WFS expands European footprint

HEATHROW Airport’s (UK) largest cargo handler, Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), has just gotten bigger thanks to a new Continental Airlines contract, and contracts in Spain and the Netherlands.

At Heathrow (pictured), Continental has transferred its business to WFS to join forces with merger partner, United Airlines. WFS has also acquired the lease on a further 60,000 tonne-capacity cargo terminal. The company has taken a lease on building 551 in the World Cargocentre at Heathrow, increasing its overall on-airport and off-airport capacity in London to 23,225m² (250,000 sq ft).

Continental Airlines operates seven flights a day from Heathrow to Newark and Houston using 777 and 757 aircraft with up to 65 tonnes of daily cargo capacity across all flights.

Elsewhere in Europe WFS has been awarded new terminal handling and cargo handling contracts in Barcelona (Spain) and Amsterdam (the Netherlands) by Concorde Aviation and Surinam Airways respectively.

In Spain, WFS will provide terminal handling for two airlines represented by Concorde Aviation in Barcelona. City Airline operates an MD-87 aircraft from Barcelona to Gothenburg (Sweden) while Cimber Sterling flies from the Spanish city to Copenhagen (Denmark) using 737-700s. The contract is for three years.

WFS has also signed a two-year contract agreement with Surinam Airways for cargo handling at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Surinam Airways flies five times a week to Amsterdam with an A330 passenger flight and is expected to generate up to 3,500 tonnes of cargo a year of inbound and outbound freight.