AirBridgeCargo Airlines implements paperless cockpit with IT from Lufthansa Systems

Pilots to use digital navigation charts and briefing documents on iPads

Kelsterbach, December 19, 2014 – AirBridgeCargo (ABC) has commenced using Lufthansa Systems' Lido/iRouteManual, Lido/Enroute and Lido/DocView IT solutions aimed at simplifying cockpit processes. The new IT solutions will ease the workload of ABC pilots by providing fast access to continually updated documents and data and reduce the airline's operational costs at the same time. The new technology will be saving ABC a significant amount per year. The airline plans to fully switch to the electronic cockpit by February 2015.

Lido/iRouteManual and the associated apps are optimized for use on the Apple iPad. The navigation solution includes general maps, takeoff and landing charts, instrument flight rules (IFR) charts and depictions of airport runways. The crews can download the required charts to their iPads and use them for flight preparation whenever they want, in the briefing room, in a hotel or at home. The charts are generated directly from the Lido navigation database and are always up to date. With Lido/Enroute, ABC pilots can display the route on interactive charts on their iPad as well.

With the mobile Lido/DocView solution and web-based Lido/DVMS add-on, pilots have all the necessary documents and notifications from operations control at their fingertips. The user interface is accessed through an app and can be individually configured by the user.

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About AirBridgeCargo Airlines

AirBridgeCargo Airlines is one of the world's fastest-growing air cargo carriers. It provides trans-regional services between the largest air cargo markets from Asia to Europe and the United States via its hub in Moscow. The airline operates modern fleet of 13 Boeing 747 freighters, including the six new generation 747-8F. The airline has established itself as a high-quality and reliable air cargo carrier with a team of international cargo specialists and individual approach to each customer.

About Lufthansa Systems

Lufthansa Systems provides consulting and IT services for selected industries and has a leading position in the global aviation industry. The wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group offers its customers the entire range of IT services, including consulting, development and implementation of industry solutions as well as operations. With its head office in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt, the company operates a global data center network. Lufthansa Systems has offices in Germany and 16 other countries and employs about 2,700 people. In business year 2013, Lufthansa Systems recorded revenues of EUR 640 million.

AIRBRIDGECARGO MOVES EXPRESS CARGO FOR ASTRONAUTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE LAB

AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), the largest Russian scheduled cargo airline, has delivered express cargo for NASA from Chicago to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

The cargo arrived in Moscow on December 18 in the bulk hold of ABC’s Boeing 747 freighter flight RU404 as part of its journey to the international space station.

“We are committed to always providing the best possible services for all cargo shipments, including transporting cargoes which require temperature control, freight that needs special loading/offloading procedures or so-called bulk shipments which are usually last-minute deliveries for customers. We are happy we could help the astronauts in the international space station, who are on the threshold of a new scientific breakthrough,” said Robert Van de Weg, ABC’s Vice President, Sales & Marketing.

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WORLDWIDE FLIGHT SERVICES (WFS) AND ATA ITALIA SIGN CO-OPERATIVE AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE TOTAL HANDLING SOLUTIONS FOR AIRLINES IN ITALY

Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has signed a co-operative agreement with ATA Italia to jointly market their respective cargo, ramp and passenger ground handling services to airline customers in Italy.

The agreement, signed by Olivier Bijaoui, President & CEO of WFS, and Mario Sisto, President of ATA Italia, will enable the two companies to provide a full range of ground handling services to airlines at Italy’s major airports. WFS and ATA Italia will also jointly explore other business development opportunities in Italy.

ATA Italia was founded in 1996 in the wake of the liberalisation of the Italian ground handling market. It operates from five locations; Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate, Venezia and Catania and serves over 50 international airlines, including Air France-KLM, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, easyjet, Emirates Airline, Iberia and US Airways. In addition to passenger and baggage handling and ramp services, it also provides station supervision and administration, aircraft servicing and cleaning, surface transport for passengers and crew, flight operations and crew assistance, load control, and ULD control and management. The company handles over 35,000 flights a year and has an annual turnover of some €40 million.    

Olivier Bijaoui said: “This is an important agreement for us 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. We will offer the best combination of local market knowledge and international expertise and we believe airlines in Italy will find this proposition very appealing.”

