News / Oman Air eyes expansion of cargo offering that may include more freighters

Photo: Oman Air

Oman Air is looking at ways to develop its cargo offering as part of a ‘transformation project’, which may include new freighter capacity.

Mike Duggan, head of cargo at the Muscat-headquartered carrier, told The Loadstar the wide-ranging project aimed to build “efficiencies across passenger and cargo divisions” and included a decision to halve its wide-body fleet.

“On the cargo side, the fleet plan is based upon rationalisation, maximising what we do with what we have,” he said.

“We have one 737 freighter, and we are using this strategically to support the wide-body bellyhold product, but we are studying if and how to build up our freighter fleet. This may mean expanding through wet-leasing or capacity sharing with partner carriers.”

Representatives of other carriers have also told The Loadstar of their increased interest in capacity sharing, one noting “there is a lot of spare capacity to be had”.

Etihad Cargo’s chief cargo officer, Stanislas Brun, told The Loadstar at IATA’s World Cargo Symposium in Dubai last week: “We have a lot of capacity, so we are talking with other carriers that could expand our network”.

Asked if he believed partnering presented a commercial risk – partner carriers taking customers – Oman’s Mr Duggan said: “Not really. It is not something we see as a commercial risk, more as a means to offer our clients greater choice.

“We are not looking to be an Emirates or an Etihad, but rather to specialise; for us, the cargo business is about being efficient.”

He said the carrier’s focus was key verticals and was keen to further build on the gains it had made in the auto parts, hi-tech, and perishables markets, in part aided by its strong regional presence across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Even so, Mr Duggan said, the assessment of a wide-body freighter offering was partly being driven by the possibility of developing other nearby markets, notably East Africa.

He said that being “relatively small” gave Oman Air’s cargo business some key advantages, including flexibility, “which allows us to be more adaptable to market changes and, through our transformation project, we are hoping to imbed this sense of flexibility,” he added.