SHORT SHOTS

IN BRIEF - THE LATEST AIR CARGO INDUSTRY NEWS

Garuda fined in Australian cargo cartel issue
The Australian Federal Court has fined Garuda Indonesia to pay the sum of just over USD 13 million as a penalty for being part of a price-fixing cartel. The charge was collusion with thirteen other carriers on surcharges and fees for cargo services. This follows on a court action taken by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) whereby a total of USD 91.7 million in fines have been levied on various carriers for alleged price-fixing.
Garuda along with Air New Zealand had appealed in June 2017 to the Australian High Court to have their involvement removed from the case. This was rejected and the Federal Court has now issued the final verdict.

Jettainer gets new M.D.
In another Lufthansa internal move, it has been announced that Thomas Sonntag who has held various management positions at Lufthansa Cargo during the past ten years, will take over as Managing Director at Jettainer, the Lufthansa daughter company which is a service partner for outsourced unit load devices (ULD) management (CargoForwarder reported).
Mr Sonntag takes over from Carsten Hernig who has held the position for the past five years. Mr Hernig is moving over as Head of Region Latin America & Caribbean for Lufthansa Cargo and will be based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In other news, Jettainer has taken over the online platform, “skypooling.”
skypooling is a tool that helps participating airlines to manage their containers in a more efficient way by providing information on so called ULD under stocking and over stocking.

Etihad Armaguard Valuables
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has taken over Armaguard Valuables Management (AVM), a daughter company of the Linfox Armaguard Group. The company will now be renamed as Etihad Secure Logistics Services and continue to offer secure logistics services to the valuables market. Etihad has been transporting more and more valuable goods during the past years and this acquisition is seen as being a move to strengthen their presence in this market.
Vincent Hampton who was a security specialist with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Department of State, has been appointed as Managing Director of the new company.

ANA gets their first B777F
Tokyo-based All Nippon Airways (ANA) received their first Boeing 777 freighter at the end of May. The carrier which operates a fleet of over 230 passenger and cargo aircraft has ordered two of the type.
ANA plans to operate their first B777F as of July on the Tokyo - Osaka to Shanghai route. Presently the carrier has a total of 21 flights on this route, all operated by B767-300Fs of which ANA has a total of twelve in their fleet. The second B777F is expected to join their fleet in the near future.

Turkish Cargo adds Moscow
Istanbul-headquartered Turkish Airlines Cargo will commence as of July 12 with a weekly Airbus A330 freighter service between Istanbul and Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
The new service will mainly move Russian automotive parts as well as textiles, perishables and electronics.
Turkish Cargo is one of the few carriers, despite the turndown in the air cargo market, who are gradually expanding their cargo routes throughout the region. They have moved their cargo handling in Istanbul from the old Ataturk Airport to the new and much larger one near the shores of the Black Sea.

Saudia Cargo moves wrestlers gear
Jeddah-based Saudia Airlines Cargo recently moved a total of 175 tons of equipment for the World Wrestling Entertainment from Maastricht, Netherlands to Jeddah for the WWE event held on June 7th there.
The airline used both B747-8F and B777F aircraft to carry the cargo which consisted also of various heavy items for the event. This is the third time that Saudia Cargo has moved the equipment on behalf of the WWE.

JohnMc Donagh