s logistic interchanges go, the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan has some impressive credentials. A mere 2,000 years ago it sat at the crossroads of the Great Silk Road - not a single route, but myriad interconnecting trails that formed the main trading link between China and Europe.

Today, of Azerbaijan sits well outside the planning for global trading routes but the independent state is looking to reclaim some of its history. This time it wants to foster the role of a regional air cargo interchange, with Baku International Airport the focal point of its ambitions. On a path taking in the growing trade between Europe and Asia, the site also can provide vital access to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Otherwise a landlocked country, Azerbaijan's only real claim to fame in more recent times has been the harvesting of the famous Beluga caviar from the sturgeon that swim in the Caspian Sea, which laps the shores of the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

But today, a far richer source of wealth lies beneath the misty waters of the Caspian. Vast reserves of oil and gas have been discovered, leading to a massive investment program with the support of a Western consortium. This is Azerbaijan's second oil revolution: In the early part of the 20th century this part of the Russian empire was supplying almost half of the world's oil.

Pumping Oil

More recently, a new oil pipeline has been completed which stretches from Azerbaijan, through neighboring Georgia on to Turkey and the port of Ceyhan. Capable of pumping the black liquid at a rate of a million barrels of day, the pipeline neatly sidesteps Russia along the way to avoid any threat to European energy supplies.

The project is due to be complemented with a parallel gas pipeline.

The heavy project support demands of the oil of gas sector has naturally attracted the interest of Western carriers, including Luxembourg all-cargo operator Cargolux.

It has been serving Baku for five years and now operates daily 747-400 freighter services from Europe with flights en-route to Asia. Returning flights from Asia to Europe also stop at Baku, but these are mostly technical stops.

Cargolux has built-up a strong working relationship with Azal Cargo, the cargo division of national carrier, Azerbaijan Airlines and with local all-cargo operator, Silk Way Airlines.

According to Pierre Wesner, Cargolux vice president Europe, Africa and Middle East, Baku is plays a key role as a regional transit point.

"Oil and gas support equipment moving from the U.S., U.K. and Asia forms the bulk of our traffic," he said, "But as the oil wealth seeps down through the economy there is now an increasing demand for consumer goods and perishables traffic, which we expect to see grow."

But Wesner is particularly impressed with the access Baku provides as an unencumbered transit point to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Dubai and Kuwait have become more and more congested for handling transit traffic for Iraq," he says." "Working with our Azeri partners we can guarantee through transit to Baghdad using our own air waybills and with the ability to provide proof of delivery. It really is a very smooth operation and we see no reason not to continue to use it even if the situation in Iraq eventually allows us to operate direct services to Baghdad."

The Baku hub also allows Cargolux, via its Azeri connections, to serve the surrounding 'stans' - Uzbekistan, Kkyrghyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

"Traffic to these points is building to the extent that very soon we will probably be adding our own direct service to one of these destinations in the near future," confirms Pierre Wesner. "This will primarily be to support oil development programs."

Cargolux also sees a strong potential for exports of perishable products.

"During the Soviet era Azerbaijan exported fruit and vegetables to the other Soviet republics," says Wesner. "There is no reason why we cannot rebuild that traffic flow, this time into Europe."

That confidence is bolstered by a modern cargo facility, opened just over a year ago, at Baku.

According to Movsum Muslum-zada, technical director of the Baku Cargo Terminal, the facility provides 13,000 square feet of internal handling space, capable of handling throughputs of 30,000 tonnes a month.

A dedicated airside interface area provides 1.7 million square feet of apron space. "This means that we are able to handle up to five 747Fs and four IL-76s at any one time," he says. "But what we most want impress upon users is that this is a facility which we are operating fully to Western standards in terms of ability to process air waybills, track and trace cargo and to notify consignees of arrival of goods."

Silk Road

Another important development is the emergence of local cargo operator Silk Way Airlines as a force in regional transport.

The airline operates five IL-76 and two AN-12 freighters, rough and ready equipment for handling large pieces of oil field equipment and other heavy freight into airports where ground handling resources are at best limited. It was the second airline to take delivery of the newly re-engined IL-76 freighter that means recent European Union environmental restrictions.

