Maskargo Names Schenker Logistics as its Top Freight Forwarder for 2009
Issued on 23 April 2010

SUBANG (Malaysia), 23 April 2010 – Malaysia Airlines Cargo Sdn Bhd (MASkargo) named Schenker Logistics (M) Sdn Bhd as its top freight forwarder for 2009 at its prestigious Megatonners Awards here today. This is the Austrian company's second consecutive win.

The first runner up was Nippon Express (M) Sdn Bhd while third place went to DHL Global Forwarding (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Known as the anchor event in MASkargo's annual calendar, the Megatonners Awards was graced by the Deputy Secretary General for Planning Datuk Kamaruzaman bin Hj Mohd Noor, representing the Minister of Transport Malaysia, YB Dato' Sri Ong Tee Keat. Also present was YBhg Dato' N. Sadasivan, Chairman of MASkargo; En. Shahari Sulaiman, Managing Director of MASkargo and his management team.

Winners of the awards each received a certificate and a specially crafted pewter award featuring the wau bulan which symbolizes the Malaysia Airlines logo. The top three winners were also given flight tickets to any MAS destination as a token of appreciation for their invaluable support.

In his speech at the ceremony, YB Dato' Sri Ong Tee Keat said that the Malaysian Government has always given full support to the industry, especially with all the challenges faced. For most of the year, 2009 was extremely challenging with global traffic declining and a record low in terms of load factor.

"However, things are starting to look up for 2010 riding on the momentum of the fourth quarter load in 2009. We see cargo demand growing, load factor and freight capacity increasing which sums up to a dramatic rebound as compared to the same period last year caused by the slump in international trade", said Ong.

As the host of the glorious awards ceremony, Managing Director of MASkargo, Shahari Sulaiman said that this is the company's 14th year organizing the event and is extra special with awards being presented to the Hong Kong and Guangzhou top agents.

Shahari, in his speech said "the global economic slowdown has caused the cargo industry to face a very challenging year for the most part of 2009. However, with the various stimulous packages introduced by the respective countries and the decline in inventory levels, the air freight market made a remarkable recovery in the fourth quarter. Many airlines have ceased operations due to their inability to cope with the depressed economic condition but was happy to note that MASkargo managed to record an operational profit for the year."

On the current back log of cargo, due to the recent closure of the European airspace,. Shahari said "the 400 over tones of back log in KLIA will be cleared by this weekend. MASkargo is also planning to mount additional charter flights into Europe in the coming weeks to support the industry."

On the current market environment "Although in the first quarter there was a contraction of 6.4 percent in belly capacity, MASkargo has increased its freighter capacity by 37.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to meet the air freight demand which has reached the pre-crisis levels. Our load factors are above 70 percent with an increase in overall revenue of more than 50 percent. Further expansion of the freighter network is planned with additional flights to both Narita and Jakarta" said Shahari.

A total of 29 agents received the award this year, including 12 from Kuala Lumpur, five from Penang, one from Kuching, five from Hong Kong and two from Guangzhou. This year, MASkargo also gave out a special award to UTi Logistics Sdn Bhd for their significant year-to-year improvement.


About MASkargo

Malaysia Airlines Cargo Sdn Bhd (MASkargo) is the air cargo division of Malaysia Airlines. It operates four B747-200F and two B747-400F covering the world's major cargo hubs. It also offers belly space capacity on Malaysia Airlines passenger fleet serving almost 100 destinations worldwide.

At KLIA, its home base is the Advanced Cargo Centre, a 108-acre complex designed especially for MASkargo's sophisticated state-of-the-art cargo handling facilities with the ability to handle up to one million tonnes of cargo annually. These features have given MASkargo the recognition as a major regional cargo hub within a free commercial zone.

Media Inquiries: