Swissport International has opened an air cargo centre at Zaragoza Airport, in north-east Spain, its fifth in the country along with Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Valencia and Zaragoza. It offers over 4,000sq and provides cargo handling services for general and express cargo. The facility has 14 truck docks. Swissport has provided passenger services and ramp handling in Zaragoza since 2015.
Airfreight trucker Sterling Transportation has recruited Sally Meyer to its sales team. Stationed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, she will play a pivotal role in expanding sales efforts not only in the Houston area but across the entire US. She brings over two decades of sales experience in the industry and her reputation is widely recognized within the airline and freight forwarding communities.
Vice President of Sales, Jaye Fenner, said: “I’m convinced there’s not a forwarder in the Houston area who isn’t familiar with Sally Meyer. Having had the privilege of working alongside her for more than 20 years, I’ve personally witnessed her remarkable achievements and had the pleasure of working alongside her over the years. Sally possesses an exceptional understanding of the industry and a keen awareness of our customers’ unique needs.”
Air Charter Service has opened an office in New Delhi, its second office in India and 33rd globally. The company opened its Mumbai office almost 12 years ago and last year enjoyed one of its best years in terms of charter numbers in India. The new office is headed by Aman Arora (pictured, front centre), who moves from his managerial position in Mumbai.
FedEx directly contributed more than $80 billion to the global economy in the 2023, financial year despite recent economic pressures, according to the express and logistics company’s annual economic impact report, released on 6 November.
Produced in consultation with data and analysis firm Dun & Bradstreet, the study demonstrates the positive impact FedEx has on individuals and communities around the globe, which it calls the ‘FedEx Effect.’
In Europe, the company’s impact included $2.4 billion in indirect contributions to the regional economy.
FedEx, which celebrated 50 years of operations on 17 April, claims the most extensive transportation network in the world, providing services to more than 220 countries and territories. It employs over 500,000 people across more than 5,000 facilities and moves approximately 14.5 million packages every day.
FedEx contracted with roughly 100,000 suppliers in FY 2023 — 90% of which were small businesses. It also continued to support trade policies favouring greater market access and efficiency such as de minimis customs allowances, which enable individuals and businesses of all sizes to import low-value goods without duties and taxes.
FedEx Express serves more than 45 countries in Europe, with air hubs at Roissy-Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France and Liège Airport in Liège, Belgium.
fedex.com/economicimpact
Global Critical Logistics’ events specialist arm, Rock-it Global has handled the logistics for Team Canada at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Rock-it transported food, medicine, and sporting equipment ranging from hockey sticks to sailing boats for the games, which started on 20 October. It also handled all customs, carnets, and tariffs arrangements and exemptions for the importation of goods, working with various government agencies.
Rock-it’s director, sports and broadcast, Josh Gordon, said: “Rock-it transports anything that helps the athletes feel at home, whether that be their favourite cereal bar, furniture, weight training equipment, or more obscure things like team signage and games for the athletes’ lounge. The cargo we’ve had to move comes in a range of sizes and shapes.”
The Rock-it team has been preparing for Santiago 2023 for over a year, with team members scouting the 12 event venues, driving through each route to identify potential risks or challenges, drawing up solid contingency plans, and arranging insurance coverage.
However, as Adam Tubaro, director sports and broadcast logistics, pointed out, having a ‘Plan B’ is vital: “Things on the ground rarely go as planned, and we have the advantage of being flexible and agile when contingencies need to be activated.”
Tower Cold Chain is offering a new lightweight temperature controlled container compatible with US and EU standards. The Evolution 1600 Tower Universal Pallet is a quarter of the size of a PMC pallet, allowing four containers to be transported per pallet. Following detailed analysis, Tower has reduced the amount of phase-change materials required to maintain a consistent internal temperature, resulting in significant weight savings and more space for product to be packed.
Lufthansa Cargo is offering a new high-speed cargo option. Td.Zoom is the fastest service for the most urgent shipments and is in addition to the existing td.Pro and td.Flash otpions.
The carrier claims “the fastest capacity access with no weight or size limitations” with special handling processes at its Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna hubs, with ramp supervision during aircraft loading and unloading, dedicated ramp transfer between the warehouse and aircraft as well as ‘tail-to-tail’ transfer on demand. The offer also includes 24/7 personal td.Zoom Customer Service to proactively monitor shipments.
A shipment from Shanghai via Frankfurt to Zurich takes 23 hours with td.Zoom compared with 45 hours with td.Pro and, 35 hours with td.Flash.
Customers can book Add-on Services such as Sustainable Choice at any transport speed to reduce the CO2 emissions of their shipments.
Maastricht Aachen Airport in the Netherlands has appointed former Croatian Air Force pilot Dean Boljuncic to head up its new sales department. He will draw on his experience as head of aviation development and partnerships at Eindhoven After leaving the Air Force, he held various roles at Pula Airport, and graduated with a master’s degree in Aeronautics.
US-based Global Critical Logistics (GCL) has acquired Time Frame Logistics in Auckland and Wellington-based Xtreme Forwarding.
Time Frame’s assets and business will be fully integrated into GCL’s existing Rock-it Global subsidiary and will be branded as Rock-it Global New Zealand.
Xtreme Forwarding will continue operating under its current brand alongside its Dynamic International arm, another GCL company serving film and TV customers.
Founded in 2001, Time Frame specializes in music touring production gear, camera kits, live broadcasting equipment, theatre shows, stadium events, and special projects with complex needs.
Xtreme Forwarding has over 42 years in the film and entertainment industry and offers integrated freight services to a global clientele.
FedEx Express (FedEx) is to introduce a four times a week B767 freighter service from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Europe via its Asia Pacific Hub in Guangzhou, China. It will reduce delivery times from Southern Vietnam to two business days in many cases. Along with existing flights via Singapore and the current evening flight through the Asia Pacific Hub, FedEx will offer total of nine weekly flights from Ho Chi Minh City.
