Bart Pouwels has been picked to lead the cargo team within the Schiphol aviation department, reporting directly to Maaike van der Windt.

He will take on his new role from 1 April in the new department, which consists of five teams for cargo; route and business development; traffic analysis and forecasting; marketing and communications; and customer experience.

Commenting on his new role, Pouwels who is currently director business development cargo says: “I am dedicated to air freight and am looking forward to using my experience to ensure the value of air cargo at Schiphol is recognised now and in the future.”

Head of aviation marketing, cargo and customer experience, Maaike van der Windt says: “Bart is a valuable part of the cargo team, and he, together with Saskia van Pelt and Ferry van der Ent, will continue to focus and support the air cargo industry and continue our Cargo Community initiatives.”

She adds: “Our (cargo) mission remains to connecting the Netherlands and to shape Europe’s smartest cargo hub. Integrating cargo into a bigger division will put cargo closer to the heart of our organisation as it increases its proximity to the airport’s Management Board.”

Pouwels has been with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol since 2008 and has almost 20 years of experience in the airfreight sector, starting his career with Jet Services as key account manager, and moving to DHL where he spent 10 years as industry manager express & freight.

During his time at Schiphol Cargo, Pouwels has worked on projects involving slot allocation, aeronautical affairs and airline account management.

He has also been involved in the drive to digitalise the perishables and cool chain cargo flows at Schiphol, including the data sharing initiative by the Holland Flower Alliance.