Multi-platform air cargo service provider HAE Group has a philosophy of supporting regional development, managing director Colin White tells Air Cargo Week.
The service provider, which was founded in 1997 at East Midlands Airport has had a strong start to 2019, with business in Ireland up 20% year-on-year and the UK by 15%.
In the past 12 months, HAE has started to sell Oman Air products in the UK and has been appointed for Silkway West Airlines in the UK and Ireland.
White says HAE has performed solidly, with organic growth and new products. He says: “We have also expanded our solutions portfolio which gives our forwarding customers more ways to use our partner airlines by supporting them at destination.”
Though HAE has experienced a slow-down in the summer, White says this is seasonality, and the company is looking forward to the key months between September and December.
The pharma sector has done particularly well, especially out of Ireland. E-commerce handling and flown sectors continue to grow and White says volumes are consistent across all regions.
HAE Group, which in addition to providing GSSA services also offers solutions for more complex shipments, aircraft and cargo handling, and training has a wide presence across the UK with operations at London Heathrow, East Midlands, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin.
White says: “Our philosophy is to support regional development in the UK, as many of our legacy contracts were regional, however we still have market leading sales activity in the south. This means we are able to work with multinational forwarders, local heroes and SME’s, providing them GSSA services on behalf of our airlines and a range of solutions beyond that.”
With this wide coverage, White says there are no plans to add more offices. He says: “We may add additional field sales people if the business requires, but our face to face call rates are already higher than the average we believe.”
No new offices will be opened but HAE has moved to Donington Court at East Midlands, which is now fully operational.
White says: “The extra space and modern facilities allow for expansion and the transition was very smooth. We have also expanded our warehouse footprint at EMA to expand our cargo handling activities which was a challenging project but was completed on time.”
A challenge the air cargo sector has to face is Brexit. At the time of writing Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK is leaving the European Union on 31 October deal or no deal.
The lack of clarity has been an issue for the whole logistics sector, but White is confident that HAE knows what it needs to do, saying the team are working through the additional costs and other contingencies that may be required.
White comments: “Economic uncertainty, we hope, will be removed with a finalisation of the Brexit position.
“We believe pent up demand will be released either way and we are therefore optimistic of the future years for the UK and Ireland.”
