newstodate.aero
Jun 12, 2018 (newstodate): While Avinor keeps a strong focus on seafood air logistics at Oslo Airport, stakeholders in the seafood industry will not abandon hopes for cargo uplift directly out of Northern Norway as an alternative to long hours on the road to Oslo.
None of the three international airports in Northern Norway are, however, immediately capable of handling large fully loaded freighters as a recent survey by newstodate has confirmed.
But not far from the border with Sweden, one option remains open - Luleaa Kallax Airport with a 3,350m runway and all infrastructure in place for handling of cargo, including Norwegian salmon destined for the Asian markets.
One salient asset of the airport is the fact that trucking of seafood shipments from for instance Tromso into Luleaa Kallax Airport, rather Oslo Airport, would reduce time spent on the road from 25 to 10 hours.
Over the last two decades, several attempts to set up a dedicated freighter service at Luleaa with operators including Cathay Pacific Cargo, Korean Air Cargo, Atlas Air and others, have been made - but none have succeeded.
Today, Luleaa Kallax Cargo has no scheduled cargo operations while ad-hoc freighter operations are still coming in, including one Boeing 747 operation with 100 tonnes of IT shipments this week, and plans for another four or even five similar operations in the fall 2018.
-We take a cautious approach to marketing the airport to the air cargo industry, but the concept is absolutely still alive, says Ann-Christin Viklund, Luleaa Kallax Airport Manager.
-All conditions, equipment and infrastructure are in place for handling of perishables on large freighter aircraft, and we would be ready for start of operations whenever requested. We have, however, so far focused on marketing the airport in the passenger segment and are cautious to go out more openly towards the cargo industry.
-It is a fact that a decision to launch a freighter operation would require a major change in the entire chain of seafood air logistics and this could be driven only by the stakeholders in the seafood industry. And given the cheap trucking rates into Oslo utilizing the excessive volumes available on largely empty trucks returning from Northern Norway, setting up a freighter operation from Luleaa Kallax Airport would inevitably raise the costs for the shippers.
-There are currently no projects involving us for a seafood freighter operation but we are of course constantly in dialogue with all interested parties and would certainly be both ready and happy to cooperate, says Ms Viklund.
None of the three international airports in Northern Norway are, however, immediately capable of handling large fully loaded freighters as a recent survey by newstodate has confirmed.
But not far from the border with Sweden, one option remains open - Luleaa Kallax Airport with a 3,350m runway and all infrastructure in place for handling of cargo, including Norwegian salmon destined for the Asian markets.
One salient asset of the airport is the fact that trucking of seafood shipments from for instance Tromso into Luleaa Kallax Airport, rather Oslo Airport, would reduce time spent on the road from 25 to 10 hours.
Over the last two decades, several attempts to set up a dedicated freighter service at Luleaa with operators including Cathay Pacific Cargo, Korean Air Cargo, Atlas Air and others, have been made - but none have succeeded.
Today, Luleaa Kallax Cargo has no scheduled cargo operations while ad-hoc freighter operations are still coming in, including one Boeing 747 operation with 100 tonnes of IT shipments this week, and plans for another four or even five similar operations in the fall 2018.
-We take a cautious approach to marketing the airport to the air cargo industry, but the concept is absolutely still alive, says Ann-Christin Viklund, Luleaa Kallax Airport Manager.
-All conditions, equipment and infrastructure are in place for handling of perishables on large freighter aircraft, and we would be ready for start of operations whenever requested. We have, however, so far focused on marketing the airport in the passenger segment and are cautious to go out more openly towards the cargo industry.
-It is a fact that a decision to launch a freighter operation would require a major change in the entire chain of seafood air logistics and this could be driven only by the stakeholders in the seafood industry. And given the cheap trucking rates into Oslo utilizing the excessive volumes available on largely empty trucks returning from Northern Norway, setting up a freighter operation from Luleaa Kallax Airport would inevitably raise the costs for the shippers.
-There are currently no projects involving us for a seafood freighter operation but we are of course constantly in dialogue with all interested parties and would certainly be both ready and happy to cooperate, says Ms Viklund.