an additional air ambulance aircraft, allowing it to
carry Epishuttle isolation pods for the safe carriage of
COVID-19 patients by air.
The Loganair aircraft, based at Glasgow airport,
can operate throughout Scotland. Loganair pilots
capacity and has made
available a greater number of
pallet positions for customers
with stock that had been
imported, but was not required
by end-users at that particular
moment. This created several
thousand more pallet slots at
its Dartford Distribution Centre
for anyone with an urgent
requirement for additional
storage in their supply chain.
Since then, the concept has
been replicated to varying
degrees at its other main hubs
across the country.
A member of the Pall-Ex
network since 2005, covering
Dartford and adjacent
postcodes in Kent as well as
south-east London, Davies
Turner also put its domestic
distribution fleet at the
government’s disposal for the
express distribution of critical
emergency, medical and food
supplies.
Protection time
Innovation, too, has been
apparent at Air Partner, as the
group launched its Air Partner
Protect product.
Through a broad and varied
service offering, Air Partner has
been able to provide customers
with global, tailored solutions
that meet multiple aviation
requirements at the same time.
Air Partner Protect has been
will be operating the aircraft as usual, and all have
received a special briefing from the airline and the
Scottish Ambulance Service on the nature of the
deployment.
Loganair has also been busy converting a larger
specifically designed to
mitigate risks for customers
flying during the coronavirus
outbreak, while offering expert
advice and reassurance.
The support package
includes security screening, the
deployment of approved
operators and a quick response
evacuation. Also included has
been medical support (in
tandem with Northcott Global
Solutions) to provide customers
with a quick and professional
response to issues, wherever
they might be in the world.
COVID-19 monitoring,
updates and advice have also
been given and the presence of
a round-the-clock, seven days a
week, global help facility has
been designed to ease customer
concerns.
Saab 340 aircraft, capable of operating into all
Highlands and Islands airports apart from Barra,
to become an air ambulance with the capability of
carrying two Epishuttle pods and accompanying
medical teams simultaneously.
Quicker by rail? Possibly not - but the
capacity crisis has led some to look at
alternatives to air
Commenting on the launch
of Air Partner Protect, Air
Partner’s CEO, Mark Briffa,
said:
“Coronavirus continues to
affect communities around the
world and global travel and
transportation are becomingly
increasingly challenging, as
new measures are brought in to
try and limit the spread of
infection. Customers are
understandably concerned and
we have launched Air Partner
Protect in response to growing
demand. As a global aviation
services group, we are already
able to offer bespoke solutions
spanning Charter, Consultancy
and Training and Safety and
Security, so that customers can
source everything in one place.
Air Partner Protect goes one
step further by ensuring that
customers are safeguarded as
much as possible when using
our services at this difficult
time.”
The cargo carriers
Following the temporary
suspension of passenger
services to and from the UAE,
Etihad Cargo has stepped in
and deployed cargo-only
Boeing 787s to complement its
freighter fleet and keep global
trade routes open.
Initially operating 34 weekly
flights, and serving ten
markets, each aircraft boasted a
capacity of 12 lower deck
pallets and four containers,
carrying up to 45 tonnes of
payload overall.
United has also been
running cargo charter flights.
Utilising a portion of its large
fleet of passenger aircraft to
operate cargo charters between
the US and international hubs,
it has been able to address the
high cargo demand on most
intercontinental routes.
Swiss WorldCargo, the air
cargo division of SWISS, has
also started to operate cargoonly
flights on some passenger
aircraft. Swiss WorldCargo is
essentially a belly carrier,
transporting high-value and
care-intensive goods on the
existing Swiss passenger
network. In these
unprecedented times, the
carrier has committed to
continuing to maintain global
supply chains.
The first route, Zurich to
Hong Kong, was served by a
A340-300, with additional
destinations and aircraft all
possible, based on customer
need.
“Despite the slowdown in
global air travel, we are seeing
an ongoing demand for the
transportation of goods,”
admits Ashwin Bhat, Head of
Cargo, Swiss International Air
Lines. “At Swiss WorldCargo,
we are therefore committed to
supporting logistics and
customer needs, especially for
the shipping of sensitive goods,
such as medicines or
pharmaceuticals.”
... AND FREE ACCESS FOR ALL
February saw the launch of the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) Daily, the world’s first
daily (and regulated) containerised freight rate index. Access to this data was initially
through payment of a fee but as the pandemic spread, so the company decided to
unlock access to the FBX daily rates for the remainder of 2020.
The FBX gives visibility to not only daily ocean freight rates but also to the larger
patterns of global freight supply and demand.
Also offered was free access to WebCargo by Freightos products that can help
forwarders adapt to a rapidly changing environment: this includes real-time rates and
eBooking for air cargo, as well as a live feed of updates from hundreds of airlines.
www.airlogisticsinternational.com June 2020 13
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com