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Issue 8 2019 - Freight Business Journal


///NEWS


Virgin to offer Indian triple helpings from summer


Virgin Atlantic to introduce a second daily service between Heathrow and Delhi in its summer programme for 2020 which, together with its new service to Mumbai launched in October, will give three daily flights to India. The new schedule will see the


introduction of a second daily Boeing 787 service to Delhi Indira Gandhi Airport, commencing on 29 March, departing from Heathrow in the morning and complementing the current evening departure. The Boeing 787-9 offers up to 26


tonnes of cargo capacity on every flight. Traffic from India includes high volumes of perishables, pharmaceuticals and courier shipments. Transatlantic customers also


will gain an additional


weekly service to San Francisco, departing every Friday. Executive vice president


commercial Juha Jarvinen said: “The second daily service from Heathrow is an excellent opportunity to meet customer demand on this route and, coupled with our new service to Mumbai, we’re able to offer even more choice.” Johannesburg will become the


first non-US route to receive Virgin Atlantic’s new A350 aircraſt, with a daily service from March 2020. The


aircraſt is already


significantly boosting cargo capacity on its current routing between London and New York, with its next services earmarked for Los Angeles, followed by San Francisco and Lagos. By August, Virgin Atlantic’s


A350 aircraſt will fly to five destinations across its network and all its flights to Africa will be on the new aircraſt. The new Airbus A350-1000s


have achieved record loads since going into service. The airline has so far taken


delivery of three A350-1000s as part of a 12-strong order and a fourth aircraſt will join the fleet in December followed by phased deliveries of the rest in 2020-21. On its launch trans-Atlantic route between London Heathrow and New York JFK, the A350 has increased average cargo capacity to 27 tonnes across every flight but individual loads have reached 41.17 tonnes. Managing director of Virgin


Atlantic Cargo, Dominic Kennedy, added: “India, South Africa and Nigeria are very important and growing routes for our cargo business, so our commitment to offer more capacity connecting customers in these countries to their prime UK and US markets will help to open up opportunities for more import and export growth.”


WCA launches pharma logistics training scheme


WCA Pharma Academy has held the first course in a Good Distribution Practice (GDP) Compliance training program for freight forwarders in Amsterdam. WCA Pharma members are


required to be GDP compliant to maintain their group membership,


which is a quality assurance that pharmaceutical products are stored, transported, and handled under suitable conditions. All participants are tested on


GDP Compliance prior to the training and sit an exam at the end of the program.


We’ve got it all under control, says Etihad


Etihad Cargo has opened a Cargo Control Centre at its head office in Abu Dhabi. It monitors, tracks and manages all shipments, flights, and UAE road feeder services and will help the carrier fulfil its delivery as planned promise to its customers. Etihad Cargo’s CCC team are kept


informed by several large screen displays equipped with advanced soſtware algorithms and processes which alert them of issues that may impact customer shipments, along with tools to resolve any irregularities or service recovery matters. Head of operations and delivery


Andre Blech said it would shiſt the airline from a historically reactive to a truly proactive service model. The technology platform


builds on Etihad Cargo’s SPRINT booking and reservation system by introducing key “always-on” tracking functionalities. These include shipment planning and performance monitoring across its five dedicated freighter aircraſt and 250 daily passenger flights. There is a focus on special


products that are most sensitive to schedule variations and


Of the 18 participants on the


course, nine received a score of 95% or higher. The next GDP Compliance


training will be held on 16 June 2020 at the World Specialty Logistics Fair in Dallas, Texas. (Training, page 26)


disruptions. In addition to its air shipments, Etihad Cargo is now also able to monitor in real time all its road feeder services across the UAE, and the centre has the technology to extend this to more than 100 lanes in Europe and the Americas over the coming months. In a second phase, Etihad plans


to add monitoring of its Quick Ramp Transfer shipments at Abu Dhabi with instant alerts of potentially problematic connections and allowing the customer service team to take immediate action.


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