Handle with care Archives - The Loadstar

Airlines need speed and efficiency on the ground to keep etailers happy

Alex Lennane — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 11:54:09 +0000

“The need for speed is on the ground”, and airlines need to facilitate communication across all parties during ground handling, especially for ecommerce shippers, delegates at this week’s Aviation Connect event in Istanbul heard.
As global supply chains shift towards a consumer-driven B2C industry, speed-and-efficiency trumps cost as the best way an airline can compete, according to Guillaume Halleux, CCO of handler Swissport.
“First, I want to rule out price, because a ...

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If the culture of a company is defined by its leaders, Hactl is flying

Alex Lennane — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:27:59 +0000

News last week that Hactl, Hong Kong’s largest independent cargo handler, had launched a voluntary scheme to help its SuperTerminal 1 cut its carbon footprint comes as no surprise whatsoever.
The Green Terminal Pact, which has seen Hactl install smart meters, provide incentive schemes and qualitative measurements, is but one sustainable initiative by this extraordinary company.
It has spent the past few years redeveloping its offices and terminal – the former a ...

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Automated air cargo handling eyes new heights as labour shortage bites

Alex Lennane — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 11:14:20 +0000

Automation is changing air cargo handling, a trend exacerbated by the shortage of a skilled workforce.
Since last month, the evoBOT robot has been performing test runs at Cargogate in Munich Airport and, according to the developers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the technology has “immense potential to revolutionise cargo handling automation”.
The robot is equipped with two wheels and gripper arms, handling packages from apron to ...

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WFS to boost logistics infrastructure at BLR as perishables trade grows

Alex Lennane — Tue, 30 May 2023 12:38:48 +0000

Already-growing perishable cargo demand out of India could see further momentum as air cargo specialist Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) looks to add sophisticated logistics capabilities at Bangalore Airport (BLR).
BLR is India’s top air cargo gateway for perishables.
WFS, which Singapore-based SATS acquired last year, has taken over international cargo handling and cold chain operations at BLR under a 15-year licence deal, a move that reportedly follows the termination of a previous ...

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Menzies stops ‘trying to herd squirrels’ and picks Wipro

Alex Lennane — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 13:30:41 +0000

Handler Menzies Aviation, which recently admitted it had failed to keep up with IT developments, has opted for Wipro to develop its air cargo platform.
Last month EVP cargo Robert Fordree told delegates at Air Cargo Africa Menzies needed to update its IT, saying: “We hadn’t invested – and that’s something you can’t change overnight.
“But we are doing it now, with a new software management system for warehouse handling.”
Menzies said it would ...

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Rockford Airport plans more cargo space as Menzies takes new terminal

Alex Lennane — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 12:22:16 +0000

Buoyed by growing international freighter operations, Rockford International Airport (RFD) has completed its third cargo terminal, and it did not take long to find a tenant.
Global handling firm Menzies Aviation has signed a 10-year lease for the new 50,000sq ft building at the airport 65 miles north-west of Chicago.
“The warehouse has state-of-the-art facilities, including pharmaceutical handling capability. With direct airside access, we will provide cargo and freighter handling to chartered ...

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Handling JV between Menzies and Iraqi Airways hits the buffers in Baghdad

Alex Lennane — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 11:43:39 +0000

All is not well in Iraq’s air cargo handling arena.
In April last year, Menzies and Iraqi Airways announced joint-venture MASIL to improve handling in Baghdad. Menzies employed and trained 65 staff and implemented IATA standards, and four months later, the JV was expanded to include passenger services.
However, the relationship seems to have deteriorated, and the JV partners have called in the lawyers.
First, Iraqi media reported that MASIL was claiming compensation of ...

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SATS confirms interest in $3bn WFS, but ‘does it have the financial clout?’

Alex Lennane — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 12:45:37 +0000

Changi-based catering and gateway services company SATS has confirmed it is in talks to buy Worldwide Flight Services – but it was clear that no purchase price had been agreed.
Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that the Singapore company was considering the $3bn acquisition, but SATS said this was “materially inaccurate”.
SATS, with a heavy reliance on the passenger industry, has faced a challenging couple of years, sparking doubt over whether it has the ...

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‘Limited ground handling’ sees Frankfurt ‘forced’ to cut freighter flights

Alex Lennane — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 13:31:29 +0000

Frankfurt Airport has been forced to curtail some freighter flights as the labour shortage bites.
Airlines were told on Friday that Fraport’s ground handling arm, BVD, was “severely limited”, owing to traffic peaks, schedule changes and limited staff.
“As a further measure to relieve the ground handling services during these traffic peaks and to stabilise handling at FRA, [handler] BVD is asking certain cargo airlines not to route flights through Frankfurt until ...

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Airfreight handling should be like McDonald’s – the same quality everywhere

Alex Lennane — Mon, 23 May 2022 11:04:01 +0000

Jared Azcuy, CEO of Allied Ground International (AGI), is far from done with expansion after this month signing an agreement to take over Total Airport Services (TAS) to extend its footprint in the US market.
The US-based handling firm also acquired Chicago-based handler MIC Cargo in October.
Taking over TAS, which performs handling at eight US airports, allows AGI to enter four new markets gain four stations where it already has a presence and ...

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