Emergence of Mideast carriers hurts M'sian air cargo biz
Published on: Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Penang: The emergence of Middle East cargo carriers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is starting to impact the local air cargo business.Penang Freight Forwarders Association (PFFA) Air Freight said companies preferred to send their cargo through KLIA instead of the Penang International Airport because of the competitive freight rates offered by the Middle East carriers at the former.The Middle East carriers have also taken away market share from Malaysia Airlines for long-haul routes.
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For example, most business class travellers prefer the Middle East carriers when they fly to London because of the more competitive rates although the latter involves a stopover.Chairman P Kalimuthu said there were a growing number of exporters from Penang sending their cargo via land route to Kuala Lumpur to be flown out of the country."MAS and its joint-service cargo carriers are also sending their cargo to Kuala Lumpur to be exported as they don't have enough wide body aircrafts servicing with frequency the cargo sector from Penang to the United States, Europe, and the Middle-East."There are premier airlines with wide-body aircraft servicing the cargo sector from Penang to overseas destinations, but their rates are not competitive," Kalimuthu said.
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The trucking charges to Kuala Lumpur from Penang are around RM0.20 to RM0.40 per kg, compared to the air freight charge of RM1.06 per kg to ship cargo to Kuala Lumpur from Penang.Due to the preference of exporters in Penang to export out of Kuala Lumpur, the growth of the total tonnage of cargo handled in 2014 over 2013 in Penang was only about 1.5 pc.
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In 2014, the total cargo tonnage handled at the Penang International Airport was 114,898 tonnes, compared to 113,437 tonnes in 2013. The tonnage handled had risen slightly for the first quarter of 2015 to 27,058 tonnes from 26,034 tonnes in the same period a year ago."PFFA is projecting the total tonnage of cargo handled at the Penang International Airport to increase by about 5 pc to 119,005 tonnes this year from 114,898 tonnes a year ago. "We are optimistic we can achieve the objective set for the year."We hope with the recovery of certain segments in electronic and semiconductor sector, we can see a stronger surge in the volume of electronic and semiconductor components shipped out from Penang in the second quarter to multinational corporations worldwide. "Some 70 pc of the air cargo exported from Penang comprise semiconductor and electronic components, while the remainder are pharmaceutical and non-perishable products," he said.On fuel surcharges, Kalimuthu said as the price of fuel had dropped, some airlines had incorporated fuel surcharges into the freight rate charges.Those airlines with separate fuel surcharge are maintaining the charge at RM2.80 per kg, compared to RM3.80 per kg in last September, according to Kalimuthu.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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