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MALAYSIA Airlines Cargo Sdn
Bhd (MASkargo) will take advantage of the
liberalisation of the air cargo market in Asean
to expand its business.
Newly appointed managing director Shahari
Sulaiman said he expected liberalisation to
happen very soon in this region.
“We see that as an opportunity to expand our
business,” he told the press at the Asian
Aerospace 2007 International Expo and Congress
in Hong Kong last week.
Shahari said MASkargo was currently in a good
position.
“There are some airlines that have a big
freighter capacity and they are facing difficult
times to make their operations profitable,” he
said.
“MASkargo, on the other hand, is fortunate to
have the right ratio of freighter to belly
capacity. At the moment, we will maintain our
fleet composition because we find that it is a
healthy ratio,” he added.
Last year, MASkargo had 60% belly (in passenger
flights) and 40% freighter in goods transported.
This year, because of realignment in passenger
flights, the ratio is about 50:50.
“We also have a good cost structure to contain
our costs with a lot of initiatives in terms of
how we fly, where we fly, alternate airports and
changing some of our fixed costs to variable
costs.
“The liberalisation of air cargo in Asean will
provide better opportunities to penetrate new
markets,” he said.
Shahari said MASkargo was currently conducting a
study on the best fleet to serve these markets.
“It can either comprise narrow-body or mid-range
freighters,” he said.
The study is also in line with the Government's
initiative to develop Penang as a northern
corridor logistics hub.
In view of that, Shahari said MASkargo had
developed the “Silk Road” from Shanghai to
Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and onwards to Amsterdam.
“In terms of developing the route, we are
working with Air Uzbekistan to look at the
possibility of mounting charters,” he said.
Shahari said Tashkent was previously a technical
stop but MASkargo saw it as a golden opportunity
to spread its wings further.
“We used to fly to Dubai, then to Amsterdam. But
now we have decided to fly to Tashkent instead
of Dubai,” he said.
MASkargo has a fleet of two 747-400s and four
747-200s. |
