Time critical airfreight needs specialist handlers, says NAP

Time critical airfreight is a specialised area of logistics that not every forwarder, broker or carrier can handle, according to Christos Spyrou, chief executive, NAP (Neutral Air Partner).

He was speaking to 100 delegates from across the international air cargo supply chain at the Time Critical Logistics Conference in Amsterdam organised by NAX 24/7, a division of NAP.

Various speakers pointed out that, in today’s e-commerce society, virtually every shipment is time critical, though others may argue that at its extremes it applies particularly to saving human life in the event of a natural disaster or averting the huge costs associated with an industrial breakdown.

Charlotte Willoughby of Volga Dnepr Group, talked about the range of specialised aircraft available for any type of charter, including those aircraft suited to rough landing conditions and self-handling, which are especially suitable in cases of natural disaster.

Mourad Aoun from Net Critical outlined the challenge of handling clinical trial projects where mistakes cannot be tolerated – not only for human trials but also for animal material. This business can be very technical and correct packaging is vital to the success of each operation.

Priority Freight specialises in the automotive industry with its representative Santiago Tejedo acknowledging “that a failure to deliver vital parts in automotive assembly can cost vast amounts of money”.

Peter Orange from GAC Marine Logistics confirmed that most urgent ship parts are transported by airfreight and that door-to-deck emergency delivery is vital, while Sander Van Woesik of Wings on Board made the case for on-board carriers.

Reto Hunziker from the Chapman Freeborn group explained how the company can handle any kind of shipment including time sensitive items such as humanitarian relief flights, live animal shipments, musical groups and orchestras and sports event equipment, all of which demand on time delivery.

Turhan Ozen from Turkish Cargo said: “Nearly all products such as fashion and life science products all have a limited life and as such are vital time critical shipments. We also ensure that cargo such as high value and dangerous goods, which can include highly sensitive medical products, are all treated with great care by our team.”

The conference also heard about new developments in helping speed up urgent deliveries.

A new company CharterSync, launched only this year by two experienced pilots, Ed Gillett and Simon Watson, harnesses the extensive data available online to locate suitable aircraft to carry out worldwide charters. Jonas van Stekelenburg is creating a system to identify and use empty baggage hold capacity on passenger aircraft to allow cargo to jump the queue when time is really critical.

The first annual general meeting and conference of NAX 24/7 time critical logistics group will be held in Istanbul, September 28-30, 2020. NAP describes itself as the premier global network of leading air cargo architects and aviation specialists.