Mario Sisto added: “A challenging partnership and a fruitful cooperation; this is what we expect by signing such an important commercial agreement. ATA Italia is proud to be a partner of WFS, a world leader in air cargo and ground handling, and we are ready to work and contribute together to open up the great potential of the market in Italy as much as possible. In the same way, thanks to the new alliance, we will look at new opportunities outside of our country and we could not count on a better sponsor. We are sure that our customers and the market in Italy will see a strong benefit from this new agreement.”

WFS was founded in 1971 and is a leading global provider of ground handling and technical services, and the world’s largest cargo handler. Today it is present at over 140 major airports in more than 20 countries on five continents. WFS serves 300 airlines globally, handling four million tonnes of cargo and serving 50 million airline passengers per annum. The company employs 10,000 staff worldwide and reported revenues for 2013 of €620 million.

In September, WFS was awarded the handling concession for a new 5,000 sq. mt. cargo terminal at Milan Malpensa Airport, part of a major investment programme to increase the airport’s cargo capacity to one million tonnes a year by 2020. Prior to commencing operations in the new cargo centre in early 2016, WFS will invest in excess of €1.8 million to equip the facility with modern handling systems and the necessary logistics infrastructure.

The air market in Italy grew by 1.5% in 2013 to 907,000 tonnes and is expected to increase by a further 2.5% this year.

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WORLDWIDE FLIGHT SERVICES (WFS) BECOMES SINGAPORE AIRLINES CARGO’S SOLE CARGO HANDLING PARTNER IN THE UK & IRELAND

Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has won a three-year contract to provide full cargo handling services for Singapore Airlines Cargo at London Heathrow and at all of its UK regional locations.

The contract takes effect in January 2015 and will see WFS handle some 46,000 tonnes of cargo a year for the airline. Singapore Airlines Cargo operates two Boeing 747 freighter services a week from the UK with a payload of 100 tonnes per flight and provides cargo uplift for Singapore Airlines’ twice daily Airbus A380 flights and twice-daily B777-300 from London to Singapore, each offering between 10 and 27 tonnes of cargo capacity respectively.

At London Heathrow, Singapore Airlines Cargo will be handled in WFS’ Building 550 in the World Cargo Centre, which is undergoing significant investment prior to the start of the contract. This will provide new equipment and systems, more cargo acceptance doors and extra operational offices, and see the refurbishment of offices for Singapore Airlines Cargo’s team based at Heathrow.

WFS has also been awarded the ramp transportation contract for Singapore Airlines at London Heathrow.

Patrick Roberts, Vice President UK & Ireland for WFS, said: “Having provided cargo handling services to Singapore Airlines Cargo in Manchester for some 20 years, we are extremely proud that this new contract now makes us the airline’s sole handler in the UK and Ireland. Singapore Airlines Cargo is a major cargo carrier with a strong reputation for the quality of its freight services. This contract is a significant addition to our business in the UK and Ireland. It is also a tribute to the service levels provided by the WFS teams at all of our locations that we have been successful in what was, not surprisingly, a very competitive tender process.”  

WFS is the largest on-airport cargo handler at London Heathrow, with more than 280,000 square feet of freight facilities. In September this was boosted by the opening of a further 50,000 sq ft location in Scylla Road at the airport, adjacent to the World Cargo Centre. In the UK and Ireland, WFS also operates cargo centres at London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, as well as at Luton, Bristol, Leeds-Bradford, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dublin, Shannon and Cork.   

WFS was founded in 1971 and is a leading global provider of ground handling and technical services, and the world’s largest cargo handler. Today, it is present at some 140 major airports in more than 20 countries on five continents. WFS serves 300 airlines globally, handling four million tonnes of cargo and serving 50 million airline passengers per annum. The company employs 10,000 staff worldwide and reported revenues for 2013 of €620 million.

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VIRGIN ATLANTIC CARGO SPONSORS BIFA AWARD TO PROMOTE CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN FREIGHT FORWARDING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Virgin Atlantic Cargo is to sponsor the British International Freight Association’s (BIFA) ‘Young Freight Forwarder of the Year’ award for the fourth consecutive year to promote the international career opportunities the industry has to offer to motivated and talented young people.

