Etihad has announced a new organizational structure that will position the business to deliver on its mandate in the wake of COVID-19 and meet the challenges of the global downturn in aviation head-on.
The restructuring sees the airline continuing its transformation into a mid-sized, full-service carrier concentrating on its fleet of widebody aircraft, with a leaner, flatter and scaleable organizational structure that supports organic growth as the world returns to flying.
By embedding the new structure, the airline will strengthen its focus on its core offering of safety, security, service; continue developing its industry-leading health and hygiene program Etihad Wellness, and prioritize innovation and sustainability, which are essential to the future of the airline.
Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “After our best-ever Q1 performance, none of us could have predicted the challenges that lay ahead in the remainder of this year. I’m extremely proud of the way my leadership team and the whole Etihad family have navigated the COVID-19 crisis so far, and I must express my gratitude to each member of the team for continually proving our adaptability to the most unexpected of circumstances.
“As a responsible business, we can no longer continue to incrementally adapt to a marketplace that we believe has changed for the foreseeable future. That is why we are taking definitive and decisive action to adjust our business and position ourselves proudly as a mid-sized carrier. The first stage of this is an operational model change that will see us restructure our senior leadership team and our organization to allow us to continue delivering on our mandate, ensuring long-term sustainability, and contributing to the growth and prominence of Abu Dhabi.”
The new operational model will result in a number of changes to the executive leadership team to streamline the organizational structure.
Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, has decided to leave the business, and following his departure, the business units within Commercial will be separated and transferred under the leadership of Mohammad Al Bulooki, Chief Operating Officer, Adam Boukadida, Chief Financial Officer, and Terry Daly, who will assume the role of Executive Director Guest Experience, Brand & Marketing.
Mohammad will assume responsibility for Network Planning, Sales, Revenue Management, Cargo & Logistics, Commercial Strategy Planning, and Alliances, in addition to his existing portfolio.
Duncan Bureau, Senior Vice President Sales & Distribution, will also be leaving Etihad. Reporting directly to Mohammad, Martin Drew will take on Duncan’s portfolio alongside his current responsibilities as Managing Director for Cargo & Logistics.
As part of his new role, Terry will lead the Marketing, Brand & Partnerships department, and Etihad Guest, the airline’s loyalty program, while continuing to oversee the Customer Experience & Service Delivery department.
Following the departure of Akram Alami, Chief Transformation Officer, the Procurement and Supply Chain department and Transformation Office will move under the leadership of Adam Boukadida. Adam will also assume responsibility for the Analytics department, which previously sat within the Commercial division. Ibrahim Nassir, Chief Human Resources & Organisational Development Officer, will have an additional responsibility for the Asset Management department.
Finally, Mutaz Saleh will be leaving his position as Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, after which Henning zur Hausen, General Counsel, will take on additional responsibility for Ethics & Compliance, while Risk and Performance reporting will move under Adam Boukadida, forming part of a new Corporate Strategy team. Business Continuity will transfer to Ahmed Al Qubaisi, Senior Vice President Government, International & Communications.
Chief Digital Officer, Frank Meyer, Chief Engineering Officer, Abdul Khaliq Saeed, and Chief Investments Officer, Andrew Macfarlane continue in their respective positions, also reporting to the Group Chief Executive Officer.
Express operator SF Airlines has launched a new freighter service between Wuhan and Frankfurt (FRA) to cater to e-commerce demand.
The service represents SF Airlines’ fourth to Europe and the third international route from Wuhan, following the launch of flights to Tokyo and Osaka earlier this year.
The flight will be operated using a Boeing 747-400 freighter with a capacity of around 110 tonnes and will mainly carry e-commerce goods, textiles, auto parts, and large machinery and equipment.
SF Airlines currently operates the largest all-cargo aircraft fleet in China, with a fleet size of 60 aircraft.
In 2020, SF Airlines has opened two European routes; Changsha-Liege and Shanghai-Zagreb.
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E-commerce giant Amazon has confirmed the launch of air cargo operations in Europe after months of speculation.
The e-tailer announced that it had leased two branded Boeing 737-800 aircraft from GECAS that will be operated by ASL Airlines on behalf of Amazon Air in Europe, following the start of operations at its first-ever regional air hub in Europe this month at the Leipzig/Halle Airport.
The site has already started to support customer deliveries with two daily flights.
