newstodate.aero

Oct 29, 2020 (newstodate): Two crucial factors now remain to fall into place before the first seafood cargo flight lifts off from Evenes Airport, in Northern Norway.
   Way back in May 2004, FedEx introduced a once-weekly freighter flights from Evenes, Norway, to Narita via Anchorage, but the service died out. Several attempts have since been made to revive the idea of serving the region's seafood exporters generating some 80 percent of the country's total production with direct uplift to North America and Asia.
   Today, Perishable Center Nord, established in 2020 with main shareholders including Nordlaks Opdrett, Ellingsen Seafood, Salfra and Astafjord Export, is driving the process.
   According to a Norwegian media, Stig Winther, Perishable Center Nord CEO, told a recent conference that he expects to see up to four weekly seafood cargo flights to be launched already within a month.
   -All pertinent GSE is in place, Perishable Center Nord has taken over a 1,000 sq m hangar earlier used by Kato-Air for palletizing the seafood shipments, and we are now to hire people to prepare for the operations that will be fully on our own responsibility, says Stig Winther.
   -Apart from the tragic consequences of the current coronavirus outbreak, the pandemic has actually created  new opportunities for our project; rather than building on pure freighters we now see the option of carrying seafood exports on all-cargo passenger aircraft increasingly available in the market pending the return of the air passenger market.
   -For us this would be an advantage as we would start out with the handling of, say, 50 tonnes per flight rather than 100-130 tonnes. As experience grows, the transition to pure freighter operations would be a natural step.
   -Besides, introducing more, rather than only one weekly cargo flight would offer more flexibility to customers.
   -So, on one hand we have conclusive talks with a yet-unnamed airline, and on the other hand forwarders and customers will now have to confirm their commitment to the business proposal including notably the rates levels.
   -With these two factors in place, Perishable Center Nord is fully prepared to launch services with almost immediate notice, says Mr Winther.