td.Zoom is not a virtual meeting room…
With a 2-year pandemic which saw Zoom increase its value by 385% to more than USD 100 billion, its meeting user numbers grow by 2,900%, and its label become a household – or should that be ‘home office’ - brand, I am not sure Lufthansa Cargo was all that well-advised to launch a product with the same name that most immediately associate with one of the world’s most popular virtual meeting apps, but there you go. td.Zoom (which could just as well have been td.Turbo or td.Swift), is Lufthansa Cargo’s newest product launch in a while, and promises an even faster service than td.Flash. It went live on 01NOV23. Alongside the fastest cargo speed for your most urgent shipments, td.Zoom also comes with 24/7 shipment monitoring and proactive steering, and dedicated premium td.Zoom Customer Service. Interestingly, it has no weight or size limitations, and can be used for a number of commodities, even in combination with other Lufthansa Cargo products such as General Cargo, Dangerous Goods and Emergency. Customers also have the option to book Add-on Services such as Sustainable Choice, and thus reduce the CO2 emissions of their shipments. Special handling processes are in place at the airline’s cargo hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, and Vienna, offering fastest transport times with ramp supervision during aircraft loading and unloading, dedicated ramp transfer between warehouse and aircraft, as well as tail-to-tail transfer on demand.
Ashwin Bhat, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, explained: “For highly time-critical cargo, Lufthansa Cargo has launched an unbeatable option with td.Zoom. td.Zoom is the fastest choice with top priorities, the shortest transit times and a personal td.Zoom Customer Service. To give an example: A shipment from Shanghai via Frankfurt to Zurich usually takes 45 hours with td.Pro, 35 hours with td.Flash, and only 23 hours with td.Zoom. We keep our promise to be the right partner to enable global business. This includes our ambition to become the world’s most efficient cargo airline, while continuously improving our offerings and services. Optimal customer service means creating the right offering for every need. With td.Pro, td.Flash and td.Zoom, we now have a comprehensive choice in terms of speed of transport, allowing our customers to choose a price-performance ratio that meets their individual needs.”
Almost 200 horses travel LATAM Cargo
Transporting just a single horse is already a delicate operation, as it is with any living animal. Planning the transport of 196 horses that are due to perform in equestrian events and therefore need to be rested and ready at a variety of locations by certain dates, demands precision and care. That is why LATAM Cargo started out on the project three months ago, already. As official airline of the 2023 Pan American and Parapan American Games in Santiago and Team Chile, LATAM Cargo is responsible for ensuring the professional and safe transport of 196 dressage, show jumping, and equestrian event horses to the competitions of the 2023 Pan American Games taking place between 20OCT23 and 05NOV23. 91 horses were transported from Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and the United States, to Chile, on board of LATAM Cargo's B767 freighters. Once the competitions are over, the cargo airline will return 105 horses to their countries of origin. A total of 196 horses carried over a period of three weeks. The airline offers a commodity-dedicated product: ALIVE, which is designed to ensure optimum animal care such as best routes, available stables, horse teams, and professional caregivers accompanying the horses. “The horses are attended to throughout the flight, receiving proper supplies of water, forage, and food, with constant attention from highly trained veterinarians to accompany them during the journey,” the release details.
Juan Pablo Márquez, Senior Cargo Operations Manager in Chile for LATAM Cargo, said: “For us, it is an honor to be part of this major sporting event that is 'Santiago 2023,' and for equestrian federations to choose us as their trusted option for transporting the horses they will use in the competitions. It is a recognition of our extensive experience in this type of transportation, our logistics, and the specialized personnel that allows us to provide top-level handling to ensure the well-being of these animals. We will continue working to deliver a service with the highest quality standards for our customers.”
