Exporters begin search for new freight carriers

Exporters are in talks with a range of airlines and freight handlers in a bid to find alternative carriers for the cargo flights that Aer Lingus will stop operating from next week. Meanwhile, leading industries have said the change will not have a major effect on their operations.

The State airline has decided to stop carrying cargo on some routes from next Wednesday, September 1st. These routes, which account for 12 per cent of the 28,000 tonnes it ships every year, are to the UK and parts of Europe.

The airline is maintaining cargo flights across the Atlantic and to Germany. A proportion of the cargo flights that it will abandon is "inter-line" traffic, meaning flights that connect with routes operated by other airlines. Aer Lingus currently operates inter-line services to around 70 other carriers.

Irish Exporters' Association (IEA) chief executive Mr John Phelan yesterday said that inter-line routes were critical to a number of Irish industries that sell their goods abroad, including the hi-tech, food and healthcare businesses.

However, he said Aer Lingus had told the organisation that its decision was final.

"To date, we have met with a number of people who can potentially provide an alternative service," he said. "British Midland will be stepping up its activities to try and maximise its freight availability."

Mr Pat Bohan of British Midland Cargo said last night that the company had received a large number of queries from customers seeking cargo flights in and out of the country. "Our position is that we are happy to serve that market," he said.

However, British Midland does not operate cargo flights out of either Cork or Shannon airports, so it was not clear yesterday what options were available for any affected cargo traffic from these centres.

A number of the Republic's leading industries said the decision would not have any real impact on their activities here. Computer-chip developer Intel, the country's biggest private-sector employer, said it had contingency plans in place. A spokeswoman added that its volume demands were low.

Microsoft said it would face minimal disruption as most of its overseas sales were through licensing.

Dell Computers said air freight played a relatively minor role in outward shipping, while some inward-bound raw materials came via air from Asia.

The company described air freight as part of the overall logistics and supply-chain package available in Ireland, which would no longer be available.

But its statement made it clear that land and sea played a more significant role for the manufacturer.