MENA Cargo launch boosts Bahrain hub plans

Bahrain is positioning itself as a logistics hub, taking advantage of its proximity to several growing markets. The Bahrain Global Sea-Air Logistics Hub was launched last month and claims to be the fastest regional multi-modal logistics hub in the Middle East.

“We’ve looked at the regional markets; where is the growth, where are the gates to the global markets,” said Dr Mohammed Juman, founder and managing director of parent company MENA Aerospace Enterprises. The parent company’s activities include managing executive jets, development of aviation real estate and avionics technical workshops.

“The [cargo] growth we’ve seen is mainly in the Gulf area, Africa and SE Asia,” Juman said. “So, our thought process was, let’s try to link these markets and let’s serve these markets.”

The booming freight market, particularly in e-commerce, is one of the main drivers behind cargo growth in the region. “Clearly, we are in the right place at the right time,” said Brian Hogan, MENA Aerospace Enterprises board member. “Cargo is going through the roof… if we had more planes now we think we could fly them continuously 24 hours a day.

“The strategy is simple but complicated,” said Hogan. “We can use Bahrain as our hub, have three to four aircraft here, move into Saudi, and then move into South East Asia.”

MENA Cargo aims to acquire “at least three to four” new aircraft for its fleet in the next year and is aiming for a critical mass of 15 to 20 aircraft in the longer term.

 It is initially operating a Boeing 737-300F Pemco cargo conversion. However, the airline has also signed a year-long lease with Portugal’s euroAtlantic Airways for a Boeing 777-200ER and a 767-3000ER, both of which will be operated in ‘passenger to freighter’ (P2F) configuration. The two companies said that further aircraft were likely to follow.  

The longer-range widebodies will be used to start to realise MENA Cargo’s plans of linking Southeast Asia and China with the Middle East and Africa. 

Hogan said that the airline’s expanding fleet was likely to include “at least two or three 737-800Fs” over the next year. One would be added by January, with a further two expected in the second and third quarters next year.

For long haul, the airline’s favoured equipment is the Boeing 777. However, slots for converting passenger 777s into freighters are full until at least 2023. To fill the gap until 777s become available, interim equipment could include Boeing 767s or Airbus A330s – again, operated in P2F layout. 

 MENA Cargo is confident that, despite the recent increase in cargo capacity in the Gulf – from both cargo specialists and from belly-hold capacity in passenger aircraft as those services start to return – there will be more than enough traffic for the company to co-exist alongside rivals. 

 Bahrain is already home to several expanding cargo specialists including DHL Express MENA and locally based Texel Air. Juman said the intention was not to compete head-on with major players such as DHL and FedEx, but to complement them.