Outsourcing non-core activities is an increasing trend in the air freight industry. Proven once more today (5 October) by Oman Air that signed a five-year contract with ULD provider
Jettainer.
The environment benefits from the move.

The agreement grants Oman Air the entire management of their loading equipment by the subsidiary of Lufthansa Cargo. The step is in line with the carrier’s challenging target to “become the
best,” and its praiseful commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to fight global warming. By utilizing lightweight unit load devices (ULD), built of carbon fibre and partly
recycled composite material, CO2 emissions are lowered measurably. Simultaneously, the carrier’s payload will be improved and its fuel efficiency increased.
Less containers, higher efficiency
Jettainer claims that thanks to their “highly efficient ULD management scheme” Oman Air’s current container fleet can by reduced by about 20 percent, totaling 1,200 units in future. Among their
so far utilized ULDs are still 600 older aluminum AKE containers. These outdated devices are scheduled to be replaced by state-of-the-art environmentally friendly lightweight AKEs. Further to
this, 200 lightweight containers will be added to the carrier’s fleet as part of the intended expansion in the near future.
Oman Air Cargo follows an aggressive growth plan
“Our agreement with Jettainer comes at a time of excellent growth and modernization of the cargo division, as we continue forward with our aggressive growth plan. We are confident Jettainer is a
partner that shares our positive outlook and offers us the right services and technology to further improve our offerings,” stated Oman Air’s Mohammed Al Musafir, Senior Vice President Commercial
Cargo, during the signing ceremony at the cargo handling facility at its hub at Muscat International Airport.
The manager went on to say that thanks to the agreement cargo clients can be offered the best possible service in line with leading industry standards.
Smooth transit of responsibilities
In order to achieve this, a team of Jettainer ULD controllers is currently based at the ops center of Oman Air Cargo at Muscat International. According to the ULD manager, a joint project team
has initiated the system rollout, trained the staff involved and organized the operational transfers necessary for the smooth transit of responsibilities. Part of the contract is that all ULDs
are maintained by Jettainer at Muscat Airport as well as within Jettainer’s global repair network.
Win-win situation
Thanks to the cooperation with Oman Air, “we continue to expand our presence in the strategically important Gulf region. This market is enormously dynamic, enabling us to proceed with our course
of growth in the long term,” commented Martin Kraemer, Head of Marketing and PR at Jettainer.
Managing Director Carsten Hernig added to this: “We look forward to work with Oman Air, a very successful and rapidly growing global airline from the Middle East. We are proud that we are able to
stand out from our competitors with our smart solution, which is the combination of Jettainer’s experts, technology and ULD hardware.”
Oman Air is the Frankfurt-based ULD manager’s second client in the Middle East, next to Etihad Cargo.
Heiner Siegmund
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