support and handling from
Wynne Aviation in Liverpool, CHARTER
TRAFFIC
Ebola crisis by working with governments, NGOs and aid agencies
to provide the affected regions with vital supplies. At the peak of
the crisis, the Group was operating flights every 48 hours, carrying
medical equipment and supplies, vehicles, construction materials
and protective clothing.
Mark Briffa, Air Partner’s CEO, commented: “The coronavirus
outbreak has been an extremely difficult time for everyone
involved and we are very pleased to have safely repatriated a
large number of British and EU nationals on behalf of the UK
government. The circumstances were challenging, the deadlines
tight and difficult permissions were required, but we were able
to execute the evacuation on account of the experience and
dedication of our combined Air Partner team, our close working
relationship with the FCO and the professionalism and flexibility
of our partner airline operator.”
Global enquiries up at ACS
It has been a similar story at Air Charter Service (ACS), which has
been kept busy because of enquiries linked to the coronavirus
outbreak.
Justin Lancaster, ACS’ Commercial Director, says that since
the outbreak, ACS offices around the globe have been arranging
flights on local charter aircraft as the world deals with the travel
Quick solutions
CharterSync was born out of
the simple idea of connecting
urgent cargo charter requests
from freight forwarders directly
with aircraft operators via an
intelligent platform that would
provide greater speed and
transparency to a traditionally
over-complicated market. Two
pilots were behind the concept.
Friday February 21 was
perhaps a not untypical day for
the specialist: it saw CharterSync
receive a request from a major
forwarder to move some
time-critical cargo between
Budapest airport and Liverpool
airport. Not able to be moved
in time by road or scheduled air
freight, it was essential that the
CharterSync platform reacted
quickly.
With the request being
submitted through the platform
at 08:30, the forwarder was
able to choose between seven
air charter solutions within six
minutes of the initial request.
Whilst this was extremely
time-sensitive cargo, it was
also classed as a dangerous
good, which meant that
the CharterSync platform
automatically filtered those
operators with the necessary
approvals to carry such cargo.
Receiving the confirmation
from the client within 31
minutes, the necessary aircraft
preparations could begin
straightaway. With all the
documentation and live aircraft
tracking visible through the live
flight information dashboard,
the customer was able to view
the progress of the charter as it
made its way to Liverpool on a
Saab 340 aircraft in a flight time
of just four hours.
Thereafter, thanks to timely
disruption and the overall
cuts in capacity to the affected
region.
“We have flown everything
from four passengers on a
private jet to 100 tonnes of
surgical masks – it has been all
systems go since the epidemic
was first reported,” he reveals.
“We have also flown various
relief cargo into the region,
including protective overalls,
medical gloves and millions of
surgical masks.”
Speaking of the difficulty
in arranging flights amid the
outbreak because of regulations
and restrictions, Lancaster
adds: “We have faced various
challenges in booking the
flights, including passengers
requesting crew that had
not been to China since the
beginning of January.
“There have also been
incidences of clients not
willing to put their cargo on
aircraft that have recently been
to the region; and obtaining
diplomatic permits and staff
from our three regional offices
working from home, to
minimise their risk of infection.
Our US, European and Middle
East offices have all also been
involved in booking the
charters.”
10 April 2020 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com