newstodate.aero

Jan 22, 2020 (newstodate): Little has been heard lately of efforts to set up a new China-bound freighter service at Eveness Airport - but don't be mistaken: the project is still alive..  
   -We are taking a cautious approach in preparations of this project, but it is steadily progressing on firm grounds, says Stig Winther, Pole Position Logistics, a key driver of the process.
   -First of all, and most importantly, the customer base for the coming freighter service has been firmed up in the form of a consortium comprising four of the largest stakeholders in the region's seafood industry. Each of these four companies now hold 23 percent of the stakes, with the remaining eight percent held by other parties, including my company.
   -This is of key importance as it demonstrates a firm commitment to utilizing the capacity of the freighter service to bring export shipments from the nearby production sites directly by air into the Chinese market without hours wasted on trucking into other airports, notably Oslo Airport in the south of the country.
   -The consortium has invested in GSE including a maindeck-loader that will be positioned at Eveness Airport by March 2020, as well as pertinent cargo terminal facilities to handling of the fresh seafood products.
   -As Russian overflight rights remain a bottle-neck for Norway, we are probably to rely on services by a Chinese carrier that will be able to secure the operations that will comprise  not just one, but several weekly flights to serve the industry.
   -Already producing more than 300,000 tonnes of salmon annually, the northern production sites will continue to gain in importance with the rise in sea temperatures, moving the focus north and stressing the need for suitable air logistic solutions such as a freighter at Eveness Airport.
   -Already back in 1995, Arild Jaabaek pioneered the launch of direct freighter flights from various airports in Northern Norway using IL-76 freighters till they were banned. At that time, the biomass was only about 70,000 tonnes per year - now the volume has grown to over 600,000 tonnes, demonstrating the viability of a project for reviving seafood freighter uplift from our region, says Mr Winther.
   The seafood freighter operation is envisaged as a triangular flight coming into Eveness Airport part-loaded from a point in Continental Europe for direct onward flight to a Chinese destination.
   No specific date has been set for the start of services - but expectations are that a first flight will take place later in 2020.
   When the project first emerged, the launch flights was planned already for mid-2019.