Blue Sky Aviation Services, a startup all-cargo carrier

14 November 2014 • Volume 34, No. 11B
The Air Freight and Express Industry Newsletter of Record • www.CargoFacts.com
Blue Sky Aviation Services, a startup all-cargo carrier
based in Dubai, acquired an A300-600 Freighter (788,
ex-Maximus Air) and says it will soon launch operations from
Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) [FAT 001965]. This
is hardly the first small all-cargo carrier to operate in the Gulf
Region, and the acquisition of a 16-year-old A300 freighter is
not earth-shaking news either, but in an open letter on the company’s website, Blue Sky Vice President Javed Ahmed said the
carrier would add two A330-200Fs to its fleet.
He did not say when the new freighters would enter service, but
A330-200Fs are neither plentiful nor cheap, so the question of
where Blue Sky will find two of the type is interesting.
Airbus has informed Cargo Facts that it has no order or commitment from the carrier, so the potential sources are limited.
• BOC Aviation has three A330-200Fs on lease to Qatar
Fresh from the paint shop, Blue Sky’s A300-600F awaits
Airways. Terms of the lease agreement have not been reentry into service.
leased, but Cargo Facts believes it is a relatively short-term
deal, so it is possible Blue Sky could be a new home for two of these freighters when they come off lease at Qatar.
• An existing A330-200F operator could lease or sell two freighters to Blue Sky. The obvious candidate here is
MASkargo, the cargo arm of Malaysia Airlines. MASkargo already ACMI-leases one of its four A330-200Fs to Turkish
Airlines, and could be interested in similar deals with other carriers.
And, of course, there is a third possibility: That Blue Sky has not yet made a formal arrangement to acquire the aircraft, but
rather is planning to do so at some point in the future.
Ireland-based Fly Leasing (which is managed and serviced by US-based BBAM LP) said it has “agreed to sell
eight of the 11 Boeing 757 aircraft in its fleet.” No information was provided regarding the purchaser of the eight
aircraft, but Cargo Facts believes it is likely to be either DHL Express or SF Airlines, both of which are known to be in the
market for a large number of 757-200s that they can have converted to freighter configuration. In its announcement of the
sale agreement, Fly Leasing said all sales were expected to close by the end of 2015, so the eight 757-200s would be
(More news on page 2)
units coming off lease by that time.
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14 November 2014 – page two
Etihad and First Priority in scheduled charter deal. Dubai-based forwarder First Priority Cargo launched twice-weekly
A300-200F service between Sharjah (SHJ) and the Kenyan city of Eldoret (EDL, 260 km northwest of Nairobi), using a
freighter chartered from Etihad Airways. First Priority said it would use a road feeder service from Eldoret to Nairobi, where
inbound shipments will clear customs.
Deutsche Post DHL reported third-quarter net
income up 17.3% y-o-y to 468 million, as total
revenue rose 4.1% to 14.00 billion. Operating profit
(EBIT) for the quarter was up 4.8% to 677 million.
As shown in the chart at right, the growth was led
by the DHL Express division, which saw revenue increase 7.6% to 3.11 billion, and EBIT jump 23.0%
to 305 million. Revenue growth in the company’s
other three reporting divisions was in the low single
digits, but while the Post - eCommerce - Parcel and
DHL Supply Chain divisions reported EBIT gains,
the DHL Global Forwarding, Freight division continued to struggle. DP-DHL said that despite increases
in both air and ocean volumes, “high pressure on
margins and transformational costs had a noticeable
impact on the Global Forwarding, Freight division.”
Looking more closely at the DHL Express division:
• Revenue increased in all four geographic regions. The overall gain was clearly led by 11.7%
growth in the Asia Pacific region, but revenue
from European operations was also up nicely.
• Looking at revenue by product, DHL Express
saw a 6.9% increase in its Time Definite International product, whereas Time Definite Domestic
revenue was unchanged.
• In terms of average daily shipment volume,
growth was again led by a 7.0% jump in Time
Definite International, while Time Definite Domestic was flat with 3Q13.
Volume up at ABC: AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC,
the scheduled service subsidiary of Moscow-based
Volga-Dnepr Group) reported cargo volume up 14%
y-o-y to 291,000 tonnes for the first three quarters
of 2014. The carrier said its load factor for the period
was 71%.
DP-DHL Third Quarter 2014 Results
3Q14
Revenue
Post - eCommerce - Parcel
Express
Global Forwarding/Freight
Supply Chain
Total revenue
Operating profit (EBIT)
Post - eCommerce - Parcel
Express
Global Forwarding, Freight
Supply Chain
Total operating profit
Net Profit
Operating margin
Post - eCommerce - Parcel
Express
Global Forwarding/Freight
Supply Chain
Overall operating yield
€million
3,731
3,112
3,803
3,660
14,001
€million
288
305
72
110
677
468
7.7%
9.8%
1.9%
3.0%
4.8%
YTD
% Chg
2.4%
7.6%
2.7%
4.0%
4.1%
% Chg
4.0%
23.0%
-42.9%
10.0%
4.8%
17.3%
Change
0.1pp
1.2pp
-1.5pp
0.2pp
0.0pp
€million
11,333
9,080
10,964
10,784
41,265
€million
873
912
221
303
2,057
1,431
7.7%
10.0%
2.0%
2.8%
5.0%
DP-DHL Express Division Revenue and Volume Details
3Q14
0
YTD
Revenue by Geographical Region (millions of Euros)
Europe
Americas
Asia Pacific
Middle East & Africa
1,386
558
1,137
230
5.4%
2.0%
11.7%
0.4%
% Chg
2.0%
4.1%
-0.4%
2.4%
2.0%
% Chg
-4.3%
18.3%
-35.0%
15.6%
4.2%
8.5%
Change
-0.5pp
1.2pp
-1.1pp
0.3pp
0.1pp
0
4,142
1,632
3,219
678
3.9%
0.2%
7.1%
-2.4%
36.5
3.8
8.3%
0.0%
674
357
7.7%
0.6%
Average Daily Revenue by Product (millions of Euros)
Time Definite International
Time Definite Domestic
35.6
3.7
6.9%
0.0%
Average Daily Shipment Volume by Product (thousands)
Time Definite International
Time Definite Domestic
661
344
Source: DP-DHL
Note: totals may not add due to consolidation
7.0%
0.0%
CARGO FACTS -- November 2014
Canada-based Cargojet took redelivery of a 767-300BDSF (27918, ex-Alitalia) following conversion by M&B Conversions at the Bedek Aviation Group facility in Tel Aviv [FAT 001929]. Since winning a contract from Canada Post/Purolator
earlier this year, Cargojet has undertaken a massive fleet expansion and modernization in anticipation of the contract’s
coming into force at the beginning of the second quarter next year. In addition to nine 727-200Fs, the carrier’s fleet now
includes three 767-300 freighters (two BCFs and one BDSF), five 767-200BDSFs, and four 757-200Fs. Cargojet also has
one 767-300 and two 757-200s either in or awaiting conversion. Cargojet reported a third-quarter net loss of US$2.0 million, despite an 8.8% increase in revenue to US$41.5 million.
October cargo traffic – first reports: Several carriers and handlers have now reported their October cargo traffic. A more
detailed discussion will be available on our website, but briefly, October cargo traffic was down 1.2% y-o-y at Air FranceKLM, down 1.3% at Lufthansa Cargo, down 2.4% at International Airlines Group, up 14.4% at China Southern Airlines,
down 1.45% at China Eastern Airlines, and up 16.5% at Turkish Airlines. Pactl (the biggest handler at Shanghai Pudong
Airport) reported its October handle up 13.3%.
cf