By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTOther airports in the United States have their eyes set on making better connections with South America, but Miami International Airport (MIA) already does that and remains the behemoth provider in that market for both cargo and passenger operations.
“MIA has volume and value statistics from the Latin American/Caribbean region that simply dwarf any other region at this time,” states Chris Mangos, MIA marketing manager.
MIA presently handles 80% of the air imports and 77% of the air exports between the Latin American/Caribbean and US markets. “We are the largest point in the Americas for the handling perishable products,” Mangos adds.
Countries in South and Central America as well as the Caribbean encompassed MIA’s top 10 trade partners for 2006 by weight. Colombia, the leader, weighed in at 196,400 tons; Chile, 114,360 tons; Brazil, 100,209 tons; Peru, 87,315 tons; Ecuador, 61,005 tons; Costa Rica, 38,048 tons; Argentina, 30,559 tons; Venezuela, 30,077 tons; Dominican Republic, 20,428 tons, and Guatemala, 20,428 tons, for a total of 699,226 tons.
These figures reflect the 54% of freight that cleared US Customs at MIA. An additional 46% is transshipped via MIA, thereby bringing the total international cargo tons from all markets to 1,696,037 tons, of which 1,677,384 tons is freight and 18,653 tons is mail.
Similarly, nine of these markets are among MIA’s top 10 trade partners for 2006 by value. The totals stack up accordingly: Brazil, $6,739,183,084; Colombia, $3,007,433,897; Costa Rica, $2,287,353,391; Venezuela, $1,946,560,939; Chile, $1,582,221,373; Argentina, $1,164,264,411; Mexico, $1,154,447,780; Peru, $1,109,789,681; Dominican Republic, $927,003,476. France comes in 10th at $804,622,132.
“We work very hard to retain those high numbers, and as such have a decided advantage for any carrier, European, Asian, European or African, looking for cargo in the Americas,” Mangos states.
Noticeable trafficThe high figures have not gone unnoticed by international carriers, particularly those operating in Asia, who want to capitalize on MIA’s advantages. According to Mangos, MIA’s ability to connect Asia to and through the Americas and the Caribbean is a huge asset.
“That’s because MIA offers service to an unusually high number of destinations,” he says.
Consequently, Korean Air has increased its initial direct, twice-weekly Boeing 747-400 freighter service between MIA and Seoul, Korea to five times weekly. The service greatly reduces transport time and permits Korean Air unequalled access to and from every market in Latin America and the Caribbean through MIA’s extensive air service network in the region, including those in Chile, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Colombia, Panama and Honduras. Korean Air also has cooperative partnerships with Lan Cargo, Cielos del Peru, and other Central and South American airlines operating at MIA.
In addition, China Airlines Cargo also now offers five weekly freighter flights between MIA and Taipei. Among China Airlines Cargo outbound freight from MIA is dry goods and perishables originating from all points in South America.
“Asia, as a whole, continues to show high double digit growth rates year over year,” Mangos reports. “It will be only a matter of time before Asia trade is a significant component of our bigger picture at MIA.”
In order to attract more freighter service to take advantage of its Latin America and domestic connections, MIA now offers financial incentives for those carriers originating in Asian, European and African markets. The incentives are available to carriers during their first year of operating a new route.
“We want to call attention to the fact that Miami offers a good cargo business model and that those who have chosen this airport have not had to retreat,” Mangos comments.
LAN Chile, for example, remains the biggest cargo carr
