Every week, CargoForwarder Global’s ‘Spotlight On…’ looks at a different part of the air cargo industry, highlighting just how varied the careers are within it. Air cargo needs airports – most airports across the world are predominantly passenger-focused, but these, too, provide the infrastructure and connectivity that enables freight to move efficiently through the aviation network. They support belly-hold cargo on passenger flights, offer cargo terminals, bonded warehouses, customs processing, and apron access, and connect air shipments to trucking and distribution networks, making them an important logistics hub as well as a passenger gateway. Jindřich Zeman (JZ), Cargo Development Manager at Prague Airport, describes his role and shares his thoughts on air cargo.
CFG: What is your current function and company? And what are your responsibilities?
JZ: I am Cargo Development Manager at Prague Airport. My main focus is to make sure that all cargo carriers flying to Prague have the right conditions in place for their operations to run smoothly. As part of Aviation Business department, I am responsible for anything cargo-related in the Route Development team. As we are mainly a passenger airport, the most significant part of my job is to provide insights and cargo potential to my colleagues in negotiations with carriers to open new routes, as well as leading negotiations with full-freighter carriers, myself. Cargo can make up to 20% to 30% of revenue on long-haul widebody passenger flights, and we need the carriers to see it. I also provide the link between the wider cargo community such as agents or forwarders, and the airport.
CFG: What does a normal day look like for you?
JZ: In the morning, I usually run through statistics and updates. I am always trying to be one step ahead. I am constantly looking for opportunities for our operating and potential carriers. For us, it’s not just the launch of new flights. We want carriers to thrive. I am in close cooperation with my passenger route development colleagues, looking out for possible synergies. I also maintain regular contact with the local cargo market.
CFG: How long have you been in the air cargo industry, and what brought you to it?
JZ: When I finished school and began looking for work, my brother told me about an opening in the sales team of Czech Airlines Cargo, where he was part of the operations team. I immediately fell in love with the business and air cargo in general. That was twenty years ago. Throughout the years, I was lucky to work in many positions within the cargo section of the airline. Three years ago, I joined Prague Airport and found new horizons in the industry.
CFG: What do you enjoy most about your job?
JZ: The variety and scale. As an airport, we work with more than 80 worldwide carriers, operating around 200 destinations. Each carrier is slightly different, has specific needs and opportunities. Every day, we are in touch with people from different cultures, backgrounds and different mindsets – all with just a single thing in common: the air cargo business.
CFG: Where do you see the greatest challenges in our industry?
JZ: The biggest challenge is uncertainty. Whether it’s trade disputes, tariffs, regional conflicts or airspace closures, events happening thousands of kilometers away can have an immediate impact on cargo flows in Prague. The air cargo industry is very resilient, but today we need to adapt much faster than ever before.
CFG: What advice would you give to people looking to get into the air cargo industry?
JZ: Never stop learning. We are in the business of moving products from one place in the world to another, where it is needed. Cargo will never stop moving. And as well as the subject of our industry, the business itself is moving forward very quickly. New barriers are made, new regulations are in place, new crises are there to overcome. But in the end the cargo must flow.
CFG: If the air cargo industry were a film/book, what would its title be?
JZ: ‘Beneath the Cabin Floor’. Belly cargo might not be the most glamorous and is sometimes overseen by the wider community but it’s often the most thrilling part of the business, where miracles are made.
Many thanks, Jindřich!
If you would like to share your personal air cargo story with our CargoForwarder Global readers, feel free to send your answers to the above questions to cargoforwarderglobal@kopfpilot.at We look forward to shining a spotlight on your job area, views, and experiences.
