newstodate.aero
Jan 05, 2011 (newstodate): The Danish privately-owned carrier DAT saw a hefty return to the ad-hoc freighter market in the last months of 2010.
The carrier's two ATR-42 freighter were re-introduced into the market after completing a one-year contract with the Indian carrier Deccan, and were stationed in Albert, Northern France, to serve the European ad-hoc market.
After inspection and maintenance works, the first aircraft was placed at Albert by early November, while the second joined at the end of the month.
-From the very first day of operation, we saw a frantic demand for these aircraft that have each operated on ad-hoc missions 10 hours a day up to Christmas Eve for various customers,says Torben Ravnkilde, DAT VP Sales.
-This success was of course much driven by the deteriorating road conditions in Central Europe, notably Germany, that caused industrial customers to shift loads from road to air transport in order to keep their supply chain running. Not least the automotive industries, notably in Germany, became reliant on air transportation of crucial shipments.
-We were, of course, also hit by many airport problems, including lack of de-icing fluids, but still managed to shift our aircraft around to keep the traffic running. Thus, the aircraft and their crews actually seldom touched ground at Albert, but were deployed from point to point as required by the market.
-After one year out of the ad-hoc freighter market we were anxious to get back into business. This was certainly a most promising start, says Mr Ravnkilde.
The carrier's two ATR-42 freighter were re-introduced into the market after completing a one-year contract with the Indian carrier Deccan, and were stationed in Albert, Northern France, to serve the European ad-hoc market.
After inspection and maintenance works, the first aircraft was placed at Albert by early November, while the second joined at the end of the month.
-From the very first day of operation, we saw a frantic demand for these aircraft that have each operated on ad-hoc missions 10 hours a day up to Christmas Eve for various customers,says Torben Ravnkilde, DAT VP Sales.
-This success was of course much driven by the deteriorating road conditions in Central Europe, notably Germany, that caused industrial customers to shift loads from road to air transport in order to keep their supply chain running. Not least the automotive industries, notably in Germany, became reliant on air transportation of crucial shipments.
-We were, of course, also hit by many airport problems, including lack of de-icing fluids, but still managed to shift our aircraft around to keep the traffic running. Thus, the aircraft and their crews actually seldom touched ground at Albert, but were deployed from point to point as required by the market.
-After one year out of the ad-hoc freighter market we were anxious to get back into business. This was certainly a most promising start, says Mr Ravnkilde.