Ways to speed up Cargo demand

[bratlachs]

Hey there,

I started to schedule two 737-200F to fly routes to Cities in Europe from my Base Frankfurt Hahn (to London airports, Rome, Munich, Berlin), because the potential demand is high enough to fill those planes with cargo (with competition), while the current demand is very low.

I have flown these routes for some time now and the demand doesn't seem to increase a lot, although I reduced the price to 70% of the standard value, because I thought price is the most important aspect in cargo transportation.

Are there any tips and tricks to help increase that demand faster?

Thanks in advance 

bratlachs
CityLine

[Tha_Ape]

Actual cargo demand will start to increase / shift once the RI is around 80-90. Before that, you'll just have leftovers (as I presume most of the potential demand is sucked through FRA).
There's no use in decreasing prices so much, 10 or 20% should be plenty enough in the beginning, it's much more about patience and resilience: wait till demand starts to shift to Hahn.

[JumboShrimp]

Couple of my cargo observations:
- prices don't seem to make a lot of (any difference) on shifting of actual demand
- actual demand now seems to shift a little quicker than before (seems there were some adjustments).  Most of it happens in first 2-6 months
- if the demand does not shift in your direction in first few months, it probably never will
- while your airline will only pick up a fraction of the actual demand while RI is low (goes up more rapidly when RI approaches 100), just having supply is enough to shift demand.  This makes me believe that shifting of actual demand is a function of supply only, not of how much cargo is carried
- proximity of the airport to the highest demand areas (squares) plays a strong role.  Frankfurt Hahn quite distant from it.  FRA has a great benefit in this regard.  There is also usually a lot of supply (multiple flight) going into FRA.  So shifting demand to Hahn beyond first 10-20% of potential will be challenging on competitive routes