“The 20,000 sq m cargo facility at Leipzig/Halle Airport will create an additional connection within Amazon’s fulfillment network in Europe, bringing greater selection and more flexible delivery options at a lower price to Prime member,” Amazon said.
“This new Amazon Air operation in Europe will enable the company to continue to deliver for customers at a time when people in communities across the region are relying on having the items they need delivered directly to their doorstep.”
The two aircraft appear to have the registration EI-DAC and EI-DAD, although some sites also list EI-DAF as being flown on behalf of Amazon.
While two of the aircraft aren’t showing any flight data over the last seven days, according to Flight Radar 24, EI-DAD is shown as largely operating between Cologne, Madrid and Milan, with calls also at East Midlands in the UK and Katowice in Poland.
Dietmar Jüngling, the former general manager of the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Leipzig, will lead the expanded operation.
“We have been hard at work to build and train a team to build our air cargo network in the region while maintaining a safe working environment,” Jüngling said. “Our objective is to ensure we are able to support the changing needs of customers during this challenging time and beyond.”
Goetz Ahmelmann, chief executive of airport operator Mitteldeutsche Flughafen, added: “We are delighted to have won another well-known logistics company for Leipzig/Halle Airport. Leipzig/Halle is clearly a very special hub in European freight traffic for Amazon Air.
“We have scored points in Central Germany with our exceptionally good infrastructure and our recognized expertise in airfreight. Leipzig/Halle is already number two in the German airfreight business and number five in Europe. We will invest heavily to expand our position. This will benefit the region, but also the whole of Germany as a business location.”
It has long been expected that Amazon would launch its own dedicated airline in Europe, especially since it announced plans to open an air hub in Leipzig.
The e-commerce firm has also been known to have been working with ASL over recent years, as well as DHL, which uses Leipzig as one of its hubs.
The facility is creating more than 200 jobs, adding to the more than 1,500 jobs the company already offers in Leipzig. Amazon has been operational in the Leipzig region since 2006.
The two new aircraft will join Amazon’s existing fleet of more than 70 aircraft operating within Amazon Air’s global dedicated air cargo network by end of the year.
In addition to customer deliveries, during the global pandemic, Amazon Air also helped transport essential Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for Amazon associates throughout Europe, including 29m masks, 100,000 thermometers and 3m gloves to distribute to Amazon associates in Europe.
Enjoying the widest direct cargo flight network in the world, the global air cargo carrier, Turkish Cargo continues to increase the number of direct freighter-only destinations.
Having an attractive location from the viewpoint of the logistics and trading companies, Budapest (BUD) became the main hub for Turkish Cargo with the newly established Eastern Europe Regional Directorate office here. This Regional Directorate Office coordinates the cargo sales activities of 21 countries based in Budapest. Additionally, along with long time great co-operation with Budapest Airport, Turkish Cargo that has enhanced the service quality and demonstrated a sustainable achievement thanks to its mission, namely, “Raising the Bar”, Turkish Cargo expands freighter capacities at BUD in winter season 2020 with launching 4th frequency with A330 Cargo Aircraft as of November 8th.
As one of the most prominent cargo airlines in terms of network growth, Turkish Cargo serves 43 countries/120 destinations (31 direct cargo) throughout Europe.
Flight schedule as of 8th November (LMT):
Adding its 95th destination to its list of direct cargo flights destinations operated with freighters, Turkish Cargo, the fastest growing air cargo brand in the world, offers the largest air bridge thanks to its fleet of 365 aircraft, 25 of which are freighters, as well as its extensive flight network reaching more than 300 destinations in 127 countries.
Turkish Cargo aims to develop its activities in air cargo transportation by achieving sustainable growth with its infrastructure, operational capabilities, fleet, and specialized crew and teams.
Early October, Airlink has introduced domestic flights between Durban and Johannesburg.
The airline will be flying three daily flights from Monday to Friday and two daily flights on Saturdays and Sundays between OR Tambo International Airport and King Shaka International Airport, operating an Embraer E170 regional jet. The carrier has a fleet of more than 50 aircrafts, including E170s and E190s.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, affirmed, “Our main goal as government is to ensure that we provide the business community with the necessary support for them to function optimally, this new air service by Airlink helps us grow KwaZulu-Natal’s air connectivity capacity, which will benefit both business and leisure travel to the province as we work to propel our economy.”
