The Cairo-based national Egyptian freight carrier has been flying to Hahn Airport (HHN) in southwest Germany since 2009. This makes the cargo division of EGYPTAIR, the freight airline with the longest continuous presence at HHN. In Europe, EGYPTAIR Cargo has only served Ostend-Bruges in Belgium for even longer, namely more than three decades.
We met the airline’s management on the fringes of the recent World Cargo Symposium in Ostend, and wanted to know what’s positive and also critical at Hahn from its professional perspective. Interlocutors were Ihab El Tahtawy (IET), Chairman & CEO of EGYPTAIR Cargo, who is also a pilot, and Khaled Youssef (KY), VP Economic Affairs.
CFG: EGYPTAIR Cargo is a loyal customer of Hahn Airport. What binds your company to the airport?
IET: Nothing binds us to any airport. But HHN offers a range of favorable services that we consider essential and that we absolutely need in order to run our operations smoothly and steadily.
Management reacts fast and flexibly
CFG: Please specify these essentials.
IET: It is a number of points that we welcome, and which are instrumental to keep operating our A330-200 P2F to Hahn. First to mention is the fact that there is no night flight ban. In the event of a possible delay, which cannot be ruled out in the freight business, we do not have to divert our flights to land at some remote place. This would add to costs and service losses. In the event of special requests, we receive an immediate response from the management and Hahn makes every effort to find viable solutions. In addition, thanks to the rapid processing of imports and exports by the local ground handling agent, Hahn Cargo Services (HSC), the time our aircraft spend on the ground is very short, speeding up their turnaround time. Incidentally, HCS’s warehouse is directly adjacent to the apron, which saves time when loading and unloading our freighters. This is essential for the strawberries and other perishables that we fly to Hahn. These are key factors that explain why we feel comfortable at Hahn, which we serve several times a week.
KY: I would like to add one more aspect to this: The doors of Hahn Management and the ground handler HCS are always open. We can therefore discuss requests, concerns, operational or technical aspects with them directly at any time, if necessary.
New exclusive lounge for EGYPTAIR Cargo crew
CFG: Back to the Hahn flights: We sometimes hear from airlines that the airport is not attractive from the pilots’ point of view. There are few catering and other offers for the spare time they spend between two flights.
IET: That’s true. But from mid-February, our pilots will be offered lounge access. The facility has been set up exclusively for our cockpit personnel. With three flights a week, three on A330-200 P2Fs, our cockpit colleagues will certainly be happy to take advantage of this amenity.
CFG: And as far as optimization potential at Hahn is concerned: What does EGYPTAIR Cargo suggest?
KY: The weather could sometimes be better. But unfortunately, neither we nor the airport can influence that.
CFG: Ihab, Khaled, thank you for these impressions.
Original from Heiner Siegmund
CARGOFORWARDER GLOBAL
