The USA and Mexico subsidiaries of French freight forwarder Bolloré Logistics and Air France KLM Cargo will sponsor up to 30% of clients purchases that use Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The fuel is produced from waste and other sustainable feedstocks, giving a reduction of up to 75% of the CO2 emission on air shipments.
Through its Powering Sustainable Logistics program launched in 2018, Bolloré Logistics is committed to providing sustainable supply chain solutions for its clients and aims to reduce its CO2 emissions on transport services to its client by 30% 2030.
Forwarder to offer green alternative
Sam Mendenhall to head up American Cargo operations
American Airlines Cargo has appointed Sam Mendenhall as vice president, operations, following the retirement of operations leader David Vance after 34 years with the carrier.
Sam Mendenhall himself has 22 years of experience at American, where he most recently led the organisation responsible for all crew scheduling.
Before that he worked many years as a leader in Finance for the airline.
Jessica Tyler, president cargo and vice president operations innovation and delivery, said: “David is leaving an incredible legacy for the Cargo team, as well as American as a whole. He will be missed, but we are excited to welcome Sam to the team to lead the operation moving forward. Sam’s fresh perspective and proven leadership, combined with the cargo expertise of his team, will be a recipe for great things to come.”
Reporting to Sam Mendenhall will be cargo veterans Tim Paliganoff, Eric Mathieu, and Elzbieta Kizer who will continue to support the global operations team.
WFS upgrades cargo to business class
La Compagnie , hitherto an exclusive business-class-only airline, has moved into the cargo market for the first time and has appointed Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) as handler.
It has awarded WFS a three-year contract to handle cargo onboard its Airbus A321LR services from Paris Orly to New York’s Newark International Airport, currently four flights a week but due to increase to seven in September.
The specially configured plans, which carry only a limited number of passengers can carry up to 3.5 tonnes per flight.
Damien Paries , vice president ground pperations, La Compagnie-Dreamjet, said: “As a global leader in air cargo handling, WFS is the perfect partner to support the launch of our first-ever freight service. We are confident they will provide the same high-quality experience for our cargo customers as our passengers enjoy when they choose La Compagnie.”
WFS also holds ground handling contracts with La Compagnie in Newark for its passenger and ramp services to Paris Orly and Nice.
FedEx signs deal with India’s Delhivery
FedEx Express has signed a commercial agreement with Indian logistics specialist Delhivery, subject to conditions and regulatory approval. FedEx will make a US$100 million equity investment in Delhivery.
Under the deal, FedEx will focus on international export and import services to and from India, and Delhivery will sell its partner’s international products and services in the Indian market and provide pick-up and delivery services across the country. FedEx will transfer some of its domestic assets in India to Delhivery.
FedEx president and chief executive Don Colleran will be nominated to join the Delhivery board.
Aramex, Schenker strike cooperation deal
Middle East logistics operator Aramex and German-based forwarder DB Schenker have signed a memorandum of understanding to offer upply chain solutions in critical industries to and from Abu Dhabi and the wider region. Leveraging DB Schenker’s extensive freight forwarding capacity it will boost Aramex’s capabilities and offerings in the region in sectors such as aerospace, defense, infrastructure, and healthcare. DB Schenker will be able to expand its presence in Abu Dhabi, a strategic and growing trade and logistics hub in the MEA region. Aramex’s freight forwarding business was largely focused on the cyclical oil and gas sector. While the company will continue to serve this important industry, it has witnessed less activity in recent years. However, in 2020 the healthcare, pharmaceuticals and FMCG segment helped offset some of this.
Qatar Airways to launch WebCargo in US
Qatar Airways Cargo is to roll out its Freightos third-party eBooking platform across the US from 19 July.
Forwarders will be able to make electronic bookings with access to live rates and available capacity on the WebCargo platform.
Qatar Airways serves 12 cities in the US with 145 weekly flights, offering over 4,700 tonnes of cargo capacity every week.
Qatar Airways chief officer cargo, Guillaume Halleux said: “Following our successful launch across Europe, we are glad to introduce WebCargo throughout the USA, steadily extending digitalisation across our organisation.”
Freightos Group chief executive, Zvi Schreiber added: “In the past year, the industry has passionately adopted Digital Air Cargo (DAC), with WebCargo by Freightos as the chosen platform, driving 2,000%+ growth in bookings. Today, it’s an honour to expand WebCargo’s partnership with Qatar Airways Cargo to the USA, bringing direct access to the world’s number one cargo airline to the world’s largest economy.”
