Virgin Atlantic picks partners for daily Tel Aviv flights
WTA Aviation and Swissport will support the launch and growth of Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s daily flight from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv from 25 September. As the cargo general sales agent, WTA will be responsible for selling the 20 tonnes of daily cargo capacity on the Airbus A330-300 flights. The direct service to London will […]
ACI Europe: Another weak month for airports
Airfreight across European airports had another difficult month in May, experiencing the seventh consecutive months of declines, Airports Council International (ACI) Europe reports. Airports inside the European Union saw traffic falling 2.3% while non-EU airports also declined by 1.6%. Out of the top 10 European freight airports, only Madrid, Liege, Paris Charles de Gaulle and […]
Heathrow adds Zhengzhou to Chinese network
Heathrow Airport has launched its first direct flight to Zhengzhou, operated by China Southern Airlines twice a week using a Boeing 787-8. The route to one of China’s eight ancient capital cities will offer 2,080 tonnes of cargo capacity a year to the key manufacturing hub and business destination. About 70% of Apple iPhones sold […]
Seminars help reduce congestion at Heathrow
CCS-UK User Group is hosting seminars to showcase its solution for streamlining airfreight collection and deliveries at Heathrow Airport’s cargo terminals. Advance Information System (AIS) has been operational for over a year among airfreight agents and hauliers and a major cargo handler. The system has reduced the time taken to process trucks either delivering or […]
AIPUT secures new customers at Blackthorne Point
Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust (AIPUT) fund has secured new leasehold customers at Heathrow Airport’s Blackthorne Point logistics park. Unit 12, 15 and 16 totalling 3,019 square foot are now let to Micronutrients, London E Cargo and City2City Courier each within a month of the completion of the refurbishment. Existing AIPUT customers […]
Cargo exports are Heathrow Airport’s baby
As the Duke and Duchess of Sussex finish decorating the nursery at Frogmore Cottage, Heathrow Airport has handled over 30,000 tonnes of baby items. Over the past year, baby clothes topped the list with 10,398 tonnes of bibs and baby grows taking off from the UK to shopfronts. Baby food, formula and vitamins came in […]
IAG Cargo’s Critical service goes 24/7
IAG Cargo has expanded its highest priority Critical product with the introduction of a dedicated 24-hour Critical Service Team. Based at IAG Cargo’s London Heathrow hub, the 24-hour team will support all service matters for the Critical product, overseeing the entire shipment journey including out-of-hours bookings, customer service advice and tracking. Shipments from last-minute orders […]
Heathrow opens 12th Chinese link with Chengdu flight
Heathrow Airport has gained its 12th Chinese route with Air China launching thrice weekly services to Chengdu, home to the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. The A330-200 service will have the capacity for 3,744 tonnes of cargo between China and the UK, and comes as CEBR research shows a significant rise in the value of […]
Virgin Atlantic Cargo to enter South American market
Virgin Atlantic Cargo will fly to South America for the first time with services between London Heathrow and Sao Paulo Guarulhos in 2020. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be operated on the daily London – Sao Paulo flight, offering considerable cargo capacity and giving customers direct access to South America’s largest import and export market. […]
Heathrow will carry on, whatever Brexit throws up
As the UK approaches a historic moment, Heathrow Airport’s head of cargo, Nick Platts is confident that the cargo community will get on with the job at hand. With Brexit mere weeks away, there has been a lot of talk about how businesses will cope, with the potential for Kent becoming a lorry park as […]
IAG Cargo launches pet transport service
IAG Cargo has launched a new pet transportation service on British Airways flights from the UK through its partnership with PetAir UK. The service helps to remove the stress of pet travel arrangements, with customers booking through IAGCargo.com. Through the partnership, PetAir UK offers home pet collection services and can manage import permits, export documents […]
60 seconds with Heathrow Airport’s Nick Platts
As Head of Cargo at London Heathrow Airport, it falls to this Australian to head up the UK’s most important airfreight gateway as the country exits the EU. A former RAAF pilot, Platts came to the Heathrow job after a logistics career had brought him to the UK. His mother is very proud of his […]
Virgin and Delta to move into dnata City East
Virgin Atlantic Cargo and Delta Cargo will double their cargo footprint at Heathrow Airport when they move into the purpose built dnata City East later this year. The move – scheduled for the second half of 2019 – will increase the size of Virgin and Delta’s cargo operation at Heathrow to 335,000 sq ft and […]
Cargo volumes remain high at Heathrow
Following on from a record year in 2017, cargo volumes at Heathrow Airport remained high, with almost 1.7 million tonnes passing through the airport in 2018. Heathrow handled 1.68 million tonnes of air cargo in 2018, down 0.8% on 2017 but the airport says data was incomplete and missing at the time of publication, and […]
Acquisitions help Simarco’s airfreight volumes soar
Airfreight volumes at Simarco Worldwide have taken off, in the 12 months since tying up deals to buy Formula Goss International, and Sutch and Searle. Volumes have risen by six per cent in 12 months, with Simarco co-founder and CEO, Simon Reed saying that the successful integration of the two companies has made airfreight operations […]
AIS reduces delays for air cargo at Heathrow