It took a while, but now time:matters has a new helmsman
time:matters finally announced Alexander Kohnen’s successor this week, 7 months after he left on the company on his own volition to become the CEO of nox NachtExpress back in APR23. The decision has fallen on Bernhard zur Strassen as the new Managing Director and CEO of time:matters. He assumed his new position on 01NOV23, having come over from software company, Shipsta S.à.r.l., where he was Chief Revenue Officer. He returns to the airline group that hosted him back in 1995 for 9 months, as he wrote his university thesis on Business Process Re-Engineering. Following that, he embarked on a 17-year career at Kühne+Nagel, among other logistics experience. His new responsibilities include driving international growth with customers, digitalization, and sustainability.
Frank Bauer, Chief Financial Officer and Labor Director at Lufthansa Cargo, stated: “We are delighted to have Bernhard zur Strassen on board as the new CEO of time:matters GmbH. He has an extensive and long-standing expertise in the field of logistics, making him optimally qualified to further establish time:matters as a company for time-critical emergency and highly flexible transport solutions.”
Lars Krosch, Chief Operating Officer of time:matters, commented: “I am very pleased to have Bernhard zur Strassen as an experienced industry expert at my side and to be able to continue the successful development of time:matters.”
Zur Strassen’s own comment on LinkedIn, regarding his new position, was: “Very happy, very proud, very fortunate to be joining, guiding and leading this wonderful team of dedicated experts going forward!! time:matters offers many clever solutions - flexible, customized, high quality, always competitive, true #logistics. With this portfolio of services, with these experienced and keen colleagues, with 20 impressive years of heritage, we have a fantastic foundation for a bright future - and are still bursting with even more ideas. I am looking forward to be realizing these ideas with our customers and our smart team members. Let's go!!!”
AIRWAY Logistics implements MARGO to streamline cargo ops
Australian air freight handling company, AIRWAY Logistics, (established in 2010), opted for the Mauritian software provider, Maureva’s MARGO solution to digitize its air freight operations. Now that MARGO has been successfully implemented, AIRWAY (previously going by the name of Pak Fresh Handling), enjoys improved efficiency, streamlined operations, and technologically transformed processes and workflows. The motive behind its digital transformation, is the company’s recent exponential growth. It is now active across Australia, providing seamless customized airfreight services such as international and national cargo handling, cargo terminal operations, and cold chain services. The latter, in particular, require real-time information and efficient workflows from collection to drop-off of cargo.
MARGO is a fully web-based and integrated end-to-end air cargo solution offering scalability and flexibility. It covers cargo sales, reservations, rates, manifest creation, import and export operations, warehouse management, customs integrations, mail handling, and cargo revenue accounting. Maureva customized MARGO to meet AIRWAY's specific business and operational requirements. Given that IATA-compliant messaging (Cargo-IMP and Cargo XML) and the Australian Customs interface are integrated in the solution, this greatly improves communication and collaboration with other stakeholders. “MARGO automates the issuance of Air Waybills and cargo handling processes. This empowers AIRWAY to handle cargo acceptance, export and import processes, facilitate manifest creation, and execute hassle-less part-shipments, and effectively administer warehouse operations optimally and smoothly,” the release emphasizes all the ways in which MARGO speeds up and improves process efficiency, which also extends to rate management, the allocation of warehousing charges, invoicing processes, and offers reporting tools. On the one hand, all these services support cost-effectivity and opportunity management for AIRWAY, and on the other hand, faster, more transparent ,and error-free processes lead to happier customers.
Nathan Beven, Head of AIRWAY, said: “The strategic acquisition of MARGO for digitalizing and optimizing our operations to improve performance and service levels and boost revenues is an important milestone to meet the requirements of our rapidly expanding airfreight handling business. Maureva is a great match for AIRWAY Logistics, tailoring its MARGO system towards our specific business needs."
Davina Martin, Solutions Sales Manager at Maureva, announced: “We're proud to partner with AIRWAY, helping them leverage digital tools to enhance air cargo opportunities and customer experiences. This collaboration strengthens Maureva's presence in the APAC market, enabling companies to digitize their cargo operations.”
