As a result of a combination of factors, including geopolitical events in the Gulf region, changes to Customs regulations for Chinese exporters into the United States (US) market and continued very strong demand for e-commerce product, Europe, and the UK in particular, have continued to drive solid growth in airfreight demand for this sector.

Bournemouth Airport is becoming well known as a key e-commerce gateway and with this continued strength in the market, we anticipate further near-term expansion of its cargo handling operation ‘Cargo First’ consistent with its objective to become the UK’s premier airport hub for e-commerce goods.

“We’ve always maintained that being both cost and time-efficient with all our processes are the two key factors that our customers continuously look for.  These are the same critical factors that every other component of any logistics supply chain must also deliver, and we are well aware of the need for us to play our part in that too,” Bob Matharoo, Head of Cargo at Bournemouth Airport, stated.

“Of course, we are fortunate that Bournemouth Airport is also really well located to access key market areas in the South and Midlands of the UK plus the fact that the well known congestion of the major hub airports means that our simple and efficient Cargo First handling offer has been extremely well received by our clients.

“We are, quite frankly, unashamedly mimicking successful and well-established operations at cargo airports elsewhere in Europe, but we strongly feel that the substantial property play that Bournemouth Airport is able to offer is just as important as the integration of multimodal operations to ensure a smooth and efficient supply chain environment.”

Location is key

Bournemouth has the enviable position of offering not only fast ground transport access to the core market areas within the UK but is also well located for access into Europe.

At just 90 minutes from London and with great access also into the UK Midlands and beyond, the hub has been able to prove that customers can secure all the benefits of use of an uncongested airport facility and – crucially – get their product to market faster.

“Our location offers the additional benefits of being close enough to London to provide a real alternative to the big hub airports, but being outside the London system means that we enjoy both substantial freedom of growth from an aviation traffic rights perspective (avoiding the frequency limitations that constrain growth of many services into the London area) plus the benefits of uncongested airspace and highway network,” Matharoo outlined.

“Initially we saw the majority of imported goods processed through Bournemouth and then transited onwards to agents in the London area.  While we appreciate that London will always be a key centre for the UK freight market, what we’ve seen recently is a move to simplify supply chains within the UK.

“A greater proportion of imports are now clearing Customs at Bournemouth and being trucked directly to the end distribution centre of the final mile delivery agent, and we expect to see a further simplification of the process chain in future with the establishment of distribution centres directly at the airport itself for final mile operations. With over one million square feet of potential warehousing development space landside and airside, Bournemouth is well placed to facilitate that.”

Flexibility first

Blessed to have a adaptable, reliable and ambitious based carrier in the form of European Cargo, with a full UK Air Operator Certificate – Bournemouth Airport has been able to easily offer global routings from the hub, proving its capabilities and receiving recognition around the world. But that is only part of it, with the team working extremely hard with stakeholders throughout the logistics chains to make known their capabilities.

This has been combined with a continual investment approach to Bournemouth’s cargo operation since inception.  This has included ground equipment, additional warehouse capacity and other fixed infrastructure such as aircraft handling aprons – and the team expect to make further announcements on this front in the very near future.

“There’s no question that Bournemouth Airport’s entry into the larg-scale cargo handling market came at the right time – last year we broke into the top 10 UK airports for cargo throughput and we firmly expect to see our position in the rankings jump up several more places by the end of the current year,” Matharoo explained.

“By focusing on what customers really need and making sure we deliver exactly that, we feel we’ve really begun to turn the tide in terms of the mindset that cargo into the UK can only be funnelled via big hub airports.

“As much as infrastructure is important, it is essential to remember that it is the operational team that makes to whole thing work.  Our biggest investment overall, in terms of time, cost and training has been in our cargo staff who deliver service in line with our ‘faster airfreight’ promise on a daily basis.”

“Our laser-like focus on efficiency makes a huge difference too.  But we firmly believe our success has been just as much about being in the right place as launching at the right time.”