2000s Milestones - MASkargo

2000

Jan 27:

MASkargo announces plans to add four B747 freighters to its fleet in the next two years and another four by 2004.

The current aircraft inventory is seven freighters including five B747s (two are leased) and two B737s.

March 16:

MASkargo embargoes live snake shipments until further notice following the escape of cobras from a damaged box at the MAS Cargo Centre in KLIA.

June:

MASkargo introduces e-booking services for its customers, including online booking, e-airwaybill, e-schedule and e-tracking.

July 3:

A project to link all cargo operations at KLIA's Advanced Cargo Centre online with 17 MAS domestic and 70 international stations get underway. Completion is scheduled for end 2001.

July 15:

MASkargo and Swisscargo sign a pact for joint freighter services between the US, Europe and the Far East.

Aug 29:

MASkargo launches a direct freight service to Basle in Switzerland.

Sept 27:

MASkargo launches its MH Truck Flight B-Double service to operate a land route between KLIA and Penang. This service will be extended to Johor Baru by the end of the year.

Oct 31:

The inaugural MASkargo flight to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, takes off.

2001

June 11:

MAS indicates it will sign up as a member of Wings Alliance to establish a global cargo network with Dutch carrier KLM, America's Northwest Airlines and Italy's Alitalia.

The alliance will enable MASkargo to drop certain routes in Europe and intercity operations in Australia.

Aug 8:

MASkargo starts a pilot project to introduce new service standards in cargo handling at KLIA.

Sept 18:

Penang announces it will build a RM70 million complex for air cargo agents. This is to boost the island's status as the air cargo hub for the northern region and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

Nov 6:

MAS ties up with Indonesia's Garuda for capacity sharing and joint freighter services. This boosts both cargo division's competitiveness, especially with a special rates arrangement.

Dec 25:

MASkargo airlifts four elephants to Guangzhou for the first time.

2002

Jan 27:

MASkargo floats the idea of separate negotiations on traffic rights to ensure an independent growth of its cargo operations.

Currently, its full freighter service and cargo charters account for 40% of its cargo uplift with the remaining 60% using the belly space of passenger flights.

Feb 21:

MASkargo offers its customers online real-time shipment tracking and flight schedules through its website www.maskargo.com.

March:

The Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards ranks MASkargo among the top three cargo carriers in Asia.

April 4:

MASkargo officially launches its website and a Priority Business Centre (PBC) with 24-hour personalised services for eight of its largest customers at KLIA.

The centre will be extended to Penang.

April 12:

MAS and Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services sign an agreement to extend cargo handling services for the Malaysian carrier at the Frankfurt Airport.

Frankfurt is Europe's largest airfreight hub.

May 15:

MASkargo's One-Stop Perishables Business Centre (OSPBC) commences operations. The OSPBC is another of MASkargo's innovative services.

June 19:

The volume of MASkargo's cargo uplift returns to pre-9/11 levels. The load factor is now at 60%, up from the 40% in the months following September 11.

Aug 3:

Malaysia Airports reveals plans for a new air cargo complex for Penang to be built by MASkargo. It is scheduled for completion in 2006.

The new complex will have an annual throughput of 1 million tonnes.

Sept 17:

The Cabinet waives bank guarantees for goods entering Malaysia that are bound for another country. This move boosts KLIA's cargo handling capacity by 15%.

Dec 18:

Malaysia secures additional landing rights for cargo and passengers into China. This offers MAS 10 new points of entry to add to the existing six.

Dec 23:

MASkargo and Northport announce the successful delivery of their first air transhipment of cargo under the i-port concept.

Sea cargo from neighbouring ports is consolidated at Northport, then transported by road to KLIA before it is flown to destinations worldwide.

2003

March 22:

MASkargo increases the number of freighter flights to Europe to compensate for the loss of belly space in cancelled passenger flights.

The cancellation comes in the wake of the Iraq War.

June 10:

MASkargo introduces a web-based surveillance system at the Penang Cargo Complex, enabling customers to locate their goods from anywhere in the world.

This is a first for the cargo carrier in Malaysia.

Sept 6:

MASkargo announces it will lease two B747-200F by year-end to resolve its capacity constraints.

The cargo carrier currently operates five B747-200Fs, of which three are leased from Air Atlantic Icelandic.

Nov 10:

MASkargo approaches the Vietnam and Cambodia markets for its i-port transhipment operations.

The Kuantan Port has been added to Northport for the i-port operations.

Nov 13:

MAS expresses interest in Boeing Co.'s plan to convert 250 B747-400 passenger and combi aircraft to freighters.

2004

Jan 7:

MASkargo forecast an 11% growth in air cargo volume for the 2003/04 financial year.

The hike is attributed to the growth of air transhipment business, which now constitutes 55% of total MAS air cargo.

Feb 19:

MASkargo reveals it will add two B747-200F to its fleet by April, bringing the number up to eight.

March 3:

SIRIM (Standards Research Institute of Malaysia) presents MASkargo with the ISO9001 and ISO14001 certificates.

March 11:

MASkargo flies three of the five flights carrying Formula One cargo.

The cargo carrier has been handling ground services for F1 since the first Malaysian Grand Prix in 1999.

April 8:

Revenue for the 2003/04 financial year tops the RM2 billion mark.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) ranks MASkargo 16th in the world according to cargo traffic.

MASkargo adds seven new freighter destinations in Europe and Asia, a move that will boost cargo capacity by 30%.

July 23:

MAS converts its 1995 order of two B747-400 passenger to two freighter aircraft. The national airline will lease the aircraft to MASkargo.

The planes are to be delivered in February and April 2006

Aug 23:

MASkargo announces the addition of Beijing and Hangzhou to its flight schedule.

The cargo carrier currently flies only to Shanghai.

Oct 7:

MASkargo becomes the first company to use Bank Negara's Financial Processing Exchange gateway (FPX). The FPX is a national internet-based payment system.

Dec 2:

MASkargo handles 200 tonnes of theatre equipment for the musical "Phantom of the Opera" – to date, its largest ever i-port transhipment.

Dec 3:

MASkargo launches three initiatives from its global e-commerce programme – an enhanced website, an e-sales facility, and an Electronic, Billing, Presentment & Payment System (EBPP).

2005: March 23:; The Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards (AFSCA) rates MASkargo among the top three Asian cargo carriers for the third consecutive year.

April 6:

MASkargo installs two x-ray machines at KLIA and Penang to screen export consignments for pirated DVDs and CDs.

This is a collaboration with the US-based Motion Picture Association (MPA) to combat piracy.

May 17:

MASkargo's revenue expands by 25% to RM2.6 billion despite the soaring price of jet fuel.

May 24:

MASkargo transports five sand tiger sharks from Johannesburg to Kuala Lumpur for the Aquaria@KLCC.