Air France-KLM Martinair (AF-KL-MP) cargo express operator Sodexi has renewed its contract with China Southern Cargo.
This follows on from the launch in May of the firm’s 22 million euro ($24.6 million) HubExpress located at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).
China Southern Cargo launched a four times a week freighter route from Guangzhou (China) to CDG on Sunday 21 June.
Sodexi managing director, Jérôme Balbi, says: “We have handled transit mail bags for the airline for some time and now through the new express hub, in addition to our existing destinations of Madrid, Warsaw, Buenos Aires and Rio [Brazil], we are adding a number of new destinations.
“These are Milan [Italy], Riyadh, Copenhagen, Prague, Athens, Mexico city, Budapest, Lisbon, Johannesburg [South Africa], Vienna [Austria], Lima and Kiev.”
Balbi says mailbags arrive from Guangzhou on a China Southern flight, and are transferred immediately into the HubExpress, where they are sorted for the correct Air France flight.
“The distance to the aircraft position is now much shorter and we are able to load within several hours. The market for high speed transfers demands a quicker and more efficient solution and that is why we have placed this facility just a few metres from the aircraft,” Balbi explains.
Balbi adds that the sorter can handle up to 6,000 32 kilogramme packages per hour, which is on a par with what integrators are providing. “Handling this kind of traffic is exactly the reason for our building the new Express hub,” he explains.
The HubExpress has eight entry points feeding a 300 metres parcel sorter that separates packages between 41 container stands, 10 bulk stands and 19 standby stands.
The opening of the express handling facility at CDG represents, “the future pattern for the company’s share of the fast growing e-Commerce market”, AF-KL-MP said in May. Capacity can be increased and high yield sectors such as express and pharma will be targeted.