Bahrain gears up as another major cargo hub in the Middle East

The oil & gas-rich tiny island-nation in the Gulf is building Express Cargo Village stretching over an area of 25,000 sqm, envisioned to be one of the most advanced logistics hubs in the region capable of handling the expected growth in air freight and e-commerce.

By R. Chandrakanth

The sixth edition of Bahrain International Airshow (BIAS), held from November 9 to 12 at Sakhir Airbase, had many highpoints even while the show per se, is gradually getting bigger, though not on the scale of its near neighbour Dubai.

There were 186 participating companies and 200 civilian and military delegations.

The highpoints included the purchase agreement signed between Pratt & Whitney and Royal Jordanian wherein the latter will power up to 30 single-aisle aircraft with GTF engines and the codeshare partnership between Emirates and Gulf Air.

MoUs and more

On the air cargo side, there was considerable activity as Bahrain positions itself as a key cargo hub in the region. Several alliances were struck at the show, DHL and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) signing a Memorandum of Understanding; MENA Cargo and Asia Cargo Network entering into a strategic alliance; FedEx Express showcasing its one-stop shop shipping solutions for the aerospace industry; Texel Air, a Bahraini cargo airline, displaying its B737-700 FlexCombi aircraft and more.

DHL and BAC collaboration

The MoU between BAC and DHL, the logistics partner for the airshow, entails both parties enhancing collaboration on upcoming projects to support DHL’s planned investment in expanding its local operations to better serve its customers both locally and across the entire region.

The MoU was signed by the CEO of DHL Express MENA, Nour Suliman and the CEO of BAC, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah. Also present during the signing were the Head of Operations of DHL Express MENA, Bachi Spiga, along with Chief Development and Technical Officer of BAC, Abdulla Janahi, and Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer of BAC, Ayman Zainal.

Nour Suliman, said: “The Kingdom of Bahrain continues to be a significant Hub for DHL’s regional network. Its strategic location, conducive business environment, and developed logistics infrastructure have enabled us to grow our business, and build a strong and resilient network to service our domestic and regional customers. We look forward to our continued partnership with BAC to further accelerate our expansion plans.”

Mohamed Yousif Albinfalah, CEO of BAC, added: “Bahrain has been home to DHL’s business since 1976 when the company established its first Hub in the Middle East region. Since then, DHL has benefitted from the country’s progressive approach to nurturing business partnerships, to allowed it to grow its footprint and expand its operations. As the operator and managing body of the Kingdom’s aerospace gateway, BAC is pleased to be strengthening its partnership with DHL and we will continue to support them with their ongoing investments.”

DHL to invest over 150 million Euros

DHL is pushing ahead with its regional growth strategy and has committed investments of over 150 million Euros between 2022 and 2023 on enhancing its MENA ground operations.

DHL is planning to increase its regional fleet to 12 aircraft, with newer, bigger, more environmentally performing 767-300s, adding to its intra-middle east flight rotations and increasing its capacity to over 80%. Presently, nine freighters are operating out of Bahrain for the region.

According to Richard Gale, Vice President, DHL Aviation, MENA, renovations are planned for Bahrain hangar and new state-of-the-art logistics facilities in Qatar, Algeria and Oman, in sync with the enormous potential the region has due to oil revenues and diversification efforts.

Express Cargo Village, work in progress

Meanwhile, BAC, the operator and manging body of Bahrain International Airport, is expanding cargo capacities as to consolidate its position as a key regional cargo hub. Earlier in the year, it laid the foundation stone for the Express Cargo Village, located north of the airport’s runway.

This is in line with Kingdom’s strategy for the logistics industry as laid out in its Economic Recovery Plan, which implements the vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

In November 2018, BAC had signed an agreement with French engineering consultants Egis to supervise the design and construction of the Express Cargo Village, which consists of warehouses, aprons, and infrastructure capable of handling the expected growth in air freight and e-commerce.

The Express Cargo Village stretches over an area of 25,000 sqm and is expected to be one of the most advanced logistics hubs in the region. BAC had earlier signed a 10-year agreement with FedEx Express, allocating 9,000 sqm to it for the operation of a 5,000 sqm warehouse and a 4,000 sqm open area, expected to be handed over in the third quarter of 2023.

