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Issue 3 2018 - Freight Business Journal Ekol upgrades Zeebrugge rail link


Turkish-owned logistics operator Ekol has introduced a new rail service from Sete in southern France to Zeebrugge, Belgium, offering onward connections to the UK and Sweden. At the same time it has increased its ro ro sailings, using its own vessels, between Izmir in Turkey and Sete to two per week together with connecting rail services from the southern French port of Sete to Paris. It forms part of the operator’s


strategy to develop Sete into a regional hub, offering links to and from South Europe, Turkey, the Middle East and Maghreb. The new rail service takes


previously operated between


Trieste and Zeebrugge and has more capacity. Both the Paris and Zeebrugge services


train have been


developed in collaboration with the French railways’ logistics arm, VIIA. Ekol Logistics has recently


almost 22 hours to cover the 1,200km between Sete and Zeebrugge, departing the French terminal on Wednesdays and Sundays at 18:30 and arriving in Zeebrugge on Thursdays


Committee comes out in favour of


Heathrow runway


The Transport Select Committee’s report on the Airports National Policy Statement published on 23 March endorsed building a third runway at Heathrow Airport. It met with general approval


from business and the airfreight industry. The International Air


Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the report, saying it was the right location to expand airport capacity, but warned that


guarantees were needed on how costs will be managed. It said that Heathrow airport charges are the highest in the world, and that any expansion of the airport must be accompanied by a commitment that charges will not rise from the current level. Chairman of the National


Infrastructure Commission Sir John Armitt said it was an important step towards delivering expanding the UK’s airport


and Mondays at 16:00. From Zeebrugge the train leaves on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:30 and arrives on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 07:50. It replaces the service


capacity and securing the UK’s long-term prosperity in a global economy. He added: “The Government


needs to deliver on its commitment to give the UK the infrastructure it desperately needs, and that means ensuring a new third runway at Heathrow can finally get off the ground this year.” He added: “There now can


be no excuse for not having a parliamentary vote on expanding Heathrow by the summer, as I’ve previously called for.” BIFA meanwhile said it would


urge Parliament to have an early vote on the Committee’s recommendations. Neil Carberry, managing


introduced a new vessel, the Fadiq, for the sea leg of the route. It has a capacity of 280 trailers or 340 double stack containers. Frequent ferry shuttle services


link Izmir with Istanbul. There are also plans to


introduce a twice weekly shipping service between Sete and Lavrio, near Athens in Greece.


director for infrastructure and people at UK business organisation, CBI said: “Improving the UK’s infrastructure really has to be at the heart of our industrial strategy, if it is to have the desired effect of giving the British economy a shot in the arm. With the new global links that it will bring, and the opportunity to unlock jobs right across the UK, getting on with building the third runway at Heathrow is a vital part of this equation.” He added that it was now critical


that the National Policy Statement is finalised and approved by Parliament by the summer to allow construction to begin by 2020, and a new runway to be operational before 2030.


Malaysian carrier MASkargo has become the ninth carrier to join IAG Cargo’s Partner Plus programme, through which members agree to interline on each other’s planes. MASkargo serves almost 100 destinations worldwide, using scheduled freighters and belly space on Malaysia Airlines. The group also includes American Airlines, Avianca, China Southern, Finnair, Japan Airlines, LATAM and Qatar Airways. All IAG Cargo bookings made on Malaysia Airlines flights will benefit from confirmed booking status, a 48-hour recovery promise and full track and trace.


Virgin Atlantic Cargo is to launch a second daily service between London and Johannesburg from 28 October. The additional frequency will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 aircraſt, which can carry up to 24 tonnes of cargo. In April, the carrier will open a local contact centre in Johannesburg.


Virgin Atlantic Cargo has started a new weekly summer-only service from Belfast to Orlando, departing on Mondays. The carrier already operates 17 flights to Orlando from Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow.


Luſthansa Cargo will market the cargo capacities of Brussels Airlines from 1 September. Customers of both airlines will have access to either carrier’s network. Brussels Airlines operates to 17 African destinations including Dakar, Monrovia, Abidjan, Douala, Kinshasa and Entebbe. The cargo capacities of Luſthansa, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and SunExpress are already available to Luſthansa customers.


DHL has opened a 6,500sq m e-fulfilment centre at Radlett, north London as part of a programme to expand its worldwide network. The carrier says it is also planning to expand across Europe, including in the Netherlands, Poland or Switzerland. It adds that with the e-commerce market placing aggressive demands on retailers to provide fast fulfilment and delivery, but without increasing costs, most merchants lack the capital or the ability to manage the complexity themselves.


Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has a new head of cargo - Bart Pouwels, who is currently director business development cargo. He will lead the dedicated team, reporting directly to head of aviation marketing, cargo, and customer experience, Maaike van der Windt.


German firm Trilatec has unveiled a new type of recycled timber for pallets that it says could be up to 80% lighter than conventional material. The squAIR-timber system can also be disposed of in paper recycling facilities. A metre of the material carries up to 5 tons evenly distributed, with a net weight of 1.2 kg/m compared with 3-4kg/m for normal timber. Trilatec has started production at a site in Ginsheim- Gustavsburg close to Frankfurt Airport.


The first runway at Istanbul New Airport was reported to be ready for take-off and landing in late March. Some 80% of the initial phase of Istanbul New Airport, which is due to open on 29 October, is now complete.


Emergency logistics expert Evolution Time Critical has promoted Graham Little from head of business development


to deputy


managing director. Evolution Time Critical managing director Brad Brennan, said: “Since our takeover by Metro Supply Chain Group in 2016, he has been instrumental in delivering sales growth in Europe and North America “at a rate exceeding expectations”. The company is also recruiting for two new European sales persons in the UK and Germany, and for two further sales positions in North America. A new global operations manager role will also be created later this year.


News Roundup


China’s Hainan Airlines has confirmed that it will launch of services between Beijing, Dublin and Edinburgh on June 12. The routes, which are the first direct flights offered from Beijing to both cities will be serviced by an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraſt on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.


///NEWS Air


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