“We welcome Airlink’s decision to commence scheduled services between Joburg and Durban, with the majority of the traffic on the route being business travel, we are confident that the airline has introduced the right aircraft to sustainably grow its presence on this route as we all begin to work to assure the public that it is once again safe to travel”, notes Hamish Erskine, Dube TradePort CEO and co-chair of Durban Direct.
Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, councillor Mxolisi Kaunda, welcomed this development. “The tourism sector is a key contributor to the city’s economy and the aviation industry is indispensable for tourism to boom. As our country has graduated to level one of lockdown, we are pulling all the stops to re-ignite tourism and in order to create much needed economic activities, not only in the city but in the townships,” said Kaunda.
Virgin Atlantic is set to restart flights from Heathrow to Cape Town, South Africa from December 10. Last week, it started flying to Johannesburg from London.
The Cape Town will initially operate a limited schedule, still to be announced.
As of now, the airline operates four flights a week to Johannesburg and plans to increase it to a daily frequency by the end of the year.
Both routes will be operated by a B787-900 Dreamliner.
Virgin Atlantic will operate temporarily from Terminal 2 at Heathrow, due to the airport’s terminal consolidation, and will return to Terminal 3 when demand at the airport grows, enabling Terminal 3 to reopen.
SkyTeam Cargo, the largest alliance in the air cargo industry, has announced the appointment of Omar Hariri as the new chairman of its Executive Board.
Hariri, concurrently the CEO of both Saudi Airlines Cargo Company (Saudia Cargo) and Saudi Arabian Logistics Company (SAL), replaces Shawn Cole, VP Cargo of Delta Airlines, who held the position for three years.
The Executive Board of SkyTeam Cargo Alliance, which is made up of top executives from the group’s 12-member cargo airlines, endorsed Hariri’s new role during their latest meeting.
Commenting on his new role as the Chairman of the SkyTeam Cargo Alliance Executive Board, Hariri said: “It will be an honor chairing the executive board of SkyTeam Cargo, the largest alliance in the cargo industry accounting for nearly 20% of the global air cargo movement. SkyTeam Cargo with its two decades of formulation has come a long way and with its 12-member airlines reaching every corner of the globe, enjoys a vast geographic reach and connectivity between the east and west and vice versa.”
“I would like to thank Shawn for his contributions during the last three years and SkyTeam Cargo Alliance and its members for giving me this opportunity. Moving forward, we will continue focusing on actively promoting and strengthening the alliance between the members and at the same time focusing on enhancing our technologically driven operational and network capability to ensure an outclass experience for our customers. With the growing demand for pharma and e-commerce, our aim is to continue exploring new markets while enhancing connectivity and efficient deliveries, further grow and strengthening the core business of our 12-member airlines.”
Hariri joined Saudi Arabian Airlines Cargo (Saudia Cargo) as CEO in February 2018, bringing with him extensive experience in air freight and logistics management from his diversified roles at DHL Express and FedEx Express.
He has a Master of Science Degree in Procurement Logistics and Supply Chain Management from the University of Salford’s Business School in Manchester, United Kingdom.
“It has been a pleasure serving as chairman of the cargo executive board,” Shawn Cole, Vice President of Delta Cargo, commented. “During my time as chairman, we focused on building connectivity, sourcing with economies of scale and connecting with our customers. Our true character was revealed in the face of the many unprecedented challenges brought upon us by COVID-19. I know that Omar Hariri will serve our alliance well as we continue to navigate through the crisis, rebuild network connectivity and contribute to support the transportation of vaccines”.
Saudia Cargo is the latest member of SkyTeam Cargo joining in April of 2019. The group, which marked its 20th anniversary last September, also counts Aeroflot Cargo, Aerolíneas Argentinas Cargo, Aeromexico Cargo, Air France-KLM Cargo, Alitalia Cargo, China Airlines Cargo, China Cargo Airlines, Czech Airlines Cargo, Delta Cargo and Korean Air Cargo as members.
Collectively, the alliance of 12 member airlines working together with more than 3,337 aircrafts including 63 full freighters to 159 destinations countries.
Africa Logistics Properties (ALP) has launched $6 million warehousing facility for small businesses in Kenya. Since its inception, ALP has raised $150 million to fulfill its purpose of constructing modern grade A warehouse facilities in East Africa with $50 million of this apparently already invested in Kenya.