Dean Boljuncic heads Maastricht-Aachen’s new sales dept
His full title is Head of Commercial Development (CCO), and aside from a modern focus on sustainable growth, including fostering strategic partnerships with Dutch aviation shareholders, forwarders, and airlines, Dean Boljuncic is also tasked with all things cargo: attracting new cargo customers and managing existing partnerships, and increasing cargo routes, cargo capacity, and freight volumes at Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST). Welcome and interesting news in the cargo world, particularly given the ongoing Dutch conflict of slots and cargo flights, as well as the fear, last year, that MST was going to close altogether. At the time, in OCT22, once AMS had announced its intention to acquire 40% of MST for € 4.2 million, Rogier Spoel, Policy Manager Air and Ocean Freight for shipper organization, evofenedex, told The Loadstar: “We see MST as complementary to Schiphol, and air cargo as a whole in the Netherlands.” To that end, Boljuncic is also preparing the launch of a Regional Cargo Community supported by Air Cargo Netherlands in the near future, to develop aviation shareholder relationships.
His appointment and the airport’s sales department are new, and intended to drive sustainable growth MST. Trained as a Croatian Air Force pilot, Dean Boljuncic comes over from Eindhoven Airport, where he spent the past 7 years, first as Head of Route Development and then from 2019 as Head of Aviation Development and Partnerships. Prior to this, he worked at Pula Airport in Croatia, having graduated with a master's degree in Aeronautics.
Jonas van Stekelenburg, CEO, Maastricht Aachen Airport, stated: “I am confident that Dean is the right person to spearhead our new sales department - he has already hit the ground running with exciting ideas to boost our cargo services. He has a proven track record of elevating European airports, and his experience as a pilot and his education in aeronautics also give him a unique perspective on the operational side of the job.”
Dean Boljuncic detailed: “My mission is to not only bolster the long-term economic sustainability of Maastricht, but also its environmental sustainability through the reduction of emissions and noise pollution. Sustainability cannot be an afterthought – we must factor in environmental issues when making business decisions.”
Hermes to ensure greater efficiency at dnata AMS
Amsterdam Airport (AMS), one of dnata's largest stations with an annual throughput of more than 650,000 tons of cargo, is the latest in its network to soon profit from an IT upgrade. Like other European stations before it, AMS is due to migrate to Hermes 5 SaaS. Once successfully completed, dnata NV at Brussels Airport (BRU), will be next in turn, in 2024, as dnata and Hermes Logistics Technologies (HLT) continue their large implementation project. “The next instalment in a series of Hermes SaaS cloud upgrades, will increase the speed, volume, and accuracy of cargo processing at the ground handler's two terminals at Amsterdam Airport,” HLT’s release promises as the software provider prepares to migrate dnata Amsterdam to the newest cloud-based cargo management system: Hermes 5 Software as a Service (SaaS) at dnata’s two terminals at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). “Hermes 5 SaaS will streamline the management of the ground handler's cargo import, export, and transit processes from end to end, with the additional benefit of allowing HLT to provide a fully managed and supported service through the migration to a cloud solution,” it continues. With Hermes 5 running in the background under the IT maintenance and management of HLT, dnata AMS will be free to focus on its core business of processing cargo and delivering quality customer service. Herme 5 offers enhanced security, improved messaging capabilities, and access to HLT's full Ecosystem which is a collection of applications that includes Business Intelligence and Data Lakes, Track and Trace, and Landside Management.
Yuval Baruch, Chief Executive Officer, HLT, commented: “Our latest software, Hermes 5 SaaS, is our most function-rich cargo management system to date, helping to streamline workflows, provide greater transparency, and improve data sharing across dnata's operations in Amsterdam. This migration further strengthens HLT's presence and expertise within Europe as we continue to push for digitalization across the global air cargo industry.”
