ULD firm ACL Airshop has revealed plans to double its number of stations from 37 to 75 in the next five to seven years and upgrade facilities across the globe.
The US-based firm is to build a new HQ in Greenville, South Carolina, upgrade its New York JFK Airport facility and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol facility. These it says will all be of a vastly better standard it has today and all its facilities will then be equipped for the next 30-40 years.
ACL Airshop management detailed their strategy at the International Air Transport Association’s World Cargo Symposium yesterday.
ACL Airshop president and CEO, Tony Morgan says it aims to “have equipment where we need and when we need it” 24/7 365 days a year giving carriers convenience so it can move cargo.
Expansion he explains will be driven and dictated by the needs of its customers (airlines) which total more than 200 and improving the network is a vital part of the business strategy.
Morgan notes the Far East and South America are the main target markets, but facilities in Europe and North America will also be upgraded and stations will be added in those regions too.
Last year, ACL Airshop opened a ULD repair station at Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong, and Bogota. It also opened ULD stations at Los Angeles, Mexico City and Sao Paulo – as previously reported by Air Cargo Week, while winning four ULD airline management contracts and adding ULD tracking to its portfolio.
ACL Airshop is aiming to have 10 repair stations and increase the number of ULDs it manages from 40,000 now to more than 100,000.
The company it now working in partnership with Ranger Aerospace, which plans on investing heavily in the business, according to Ranger CEO, Steve Townes.
He says: “The minimum for us is to double the business and it my belief we will triple in the next 5-10 years.” He adds in five years ACL will be a “beautifully transformed” company and Ranger has a $2 billion fund available to make investments.
