SHORT SHOTS

Virgin Atlantic Cargo volumes at five-year high
The UK-based carrier’s cargo organisation has recorded a nine percent revenue growth for 2017. In a statement issued by Virgin Atlantic Cargo, revenues reached almost UKP 200 million (UKP 199.6 million) and volumes carried reached a five-year high. In total Virgin Atlantic cargo carried 230.5 million kilos during 2017, which was a six percent increase on the previous year.
The increase in volumes and revenues is said to come from the continuing need for space for e-commerce and pharmaceutical products as well as an increased demand on the carrier’s westbound sectors to the United States. The carrier started a new London Heathrow to Seattle service at the end of the first quarter of 2017. The demand for cargo space on this sector has been very good, the carrier reports. Virgin Atlantic Cargo also opened their own Heathrow Pharma Zone during 2017 in a joint venture deal with Delta Airlines.

WFS gets Cathay Pacific Cargo handling in BRU & CPH
Cathay Pacific Cargo has been busy lately with tendering out cargo handling contracts throughout their network. The latest new award goes to Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), who have signed a contract with CX Cargo for Brussels and Copenhagen.
In Brussels, WFS gets a three-year contract for cargo handling of Cathay’s new Brussels to Hong Kong Airbus A350-900 passenger service which started operating at the end of March. There seems to be ample belly space available as WFS expects to handle around 7,000 tonnes of cargo per annum for this service. The handler continues to coordinate Cathay Pacific’s trucking network to and from Belgium
Cathay Pacific will commence services from Kong Kong to Copenhagen as of 2 May with flights operating three times per week. WFS has also here been appointed as cargo handler at the Danish capital’s airport.

Behne appointed Global Sales Director at DoKaSch
DoKaSch Temperature Solutions which is based near Frankfurt Airport and offers Opticoolers for the transport of temperature-sensitive goods, has announced that Andreas Behne has been appointed as Global Sales Director. Behne, who already took up the newly created position on 1. March will be responsible for the expansion of Opticooler use in Europe as well as for newly won business outside of Europe. Mr Behne reports directly to DoKaSch Managing Director, Andreas Seitz. Mr Seitz commented on the new position stating that: “The global pharma cool chain requires a very comprehensive approach in taking care about the different stakeholders like pharmaceutical shippers, forwarders and airlines. That is why we are very happy to have Andreas Behne on board.” Behne has spent more than a decade in the international logistics branch managing sales for temperature-sensitive shipments for companies such as Dachser and the Nagel Group.

Tigers opens new Dallas facility
The Hong Kong-based Tigers Group, the global logistics and transportation company which specializes in supply chain solutions for air, sea and surface transport, has just moved into new premises in Dallas, Texas. The new facility also includes a state-of-the-art temperature-controlled area which has been erected in order to serve Tigers’ customers across the United States. The Tigers facility which offers a total of 86,000 square feet of space specializes in the storage, handling and distribution of health supplements and cosmetics.