MANAMA: A new cargo airline has launched operations from its hub in Bahrain with the aim to provide scheduled as well as charter services across underserved markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
Taking to the air at the start of the month after it got the air operator’s certification in October, MENA Cargo is a division of MENA Aerospace Enterprises, a wholly Bahrain-owned provider of comprehensive aviation and aerospace services.
Although coronavirus pandemic shutdowns diminished many aviation companies, MENA Aerospace Enterprises’ leadership made the decision to expand the group by establishing the new cargo airline in late 2020 as a brand under MAE Aircraft Management.
Addressing a virtual briefing attended by the international aviation and logistics trade media, MENA Aerospace Enterprises founder and managing director Dr Mohammed Juman said the company’s strategy is based on “the principles of efficiency, flexibility, and agility”.
The assets and operations are structured to afford maximum flexibility at minimal costs and overheads were kept lean during the start-up phase, and the team still met training and compliance goals ahead of schedule.
A key feature of the operations is a smart booking system for registered agents, the goal of which is to streamline costs for everyone.
The platform does this by removing middlemen from the enquiries and bookings processes, while also enhancing the level of service provided by seamlessly integrating communications and follow-up on the back-end.
“We’ve looked at the regional markets; where is the growth, where are the gates to the global markets. The growth we’ve seen is mainly in the Gulf area, Africa and SE Asia. So, our thought process was, let’s try to link these markets and let’s serve these markets,” said Dr Juman.
“The next market that we are focusing on right now is Saudi Arabia. We’re also looking at feeding international services into the regional markets of Africa,” he added.
The key objective will be serving markets throughout MENA Cargo’s global network together with support from global cargo integrators, freight agents, charter requests and logistic suppliers.
MENA Cargo aims to complement the other large air cargo operators in the region, working with them rather than against them as a direct competitor.
Also speaking was Brian Hogan, board member of MENA Aerospace Enterprises and MAE Aircraft Management, and business development independent director, who said: “Clearly, we are in the right place at the right time. Cargo is going through the roof... if we had more planes now we think we could fly them continuously 24 hours a day.”
MENA Cargo currently has one Boeing 737-300 converted freighter, with a payload capacity of up to 17,000kg, in its fleet and is in final discussions to secure a second within a year.
Until more aircraft are added to the fleet, Mr Hogan said the airline would bridge the gap by partnering with “a lot of passenger aircraft operators out there”.
“The strategy is simple but complicated: we can use Bahrain as our hub, have three-four aircraft here, move into Saudi, and then move into South East Asia. We haven’t decided yet, but the hub in SE Asia could be Thailand, Singapore or Malaysia.”
The airline has a one-year charter agreement with Euro Atlantic for a Boeing 777-200ER which is P2F type aircraft, with the likelihood of more aircraft being added soon.
Additionally, the airline has access to a 767-300ER, currently being used on an ad hoc basis, and is looking at options to make the aircraft available for a longer period of time.
Further, it is negotiating the lease of an additional Boeing 737 NG cargo plane, which would offer increased payload and an extended operating range.
To serve the Bahrain market, a Boeing 737-8F with a capacity of up to 22 tonnes will be added by January, while a further two aircraft of this type are expected to be added to the fleet in the second and third quarters next year.
In particular, additional aircraft will be added to the fleet in the medium term in order to service the Saudi Arabian and South East Asian markets and capitalise on the huge growth of e-commerce occurring throughout the world.
According to Mr Hogan, the airline is looking at a “critical mass of 15-20 aircraft”.
A key element of MENA Cargo’s strategy is benefiting from and contributes to Bahrain’s sophisticated logistics ecosystem.
The kingdom is positioning itself as a global logistics nexus, taking advantage of its geographic proximity to myriad growing markets.
The Bahrain Global Sea-Air Logistics Hub was launched last month as the fastest regional multi-modal logistics hub in the Middle East, saving customers time and cost.
Peter Hewett, general manager of MAE Aircraft Management, said: “The vision is very clear. We are a new entrant into the Bahrain market as a cargo carrier, but we are not a new entrant to the industry, because we have a vast amount of experience within the team.
“We’re going to take that experience and expand it through different stages of our growth; which will include our IT development, the business development, and also the expansion across the network. The three hubs that we’re looking at across the network actually link together, so it makes this a seamless business model.”
MENA Cargo plans to launch a new dedicated website and booking system before the end of this year.
avinash@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))