The old Silk Route takes to the skies

The signs of recovery for the freight sector of the aviation industry are already being seen across the region.

Qatar Airways has invested in Luxemburg operator Cargolux, while other airlines are converting their former passenger aircraft to freighters in order to support the need for more aircraft.

Others are turning to companies like Turkey’s ULS Airlines Cargo to ease the pressure.

ULS has only been painted on the fuselage for the past two years with the airline having previously been known as Baron Air and Kuzu Air.

“We are part of the Kuzu construction group and had the Kuzu aircraft, but were working with Universal Logistic System – then in 2009 we bought that company and decided to change the whole name and brand to ULS,” explained vice president commercial, Michael Asher,

ULS is based at Istanbul Ataturk Airport and currently operates a fleet of three A300-B4 and three A310-300 freighters.

“We are slowly phasing out the A300s and will be looking at getting more A310-300 and -600 aircraft,” Asher said. “We looked at the MD11 but decided against it and don’t see us getting the Boeing B777 or the A330s either. We are a niche.”

ULS’s activities consist of full charter, wet lease and scheduled operations but it also provides aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance ( ACMI) services to airlines that require a reliable business partner/operator in any part of the world, with experienced crews and well maintained aircraft for on-time operations with smooth levels of service.

Turkish Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines are leasing ULS aircraft (Turkish is in ULS colours, while Saudia’s is in its own livery) and two aircraft are based at the new Al Maktoum Airport at Dubai World Central on lease to National Air Cargo of the UAE.

Full charter flights are operated to provide a fast, reliable and flexible service to customers worldwide for any type of goods. ULS Airlines Cargo has the expertise and is licensed to carry dangerous goods, live animals, perishables and any type of cargo that needs to be handled with special care during transportation.

ULS operates its own aircraft for in-house duties, which involve supporting the construction projects of the parent company – but it also has a wide presence across the CIS states where hundreds of trailers and trucks provide a regular package service.

While Asher sees a reduction in demand from the Far East, this has been more than compensated for by a growth from Africa.

“There is a lot of business coming from Africa to the Middle East – a lot of trade going on. We have also seen a lot of work for the British Government with military cargo for Afghanistan.

Asher sees Istanbul as an ideal cargo hub. “You will hear a lot about the old Silk Route when you talk to people here. Even today it still is the Silk Route it is just the traffic is now carried by air rather than camels.”

ULS continues to serve a number of Chinese businesses and supports airlines there. “We have had a number of contracts extended,” explained Asher.

The company believes that with delays to programmes like the Boeing Dreamliner, many airlines will not be able to undertake the conversions of their passenger aircraft to freighters that they originally planned.

“Demand will continue to outstrip the supply,” Asher predicted.

ULS sees the relationship with China and the use of Istanbul as a hub between China and its growing customer base in the CIS countries and Africa as a key to its future success. “Our vision is to be one of the leading operators in the air cargo transport sector connecting our region with the Far East,” Asher said.

ULS Airlines Cargo maintenance centre is also at IST Ataturk Airport. “Our technical department personnel are able to do A checks and perform line maintenance on our aircraft according to our JAR145 authorisation,” Asher said. Other work is done in conjunction with ADAT in Abu Dhabi.

“We average about 250 hours per month per aircraft. We are busy but we see the need for more aircraft to meet what we expect from the future.”