FedEx Express showcases shipping solutions

FedEx Express showcased its one-stop shop shipping solutions for the aerospace industry, presenting its value-added solutions, besides its well-established global air network.

It highlighted customizable FedEx Aerospace Solutions with services such as Dangerous Goods shipping, Automation solutions, supply chain solutions, and experienced customs clearance support to manage the specialized customs regulations required when transporting aircraft parts.

The broad selection of FedEx Aerospace Solutions included the SenseAware technology, a first of its kind innovation powered by FedEx. SenseAware is a multi-sensor device that travels inside shipments, offering extended visibility into the movement of critical packages like aircraft parts and tools.

The device can monitor current location, precise temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure readings, light exposure, and shock events. The near real-time updates make it possible for customers to stay connected to their high-value shipments.

 

Texel Air’s FlexCombi, cynosure of all eyes

The airshow also featured Texel Air’s B737-700FlexCombi aircraft. Texel Air is the world’s only commercial operator of the B737FlexCombi which can be configured to carry cargo and passengers simultaneously. George Chisholm, CEO of Chisholm Enterprises, the parent company of Texel air, says it’s efficiency and flexibility at its finest.

“Years of research, discussions with partners and consideration internally have come to fruition with our two B737-700FlexCombiTM. Now we are seeing first-hand the reality of this aircraft’s capabilities being able to meet and deliver our customer’s various needs providing them possibilities they have never seen before.”

“It has been especially crucial for our business to have such flexibility during the pandemic. We have been able to switch our configurations of the B737-700FlexCombi to the changing needs of the global environment.”

The B737-700FlexCombi can be morphed into seven different configurations to suit many operational requirements. In addition, the aircraft has an extensive list of modifications and upgrades to support military, government and utility flying.

Besides, making noise about the FlexCombi, Texel also signed an MoU with Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) at the airshow, confirming formation of a strategic alliance to develop Middle East and international aviation opportunities.

Texel Air recently expanded its fleet with the addition of a second 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) with a third aircraft entering conversion in December and a further two aircraft planned to enter service in 2023. The fleet serves a diverse customer base across the Middle East, Turkey, East Africa and global markets specialising in ACMI contracts.

The MoU entails to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle to secure financing for Texel’s fleet and facilities expansion in Bahrain.  The Chairman for Texel Air, John Chisholm said, “We are pleased to see Bahrain as a launch pad for yet another aviation initiative, the first of its kind in Bahrain. I am proud to see the strides that Texel Air has been taking, and thank the Government of Bahrain, the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication’s Civil Aviation Affairs and Bahrain Airport Company for their continued support in providing us with an ecosystem and infrastructure that supports our business development and enables our growth. I look forward to further supporting private sector aviation companies’ expansion and innovation.”

ACN and MENA Aerospace strategic alliance

Also at the airshow, charter service provider Asia Cargo Network (ACN) and MENA Aerospace signed a strategic alliance to extend ACN’s reach into the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

The partnership was signed at the airshow by ACN Group CEO, Marco Isaak, and Founder and Managing Director of MENA Aerospace, Dr. Mohammed Juman. Under the arrangement, ACN will place six of its cargo planes in Bahrain and the GCC where it plans on serving the Middle East and North Africa regions.

The deployment will be over the next 18 months with the first aircraft to arrive within the next two months.

Dr. Juman said “As part of our growth plan, over the past couple of years we looked at and analysed the regional markets to see where the growth is and where the gates are to the global markets. The growth and potential we saw is mainly in the GCC area, Africa and South East Asia. Our thought process was to try to link and serve these markets. ACN as the leading freight operator in South East Asia was identified as the perfect partner for MAE to expand our services in these markets. We are certain that this partnership will prove fruitful to both companies and the markets that we serve.”

Marco Isaak, Group CEO of CAN, said Bahrain is the perfect location to become a logistics and transhipment hub. “Bahrain has good infrastructure, the systems are good, there is ease of doing business and there is further potential for growth.” The drivers for the freight movement are many, one of which is phenomenal increase in e-commerce and transhipments from the Middle East. “We are now looking at the African markets and may soon have our presence there.”

With such developments happening, it was but natural for Bahrain to be the next host of Routes World 2024. Indeed, a lot is happening in Bahrain to tap the freight potential that exists in the region and beyond.