5,727 tonnes.
4,140 tonnes of the total volume at Tallinn Airport were generated during the first two months of this year, while the traffic dropped steeply from March 2010 when Russian customs denied cross-border cargo traffic.
-It is certainly not a seasonal business, and seen over a half-year period we have now about seven freighter flights per month from China with transfer cargo to Russia, says Martynas Smitas, Hoptrans general manager.
-Even today we have two freighters on the tarmac of Kanuas Airport, and we are seeing traffic developing positively.
-The flights are primarily performed with chartered IL-76 aircraft from Belarus carrier TransAVIAexport Airlines, the largest civilian IL-76 operator with 23 aircraft, as well as other operators of this freighter.
-The IL-76 flights into Kaunas are operated on special permits that require individual applications with the authorities. But even so, the procedure is well-known to us and quite simple and the traffic works flawlessly.
-We have seen the ex-China transfer traffic via the Baltic region to Russia being re-located several times, but we will of course fight to keep it here in Kaunas where we manage the entire chain of supply from the shipper in China to the consignee in Russia, thanks to our presence in all three markets, says Mr Smitas.
The traffic has been instrumental in boosting airfreight volumes by 284 percent, y-o-y, to 1,393 tonnes during January-May 2010 in Kaunas Airport.
In contrast, the short-fall during the same period of the ex-China transfer volumes through Estonia's Tallinn Airport caused its volumes to drop 31.3 percent, y-o-y, to 5,727 tonnes.
4,140 tonnes of the total volume at Tallinn Airport were generated during the first two months of this year, while the traffic dropped steeply from March 2010 when Russian customs denied cross-border cargo traffic.