newstodate.aero
Mar 14, 2012 (newstodate): Boasting a favorable location for great-circle flights between Europe and Northern Asia, Sweden's Luleaa Kallax Airport has so far seen little success with plans for a scheduled freighter service.
Several attempts have been made in cooperation with carriers and other interested parties, primarily Norway's booming seafood export businesses.
The latest project involved Korean Air Cargo that scheduled a weekly rotation from January 2009, but services through Luleaa on the route between Frankfurt and Incheon were suspended in November 2009 after only few flights.
-The hope for a break-through in air cargo freighter services remains, but the current period marked by economic depression and a general down-turn in global air cargo is certainly not helpful, says Ann-Christin Viklund, Luleaa Airport manager.
-We are working on this and still hope for a future for air cargo at Luleaa Airport in cooperation with other partners. Asked only a few months back I would have ventured to say that we might hope for a start in 2012, but now it seems to be farther off in the future.
-It is obvious that Norwegian seafood exporters in the country's northern region would benefit from sending their shipments through Luleaa Airport rather than via continental airport or even Oslo Gardermoen Airport after long hours on the road, considering the difficult road infrastructure in Norway. But the industry is conservative, and we are up against strong playerss with vested interests in the current situation, and more muscles than we can come up with.
-Anyhow, we are still working on it and remain convinced that Luleaa Airport does have a future with freighter operations, says Ms Viklund.
Several attempts have been made in cooperation with carriers and other interested parties, primarily Norway's booming seafood export businesses.
The latest project involved Korean Air Cargo that scheduled a weekly rotation from January 2009, but services through Luleaa on the route between Frankfurt and Incheon were suspended in November 2009 after only few flights.
-The hope for a break-through in air cargo freighter services remains, but the current period marked by economic depression and a general down-turn in global air cargo is certainly not helpful, says Ann-Christin Viklund, Luleaa Airport manager.
-We are working on this and still hope for a future for air cargo at Luleaa Airport in cooperation with other partners. Asked only a few months back I would have ventured to say that we might hope for a start in 2012, but now it seems to be farther off in the future.
-It is obvious that Norwegian seafood exporters in the country's northern region would benefit from sending their shipments through Luleaa Airport rather than via continental airport or even Oslo Gardermoen Airport after long hours on the road, considering the difficult road infrastructure in Norway. But the industry is conservative, and we are up against strong playerss with vested interests in the current situation, and more muscles than we can come up with.
-Anyhow, we are still working on it and remain convinced that Luleaa Airport does have a future with freighter operations, says Ms Viklund.