How the Caribbean is positioning itself as a cargo gateway

Opening doors

Panama’s Tocumen Airport has been one of the key linchpins in the rise of the Caribbean as a cargo hotspot. Earli­er this year, IATA reported that aviation and aviation-related tourism contrib­utes around US$5.9 billion to Panama’s economy annually, an amount equal to 12.6 percent of the country’s GDP. This is much higher than the global aver­age contribution of 3.4 percent, which the organization said reflects the posi­tive impact of efficient connectivity to Panama’s economy.

Imports to Panama include pharma­ceuticals, machinery products, iron/steel rods and electronics. Panama operates two of the busiest ocean ports in Latin America, including the Colon Free Trade Zone, which is the world’s second-largest free-trade zone.

Emirates is not the only carrier see­ing potential in the Caribbean. In Janu­ary Colombia-based Avianca Airlines began carrying belly cargo on a route from Miami to Panama, then back to its hub in Bogata. Avianca Cargo has been expanding its Caribbean operations since purchasing Medellin-based Tampa Cargo in 2008 and AeroGal in November 2010. The company, although under one umbrella, still maintains the separate brands. AeroGal carries general belly cargo in a Quito, Guayaquil and Galapa­gos Islands route, while Tampa Cargo is known for carrying fresh flowers. “Flow­ers are one of the most important ex­ports,” said Victor Mejia, vice president cargo for Avianca. In fact, Avianca Cargo carried 36 percent of the flower traffic in Colombia and Ecuador from January to August this year.

Mejia said the airline’s biggest opera­tion for inbound and outbound cargo is Miami, where it has 12 percent of the market share with the second-highest amount of traffic in/out from January to July this year. “We’re growing at the fastest pace of any carrier [in the region],” he said, adding that Avianca is the biggest cargo operator in Colombia.

Avianca has invested heavily in new air­craft and new infrastructure to set itself apart, including improvements to its maintenance facility at Tampa Cargo’s base in Medellin. Avianca also maintains its passenger aircraft at the facility.

Part of Avianca’s cargo strategy is to supplement its freighters with belly cargo on its passenger flights in order to offer more destinations, Mejia said. “We’ve been finding ways to create new traffic,” Mejia said. He said the airline is accomplishing this by creating new lanes and alliances. For instance, Avianca has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, which signed an agree­ment to carry goods from Milan to Bo­gatá, then ship South American goods back to Amsterdam-Schiphol. The cargo shipped from Europe – 65 per­cent comes from Italy and the other 35 percent from other European countries – is then sent to many destinations in South America, with 30 percent staying in Bogotá.

Avianca has also introduced some new freighter routes this year such as Bogotá to Los Angeles, Bogotá to Barcelona and Bogatá to Santiago de Chile. The airline also recently launched widebody passen­ger service on a route connecting El Sal­vador with Guarulhos (Brazil) via Lima.