Jade stuck on Stop

 Originally, Jade Cargo International intended to suspend all operations only from the end of December until January 16th. Now, the carrier has announced it will continue the grounding of its fleet of six B747-400ERF until further notice. “Ongoing discussions concerning the financial restructuring” have led to this decision, reads Jade’s homepage. Currently, the carrier refuses to deliver a fix date that it will recommence its cargo flights.
     The move elucidates the failed efforts by the capacity provider to attract a new investor who would shoulder the 51 percent of Jade’s shares currently held by Air China, and who would also be willing and solvent enough to inject at least 25 million U.S. dollars for a much needed increase of capital.
     This step has long been demanded by Lufthansa Cargo, which holds 25 percent of Jade’s stakes with German investment bank DEG possessing the remaining 24 percent.
     So far, no names of potential candidates have been unveiled.
     But if this crucial task cannot be solved satisfactorily for all parties involved, analysts predict that it seems very unlikely that the fleet, which has been grounded at Shenzhen airport, will be airborne once again.
     The endeavor becomes even harder in view of shrinking demands and weak markets, which the entire logistics industry has been faced with since last summer.
     Declining tonnage, overcapacity and falling rates are the current three obstacles.
     Even a handling giant like Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (HACTL) was hit by poor traffic figures in 2011, reporting volumes that were down by 4.3 percent year-on-year with exports plummeting 9.3 percent.
     Those are the unfavorable circumstances with which Jade’s management has to cope. Indeed, a Herculean task.
(source: Flying Typers)