Capitalising on developing markets is essential for the future of air cargo, says Air Atlanta spokesperson

Baldvin Mar Hermannson, vice president of sales and marketing at the Iclelandic ACMI provider Air Atlanta, has expressed concerns about current surplus capacity on the air cargo market in Europe and has pointed to expansion into the Middle East and Africa as a possible solution.

In an interview with Air Cargo Week today, Hermannson stated, "Saudi Arabia is [...] a big market for us, but Africa is promising too. We have a lot of business in Lagos, Nigeria and [...] we hope to announce the arrival of a further African carrier soon."

An Air Atlantic 747-200

While logistics giant FedEx has recently expanded its networks in Latin America as part of the growth strategy for its freight division, Hermannson admits that for smaller, European countries, the South American market could be a hard nut to crack.

Hermannson added, "demand in and out of Europe will play a pivotal role this year. And as I previously stated, capacity will outweight demand."

Not every corner of Iceland's freight sector is threatened by overcapacity however. Robert Tommasson, MD of Cargo Express has commented this week that insufficient capacity, particularly on US routes, has impeded growth of Iceland's air freight markets, particularly in September-April when the seafood industry, the main driver of air cargo, is at its busiest. 

Source: Air Cargo Week