Savino Del Bene GmbH welcomes new Managing Director
The Italian international Freight Forwarder Savino Del Bene, headquartered in Florence, announced its new Managing Director for Germany: Andreas Kujawski (55) took up his new position on 04JAN21.
Based in Dusseldorf and a lawyer by trade, Kujawski brings with him over 25 years of logistics, global freight forwarding and courier-, express- & parcel industry experience, having held a
number of senior positions in various firms over the past couple of decades, including UPS, DHL, Hellmann and GEFCO Forwarding. Commenting on his new responsibility, he stated “Savino Del
Bene has an excellent and high-performance global air and sea freight network, a strong team of employees and already a lot of satisfied customers. I look forward to profitably expanding this
customer base and exceeding our customers' expectations”.
DACHSER appoints new CEO and shuffles Executive Board
With the start on the new year on 01JAN21, Industrial Engineer, Burkhard Eling (49), who has been with the company since 2012 (previously CFO), took up his new role as DACHSER CEO as well as
Spokesperson of the Executive Board, heading the Corporate Strategy, Human Resources, and Marketing executive unit, and succeeding Bernhard Simon, who will move to become Chairman of the
Supervisory Board in mid-2021. Joining Simon on the Supervisory Board is also former Chief Operations Officer (COO) Road Logistics, Michael Schilling, while Stefan Hohm (48), Alexander Tonn (47),
and Robert Erni (54, ex-DSV Panalpina) join Eling on the Executive Board as CDO, COO Road Logistics, and CFO, respectively. Edoardo Podestà (58) remains COO Air & Sea Logistics, a position he
has held since OCT19.
“My fellow board members and I are taking over an extremely robust and fast-growing company that even the challenges of the coronavirus crisis haven’t managed to throw off course. With their
tremendous know-how and commitment, the people at DACHSER have succeeded in maintaining the supply chains of our global customers even under adverse conditions,” Burkhard Eling, stated,
continuing “With the trust and support of the founding family, we as an Executive Board team, will preserve the unique, people-oriented culture of DACHSER as a family-owned company. At the same
time, we will continue to develop the company with sound judgment and agility on its way to becoming the world’s most integrated logistics provider.”
Half a year on, WeQare gets commemorative logo
Launched in JUL20, Qatar Airways Cargo’s WeQare long-term sustainability project focuses on actions and improvements across its business, impacting four core pillars: environment, society,
economy, and culture. These measures are broken down into chapters, of which Chapter 1 involved transporting 1 million kilos of humanitarian aid and medical equipment to charitable organizations
for free. The second chapter is due to be announced soon.
"We are deeply concerned about the legacy we leave for the future generation. As a leading cargo carrier, we want to make CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] a key strategic element of our
business and want our positive actions to have a ripple effect. Keeping this in mind, we are proud to present WeQare, a project close to the heart of every Qatar Airways Cargo employee,"
said Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways. That project now has its own logo: “Its tree patterns symbolise life and growth, the environment and our society as a whole. The
tree patterns are enclosed within a round shape representing the planet. All of these elements are united around a common or shared purpose – sustainability”, the press release states.
2021 has started off well for Qatar Airways Cargo. On 05JAN21, during a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Saudi Arabia,.Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates signed a
“solidarity and stability” agreement to end the blockade against Qatar which had begun on 05JUN17, and to reopen airspace, land and sea borders. Though it is not yet clear when this will happen,
the lifting of the blockade which Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker had always called “a clear breach of civil aviation conventions” and going as far as to launch international investment
arbitrations against the four countries, seeking around $5 billion in compensation, will allow a return to key markets. Qatar Airways had seen a 9% decline in passenger numbers in the first 9
months of the blockade and had subsequently launched 24 new routes to offset the loss of the 18 Gulf routes.
Almost as many charter flights as Arabian Nights…
IAG Cargo rounded the very turbulent year off with its 1000th charter flight, since the lockdowns in March led to normal schedules flying out of the window, and a sudden demand for compensating
capacity to shift PPE and medical supplies, originally. In fact, over 750 of those 1000 charter flights operated mainly by B777-300 A330-300 and converted B777-200, did just that and have since
turned to flying Covid-19 vaccines. The 1000th flight, however, a B777-200 flying from London Heathrow to Los Angeles Airport, included a large e-commerce shipment – the other main commodity of
the pandemic. “Other notable charters during the year included fresh, perishable items, like large scale shipments of cherries from Chile to London, and industrial supplies, such as mining
equipment from Finland to the USA,” the press release reads, stating Hong Kong and São Paulo–Guarulhos as the main non-PPE route, with its strong importance for electronics and
e-commerce.
