MAS Kargo is the cargo division of Malaysia Airlines.
LOCAL airfreight carrier MAS Kargo has embarked on a new beginning.
Its new team of managers are putting the past behind them and are committed to improving the company’s image and concentrating on keeping it on track. Their efforts are showing signs of success. Recently, a selected few of the Malaysian media were invited to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam in the Netherlands for a first-hand experience on how MAS Kargo personnel managed to turn the tide there. Amsterdam is MAS Kargo’s hub for Europe.
Schiphol Airport is the fourth largest in Europe behind Heathrow Airport, Charles de Gaul Airport and Frankfurt Airport. Schiphol’s cargo traffic totalled 1,239,900 tonnes in 2002, a 4.8 per cent increase from the previous year. MAS Kargo handled 39,499,283 kg from April 2002 to February 2003, placing it among the top 10 airfreight airlines operating at Schiphol.
“It wasn’t easy to convince people to use our freighters in Europe because of our previous reputation and stiff competition in Schiphol Airport,” says MAS Kargo manager in Amsterdam, Kees-Jan de Vries.
KLM and Singapore Airlines (SIA) are just two of the competitors MAS Kargo has to contend with. The Dutch carrier is the biggest airfreight company at Schiphol, while SIA is one of the top 10 carriers with proven track records. In total, Schiphol has 42 airlines competing with each other. “We are able to get into the top 10 list because of the fact that we are more flexible compared to other airlines, the excellent cooperation and significant improvement in cargo handling in Kuala Lumpur and very good relationships with our business partners,” de Vries explains.
De Vries says flexibility in space exchange is one option that most airfreights could not afford to provide. He says this is the main reason why more shippers prefer to use MAS Kargo for their shipment to reach their Asian destinations on schedule. Currently, MAS Kargo flies six outbound 747-200 freight aircraft from Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur. In addition, MAS mounts seven passenger flights per week to and from Amsterdam, which also make room for cargo. This flight frequency to Schiphol has somewhat checked the dominance of MAS’ closest rival - SIA.
As Amsterdam is well connected to other European cities via land transport, it is possible for MAS Kargo to arrange shipments to and from other locations within hours, namely Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Zurich and London where MAS flights are available. Cargoes are moved to these destinations by truck.
A total of 10,153 kg of cargo has been moved via trucks for the financial year 2002-2003, with an average of 82 trucks per week. The cargo ranges from huge mining machinery to fragile flowers. “We try our best to give the best solution for our clients, unlike other airlines that are usually tied to a fixed schedule that gives little room for shippers to negotiate,” he explains.
In Europe, MAS Kargo’s biggest client is DHL. Others include Volvo, Intel, Seagate and Ericsson.
The improvement in management and drive at the MAS Kargo headquarters or Advanced Cargo Centre (ACC) at the KL International Airport (KLIA) has undoubtedly sowed the seeds of efficiency throughout its worldwide operations. Since the new management of MAS Kargo took over about three years ago, the company has experienced a complete turnaround in performance. Mishandlings have dropped by 96 per cent and cargo claims have been reduced by more than 80 per cent. The enhanced quality of ground handling at KLIA has resulted in a 17 per cent increase in overall tonnage handled and a 35 per cent increase in transhipment. A one-stop perishable centre is also available at ACC to cater to perishable cargoes.
Prior to the change, shippers of perishable items from Europe had avoided using the services of MAS Kargo due to its previous poor reputation. Its sole sales representative in Amsterdam, Peter R Penseel, has done a remarkable job of winning over these highly demanding customers.
“It took me 13 months to convince an exporter of paprika to use our services,” he says. The exporter finally agreed only after testing the airfreight with a few tonnes of paprika to Japan via Kuala Lumpur.
The paprika exporter, Gerrit Bergwerff, explains that in his business, the quality of the goods must be perfect upon arrival or the importer will reject them. Risks of damage are ever present in between stops as the paprikas must be kept between eight and twelve degrees Celsius at all times. He says exports to Japan are very important, as the country is the biggest importer of paprikas from Europe. “The Japanese are very strict with imported foods. If they find one paprika that has turned soft, the whole bunch will be rejected. This is why we are very careful in choosing airfreights. I hope MAS Kargo will keep up their good service and we hope to continue the relationship in the future,” says Bergwerff. With a small team of seven people running MAS Kargo in Amsterdam, de Vries says it relies heavily on its business partners to operate efficiently. At Schiphol, MAS Kargo is a contract partner with Aero Groundservices (AG), a company that takes care of all of the airfreight’s warehouse and ramp handling.
AG has more than 50 years’ experience in cargo handling and it is a privately owned company of VCK Holdings BV. Last year it handled 335,000 tonnes of cargo and 2,750 freighters at Schiphol, including those of MAS Kargo. Customs clearance is also a part of the company’s service. The company started working together with MAS Kargo in 1997. Although it functions in a semi-automated mode unlike MAS Kargo at KLIA, it is a reliable partner in the cargo chain. According to its commercial manager, Frans C. Meeuwes, MAS Kargo operations at AG grew to about 42 per cent last year. He expects the trend to continue in future.
Another subsidiary of VCK Holdings, VCK Air BV, has also developed strong ties with MAS Kargo and calls it one of its preferred carriers in the business. “We prefer MAS Kargo because it has chosen Amsterdam as its European hub. It has dedicated and qualified staff, flexible, better services beyond Kuala Lumpur and because Aero Groundservices does the handling,” says branch manager, Marc Kort.
He says the good relationship between them has paved the way for cheaper, more efficient and faster services.
Aside from VCK Air BV and AG, MAS Kargo also maintains good working relationships with prominent transport companies in Amsterdam such as Jan de Rijk, which is also a contract partner of the company. Jan de Rijk is a hi-tech logistics company with a vast European network and a fleet of 700 trucks.
De Vries, who has about 10 years’ experience with MAS Kargo, says the company’s position has completely changed for the better - from a carrier that was shunned by shippers to one among the preferred in Amsterdam. Last year, the uptrend pushed profits to RM65 million, a 21 per cent increase from the previous year. The achievements of MAS Kargo deserve praise, but it should not rest on its laurels
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