22
de Març
de
2016
Act.
24
de Març
de
2016
"Prepare for landing, please", warns the metallic voice of the captain. Out of the window a perfectly outlined shadow passes over the warehouses and factories of Zona Franca de Barcelona. That is when one realises the spectacular dimensions of this Emirates Airbus A380. After a softer landing than might be expected, the craft slowly attaches itself to two corridors of the terminal and the 571 passengers disembark. In 25 minutes everyone is off, including the crew. The plane is now empty. Or is it?
Few passengers are aware that they may have shared their journey with tonnes of tuna, luxury cars or even falcons! Air cargo is a key element of our economy, and in Barcelona it is growing quickly.
Good and bad news
In 2015, the airport handled 117,219 tonnes of cargo, some 14% more than in 2014. However, during 2016 the growth has accelerated: some 18.8% in January and 18.3% in February. "Last year was very good for the new frequencies of the Emirates and Qatar Airways to Dubai and Doha, and also the new TAM flight to Sao Paulo is starting to leave its mark," says the head of the airport's Cargo Unit, EduardoCerezo.
What's more, the cargo subsidiaries of the Emirates and Turkish Airlines have this year chosen Barcelona, and will have exclusive flights from this spring. In the case of Emirates Sky Cargo, the good news is twofold, because it means the return of this company, which briefly had a presence in Barcelona in 2008 before it moved its cargo operations to Zaragoza to serve the Inditex logistics centre. The bad news comes from Iberia, which will abandon its cargo terminal next to Barcelona's T2 terminal to focus its efforts on –surprise- Madrid.
Yet let us not fool ourselves. Even Barajas airport, which handles three times the cargo as Barcelona, is still nowhere near the largest Europeandistributioncentres. The two leaders are Frankfurt and Paris, which handle two million tonnes each a year.
The great unknown
"Most of the air cargo is transported in the hold of passenger planes, only 5% of air cargo is transported in pure cargo planes," says Cerezo. While the sea is dominated by container ships and the roads by lorries, goods are a complementary business for the air sector, and more often seen as a nuisance by airports.
On the other hand, air cargo is a good indicator of an economy's added value, as, even though it only makes up 6% of all goods transported around the world, it represents a third of the total value.
Yet, how much money are we talking about? According to LuisMartínez, Emirates Cargo Manager in Barcelona: "Tariffs can vary according to the volume and materials, but sending t-shirts from Barcelona to Sydney costs about three euros by plane, with the guarantee that it will take three days at the most." By ship it's –literally- a thousand times cheaper, but the t-shirts will take 40 days to get to Australia. And 40 days without your goods is a long time. In the case of clothing, it is long enough for someone to copy a design, manufacture it and send it –by plane- to the competition's shops.
How much does it cost to send a package from Barcelona to Sydney?
Moreover, the cargo tends to be concentrated, much more than in passenger transport. "You and your family would not accept flying on holiday to New York with four stopovers, but goods do not complain," says Cerezo.
Which goods fly out of Barcelona?
If we were to open the hold of one of the few cargo planes stationed in front of Barcelona's cargo terminals, what would we find? It is no surprise to discover that the textile industry, with Mango, Inditex and Desigual at the forefront, is one of Barcelona's main cargo clients. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries are also great exporters. On the other hand, the automotive components industry has had to tighten its belt in recent years, and those companies that have not closed down have opted for alternative means of transport, such as lorries, trains or ships.
Another classic is fruit: strawberries and oranges, especially. And frozen fish. But, falcons? Martínez explains that the Emirates every year sends some 1,500 trained falcons from Spain to the Middle East, "where large wealthy families collect them, much like we do horses in the West, to show off their dignity and power."
Amazon, Iberia and costs: the future
Cerezo is quite optimistic about the future of air cargo at the airport: "We have a good infrastructure and communications, and we are increasingly attracting flights," but he prefers not to express an opinion about the planned instalation of the Amazon super-warehouse: "Internet sales are developing short-distance air cargo, from which specialised courier companies, such as DHL, UPS or FedEx, benefit, and all of them have a presence in Barcelona." Asked again about Amazon, he concedes that "it will probably have an impact on the airport, but not necessarily a direct one."
Martínez is more critical: "Barcelona airport needs to improve its services and prices," he says. By way of example, he says that "we do not have refrigerated lorries that would allow us to keep the chain cold," a service that Madrid has and something that, apparently, companies have demanded for years. It would significantly increase competitiveness in food transport.
Moreover, "we pay as if we were on Passeig de Gràcia," Martínez continues. Even though AENA got rid of the tax on each kilo transported more than a year ago, transporters complain that the company that manages the airport compensates for the loss of revenue by renting land around the airport. Companies like DHL, Cargolux, UPS or FedEx need to be close to the runways to be able to load and unload their planes, which makes the renting of such land crucial.
Aena defends its actions with the argument that rentals are published in the BOE bulletin, with the blessing of Congress, but sources in the affected companies point to centralism and an alleged ministerial apathy towards the problem. It is a problem that has led to Iberia abandoning Barcelona by the back door.
However, in the end, "the key is in developing intercontinental routes to new countries, especially with the companies most involved in cargo," says Cerezo. Thus, the launching of Norwegian intercontinental routes, which the sector is expecting to arrive in 2017, could provide a shake-up for the Barcelona facilities so they can offer Catalan companies more options.