CCS-UK User Group’s Advance Information System (AIS) module is transforming air cargo deliveries at Heathrow Airport and reducing trucking delays. Peak-time delays at Heathrow’s cargo terminal are well-documented with a lack of on-airport parking, narrow approach roads and tight manoeuvring space leading to long queues backing up onto the perimeter road. Two years ago, the […]
Heathrow Airport gains direct link to Shenzhen
Heathrow Airport has gained its 11th Chinese connection, with the first flight from Shenzhen touching down on 30 October. The service is operated by Shenzhen Airlines, providing London with a direct link to the economic powerhouse that is also dubbed China’s most innovative city. Located just over the border from Hong Kong, Shenzhen has a […]
Planning permission for AIPUT Heathrow warehouse
Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust (AIPUT) has secured planning permission for its landmark Heathrow Airport cargo warehouse. The 250,000 square foot facility, which has received planning permission from the London Borough of Hounslow’s Planning Committee, has been designed to accommodate the operational requirements of dnata, and will complement dnata’s existing facilities. The […]
Virgin Atlantic Cargo keeps growing following record year
Following a record year in 2017, Virgin Atlantic Cargo has grown by three per cent in the first half of 2018. The airline carried 116.3 million kilos to the end of June 2018, building on the strong performance in 2017 when volumes reached a five-year high. The cargo business also continued to benefit from close […]
Swissport leases 36,000 sq ft facility from SEGRO at Heathrow
SEGRO has let a 36,000 square foot facility to Swissport UK, allowing the cargo handler increase its business at Heathrow Airport. The aviation services company, which provides airport ground and cargo handling services, has signed a 10-year lease at Unit 1 SEGRO Park Portal Heathrow, a Grade A modern warehouse facility that also includes office […]
Long-haul routes boost cargo volumes at Heathrow and Gatwick
Cargo at London’s Gatwick Airport continues to soar with growth of more than 20 per cent in August helped by long-haul routes. The airport handled 9,826 tonnes of cargo in August, a year-on-year increase of 22.3 per cent helped by long-haul routes to destinations in China including Air China providing a link to Chengdu. From […]
Tianjin Airlines connects Heathrow with Chongqing
Heathrow Airport is continuing to gain links to China with services to Chongqing, the airport’s 10th direct connection to the country. The thrice-weekly service is operated by Tianjin Airlines on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays using an Airbus A330-200 offering 3,744 tonnes of cargo capacity for imports and exports per year. Chongqing is the most populous […]
Cargo slows in July at Heathrow Airport
Cargo at Heathrow Airport is continuing to slow down in July with volumes falling by 2.1 per cent year-on-year. The airport handled 140,241 tonnes in July with most regions of the world falling two to three per cent. North America was the biggest trade lane at 49,695 tonnes, down 3.1 per cent; followed by Asia […]
DHL flies Ussuri bears to their new home at Yorkshire Wildlife Park
DHL Global Forwarding has safely moved four Ussuri brown bears from Hokkaido, Japan to their new home at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Riku, Kai, Hanako and Amu’s 20-hour journey involved travelling by special temperature controlled trucks chilled to 10C for the journey to New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido. From there, they flew to Tokyo’s Haneda […]
IAG Cargo shows nerves of steel with Pittsburgh flights
IAG Cargo will add Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to its network with four flights a week from London’s Heathrow Airport from 2 April 2019. The Pittsburgh route, which will be the only direct flight from the UK to the city, will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with a cargo payload of up to 14 tonnes […]
Gatwick soars in June, Heathrow’s cargo dips slightly
Cargo volumes at Gatwick Airport have continued to grow at double-digit rates in June while Heathrow has seen its first fall in almost two years. Gatwick Airport’s cargo volumes increased by 19.4 per cent to 9,354 tonnes in June, helped by its fast growing long-haul network. Orlando, USA remains the most popular summer long-haul destination, […]
Keeping it simple is the key to success
Clear and precise product messaging is one of the keys behind Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s success in pharma, according to managing director Dominic Kennedy, writes Neil Madden. “We know from speaking to our customers that they consider our products to be clear and simple, and that’s always been our aim,” Kennedy tells Air Cargo Week. “Everything […]
SEKO invests in new airfreight facility near Heathrow
SEKO Logistics is demonstrating its confidence in cross-border growth of British brands by investing in a new airfreight and omni-parcel services facility close to Heathrow Airport. Moving into the new 22,000 square foot purpose built location in Egham this month is part of a £5 million-plus commitment to support SEKO customers’ fast-growing international shipment volumes, […]
Infrastructure requires a major upgrade
Cargo handling provider dnata is also eyeing up expansion at Heathrow. dnata UK Chief Commercial Officer, Mohammed Akhlaq says it is currently looking at setting up an eighth handling facility near Heathrow within the next 24 months. dnata presently has seven facilities at Heathrow including the vast dnata City. The present facilities cover 500,000 square […]
Parliament says yes to a third runway at Heathrow Airport
Parliament has said yes to expanding Heathrow Airport, with 415 members of parliament supporting a third runway at the London airport. Following a vote in the House of Commons, the government won the vote by a majority of 296, with Conservative MPs under orders to support the government, Labour MPs being given a free vote […]
