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Official publication of
iacobucci
toasts new
gourmet unit
Page 6
Standing room
only Page 12
cup of char?
Page 14
03 Comac outlines
specifications for C919
04 First Chinese private
aerospace company
06 A ‘cool’ ultra lightweight
cart
10 Dixon sees growing
role for Challengers
the world’s no. 1 airshow publication
show roarrrrrrs
off to a flying
start
Asian Aerospace 2009
opened with a colourful display
from a time-honoured tradition
of an eye dotting ceremony
that symbolises bringing the
lions to life.
The nine vibrant lions then
performed a hip-hop routine to
showcase East meets West in
front of a VIP line-up of Hong
Kong government officials and
consul-generals that included
John Tsang, financial secretary
of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region; Zhang
Xiangmu, director general from
the Ministry of Industrial and
Information Technology of
China; Jin Zhuanglong, general
manager of Comac; and Mike
Rusbridge, chairman of show
organiser Reed Exhibitions.
usa faces cargo
screening chaos
cargo executives are warning
that a new US regulation
requiring 100% screening of air
freight will severely disrupt
trade and create huge costs to
the industry if it goes ahead
next year as planned.
The Transportation Security
Administration will controversially
enforce the rule next August,
requiring all air cargo in
the bellyholds of passenger airliners
to be physically screened
– either through detection,
x-ray, or canine or hand search.
“If US Congress does not
change its view for 100%
screening, it will totally disrupt
trade to the USA, will have
huge cost implications and
force cargo to come into the
country other ways,” warns
Wally Nahr: disruption threat
from TSA plans
Wally Nahr of the Hong Kong
Association of Freight Forwarding
Agents.
Speaking during the Air
Freight Asia 2009 cargo conference
at the show, Nahr said that
while he believed that 100%
screening would improve safety,
it would not make cargo operations
100% safe.
This view was shared by
every other member of the conference
panel, which included
David Fielder of air cargo association
FIATA, who asks: “Does
the cost warrant it on a risk/reward
basis?”
Fielder points out that one
way to circumnavigate the rule
is to fly cargo into Canada, and
then truck it across the border.
Another is to fly freight on all-
cargo aircraft as this does not
have to comply with the TSA
rule, but it cannot travel beyond
its arrival airport by air without
being screened.
However, Fielder expects the
TSA will look to include allcargo
aircraft in the longer term
once the belly freight rule has
been implemented.
Nahr, who says that the European
Union has written to the
US government to object to the
regulation, believes that a major
stumbling block is the fact that
the TSA will not have sufficient
manpower to complete the certification.
Industry sources expect that
it is unlikely that the USA will
delay the timing of the 100%
rule.
Visit us in hall 9, booth A01
BillyPix
BillyPix
SEPTEMBER
9 2009
ISSUE 2
Tyler slams
high costs
Cathay Pacific chief executive
Tony Tyler has hit out
at suppliers who still charge
high prices despite the
economic crisis.
Reflecting on “the most
challenging time for the aviation
industry” in his 30
years of involvement, he
says that he sees only “one
or two green shoots across
the entire paddy field”.
Aiming his barbs at suppliers
at the show yesterday,
Tyler says: “We keep
hearing that we are in this
together, but you won’t believe
it if you see the way
airlines are being treated.”
The cost of everything
from aircraft seats to inflight
entertainment kits are
going up, when it should be
the aim of suppliers to keep
cost down, he says.
“It is absurd to expect an
industry that is projected to
lose $9 billion this year to
keep paying these higher
costs,” Tyler points out. “If
we don’t grow, the suppliers
don’t grow.”
Looking at the aviation
market, he says that there
are worries that the changes
in air travel may be
structural rather than cyclical.
Cathay has a team
looking into this issue, and
Tyler adds that there could
be changes in the way the
airline runs its operations.
While low-cost carriers
have “upped the ante”
throughout the world, he
believes that there will continue
to be passengers who
want something extra in
flights, and that is especially
true in Asia.
“There is no doubt that
the full service model will
stay, but it needs tinkering.
The reality is that airlines
are going to have to face up
to a whole array of challenges,”
says Tyler.
169_254x40mm_VisitUsBann_4C_RZ01.indd 1 13.08.2009 11:39:17 Uhr
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