SHORT SHOTS

Belgian PM honours CAL in Liege
The Israeli all cargo carrier Cargo Airlines (CAL) has been a household name at Liege Airport for many years having established itself there more than two decades ago.
The carrier operates regular flights to and from the USA from Liege, as well as to other destinations.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, visited the CAL Group’s Liege HQ on February 6th in order to honour the airline which was the first carrier to operate out of the southern Belgian airport.
CAL purchased the Liege Airport Cargo Handling Services (LACHS) twenty years ago, thereby cementing their commitment to the airport. The airline offers a variety of services among others a dedicated door-to-door delivery service throughout Europe and the USA.

Lufthansa Cargo ramps up its customer dialogue
Alexis von Hoensbroech, Board member Product & Sales at Lufthansa Cargo recently hosted over 160 leading logistics industry managers for a two day “Lufthansa Cargo in Dialogue” session held in Frankfurt.
The aim was to exchange views on bettering the dialogue between the German carrier and its cargo customers as well as giving the audience a deeper insight into LH Cargo’s plans for the coming years.
LH Cargo CEO, Peter Gerber has high hopes for a better 2017 and his message to the industry was “we are on the right track for the future. Lufthansa Cargo is one of the key players in the air cargo industry and will remain so.”
LH Cargo transported around 1,000 tons of fresh flowers in time for this year’s Valentine Day celebration. A total of twelve MD-11 freighter flights were utilized and carried over 20 million flowers for timely delivery throughout Europe.

Max Intermodal gets a name change
The global container logistics specialist of the Rhenus Group, Maxx Intermodal Systems, has now been renamed as Rhenus Intermodal Systems. The decision for the rebranding was taken in order to cement the company’s standing within the Rhenus Group and help future promotion of its services within the group.
Rhenus, then Maxx, Intermodal Systems started the renaming process already in 2016 starting with their Russian set-up, followed by Belgium, Turkey and Germany.
The final rebrand came for its Kazakhstan subsidiary in early January of this year.

Aeroflot sees increased demand for air freight
Russia’s national carrier, Aeroflot has not been mentioned much in the past with regards to air cargo developments in Russia. This was mainly an issue for the now massive Volga-Dnepr - AirBridgeCargo group.
However, Aeroflot is looking positively towards this year as far as air freight tonnages are concerned.
Measured in Freight Tonne Kilometers (FTK’s) the cargo results for 2016 show that the carrier moved almost 31 percent more freight compared to the year before. The same applies for the December 2016 results were almost 60 percent above those of 2015 and this development is seen as a positive sign for the present year.

Cargo IQ launches Smart Data
A partnership between iRIX Software Engineering and Cargo IQ has recently been formed to help further promote Cargo IQ’s Smart Data program.
The partnership forces a three-stage project which is intended to deliver a broader scope of measurements along with a so called self-service member access into the group reporting platform as well as more detailed and up-to-date information the members with regards to specific milestones reached.
The first module in the new program is aimed at increasing and bettering Airport-to-Airport data collection and benchmarking processes. This module has already been started and is expected to be completed before the end of the first quarter of this year.
Full access to the complete portal is reported to be achieved by late 2016.

Kalitta Air goes for CHAMP Weight & Balance
Luxembourg-based CHAMP Cargosystems has recently successfully completed the implementation of its Weight & Balance application into the U.S. all cargo carrier Kalitta Air’s fleet of sixteen Boeing 747 freighters.
The Weight & Balance application which gives the carrier a more effective load planning tool has also been given full U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval.
Kalitta Air’s CEO, Conrad Kalitta is quoted as saying that “Kalitta Air is delighted with its decision with CHAMP’s Weight & Balance, and is confident it will be a key benefit for the months and years to come.” He went on to say that “integrating this software is proof that using the most up-to-date IT solutions will reduce fuel consumption and improve accuracy with a highly automated process.”

John Mc Donagh