DUBAI's big ground handler dnata is considering taking up a dedicated sea-air facility as demand continues to surge.
Traditional sea-air hubs have this year experienced a surge in demand as forwarders looked for alternatives to ocean transport due to delays caused by attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and the subsequent diversion of ships around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
Dnata was one such company to experience this surge in demand, with the group's chief executive Steven Allen reporting a 45 per cent year-on-year increase in volumes through Dubai in the opening months of the year, although this also partly reflects a pre-Lunar New Year rush to get cargo to destination ahead of the two-week holiday.
Speaking at an event at the handler's headquarters, Mr Allen explained that the company has this year taken on extra space to accommodate a surge in sea-air demand, reports London's Air Cargo News.
The lease on an 8,500 sq m Dubai World Central (DWC) facility runs for six months at which point the company will decide whether to extend the lease.
Guillaume Crozier, senior vice president UAE cargo and global cargo strategy, said that if the company decides to extend the lease, the facility could be dedicated to sea-air volumes.
Mr Allen said: 'We are doing a business case on it at the moment, but my view is that we will need it because Dubai is growing so fast. We had already planned on having more capacity come available in June this year [a 4,000 sq m facility to be vacated by FedEx] and we see this trend continuing.'
He said that 'March is looking really strong and certainly doesn't seem to be slowing down'.
'People say it is a one-off, but it doesn't feel like a one-off anymore because every year there is something geopolitically going on around the world.'
It is not just dnata that has noticed ongoing sea-air demand. Analysis from WorldACD published last week shows that Dubai-Europe air cargo traffic in week eight [starting February 19] was at more than double (146 per cent) its level this time last year, with average tonnages for the last two full weeks (weeks seven and eight) up by 140 per cent, year on year.
Mr Allen added that cargo demand for the business overall had remained strong in 2024. He said that the company had noticed rising demand from production centres that can provide an alternative to China, while disruption and rising import demand into Dubai was also fuelling volumes.
'Cargo is a forerunner of recession but is bucking the trend a bit this time round,' he said. 'Japan and the UK have gone into recession but cargo into the UK is booming from what we have seen.
'The direction of travel is changing. There is a lot more production coming out of India and in the Far East places like Indonesia and Vietnam and the US is consuming more cargo from South America than it was before.
'I always thought that we would be going down the e-commerce, perishables, fast-moving goods route but general cargo is as strong as it ever was,' he said.
SeaNews Turkey
Traditional sea-air hubs have this year experienced a surge in demand as forwarders looked for alternatives to ocean transport due to delays caused by attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and the subsequent diversion of ships around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
Dnata was one such company to experience this surge in demand, with the group's chief executive Steven Allen reporting a 45 per cent year-on-year increase in volumes through Dubai in the opening months of the year, although this also partly reflects a pre-Lunar New Year rush to get cargo to destination ahead of the two-week holiday.
Speaking at an event at the handler's headquarters, Mr Allen explained that the company has this year taken on extra space to accommodate a surge in sea-air demand, reports London's Air Cargo News.
The lease on an 8,500 sq m Dubai World Central (DWC) facility runs for six months at which point the company will decide whether to extend the lease.
Guillaume Crozier, senior vice president UAE cargo and global cargo strategy, said that if the company decides to extend the lease, the facility could be dedicated to sea-air volumes.
Mr Allen said: 'We are doing a business case on it at the moment, but my view is that we will need it because Dubai is growing so fast. We had already planned on having more capacity come available in June this year [a 4,000 sq m facility to be vacated by FedEx] and we see this trend continuing.'
He said that 'March is looking really strong and certainly doesn't seem to be slowing down'.
'People say it is a one-off, but it doesn't feel like a one-off anymore because every year there is something geopolitically going on around the world.'
It is not just dnata that has noticed ongoing sea-air demand. Analysis from WorldACD published last week shows that Dubai-Europe air cargo traffic in week eight [starting February 19] was at more than double (146 per cent) its level this time last year, with average tonnages for the last two full weeks (weeks seven and eight) up by 140 per cent, year on year.
Mr Allen added that cargo demand for the business overall had remained strong in 2024. He said that the company had noticed rising demand from production centres that can provide an alternative to China, while disruption and rising import demand into Dubai was also fuelling volumes.
'Cargo is a forerunner of recession but is bucking the trend a bit this time round,' he said. 'Japan and the UK have gone into recession but cargo into the UK is booming from what we have seen.
'The direction of travel is changing. There is a lot more production coming out of India and in the Far East places like Indonesia and Vietnam and the US is consuming more cargo from South America than it was before.
'I always thought that we would be going down the e-commerce, perishables, fast-moving goods route but general cargo is as strong as it ever was,' he said.
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