SHORT SHOTS

Changing Roles at WFS
In an announcement today (22 May) Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) CEO, Craig Smyth, announced various management role changes within the company.

• Barry Nassberg, formerly Group COO now takes up the position of Group Chief Commercial Officer, reporting directly to Mr Smyth.
• John Batten who until now was interim EVP Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA), is now confirmed in this position.
• Justin Jacques, who was VP Asia & Middle East, takes up the role as SVP Group Commercial, reporting to Mr Nassberg.
• A new face is Will Facey, currently heading EasyJet’s Network Operations. He joins WFS at the end of August and will act as EVP Ground Handling Operations for EMEAA.
• Catherine Thomas joins WFS as General Counsel & Head of Legal with WFS.

Brussels Airlines rolls over A330 fleet
Today (22 May), the Belgian carrier announced plans to replace seven older A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft when leasing period ends in 2018 and 2019. Together with parent Lufthansa the carrier conducted a comprehensive study on the replacement of seven of their ten long-haul aircraft. Based on this study, the Brussels Airlines Board has recently approved the purchase of seven Airbus A330-300 ‘CEO’ (current engine option) aircraft. From a commercial, economic and operational point of view the Airbus A330-300 ‘CEO’ is the best aircraft type for the airline’s long-haul business (passengers and air freight) which it wishes to further expand. All new A330-300 will be equipped with Rolls Royce Trent 700 turbines. This engine type burns less fuel and emits less greenhouse gases compared to the current A330 variants operated by the carrier. According to Brussels Airlines’ Head of Communications, Geert Sciot, the ‘CEO’ can accommodate higher cargo loads in their holds compared to the current A330s due to stronger turbines and higher takeoff weight.
The fleet replacement will start in 2018 and will continue in 2019.

Russian Prosecutor General questions Russian Post TU-204 acquisition
The Russian Post who acquired two ex-Transfer TU-20 freighters has come under scrutiny from the country’s Prosecutor General who questioned whether the company actually needed both aircraft. The aircraft which were taken from Ilyushin Finance Company cost the Russian Post around US$ 58 million.
Russian Post managers have defended the acquisition by stating that during the four months between December 2016 to March 2017 that they have been in operation, both aircraft completed over 90 flights and carried more than 800 tons of mail along with a further 1,800 tonnes of general cargo. They further claim that the cost of transporting the above, was almost half of what they would have paid by using other airlines services.

Airlander 10 takes to the skies again
The Airlander 10 airship which has been developed for the transport of heavy cargo shipments and which suffered damage last August in a landing incident, has now resumed test flights within the UK.
During the incident, the cockpit and landing gear were damaged.
The present test flights are restricted to an operating height of 1,300 metres and the Airliner 10 must remain within 15 miles of its base.
The UK company, Hybrid Air Vehicles aims to build up to ten Airlanders per year by 2021.
The airship will be capable of carrying loads of up to 10 tonnes.
It is said that the company is also planning a 60 tonne payload airship which has been dubbed Airlander 50.

ECS appointed Benelux GSA for Oman Air 
Oman Air Cargo which has set its sights on building its Muscat home base into another Middle Eastern cargo hub, has appointed the Paris-based ECS Group as their sales agent in the Benelux countries. The contract will be serviced by ECS’s subsidiary company Globe Air Cargo.
The deal came into effect already as per 1. April of this year.
The sales partner deal with Oman Air Cargo also includes the transport of cargo from the Benelux to Oman Air’s hubs in Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Heathrow and Frankfurt airports.

TIACA supports Indonesian air cargo industry
The International Air Cargo Association, TIACA, has joined with the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INAC) and leading Indonesian freight agencies in a move to support the growing air cargo industry in the area.
Garuda, Indonesia’s national carrier is also in the team
The agreement was signed at the inaugural Indonesia Air Cargo summit held last week in Jakarta.
The Indonesian air freight sector grew by 3.5% in 2016 and it is seen as being South East Asia’s largest economy.

Volga-Dnepr AN-124 delivers giant generators
A 14-day operation running between Mauritius and Madagascar was another highlight for Volga-Dnepr’s Antonov AN-124 aircraft.
Within the two-week period, the carrier uplifted a total of 11 power supply generators on six flights between Mauritius and Madagascar’s Antananarivo Airport.
The eleven generators will increase Antananarivo’s power capacity up to 120MW.
Volga-Dnepr was able to accommodate two generators on each AN 124-100 flight, with each weighing in at 57 tonnes.

Hactl wins Air Cargo Handling Agent of the Year award
The Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (Hactl), which is HKG’s largest independent air cargo handler, has been honoured with the “Air Cargo Handling Agent of the Year” award
for the fifth time in eleven years. The award was given based on votes given by readers of Air Cargo Week.

FLEET NEWS
Qatar Airways has decided that their freighter fleet will total 25 aircraft by the end of 2019. Four new B777Fs will be delivered to the Doha-headquartered carrier between September 2017 and March 2019. By 2019, the carrier’s freighter fleet will include sixteen B777Fs, eight Airbus A330-200Fs and a leased B747F.

Cargojet Airways, the Canadian cargo operator took over an ex American Airlines B757-200PCF after conversion by Precision Aircraft Solutions.

U.S.-based Kalitta Air has received another B747-400F. The aircraft previously flew for Korean Air Cargo.

John Mc Donagh