Brendan Sullivan to lead IATA cargo
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has appointed Brendan Sullivan as global head of cargo with immediate effect.
A Canadian national, he has worked in air cargo for 20 years including 14 years at IATA and has since January been acting global head of cargo in addition to his role as head of cargo operations and e-commerce.
His achievements include leading IATA’s One Source platform which provides comprehensive information on infrastructure capabilities critical to taking advantage of special cargo and e-commerce activities.
He also led the IATA FACE Campaign to build the next generation of air cargo leadership by attracting, developing, and retaining young talent within the air cargo industry. Over 200 cargo professionals are engaged in the initiative.
SAS to resume full Transatlantic program
SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) says it will resume a full transatlantic schedule by October. The carrier has not operated a full schedule to the US since the onset of the Covid pandemic in March 2020. It currently operates daily passenger flights to Chicago and cargo only flights from Copenhagen.
The US schedule will include flights between Copenhagen and New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston and Miami, between Oslo and New York and Miami and between Stockholm and New York, Chicago and Miami.
The resumption of flights also marks the first flights by, SAS’ first A321LR aircraft between Copenhagen to Boston in September and will increase the number of flights from Copenhagen to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC. The new aircraft offers improved freight capacity.
SAS acting chief executive Karl Sandlund (pictured) said: “We are delighted to improve the connectivity for both passengers and air freight to and from Scandinavia from all three capitals as the demand increases.”
Travel restrictions are still in place between Scandinavia and the US but the carrier is clearly banking on an increase in passenger numbers as vaccine programs progress.
Air Europa extends WFS deal in Spain
Air Europa has extended its cargo handling contract extensions with Worldwide Flight Services in Madrid and Barcelona, to the end of 2022.
Spain’s third largest airline operates Boeing 787 and 737-800 passenger aircraft with bellyhold cargo capacity from the two Spanish airports to North and South America including New York, Miami and Lima as well as destinations in Europe.
The carrier has been a WFS customer in Madrid since 2018, and signed its first agreement with the world’s largest handler in Barcelona last January.
It contributed 27,000 tonnes of throughput at WFS’ cargo terminal in Madrid in 2020 as well as hundreds of tonnes in the first five months of its contract in Barcelona.
WFS operates a total warehouse footprint of over 270,000sq ft including two recently cool rooms for temperature-controlled cargo in Madrid, doubling the size of the facility’s Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certified specialist capacity for pharmaceutical shipments to over 160,000sq ft.
SAL Appoints Hesham bin Abdulla Alhussayen as Acting Chief Executive Officer
SAL Saudi Logistics Services (“SAL”, the “Company”), a market leading air cargo handler, announced the appointment of Eng. Hesham bin Abdulla Alhussayen as acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) replacing Omar Hariri, who will move on to Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani).
Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Fawaz, Chairman of SAL, said: “Eng. Hesham Alhussayen has the trust of the Board throughout his time as SAL’s Chief Operations Officer (COO) and has over 25 years of experience holding leadership positions at multiple prominent Saudi companies. We see the possibilities to expand the business and deliver on our strategy. This transitional period will not affect our operations and will serve as a new opportunity to enhance SAL’s logistics services at all of the Kingdom’s main airports. We are confident Eng. Hesham and his team will continue to deliver exceptional results and reach new milestones.”
He added: “I would also like to express our gratitude to Omar Hariri for his achievements during his tenure as CEO of SAL. Under his leadership, SAL became an independent joint stock cargo ground handling company carved out from Saudi Airlines Cargo Company, which resulted in higher quality and more efficient services. Moreover, Omar led SAL through the major challenges that arose during the early stages of the pandemic by positioning SAL as the logistics services arm of the Kingdom.”
Omar Hariri, departing Chief Executive Officer of SAL said, “It has been a privilege leading SAL and strengthening its position as a major player in the Kingdom’s air cargo handling sector. I leave the Company in a great place and in the capable hands of a high caliber management team that I had the pleasure of working closely with over the past two years. I am very pleased with our unprecedented financial and operational achievements and meeting the Board’s expectations. I am fully confident in the ability of Eng. Hesham and his team to deliver on the Company’s growth strategy and wish SAL all the best.”
Eng. Hesham bin Abdulla Alhussayen said, “I am grateful to the Board for entrusting me with this leadership responsibility. SAL is moving ahead with our vision to be the logistics partner of choice in a dynamic and globally connected Saudi Arabia as per Vision 2030.”