Cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has consolidated its UK operations after winning a three-year contract to provide handling services for Singapore Airlines Cargo at Heathrow Airport and UK regional airports.
WFS is also to work more closely with Italian handling ATA Italia after signing a co-operative agreement to jointly market cargo, ramp and passenger ground handling services to airline customers across Italy.
From January, WFS will handle some 46,000 tonnes of cargo a year for Singapore Airlines which operates two Boeing 747 Freighter services a week from the UK, each with a payload of 100 tonnes. WFS will also provide cargo uplift for Singapore’s twice daily Airbus A380 flights and twice-daily Boeing 777-300 from London to Singapore. They offer between 10 and 27 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight.
Cargo handling will be at Heathrow’s World Cargo Centre in WFS’ Building 550, which is being upgraded to provide new equipment and systems, more cargo acceptance doors and refurbished offices for Singapore Airlines Cargo’s Heathrow team.
WFS’ vice president for UK and Ireland, Patrick Roberts, says the contract is a, “significant addition,” to business in the UK and Ireland. “Having provided cargo handling services to Singapore Airlines Cargo in Manchester for some 20 years, we are extremely proud that this now makes us the airline’s sole handler in the UK and Ireland.”
Meanwhile, the WFS agreement with ATA Italia will enable the two companies to provide ground handling service to airlines at Italy’s major airports, as well as explore other business development opportunities in Italy.
WFS president and chief executive officer, Olivier Bijaoui, says: “This is an important agreement because it provides an opportunity to increase our presence in the growing air cargo and ground handling markets in Italy, and will hopefully lead to further opportunities with ATA Italia.”
ATA Italia president, Mario Sisto, anticipates the partnership will enable the two companies to exploit the potential of the Italian market and look at new opportunities outside of the country. “We are sure that our customers and the market in Italy will see a strong benefit from this new agreement,” he says.
