German ban on air cargo
Lufthansa expert to assess freight security
A high-ranking official from Lufthansa, the largest German airline, was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh late last night to inspect the air cargo security situation at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport in Dhaka. The development follows imposition of restrictions on direct cargo flights from Bangladesh to Germany from this Sunday by Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (the German civil aviation authority). Talking to The Independent, Abul Hasnat Mohammad Ziaul Haq, additional secretary (Biman and civil aviation wing) of the civil aviation and tourism ministry, said the Lufthansa official has come to check the freight security measures. He will inspect the security measures today, he said.
Explaining the ban, Haq said it does not mean that cargo from Bangladesh cannot be sent to Germany. Rather, the ban means that any cargo flights from Bangladesh to Germany must be rescreened at a third-country airport.
He, however, disclosed that the ministry has not been officially informed about this matter. We have not received any letter regarding the ban. An official from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), however, told The Independent that Lufthansa did inform Biman Bangladesh Airlines, which is in charge of cargo handling at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, about the matter. Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, in its letter, stated that all cargoes and mail consignments originating from Bangladesh posed a risk to aviation security, based on information provided by its law enforcement authorities and intelligence services.
The Biman official said the German authorities have called for immediate installation of several items of heavy electronic aviation security equipment, including equipment to detect trace of explosives.
Following the restriction, German flag carrier Lufthansa did not transport some 60 tonnes of cargo, mostly apparel, from the airport on Sunday. Lufthansa operates two cargo flights from Bangladesh every week.
Earlier, in March this year, the UKs Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had barred airlines from carrying cargo on direct flights from Dhaka to the UK until further notice because of concerns about inadequate freight security measures.
Prior to that, on December last year, Australia also prohibited the carriage of air cargoes that had originated from, or transited through, Bangladesh, along with cargoes from Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Somalia.
The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturing Association (BGMEA) complained that such a ban by Germany would severely affect the countrys readymade garments (RMG) exports. Germany, as a country, is the second-largest importer of RMG from Bangladesh.
BGMEA vice president Mohammad Nasir told The Independent that they are concerned about the latest decision to ban air cargo from Bangladesh by Germany. Bangladesh last year exported RMG products worth Tk. 436.40 crore to Germany, a good portion of which was exported as air cargo. He said the necessity of air shipment arises when there is shortage of time for delivery. Sometimes, if a shipment misses the deadline because of operational delays, air cargo is used to meet the deadline, he added.
According to information from Seabury Groups cargo and global trade database, fashion-related air shipments from Bangladesh have been forecasted at 13,204,767 kg for 2016. And forecasts for 2017, 2018 and 2019 are 13,942,420 kg, 14,646,801 kg and 15,318,989 kg respectively.
