European Cargo
European Cargo, part of the European Aviation Group, operates a fleet of converted Airbus A340-600s as air freight carriers. Stewart Marshall visited their Bournemouth base to learn more about this relatively new business, which is doing air cargo its own way
Aviation Broker to Air Charter Airline
The European Aviation Group was founded by Paul Stoddart, who initially set-up shop as a buyer and seller of aircraft and spare parts. Starting his first venture in 1989, he acquired two recently retired BAC 1-11's from the Royal Australian Air Force along with their spare part inventory. The aircraft were registered as G-KROO and G-EXPM and were ferried to the U.K. to be readied for resale. Stoddart immediately began negotiations to sell the aircraft to Okada Air of Nigeria who eventually accepted the aircraft in January and August 1992.
The following year, looking to make another quick turn, European Aviation purchased another twenty BAC 1-11s from British Airways. Their intention was again to quickly sell on the aircraft or break them up for spares if unsuccessful. However, with an entire fleet in passenger configuration ready to go, they decided to operate the aircraft themselves in the ACMI and ad-hoc charter market under the name European Aviation Air Charter (EAAC). Subsequently with the BAC 1-11 leaving the British Airways fleet, European also found that they had inherited many of the former maintenance engineers who were looking for work on the aging jets. EAAC selected Bournemouth as its operating and maintenance base in 1995, taking over the former aircraft production hangars with their new head office located across the road. In due course the groups maintenance branch at Bournemouth became renowned for its worldwide support.
In the early 2000’s European amassed a sizable fleet of 737-200's and 747-200's which were utilised in the charter sector by tour operators for flights to Europe and North America up until 2008 when the airline business ceased operations.
The parent company European Aviation has continued to trade to this day with an extensive aircraft part, employee training, maintenance and brokerage business operating from their original base at Bournemouth Airport. In the region of twenty passenger aircraft have been acquired, put through heavy checks and then sold on.
From 2018 the business began to acquire Airbus A340's which were coming to the end of life with their commercial passenger operators; Iberia, Etihad and Virgin Atlantic. Some of these were scrapped for parts and others re-sold onto new operators like Azman Air of Nigeria and Spanish operator Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas. Unbeknown to European, the remainder stored at Bournemouth would meet a new unexpected lease of life.
Answering the call
In April 2020, the demand for air cargo capacity skyrocketed as the pandemic took hold and commercial flights ground to a halt. European Aviation received a request from a charter broker looking to transport personal protective equipment (PPE) and test kits from Asia on behalf of the U.K National Health Service (NHS). European suddenly found themselves operating commercial flights once again, leading to the new business European Cargo being formed. The nature of the request required urgency to get the aircraft into service rapidly to transport these vital supplies for the NHS. Several Airbus A340’s were leased out to Maltese carrier Maleth Aero to operate under their Air Operators Certificate (AOC), as this rigorous process would take some time for European Cargo to achieve themselves. The fleet were re-registered in Malta and donned fitting registrations for the task at hand; 9H-PPE, 9H-NHS, 9H-EAL and 9H-EAC. Shortly after the aircraft all under-went a repaint into special liveries featuring colour decals which paid tribute to the British National Health Service, who were working under immense pressure and risk at the time. In 2021, the airline received their AOC from the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, allowing them to gradually convert their fleet over to the British “G-” register whilst still operating their flights.
Initially the aircraft operated with their full passenger configuration with boxes of test kits being packed into every space they could; galley storage, overhead lockers and belted into seats. In response to the lack of air cargo capacity, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued approvals and exemptions for the transport of cargo in passenger cabins on a case-by-case basis, which allowed the business to remove all seating to maximise the capacity on the main deck. The new “preighters” operated with boxes of test kits piled up and then strapped down to the floor using netting, allowing for a capacity which rivalled traditional freighters. The flights continued to operate in this form non-stop as each aircraft arrived at Bournemouth from the far-east, unloaded and then departed again to pick up more cargo.
Phreighter to Fully Fledged Cargo Jet
In early 2022, following a review of the operational guidance for transport of cargo in passenger cabins, EASA concluded that the logistical challenges that arose in 2020, as a result of the pandemic, no longer existed to the same extent. The agency therefore determined that the exemptions and temporary approvals delivered would not be extended beyond 31st July 2022.
Luckily for European Cargo, they were ahead of the curve and plans were already in motion with an agreed concept to carry out a permanent cargo conversion on their A340-600 fleet. During their initial consultations the business ruled out the installation of a traditional cargo door as a costly structural change would not be economical with an aircraft of their age. Instead, they opted to install a series of pods inside on the main deck, with cargo being loaded and unloaded through the L2 and L4 doors with the aid of portable roller mats on the cabin floor.
The conversion process involved the removal of all bulkheads, rear galley and toilets and replacing them with 39 pods in six different sizes. Each pod is covered by a fire containment bag tested to withstand a lithium battery fire for six and a half hours. It means that any fire can be contained to a single pod, safeguarding the rest of the cargo and aircraft, and enabling a safe diversion to a suitable landing location, even during long trans-oceanic flights. A sophisticated fire detection and suppression system was also installed along the ceiling of the cabin which was deemed satisfactory by Airbus and industry regulators during thorough testing on the ground and in cruise.