Silk Way operates regular services out of Baku to neighboring points, as well as to more distant flights to Dubai, Istanbul and, in cooperation with Cargolux, an AN-12 operation to Luxembourg.

The aircraft, and their potential for ad hoc charter work, have attracted the attention of Russi Batliwala, group cargo director for Chapman-Freeborn Airmarketing.

"This really is a tremendous resource to have in the region to be able to access this type of capacity at this particular location," says Batliwala. That makes Baku ideal to serve markets with high demand but also very large hurdles.

"Baku is only just 600 miles from Baghdad and about 1,200 miles from Kabul in Afghanistan and is now easily accessible from Europe," he says. "It is an ideal transit point for serving two markets, which are currently difficult to access with western commercial operators."

… Briefly

Cargo traffic for European airlines grew 2.5 percent in the first six mo months of 2006, with Far East traffic growing the fastest at 4.7 percent over 2005, according to the Association of European Airlines. Overall growth slowed to 2.3 percent in June, although Far East traffic advanced 5.7 percent. ... China Southern started daily 777 flights from Guangzho to Amsterdam, with a stop in Beijing. … GeoLogistics named Oslo-based Nor-Cargo as its service partner in Norway. … Lufthansa Cargo signed an agreement to build a new animal handling station at Frankfurt Airport. … Air Astana of Kazakhstan named Aviation Consulting as its general sales agent in Belgium for 757 passenger flights between Almaty and Amsterdam. … Alitalia replaced its road feeder service at Athens International Airport with A300-B4 freighter flights during August, operating the flight from Malpensa to Athens and on to Cairo. ... Frankfurt Hahn Airport saw air freight traffic grow 20 percent in the first six months of 2006, with Aeroflot Cargo handling more than half of the traffic. The airport is projecting 245,000 tons of cargo this year, including road feeder business. … Aviareps will represent Gulf Air in Switzerland. … Freight traffic at Virgin Atlantic Airways soared 16.2 percent in the first six months of the year, the strongest growth rate among Europe's top combination airlines. ... Cargo traffic at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol jumped 8.4 percent in June, led by an 11.8 percent gain in traffic on freighters. Cargo at Schiphol grew 5.2 percent n the first six months of 2006. … Germany's Leisure Cargo, which specializes in cargo sales on behalf of tourist-oriented specialty airlines, signed a global cargo management agreement with Arkefly. … Cargo traffic at Air France/KLM grew 3.8 percent in the first seven months of 2006, including a 4.1 percent increase in July. Middle East/Africa traffic soared 21.5 percent over the January-July period a year ago on a 14.3 percent gain in capacity. ... German intra-European passenger operator Condor named Global Airline Services its cargo general sales agent in France and the Benelux region. … Air China Cargo named Global Air Cargo System its general sales agent in France. … British Airways World Cargo named ProActive Airline Services as its cargo general sales agent for Denmark. … El Al Cargo named Globe Air Cargo System as its general sales agent in France. … Ground handler NAS Cargo joined the Cargo 2000 freight industry quality group. … Kales Airline Services started representing Great Wall Airlines as the Chinese carrier's cargo general sales agent in the Netherlands. … Parcel carrier GLS will invest some $130 million to upgrade its pan-European delivery network, focusing on expansion of cross-border capabilities. … Aviapartner is starting cargo handling for Saudi Arabian Airlines in Amsterdam, expanding on a handling agreement the companies have in Brussels. … IJS Global and its recently added Europe, Middle East and Africa division signed a partnership agreement with Eilat Gateport of Israel. … Russia's Krasnoyarsk Airport began construction of a 43,000-square-foot cargo terminal that will provide greater handling capacity for 747 freighter airline AirBridge Cargo. … EasternAirCargo became a cargo general sales agent for Qatar Airways in Luxembourg. … Hainan Airlines started four-times-weekly 767-300ER passenger service between Brussels and Beijing. … China-based 747 freighter operator Jade Cargo International will have Swiss WorldCargo represent the carrier in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland while Inter Aviation Services will be Jade's sales agent in the Benelux countries. … Swiss WorldCargo signed a five-year contract with Jettainer to have the joint venture company of Lufthansa and TrenStar manage Swiss WorldCargo's air cargo containers around the world.