GROWTH OF AIR CARGO

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31758, 15 August 1968, Page 13

GROWTH OF AIR CARGO

From small and casual beginnings, air travel today has grown up to be a lusty adolescent. And air travel is not only for people—the tourists and others —but for cargo as well.

In a few years air freighting may well become a giant, overshadowing the rest of the airline business. Air cargo has emerged as a highly sophisticated tool of international marketing. The importer and exporter who understands its potential places himself at an advantage over his competitors. At one stroke he kills the two main handicaps that have traditionally dogged the Australian and New Zealand manufacturer—the problems of distance and time. The Same Day The international airlines now offer manufacturers a highly efficient air freight system by means of which a consignment produced in Sydney one morning can be on sale in North America ’■ or Europe the next morning; or in SouthEast Asia the same evening; or, again, . if produced in Christchurch, can be in the same areas the next day. This is not a dream. It is an accomplished fact today. The problem of capturing an overseas market and retaining It against competition from local who are closer to the consumer has long worried Australian manufacturers, as it has their New Zealand counterpart. Four Questions Only recently, with the introduction of the jet aeroplane, has the problem been reduced. Now all a manufacturer must do is ask four questions before making an export bid: Is his product a valuable one —an article having a

high cost per unit weight? Does the product come in many different sizes, colours and materials which make it necessary to maintain a range of lines at overseas selling points? Is it expected to meet very active competition, particularly on delivery dates? Does he want to extend his market without being involved in the heavy capital cost of warehousing and inventories? If the answer to two or more of these is “yes” then there is only one other question—how far is his factory from the nearest international airport? Only A Label Jet aeroplanes have gently revolutionised the approach to packing. A manufacturer who has to send an engine to the other side of the world in a hurry only needs to attach a label; a heavy machine part need only be surrounded by cardboard. Exports which have created massive problems in working condition delivery can now be sent to areas where previously it would have been foolhardy to promise delivery unharmed by humidity or other climatic conditions. Encouraging though jet transport has been to manufacturers its value is really in the variety' of items which can be exported. Of growing importance in the export field is livestock. There is nothing that cannot fly given the right conditions—elephants, lions, kangaroos, sheep, pigs, fish, horses, cattle. The list is endless.