Globally, Asia serves as a necessary manufacturing hub, with worldwide locations respect India, Vietnam, and China taking part in necessary roles. Sri Lanka’s strategic location positions it as a truly necessary bridge connecting Asia to the West, facilitating seamless movements and bettering connectivity between the 2 regions.
“Strategically positioned at our hub at Sri Lanka’s Bandaranaike World Airport, our airline advantages from in discovering entry to to a huge market of roughly 4.2 billion of us internal an 8-hour flight radius,” Chaminda Perera, Head of Cargo at SriLankan Airlines, explained.
“This advantageous location, without difficulty accessible by each sea and air, is in finish proximity to India and China—two of the arena’s finest manufacturing hubs—offering us with a necessary increase different.”
Rebounding market
The Asian market, alongside side Sri Lanka, has skilled unprecedented volatility despite a fixed upward pattern in capacity. Seriously, there changed into as soon as an enchancment in volumes coming into Sri Lanka following the elimination of import restrictions.
“With the slack easing of Covid-19 restrictions, there changed into as soon as a fixed rise in passenger hotfoot demand. As a consequence, airline schedules have rebounded to more than 95 p.c of their pre-2019 stages.
“In terms of complete air cargo movements, 65 p.c of the cargo is transported the utilization of the belly capacity of passenger airplane. This indicates that the upswing in passenger hotfoot has equipped huge red meat as much as airfreight operations.
Digital force
SriLankan Cargo has ventured into digital distribution platforms to broaden its market reach, toughen visibility, and boost gross sales distribution.
“Transparency is an fully compulsory accept as true with the digital age. The demand for true-time accessibility of knowledge and movement has elevated,” Perera acknowledged.
“It is far imperative to level to that this knowledge is readily on hand and accessible on the individual’s fingertips. Ideas similar to digital distribution channels supply clients with true-time forwarding and bookings and responses between the provider and clients.
“Within the meantime, approvals from authorities and clearance at destinations can even be minimised, saving time, by utilising digital communication capabilities.
With the final industry embody of technology, SriLankan Cargo has strengthened interline collaborations and expanded trucking partnerships.
“This lumber is aimed at extending our reach to areas that can even goal no longer be efficiently served thru recount operations. By leveraging distribution partners and lengthening companies beyond our frail route network, we’re poised to tremendously toughen our distribution capabilities,” Perera explained.
Alternatives on the horizon
Since the launch of the pandemic, there changed into as soon as a necessary surge in e-commerce assignment, evolving from a necessity all over the pandemic to a common of living selection.
“Retail shopping is intriguing in direction of digital e-commerce platforms, and effective logistics are needed for effectively timed and cost-efficient birth of products,” Perera highlighted. “In terms of time effectivity, airfreight plays a pivotal role in minimising birth instances.
“Concurrently, the pharmaceutical sector has maintained an on a regular foundation lumber with the slither of products, meeting moderate demand stages.”
There can even be currently a important expand in demand for cargo transportation from the A ways East to the West, covering Europe and the US. This surge is essentially a results of the Purple Sea disaster and congestion in maritime birth because of the container shortages.
“It is compulsory to level to that the duration of this heightened demand, whether or no longer that is also temporary or medium-term, is but to be determined,” Perera infamous.
“Freight operators have been actively responding to this surge by deploying additional capacity to fulfil the elevated calls for of shoppers, keeping them busy all over this duration.
“Our main misfortune is the predicted surge in demand because of the the Purple Sea disaster, which we thought as an different for airfreight companies.”
