Heathrow cargo chief moves on Deal or No Deal, Eurotunnel is ready 8 Heathrow Airport head of


cargo Nicks Platts is to leave his post on 9 October saying that he will seek a fresh challenge. He said the cargo


programme at Heathrow was “well advanced”. Since taking up the post in 2015, he has overseen improvements in efficiency and a reduction in


the gateway’s once notorious congestion, although many would argue that there is still much work to be done in this respect.


BIFA nets basketball star for Freight Service Awards


Paralympian and broadcaster Ade Adepitan is to host BIFA’s Freight Service Awards competition next year. The awards are open to of


all members the trade association, and are sponsored


by a number of blue chip companies. The awards ceremony, as before, will take place at The Brewery in London on Thursday 16 January next year when Ade Adepitan will host more than 500 BIFA


members and their guests. Once again, it will provide a valuable opportunity for attendees to acknowledge the winners as well as networking with people from within the industry.


Czechs to allow longer, heavier trucks


The Czech Republic is to allow the use of European Modular System vehicle combinations up to 25.25 metres long and weighing 48 tonnes, reports the European Shippers’ Council. The European Modular


System (EMS) allows combinations of existing loading units into longer


and possibly heavier vehicle combinations to be used on some parts of the road network. Permission to operate on a


route between specific points will be issued for a maximum of three months but can be renewed on a regular basis – mostly where the trucks use


main highways and


distribution centres are no further than 10km from the exit. The vehicle combination is not allowed to use rail level crossings. EMS combinations are


already allowed in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, most German


federal states, the


Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.


Turkish-owned Ekol Logistics and Belgian-based North Africa and Middle East groupage specialist Transuniverse Forwarding have signed a letter of intent to build a joint 40-hectare multimodal and ro ro terminal at Kluizendok in Ghent to target the UK market. It will include a 10-hectare


cross-dock platform, a 20ha rail terminal and a 10ha ro-ro terminal. Transuniverse’s existing


Heathrow handlers off er automatic updates Two users of AIS (Advance


Information System) - the new CCS-UK module that helps speed


up deliveries and collections of air cargo at Heathrow Airport – have produced a system enhancement


that sends automatic status updates to airfreight forwarders and hauliers.


Handling agents dnata and


ASC can now provide agents and hauliers delivering or collecting


Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines will boost their flights between the UK and the US from next summer, in a move which sees Delta join Virgin Atlantic at Gatwick Airport and giving cargo customers their best-ever choice of trans-Atlantic capacity, routes and frequencies, say the two carriers. Gatwick will become


Delta’s seventh trans-Atlantic destination, served nonstop from Boston when flights begin on 22 May 2020. One day before, Virgin Atlantic will launch a


daily flight to New York JFK from Gatwick. Together, the airlines will offer up to four daily flights to three US cities next summer. Delta’s return to Gatwick will


mark the first time the airlines have both served the airport since their partnership began in 2014. From 29 March 2020, Delta


and Virgin Atlantic will increase capacity between New York- JFK and London Heathrow. Delta will increase its services to three times daily, with Virgin


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Atlantic operating five flights daily. There will be a daytime slot


from JFK to Heathrow for the first time, operated by Delta, complementing the daytime Boston-Heathrow and JFK- Heathrow services currently offered by Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic’s Heathrow-


JFK flights will also be the first route served by the airline’s new Airbus A350 from September 2019, which will boost cargo capacity. Virgin Atlantic is also set to


increase flights from Heathrow to Seattle from seven to 11 per week while Los Angeles will see services rise from 14 to 17 flights per week and will be the second route to be operated by the A350 next year. Delta will also return to


Manchester, with a new peak- summer


service to Boston


from 21 May, taking over Virgin Atlantic’s current operation. Flights will increase from the current three per week to daily. Manchester will become the eighth trans-Atlantic


destination served nonstop by Delta from Boston, while flights to Atlanta, New York-JFK, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando will continue to be operated by


Virgin Atlantic. Together, the airlines will offer a schedule of up to six daily flights to Manchester from six US cities next summer.


cross-dock centre in Ghent has seen strong growth recently and business has outgrown the 8,000sq site. It expects to double the current 100 trucks and containers a day currently handled in Ghent. The new 20,000sqm cross-


dock will include 140 loading docks and will be fully automated when it goes into operation at the end of 2021. The ro-ro terminal building


cargo with regular updates direct into their systems, or via the AIS portal. Updates are


at the head of Kluizendok will be built by a third party, with whom negotiations are already underway. With Brexit expected to cause


major congestion in the Channel ports, there will be more demand for


sea transport UK ports to northern in conjunction with


rail connections to and from the European hinterland, the partners believe and Ekol plans to operate 20 trains a day.


triggered


when the cargo is processed within the transit shed and they are sent when the truck driver


reports to the handling agent’s reception, when the vehicle is positioned on the dock, when off - loading or loading commences and fi nishes, and when the vehicle departs the transit shed.


Eurotunnel has outlined the arrangements that will be in force for freight traffi c aſt er brexit, regardless of whether there is a deal or not. It will create two ‘pit stops’ in


Folkestone and in Coquelles, which will handle all existing pre-boarding checks and would also allow for scanning of customs documents. Specially trained operators will


make 20 checks at a time in a few minutes and trucks which are declared ‘Green Route’ by Customs offi cials will cross exactly as they do today. Trucks that the authorities want


to check in more detail will be designated ‘range Route. A new Customs and sanitary


and phytosanitary control zone has been built on the Coquelles


terminal with nine inspection bays and 100 parking places for the French authorities to check goods coming from the UK, without disrupting through traffi c. Eurotunnel has also built a 240


space secure parking zone for trucks heading for the UK. Staff have also been recruited to


help drivers get their paperwork in order for the controls, if needed.


Issue 6 2019 - Freight Business Journal


///NEWS


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