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Oct 06, 2022 (newstodate): Norway's salmon farming in the country's northern region is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, rising also the need for direct uplift to export markets.
   According to information presented at the recent conference in Oslo, The Future of Norwegian Seafood Logistics 2022, the region produced 450,000 tonnes of salmon in 2021, of which only 14 percent, corresponding to 63,000 tonnes, was exported by air.
   Volumes are estimated to grow to 506,000 tonnes in 2025, of which 20 percent, or 101,300 tonnes, will go by air; to 587,000 tonnes in 2030, of which 25 percent, or 101,300 tonnes, will be transported by air, and to 790,000 tonnes in 2040, of which 28 percent, or 221,200 tonnes, will be carried by air transportation.
   Today, the seafood hub serving Norwegian exporters is Oslo Airport, that will see a drastic infrastructural development in the coming years.
   Construction works are thus in full swing at the airport that will see the opening of a new seafood cargo terminal in summer 2023.
   To be established by a private developer Oslo Airport City, The World Seafood Center will comprise 40,000 m2 terminal space, of which 20,000 m2 are already taken on an 18-years lease contract with an option for further expansion by GPC, Gardermoen Perishables Center owned by Schenker Norway, DHL and the Norwegian freight forwarder Air Cargo Logistics.
   However, exporters in the northern region also see strong needs for uplift closer to their production sites, and the region's airport at Stavanger/Evenes is a strong bid for a future new infrastructure, handling freighter operations by Qatar Airways Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Airlines in 2021.
   With Evenes Airport's proximity to the production sites, only some 2.5 hours of trucking are required for the seafood shipments to be on-board a freighter ready for flight, compared to trucking times to Oslo Airport requiring up to 20 hours on the road.
   Speaking at the seafood conference in Oslo, the key driver behind the plans, Stig Winther, Perishable Center Nord CEO, reiterated that sustained efforts are being made to source commitments from the industry to see freighter traffic to lift seafood returning.
   -Actually, we did manage to lift 4,500 tonnes of seafood out of the airport in 2021 destined for Asian and North American destinations, and we are in talks with airlines to convince them of the business opportunities, said Mr Winther.
   The airport is today capable of handling seafood shipments at a 1,000 m2 hangar earlier used by Kato-Air, but plans are ready for construction of a 3,000 m2 terminal dedicated to seafood handling, and the vision is to see some 30,300 tonnes of seafood annually when traffic builds up.
   As one recent development, Lufthansa Cargo has announced the launch of A321F flights from Frankfurt to Evenes Airport starting from November 2, 2022, with one weekly rotation - but it is still unclear if it will take seafood on the return flight.