Image Credit - European Cargo
In December 2022 the airline received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for its A340-600 Class F conversion from EASA. Commenting on this landmark moment in the development of their fleet, European Cargo’s Managing Director Iain Edwards said:
"Our pod containment system has proven itself through a rigorous testing regime and means we are on track for full cabin utilisation, giving each aircraft a combined belly and cabin capacity of 77 tonnes or 450 cubic metres. With six freighters already at Bournemouth for conversion and a further six available to us, that catapults us into the number one slot of UK-based wide-bodied freighters by some margin. And it makes Bournemouth Airport a huge contender in the UK air freight market."
Transitioning from PPE Charters to Scheduled Services
Over four hundred flights were conducted to transport PPE and test kits from Asia to the U.K. in their early years, providing European Cargo with vast expertise operating the A340 in the cargo role. As these flights started to wind down, the airline looked to diversity and explore new markets for their fleet. Ad-hoc charter requests were welcomed with the business transporting an array of goods worldwide; Notably in December 2021 the airline operated a short notice charter from Bournemouth to St. Maarten, carrying stage and sound equipment for a billionaire's New Year's Eve party. The following April they received a request to transport Coca-Cola concentrate from Ireland to Dallas to keep their production line going. As a result of the pandemic there were no Irish airports available to service the A340, leaving the company no option but to truck the goods across the Irish Sea and fly direct from Bournemouth to reach the customer on-time.
The airline secured a strong footing in the cross-border e-commerce market through collaboration with Shenzhen Sharing Express Logistic-Tech Ltd, which has resulted in a dedicated e-commerce route from Chengdu to Bournemouth. The importance of the route as an e-commerce gateway was underlined by a trade mission agreement between Sichuan Province and Bournemouth, which included the signing of a cargo development agreement between Sichuan Province Airport Group Company and Regional & City Airports, which owns Bournemouth Airport. This aims to build ‘Chengdu-Bournemouth’ as a dual hub co-operation platform between Chengdu and Europe, providing a stable logistics channel for the import and export of e-commerce goods.
The inaugural service commenced in April 2023, initially operating three times a week, however this capacity doubled within the first six months of the routes inaugural service and reached nine weekly services in December 2023. European boasts the success of this direct link is down to the lack of congestion at Bournemouth and their mutual partnership formed with the Airport’s Cargo First freight business who controls the handling of goods from airside to landslide, allowing shipments to get to customer warehouses in half the time compared to going through a London hub airport.
Bournemouth Airport managing director Steve Gill, said:
“We’re delighted that Cargo First is part of this strategic partnership with European Cargo, offering a fast and efficient route for cross border e-commerce into the UK. Together we can save customers a lot of time in a time-sensitive market. That’s a huge selling point. Working with European Cargo we’ve proven Bournemouth as a viable alternative gateway to London and the Southeast for commercial air cargo.”
The route has become a vital link, proving Bournemouth’s growing role as a cost-effective and less crowded option compared to major hub airports, gaining trust from Chinese online retailers in the well-established U.K. market. European Cargo’s chief executive David Kerr said:
“We have extensive experience of the China market and the route from Chengdu to Bournemouth established an exciting trade corridor that ensured the timely delivery of e-commerce goods from southwest China to UK consumers. It also created significant opportunities for UK exports back to China and is among a range of potential routes that we are looking to grow.”
Following the success of this new venture, the airline is now an official UK designated carrier for China and has worked hard to achieve ‘Scheduled Carrier’ status from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, meaning they can operate freely without individual flight permits or authorisation required to enter the country.
Future Growth
In the first quarter of 2024, the airline currently has four operational A340-600 freighters supported by 160 employees, however as explained by European Cargo’s Chief Commerical Officer, Eliska Hill, exponential growth is on the horizon:
“We are expanding our dedicated freighter fleet as we grow our services in the e-commerce market, aiming to have eight operational by the end of the year with more to follow in 2025. We’ve amassed a huge inventory of spare parts plus over 100 Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines to support our operations and to keep our fleet operating well into the future.
Our initial services to Chengdu have been a success through forming a strategic partnership with our customer, creating a programme which is tailored to their needs. Unlike other cargo airlines, we don’t consolidate freight volumes via General Sales Agents (GSA’s), rather we guarantee the entire aircraft for a specific customer. Our e-commerce customers have millions of customers in the U.K. and commit to a tight delivery schedule, therefore it’s important to them that the flight and onward cargo handling is always on-time. The benefit of our service is that the customer has the guarantee of shipping the A340’s maximum capacity of 76 tonnes on a direct flight to the U.K. consumer, at their own specified date and time. The operation removes the risk factor from the customer when shipping internationally and they have been very happy with our performance. New routes were commenced in March 2024 to serve Haikou (HAK) and Kashgar (KHG) and we will also operate several new routes to other cities in China from April”.