John Cheetham, Chief Commercial Officer at IAG Cargo said: "I'm extremely proud of the role IAG Cargo has played in transporting vital supplies to help the fight against COVID-19 and to keep
the world's cargo moving. We were committed to quickly providing solutions for our customers during these unprecedented circumstances. Charters have proved to be a popular solution, and we have
seen increasing demand from customers and shippers for this tailored service. Early in 2020, to provide that much needed extra capacity to deliver the logistics programs of our customers we
converted a number of aircraft into 'preighters,' and more recently we have modified two further Iberia aircraft. These recent conversions are another example of our bespoke solutions for
customers across the world."
Liège Airport celebrates 2020 as its best year yet
Every cloud has a silver lining, though in a year that crippled much of the aviation industry, that silver lining has a tragic backdrop. Liège Airport was one of handful of airports that hardly
saw a still moment. While its Passenger traffic saw a 74% drop compared to previous year, numbering just 44,487 travelers, its total number of aircraft movements even grew slightly to 40,300
flights (landings and take-offs) in 2020, compared to 39,886 flights in 2019, thanks to a 10.7% increase in the total number of cargo flights (34,264 flights in 2020 compared to 30,934 in 2019).
The number of daytime flights grew, and the airport’s 24% tonnage growth resulted from an increase in the number of jumbo jets, leading to Liège surpassing the million-ton mark: While 2019 had
stopped short of that level with 902,480 tons, 2020 counted a through-put of 1,120,643 tons. The Airport’s cargo full-cargo strategy is paying off.
“2020 was the worst year for the global airline industry”, Luc Partoune, CEO of Liege Airport said, “Covid 19 had a significant impact on passenger transport. Alternatives to the
transport of goods in the holds of passenger planes had to be found. There was a lot of pressure on full cargo planes, which are our specialty. We also transported large quantities of medical
equipment to fight against the pandemic (masks, respirators, protection kits etc.), so much so that we became the hub for the World Food Program. The lockdown also had a direct
effect on consumption patterns, which is reflected by a boom in the e-commerce sector, a sector which has become much more important to us as we have handled over 500 million packages this
year, compared to just over 320 million in 2019.”
Cathay Pacific Cargo’s new HKG-DWC-RUH connection
Cathay Pacific launched a new, weekly scheduled freighter service between Hong Kong and Riyadh on 05JAN21, with a stop-over in Dubai en route. Leaving on Tuesdays, the Boeing B747-400 ERF
aircraft has been deployed in response to growing demand for capacity for e-commerce and general cargo shipments such as garments. It is the latest in a series of scheduled and charter services
recently launched to meet customer air cargo requirements. Just before Christmas, on 16DEC20, a seasonal Australian connection was set up between Hong Kong and Hobart, especially with a focus on
Australia exports of fresh produce to Asia, while in SEP20, a temporary service to Pittsburgh, USA was launched. Like many airlines, Cathay Pacific has been complementing its full freighter
flight schedule with thousands of pairs of cargo-only passenger flights and has chartered hundreds of pairs of flights from its all-cargo subsidiary Air Hong Kong to provide additional air
freight capacity.
Alaska Airlines has gone off animals…
Whether it was the close encounter with the bear upon landing towards the end of last year, (CFG reported: https://www.cargoforwarder.eu/2020/11/22/unfortunate-bear-strike-in-alaska/), or just one
emotional support pony, pig, turkey or rabbit too many, the fact is that from 11JAN21, Alaska Airlines’ revised service animal policy comes into place, putting an end to all “emotional
support” creatures save service dogs that have been specially trained to assist individuals with a disability. It refers to recent changes to the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT)
rules which had long been awaited, and which came about because of too many cases of emotional support animal misbehavior causing injuries, health hazards and damage to aircraft cabins. "This
regulatory change is welcome news, as it will help us reduce disturbances onboard, while continuing to accommodate our guests traveling with qualified service animals," said Ray Prentice,
director of customer advocacy at Alaska Airlines.
From 11JAN21, “Alaska will accept a maximum of two service dogs per guest in the cabin, to include psychiatric service dogs. Guests will be required to complete a DOT form” available on
AlaskaAir.com, “attesting that their animal is a legitimate service dog, is trained and vaccinated and will behave appropriately during the journey. For reservations booked more than 48 hours
prior to travel, guests must submit the completed form via email. For reservations booked less than 48 hours prior to travel, guests must submit the form in person to the Customer Service Agent
upon arrival at the airport.” Existing bookings up to 28FEB21, made prior to 11JAN21 will still be honored. After that date, emotional support animals will no longer be accepted.
American Airlines published a similar statement the same week, and other U.S. airlines will likely follow suit, given that, for as little as USD 50, a certificate could be downloaded from the
net, stating the validity of the emotional support animal, and the regulation had shamelessly been abused since years with stories of even exotic pets such as peacocks, kangaroos, and snakes
being claimed as emotional support animals for those apparently suffering from anxiety, and admitted to the cabin, where they did not have to be caged.
Brigitte Gledhill
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