ALP completed its first facility, ALP North in 2019, measuring 5,40,000 square feet. The company said that this facility is already 75 percent occupied. The company’s second project, ALP West will measure more than 1 million square feet.
The ALP West facility sits on an expansive 49 acres that comprise of seven phases. Currently, phase I is already 20 percent pre-leased and is targeting small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking modern storage facilities with a minimum let of 5,300 square feet.
The rest of the phases will be dedicated to larger enterprises that will operate from grade A warehouses that allow users to operate logistics at international standards, which is on-demand by both local, regional and international companies.
“The foundational approach we are taking is a demonstration of our commitment to a long-term investment in meeting Kenya’s warehousing and logistics demands. This is focused on industry and retail warehousing, commodity warehousing, cold storage and e-Commerce,” said ALP’s CEO, Richard Hough.
ALP stated that it is currently in discussion with various local, regional and international companies, who own land in various parts of the Eastern African region to either develop or upgrade their warehouses and factories on their behalf, through sale and leaseback options or through a pre-determined lease agreement.
Logistics Plus (LP) has created a dedicated LP Air Charter Group within the company to focus on expanding its air cargo capacity and to develop global air charter business opportunities.
The new group, based in Houston, is being headed up by industry veterans Russell Means and Axel Kaldschmidt.
Means brings over 25 years of Fortune 100 supply chain global logistics experience, and technical air charter, heavy-lift, and airfreight expertise from his time working for companies such as Geodis, Volga-Dnepr Unique Air Cargo, GE Oil & Gas, and Halliburton.
Kaldschmidt has over 25 years of commercial and operations experience developing supply chain and logistics relationships with C-suite contacts at Fortune 100+ companies.
His experience includes time at Volga-Dnepr, Unique Air Cargo, Hellman Beverage Logistics, Expeditors, and Pentagon Freight Services. Kaldschmidt holds multiple supply chain management and IATA/FIATA certifications.
LP provides freight transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, business intelligence, and supply chain management solutions through a worldwide network.
Said an LP spokesperson: “Airfreight capacity remains tight, as large passenger airlines, which normally carry 50% of all cargo, remain grounded making air charters increasingly important to critical supply chains.
“Already this year, the LP Air Charter Group has coordinated numerous critical air charter shipments around the world, including multiple PPE air charters from China to the US; PPE air charters from China to South America; and, most recently, critical hazmat air charter cargo from the US to North Africa.
Said Yuriy Ostapyak, COO & Director of Global Operations for Logistics Plus: “We’ve always been very proficient at sourcing and managing air charters.
“Due to pandemic-related air capacity challenges, the need for PPE supplies for our LP Medical division in the US and abroad, and our overall growth trajectory, we felt the timing was right to give this service its own, dedicated resources to manage the operations and drive additional growth. Adding Russell and Axel to our award-winning team was a perfect fit.”
Swissport International is set to start operations at the German capital’s new Berlin Brandenburg (BER) Airport.
After having moved its services and operations from Berlin Tegel (TXL) and Berlin Schönefeld (SXF), Swissport will provide ground handling, ramp handling and passenger services at BER’s terminals 1 and 5, starting from tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the company’s cargo operations at BER — including general and special freight handling, express services and freight forwarding — will commence at the new hub from November 9.
At around 2,100 sq m, the new Swissport cargo warehouse at BER is 60% larger than the TXL facility. The BER facility also features advanced dual-view X-ray technology, which Swissport says will enable it to improve the security and efficiency of its cargo operations.
Carsten Zuberbier, managing director at Swissport Berlin, commented: “At Swissport, we are especially looking forward to more space that will enable us to provide our services more efficiently.”
“The new facilities will allow us to write another successful chapter with our partner airlines and to grow with potential new customers both in the areas of airport ground services and air cargo handling.”
Willy Ruf, senior vice president, Central Europe, at Swissport, added: “We are very pleased to finally start serving our airline customers at the new terminals at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
“It took longer than expected, but as BER opens to business we are looking at a beautiful new airport and gateway to the German capital.”
In August, Swissport said it had secured a €300m binding commitment from an ad hoc group of senior secured creditors, subject to final documentation, which would deliver immediate liquidity for Swissport to trade through the Covid-19 market crisis and the restructuring process.
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