GlobalGSSAsReview Grupo PFS hopeful of further expansion


“As from May this year, Korean Air started regular freighter operations from Seoul, via Miami to Viracopos, with the return to Seoul via Lima, Miami and Los Angeles,” confirms Mark Thiermann, director of GSA GrupoPFS. “This has been a great boost


for our office in Peru as well as for our asparagus and textiles clients to the US, but the flight has also stimulated exports to Asia (and) we expect an increase to a second frequency on the same routeing shortly.” Elsewhere, in Bolivia the


GrupoPFS can sell to Brazil and beyond. With regards to Chile,


company has doubled the size of its export warehouse at Viru Viru airport and is investing in up-to-date security systems. Client GOL is increasing its B737-800 passenger flights to daily, switching to a daytime depar- ture slot and moving to a direct Santa Cruz - São Paulo routeing (instead of via Campo Grande), thereby boosting the cargo space


Thiermann notes healthy results


Thiermann said that fresh salmon exports continue to grow. He observed: “This has come at the right time as our client Aeromexico has again increased the B767-300 pas- senger operation to six times weekly, allowing us to increase our sales of fresh salmon to Los Angeles, via Mexico City, in connection with Aeromexico Cargo’s ded- icated Mexico City - Los Angeles B767 freighter.” All of these developments


made for a very positive first half of the year and Thiermann is hopeful of “even healthier results” in the coming months. Currently pre- sent in Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, GrupoPFS is considering expansion into other countries in South America with the opening of its own subsidiaries, according to demand.


Airbridge International signs new deal with WFS


Airbridge International, the UK/Eire GSSA for Leisure Cargo, has agreed a new deal with WFS Transport that will see the sales agent use the lat- ter for its trucking into the Benelux region for perishable goods coming into the UK on Thomson Airways flights. According to Airbridge, Thomson – the


largest customer of Leisure Cargo in the UK – imports about 30 tons a week of perishables


from the US, the Caribbean and Mexico into the UK which require onward trucking into Europe. Mark Andrew, Airbridge general manager,


commented: “WFS have shown in the past year their dedication to the Airbridge Internation- al/Leisure product and ... we have great belief in the product they offer us and have no hesitation in utilising further services of WFS Transport.”


Kargosistem looks forward


After what was quite a good first half to the year, things have become more challenging of late and business has slowed some- what, admits Demir Ozerman, managing director of Istanbul- based GSA Kargosistem. Probably due largely to the


economic slowdown there, European traffic is struggling, although loads are better on eastbound and southbound routes, he observed. Kargosistem represents a


number of big carriers, includ- ing integrator DHL, Kenya Airways, Olympic Air, Coyne, local charter air- line Corendon and Air Transat. The last of these now offers a once a week A330 widebody ser- vice into Istanbul on which the GSA can sell capacity. Looking to the future, Ozerman is confident


of further growth. “Once the 2008 crisis hit, I knew nothing would ever be quite the same again,” he advised.


Air Transat offers weekly A330 flights to Istanbul But while the air freight industry is certainly


taking time to fully recover: “In the long term, economic progress and globalisation will only stimulate the logistics business,” Ozerman pointed out. “We will look for more customers – online


and offline – as well as for more services for existing airline clients. The prospects are posi- tive,” he concluded.


BRIEFS • BRIEFS • BRIEFS • BRIEFS


CARLO DE HAAS, managing director of Amster- dam-headquartered general sales and services agent FlyUs, says that the GSSA’s latest office – in Budapest in Hungary – is now seeing “consistent flows” of cargo traffic. He added that the export market from the Benelux countries has got a lit- tle stronger, there having been something of a slowdown between the end of April until into June.


GLOBE AIR CARGO in Hong Kong (which forms part of the global ECS Group) “is presently in the process of the legalisation of the Globe Air Cargo company in mainland China”, says Gil Coimbra, regional manager Far East and managing direc- tor Greater China. “We expect to receive the operational certificates within two to three months. Following legalisation, the plan is to open several offices in China,” he added.


Page 10


13 August 2012


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