News / Pharma and perishables market 'more reliable' than ecommerce, says Etihad Cargo

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Etihad Cargo plans to focus on “pharma, hi-tech, and perishables” – in that order – in favour of the more volatile ecommerce market.

Stanislas Brun, its chief cargo officer, also told The Loadstar, on the sidelines of Air Cargo Europe in Munich today, that Etihad had plans to increase capacity to Asia as part of its summer freighter schedule.  

“We believe China remains one of the main demand areas, that’s why we continue to increase capacity there. We are inserting a new freighter this week,” he said. 

“At the same time, Vietnam is a growing destination. So, we will also open a fifth weekly freighter out of Hanoi and, by the end of the year, we’ll add passenger aircraft. From November, we’ll fly six passenger services out of Hanoi to Abu Dhabi on 787s; which would mean an average of 22, 24 tons of capacity a day, multiplied by six, plus the freighter we already operate.” 

However, he noted that despite the region being a major ecommerce exporter, “if you look at Vietnam, it’s not ecommerce, it’s mostly hi-tech”, and added: “When you look at China, it’s a mix, not necessarily e-commerce predominantly; it’s a mix of e-commerce and hi-tech and industrial.” 

Mr Brun believed the pharma and perishables market were a “more reliable and predictable” source of demand than often-fickle consumer-driven ecommerce. 

“We focus on ecommerce like everyone, but we never focus too much, which means we always keep a balance share in terms of capacity for all types of cargo from forwarders on top of ecommerce. 

“Our focus is to make sure that Abu Dhabi is a pharma corridor. We have the same in terms of perishables,” said Mr Brun. 

He explained: “You have better control, in terms of demand. There is still strong demand in pharma for all the different issues worldwide and, on the other side, people need to have food. 

“In order, pharma, hi-tech, food; and yes, ecommerce is there, because you can’t ignore that. But it’s not necessarily our priority day to day, and it was not our priority last year.” 

And this focus, it seems, is paying off for Etihad.  

“When you look at the beginning of the year, we are doing better than last year, despite all the different global dynamics we’re facing. We’re quite happy because we’re above, in terms of tonnage, and we are above, in terms of revenue,” Mr Brun told The Loadstar.