newstodate.aero
Oct 07, 2016 (newstodate): The Faroe Islands' leading seafood exporter, Bakkafrost is convinced of the need for and the viability of a freighter service at Vagar Airport.
-In today's situation, direct air cargo services are only available on the passenger flights by Atlantic Airways' Airbus aircraft which is insufficient to our needs, says Regin Jacobsen, Bakkafrost CEO.
-The Airbus aircraft have limited cargo capacity and we would have to compete with other cargo and luggage which does not constitute a viable and reliable air logistics solution.
-Today, our shipments are sent by sea to Scotland, and trucked into London Heathrow for uplift to our markets, primarily the USA. This translates into a two-day operation which is of course not an optimal situation compared to short lead times in the case of a direct freighter service.
-We consider USA to be a prime market for Faroese seafood including fresh salmon, and a freighter service from Vagar to Boston would take only six hours of flying time. Asia might also be an attractive market, but with considerably longer flying times.
-Over time, several efforts have been invested into setting up a freighter project to support exports, but the problem remains the issue of return cargo needed to obtain a balanced operation.
-We are currently involved in talks with several partners about a project to establish a freighter service at Vagar Airport, and among these partners is DHL that might connect their US-bound flight from London to Boston via a ferry flight to the Faroe Islands, lifting seafood shipments to the USA.
-Several issues will have to be sorted out, though, including the air cargo rates on an operation like this, but given a fair balance is achieved between shorter lead times and reasonable rates, a freighter service like this would absolutely be strongly supported by us, says Mr Jacobsen.
-In today's situation, direct air cargo services are only available on the passenger flights by Atlantic Airways' Airbus aircraft which is insufficient to our needs, says Regin Jacobsen, Bakkafrost CEO.
-The Airbus aircraft have limited cargo capacity and we would have to compete with other cargo and luggage which does not constitute a viable and reliable air logistics solution.
-Today, our shipments are sent by sea to Scotland, and trucked into London Heathrow for uplift to our markets, primarily the USA. This translates into a two-day operation which is of course not an optimal situation compared to short lead times in the case of a direct freighter service.
-We consider USA to be a prime market for Faroese seafood including fresh salmon, and a freighter service from Vagar to Boston would take only six hours of flying time. Asia might also be an attractive market, but with considerably longer flying times.
-Over time, several efforts have been invested into setting up a freighter project to support exports, but the problem remains the issue of return cargo needed to obtain a balanced operation.
-We are currently involved in talks with several partners about a project to establish a freighter service at Vagar Airport, and among these partners is DHL that might connect their US-bound flight from London to Boston via a ferry flight to the Faroe Islands, lifting seafood shipments to the USA.
-Several issues will have to be sorted out, though, including the air cargo rates on an operation like this, but given a fair balance is achieved between shorter lead times and reasonable rates, a freighter service like this would absolutely be strongly supported by us, says Mr Jacobsen.