Abu Dhabi, Maximus Air will be unveiled to the public at the Dubai Air Show, as the company’s President and Chief Executive announced a new name and brand identity for the all-cargo airline, alongside details of an exciting growth strategy.In its first six years of operation, Maximus Air Cargo has established itself as a the region’s foremost regional air cargo carrier and cargo aircraft ACMI lease operator, employing close to 250 staff. Now, as Maximus Air, says Fathi Hilal Buhazza, President and CEO, the time is right for the next big step forward.
“Having grown from a local operator to a regional operator with some international trade, we are now ready to turn that business model on its head, “he said. “We have a lofty ambition, and that is to become one of the top three players in the global air cargo market.
“To achieve this we need to forge long term partnerships rather than being just a cargo operator, and therefore a larger fleet, and a more diverse range of services have to be introduced,” he adds. “This is one of the reasons we engaged the services of one of the aviation industry's most creative designers of aircraft liveries, Happy Design Studio (HDS) in France to help shape the company’s brand within the context of this new strategy.
Buhazza adds that Maximus Air is looking to add seven new aircraft to the fleet by 2015, bringing the number to 15.
“The Airbus A300-600RP2F forms the core of the current fleet, but we are looking at all types, including Boeing 747-400s to give us greater range, increased flexibility and operational efficiency,” he said.”We are also looking to diversify through mergers, acquisition and/or strategic partnerships in a number of different areas ranging from consultancy to brokerage and from storage to delivery with the aim of giving us better control of all aspects of the logistics chain rather than having to rely on third parties.
Buhazza adds that the company is also looking to change its business mix by increasing its geographic footprint.
“At present 50 per cent of our business comes from within the UAE and 50 per cent from outside the country,” he said. “We want the mix to be 80/20 in favour of international markets and so we are looking to the fast growing regions of the Mahgreb, Africa, Asia and South America.”
As an Abu Dhabi based company, Maximus is ideally located to serve the former of these fast growing markets and the airline’s expansion plans dovetail with the Abu Dhabi 2030 economic vision, whereby the government is looking to create a suitable business environment to enable the aviation sector – and therefore Maximus Air to flourish.
“We are looking west to the Mahgreb, which will open up North West Africa and provide the springboard into South America, while from the Far East, our Abu Dhabi hub provides a route through to Morocco to complete the link,” Buhazza said.
Market forecasts predict that worldwide air cargo is expected to triple over the next 20 years with the strongest growth from Asia and within Asia, while all-freighter operators will increase to represent 66 per cent of all air cargo by 2029.
Buhazza says that while the market forecasts are bullish, the uncertainty around the global economic recovery and within that context the cost of fuel is still paramount. “Therefore it is our view that a lot of air cargo carriers will use ACMI, one of Maximus Air’s USPs,” he said. “Flying for client airlines around the world on medium and long-term contracts, using our own crew and AOC, we can assure clients of: high dispatch reliability, advanced aircraft, experienced crews, comprehensive maintenance and spare parts support and a focus on reducing operating costs.
“We have gained significant experience in operating scheduled cargo services on behalf of a diverse range of airlines, including a long term relationship with Etihad which was recently extended. A new deal with another global company, to be announced at the Dubai Air Show, will reinforce our capability in this arena.”
Buhazza said that there had been very few developments in the cargo business over the last few decades and Maximus Air aims to leverage its existing business to grow to nearly double the existing size by 2015.
“We have come a long way, very quickly, very successfully and I am pleased to say, very profitably in our six years of operation,” he concludes. “We have made a profit each and every year and in the last 30 months alone, our turnover has grown by 250 per cent. So in this new growth strategy we are setting ourselves some very challenging goals, which I am confident we can achieve and in the not too distant future, Maximus Air will be amongst the top brands in this industry.”
Source: Maximus Air Cargo