The Young Freight Forwarder category is open to individuals working for a BIFA Member company who are under the age of 32, with, preferably, a minimum of two years’ employment in the freight industry. Individuals are nominated by their employers for the award and the winner is selected by a judging panel led by BIFA’s Director General, Robert Keen.

The winner will receive their award at the annual BIFA Freight Awards Ceremony luncheon in London on January 22, 2015, which brings together over 500 executives from the British freight industry. 

Robert Keen said: “It's great to have a global brand that is so well-known by the younger generation as the sponsor of this award. Getting young people into freight forwarding and logistics is vital. They are the future of the industry, which offers an amazing variety of opportunities for personal development and early career progression.”

John Lloyd, Director of Cargo at Virgin Atlantic, said: “We are proud to sponsor this award and to support BIFA’s commitment to attract and develop the next generation of freight industry leaders. We understand the 2013 winner Phoebe Rockwood of Damco UK is continuing to make great progress in her career development and now has full responsibility for one of Damco’s biggest European accounts. Phoebe also represented Damco UK in a recent Maersk Group training and development session in The Hague that focused on diversity in the Group and career progression into senior positions. We hope the next winner of the award will be equally inspired to realise their potential.”

Writing the introduction to a new ‘Air Logistics Handbook’, published last year, Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group, urged university graduates, college students and school leavers to explore a career in air logistics. He said: “Air travel has transformed all of our lives and helps us experience different cultures and make new friends all over the world. However, airlines are not only about passengers. To make them work successfully, you also need to build a growing and award-winning cargo service and at Virgin we’ve done that too. Air logistics is a phenomenal industry and has become even more important not only to the success of airlines but also to every consumer and business leader around the world. I encourage you to explore the many career opportunities this outstanding industry offers.”

The BIFA Freight Service Awards competition is in its 26th year. The competition encourages and rewards high standards and professionalism, representing the ultimate recognition of special achievements in different sectors of the industry. BIFA is the trade association for UK-registered companies engaged in the international movement of freight by all modes of transport and has some 1,500 freight forwarder members.

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VOLGA-DNEPR GULF COMPLETES FIRST A-CHECK IN SHARJAH ON A BOEING 737CL

Volga-Dnepr Gulf, Volga-Dnepr Technics’ subgroup branch in the Middle East, has successfully performed its first A-check on a Boeing 737-400 for the Slovenian airline SolinAir.  

The work was completed in Volga-Dnepr Gulf’s MRO hangar at Sharjah airport. In addition, the Volga-Dnepr maintenance team carried out additional works, replacing some components and aircraft washing.

Volga-Dnepr Gulf obtained its EASA Part 145 approval in October 2014, gaining authorisation to provide line maintenance for Boeing 737CL & NG, 747-400 and Airbus A320 Family aircraft, as well as component repair (C4, C5, C8, C14, C20 Ratings) and non-destructive testing (D1 Rating) services.

“SolinAir has been a Volga-Dnepr Gulf customer for transit and daily checks since August 2014 and we signed a long-term agreement for line maintenance services and A-checks for SolinAir’s fleet of two Boeing 737CL’s in November. We are sure that our experienced staff and modern facilities will form a solid base to build a mutually beneficial relationship between our companies,” said Volga-Dnepr Gulf’s Managing Director, Viktor Sherin.

Volga-Dnepr Gulf has been operating in the UAE since 1996. The company has a new hangar in Sharjah with a production area of some 22,000m². The hangar can provide maintenance for up to six narrow-body (B737, A320, IL-76) or two wide-body (B747 or An-124-100) aircraft at the same time and is fully equipped to perform high quality maintenance for different types of aircraft up to C-check. It also has modern air conditioning and fire safety systems.

Volga-Dnepr also operates a further line maintenance station in Fujairah which, similar to the Sharjah station, is capable of providing all types of maintenance checks and auxiliary services for An-124-100, An-74 and IL-76TD aircraft types operated by Russian, Ukrainian, European, Asian and African airlines.

Volga-Dnepr Gulf will be exhibiting its services to airline customers at the MRO Middle East 2015 international event in Dubai in February.

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