SHORT SHOTS

CAL Cargo starts Liege - Puerto Rico - Rome service
The Israeli all cargo carrier which has a large hub in Liege, Belgium, has announced the start of a new Boeing 747-400 freighter service from Liege to San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico via New York (JFK). The return flight will operate from SJU via Rome (FCO) back to Liege.
Flights will start on September 15th, with a once weekly, day 3 operation. Plans are to expand the number of rotations in the near future.
CAL Cargo now has three B747-400Fs in their fleet.
The SJU operation is commercially centred around temperature sensitive cargo such as pharmaceuticals as San Juan is seen by CAL as an interesting hub for these products.

ANA / NCA partnership to end
The three-year cargo partnership between the two Japanese carriers, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), is coming to an end.
The official reason given is the continued downturn in the cargo market. But, maybe the recent ANA/LH Cargo joint venture is the reason behind the parting of the ways.
ANA Cargo has chartered NCA B747-400F aircraft since 2013 for the Tokyo, Narita to Okinawa nightly cargo services which were operated mainly for the carriage of fresh produce and express shipments.
ANA still plans to operate the route Okinawa to Tokyo seven times a week using a smaller B767-300F aircraft.

Swiss WorldCargo gets new brand identity
Swiss WorldCargo have started a new advertising campaign which is aimed at a closer contact to their customers, whilst still retaining their present “We care for your cargo” slogan.
Swiss Cargo states in their recent release on the new campaign that this will put an even greater emphasis on their so called “brand DNA” of being a forward-thinking, solution orientated, caring and sustainable provider of quality airfreight services.
Ashwin Bhat, Head of Cargo at Swiss International Airlines further stated that the aim of the new campaign is to also show how Swiss WorldCargo helps the customer to be successful.
The new campaign is made up of three individual visual projections which are meant to illustrate the large range of products and services on offer by Swiss WorldCargo.

IAG Cargo launches enhanced animal handling in Madrid
On September 7th, IAG Cargo announced that it is introducing what they term as ‘enhanced animal handling capabilities’ at Madrid’s Barajas Airport.
As of September, all pets traveling through Madrid will get a full veterinary check-up which will be carried out by a 25-strong care team.
The veterinary check will be undertaken by staff from Madrid’s Hospital Veterinario Alberto Alcocer. Checks will be carried out on the animals every two hours where also food and water intake will be controlled and adjusted where necessary.
Daniel Johnson, Manager Global Products at IAG Cargo commented that “animal welfare is a priority for us at IAG Cargo and we pride ourselves in going above and beyond the requirements set out by the IATA Live Animals regulations.”
Customers are also able to track the welfare of their animals in IAG Cargo’s charge via the iagcargo.com website.

Cargolux to serve Puerto Rico more often
Luxembourg’s flag carrier will operate a new weekly nonstop flight from its home base Findel Airport to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, as of 2 October. The Boeing 747-8F, departing in LUX every Sunday night, is equipped with four independently adjustable climate zones, making the freighter ideal for perishables and temperature critical shipments. Cargolux has already established four weekly services from Aguadilla to Europe that are strongly supported by shippers and forwarders in the South and Central American perishables and flower industry. In addition, Cargolux already operates four indirect weekly flights from Luxembourg to Aguadilla. “Our long-standing experience in the cool chain transport field, coupled with our dedicated, customer-oriented mentality, makes the Cargolux service to Aguadilla a superior offering for our partners in the pharma and perishables industry,” notes Niek van der Weide, Cargolux EVP Sales & Marketing.

John Mc Donagh  /  Heiner Siegmund