Currently, Silk Way West Airlines (SWW), based at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport, serves Frankfurt Hahn Airport (HHN), five times a week. The route is operated by B747F and enjoys a very high load factor, confirms the Azeri company. “We are very interested in expanding the traffic. The market demand for more cargo flights is there,” Wolfgang Meier, President of Silk Way West Airlines, told CargoForwarder Global during a high-level symposium on the Eurasian ‘Middle Corridor’ traverse at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce on 20FEB25.
HHN offers unconditional 24/7/365 operations
However, the current bilateral traffic agreement does not allow for an increase in frequency, the executive regrets. Accordingly, Azeri airlines are allowed to land in Germany seven times a week to transport freight or passengers. The same applies to German carriers. In the Azeri case, the rights are split between Silk Way West (Cargo), and the state-owned passenger airline, Azal. While Azal opted for the Baku-Berlin route, Silk Way Cargo serves Hahn Airport instead. This also applies to fuel stops (up to four flights per week) on their freighters’ way to destinations in North America.
Benefiting all parties involved
“Hahn is the only German airport owned by a private investor. It allows for unconditional 24/7/365 operations, and the handling services rendered by hahncargo and VG Cargo is first-class,” says Meier, praising the agents’ performance. “These favorable conditions benefit all sides: our airline, customers, and the airport, because our traffic secures jobs and contributes to the operator’s turnover,” states the executive.
Until more frequencies to Germany are available, Silk Way’s freighters land at Liège Airport in Belgium, where the majority of the goods offloaded from or loaded onto the freighters are from/for Germany and need to be trucked across the border to LGG. “Environmentally friendly solutions look much different,” commented the manager of a freight forwarder at the Hamburg event.
Relocating traffic to Alat Int’l
As far as the Alat International Airport project is concerned, Meier confirmed that the entire complex will be completed in mid-2026; a date that Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ), also announced to news agency, Reuters. As soon as the authorities have given the operational go-ahead, Silk Way West will completely relocate from the current Heydar Aliyev Airport in Baku to the company’s future hub.
“This new airport will create significant advantages for Azerbaijan’s economy and neighboring countries located along the Eurasian Corridor. It will also provide extensive services,” Mr. Alasgarov exclaimed. The new airport is projected to cover more than 750 hectares of area: “In the initial phase, the airport is expected to accommodate 500,000 tons. But in future, the airport will be able to handle much more,”Wolfgang Meier noted.
Multimodal traffic options
In addition to a 30,000 m² cargo terminal managed by ground handler, Dnata, a building for forwarding agents will be erected within the Free Economic Zone. Currently, the former tent village run by Amazon Air at Leipzig Airport is being rebuilt at Alat Airport, afterSilk Way West Airlines purchased the entire components from the U.S. e-tailer and transferred the elements to Azerbaijan. “But instead of tarpaulins, we use more solid roofing materials,” stated Meier. In his role as panelist at the ‘Middle Corridor’ event, he pointed out that the airport is located just 15 km south of the Port of Baku and will be connected to the international railway network. “We thus offer the market multimodal transport options, including air, rail, road and sea.”
Silk Way West Airlines operates 15 widebody freighter aircraft but will phase out eight aging B747-400F. These will be replaced by four A350 freighters and four factory-built B777F.
Original from Heiner Siegmund
CARGOFORWARDER GLOBAL