Royal Air Maroc and Globe Air Cargo USA renew GSSA contract
The start of the winter schedule comes with a rate promotion ex US to selected European, West African and Middle Eastern destinations throughout the month of NOV23, since Globe Air Cargo USA and Royal Air Maroc recently renewed their long-standing GSSA relationship. The Casablanca (CMN)-based airline serves three major US airports: John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK)/New York, Dulles International Airport (IAD)/Washington, and Miami's International Airport (MIA). Its Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-8 offer 15 tons or 13 tons of potential uplift, respectively. Since 28OCT23, frequencies have increased: JFK to CMN flies daily, IAD-CMN 5 times/week, and MIA-CMN 3 times/week. Royal Air Maroc offers 80 international destinations out of Casablanca, including many niche destinations across West Africa (23 cities). It also operates regular full cargo services with a Boeing 767-300 freighter (45 ton-capacity) to Brussels (BRU)/Belgium 3 times/week, Bamako Airport (BKO)/Mali twice/week, and weekly to Ouagadougou (OUA)/Burkina Faso, Nouakchott International Airport (NKC)/Mauritania, and Istanbul Airport (IST)/Türkiye.
Extolling the airline’s certifications and broad product range, Ian Morgan, ECS Group Commercial Director USA, commented: “Thus, Royal Air Maroc's cargo capacity is even more relevant to our American customers looking for a swift freight solution on an established, quality airline. Similarly, international customers with US-bound shipments can be certain that they will be delivered to their end-destination within a competitive time frame. We offer an extensive interline network and flexible road feeder services to all major US gateways and cities out of our three American airports.”
Mr Yassine Berrada, VP Cargo for Royal Air Maroc, explained: “Royal Air Maroc celebrated its 66th Anniversary this year – an age we are proud of, and a success that we continuously strive to uphold. For example, Royal Air Maroc was the first African airline to achieve Cargo iQ certification last year, and this year, we became one of just seven airlines worldwide, to have been awarded both IEnvA and IWT certificates – here again, we are the only African airline in that elite group. At Royal Air Maroc, we apply method and strategy to providing the ultimate service quality and market solutions, and we measure our potential partners by the same high standards. With Globe Air Cargo USA, our customers are in the best of hands whether their shipments are connecting from the US via our Casablanca hub to our international passenger and freighter network, or flying into the US and connecting to our domestic partner services."
Jettainer signs pact with PACTL
Jettainer and PACTL West have signed a cooperation agreement to create a new lease&fly hub in Shanghai. For ULD Management company, Jettainer, this will be its fourth international hub. Others already exist in Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong. Now, together with the ground handler for Shanghai Pudong International Airport Public Cargo Terminal Co. Ltd' West, Jettainer gains a strategic foothold in China’s second largest airport. The cooperation agreement was signed against the backdrop of the first-ever transport logistic Southeast Asia in Singapore this past week.
PACTL West will be responsible for handling and storing the ULDs at Jettainer’s new lease&fly hub at Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), ensuring smooth onsite operations, whilst all customer service and sales activities will be steered by Jettainer out of its Hong Kong office. The new hub will facilitate the provision of leased ULDs for short or long-term requirements, ad-hoc flight operations, charters, seasonal peaks, or the ramp up of new businesses or growth plans. “Customers will initially benefit from fast access to PMC pallets, one of the most commonly used ULD types. The portfolio of standard and special containers and pallets will be gradually expanded, meeting future customer requirements,” the release explains.
Carsten Hernig, Deputy General Manager VP Sales & Marketing and Production at PACTL, declared: “We are pleased that Jettainer has entrusted PACTL West with our warehousing and handling services for their new lease&fly hub. As a ground-handling service provider with the highest standards of quality and professionalism, we can further improve services for airlines and forwarders onsite and in the region. Together with Jettainer, we will contribute to flexibly meeting the demand for ULDs at all times.”
Thomas Sonntag, CEO at Jettainer, stated: “The cooperation with PACTL West is the ideal addition to our lease&fly network, as Shanghai Pudong Airport is one of the most important air cargo hubs for our customers’ ULD leasing demand. Airlines and forwarders are seeking adhoc, short-term and long-term ULD leasing solutions, often with the requirement to have ULDs directly available. The opening of our lease&fly hub in mainland China will add great flexibility to both new and existing customers and is another step in our expansion plans in Asia.”
Brigitte Gledhill
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