Few passengers are aware that they may have shared their journey with tonnes of tuna, luxury cars or even falcons! Air cargo is a key element of our economy, and in Barcelona it is growing quickly.
Good and bad news
In 2015, the airport handled 117,219 tonnes of cargo, some 14% more than in 2014. However, during 2016 the growth has accelerated: some 18.8% in January and 18.3% in February. "Last year was very good for the new frequencies of the Emirates and Qatar Airways to Dubai and Doha, and also the new TAM flight to Sao Paulo is starting to leave its mark," says the head of the airport's Cargo Unit, EduardoCerezo.
What's more, the cargo subsidiaries of the Emirates and Turkish Airlines have this year chosen Barcelona, and will have exclusive flights from this spring. In the case of Emirates Sky Cargo, the good news is twofold, because it means the return of this company, which briefly had a presence in Barcelona in 2008 before it moved its cargo operations to Zaragoza to serve the Inditex logistics centre. The bad news comes from Iberia, which will abandon its cargo terminal next to Barcelona's T2 terminal to focus its efforts on –surprise- Madrid.
 |
| The Iberia Cargo terminal in Barcelona, which is to close in April. |
Yet let us not fool ourselves. Even Barajas airport, which handles three times the cargo as Barcelona, is still nowhere near the largest Europeandistributioncentres. The two leaders are Frankfurt and Paris, which handle two million tonnes each a year.
The great unknown
"Most of the air cargo is transported in the hold of passenger planes, only 5% of air cargo is transported in pure cargo planes," says Cerezo. While the sea is dominated by container ships and the roads by lorries, goods are a complementary business for the air sector, and more often seen as a nuisance by airports.
On the other hand, air cargo is a good indicator of an economy's added value, as, even though it only makes up 6% of all goods transported around the world, it represents a third of the total value.
Yet, how much money are we talking about? According to LuisMartínez, Emirates Cargo Manager in Barcelona: "Tariffs can vary according to the volume and materials, but sending t-shirts from Barcelona to Sydney costs about three euros by plane, with the guarantee that it will take three days at the most." By ship it's –literally- a thousand times cheaper, but the t-shirts will take 40 days to get to Australia. And 40 days without your goods is a long time. In the case of clothing, it is long enough for someone to copy a design, manufacture it and send it –by plane- to the competition's shops.
How much does it cost to send a package from Barcelona to Sydney?
| Means of transport | Price (approx) | Time (approx) |
| Plane | 3 €/Kg | 2-3 days |
| Ship | 0,001€/Kg | 40 days |
Moreover, the cargo tends to be concentrated, much more than in passenger transport. "You and your family would not accept flying on holiday to New York with four stopovers, but goods do not complain," says Cerezo.
Which goods fly out of Barcelona?
If we were to open the hold of one of the few cargo planes stationed in front of Barcelona's cargo terminals, what would we find? It is no surprise to discover that the textile industry, with Mango, Inditex and Desigual at the forefront, is one of Barcelona's main cargo clients. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries are also great exporters. On the other hand, the automotive components industry has had to tighten its belt in recent years, and those companies that have not closed down have opted for alternative means of transport, such as lorries, trains or ships.
Another classic is fruit: strawberries and oranges, especially. And frozen fish. But, falcons? Martínez explains that the Emirates every year sends some 1,500 trained falcons from Spain to the Middle East, "where large wealthy families collect them, much like we do horses in the West, to show off their dignity and power."
 |
| A Cargolux B747F in Barcelona. Aena |
Amazon, Iberia and costs: the future
Cerezo is quite optimistic about the future of air cargo at the airport: "We have a good infrastructure and communications, and we are increasingly attracting flights," but he prefers not to express an opinion about the planned instalation of the Amazon super-warehouse: "Internet sales are developing short-distance air cargo, from which specialised courier companies, such as DHL, UPS or FedEx, benefit, and all of them have a presence in Barcelona." Asked again about Amazon, he concedes that "it will probably have an impact on the airport, but not necessarily a direct one."
Martínez is more critical: "Barcelona airport needs to improve its services and prices," he says. By way of example, he says that "we do not have refrigerated lorries that would allow us to keep the chain cold," a service that Madrid has and something that, apparently, companies have demanded for years. It would significantly increase competitiveness in food transport.
Moreover, "we pay as if we were on Passeig de Gràcia," Martínez continues. Even though AENA got rid of the tax on each kilo transported more than a year ago, transporters complain that the company that manages the airport compensates for the loss of revenue by renting land around the airport. Companies like DHL, Cargolux, UPS or FedEx need to be close to the runways to be able to load and unload their planes, which makes the renting of such land crucial.
Aena defends its actions with the argument that rentals are published in the BOE bulletin, with the blessing of Congress, but sources in the affected companies point to centralism and an alleged ministerial apathy towards the problem. It is a problem that has led to Iberia abandoning Barcelona by the back door.
 |
| Companies need to be close to the runways to be able to load and unload. Aena |
However, in the end, "the key is in developing intercontinental routes to new countries, especially with the companies most involved in cargo," says Cerezo. Thus, the launching of Norwegian intercontinental routes, which the sector is expecting to arrive in 2017, could provide a shake-up for the Barcelona facilities so they can offer Catalan companies more options.