“The mood is very upbeat at this year’s gathering of Air Cargo Europe (ACE) in Munich.
     “With every passing month, as the increase in business continues, the sentiment grows stronger that this expansion in world trade, and of volume growth exceeding capacity growth, may not be just a temporary correction but a long-term trend,” “Fast” Jacques Leijssenaar, Vice President, United Cargo Sales - EMEIA tells FlyingTypers as United and Lufthansa banner their new partnership at an ACE gathering on Tuesday.

Opportunity And Change

      “At United Cargo, we’re gratified and thankful to our customers for contributions to this positive movement,” Fast Jacques said.
      “Through April, our cargo ton miles are up 20 percent over the first four months of 2016, and our first-quarter revenues were up 13.4 percent from the same period last year.”

Not A Self-Congratulatory Tour

     “Of course, our team, and the industry as a whole, did not come to Munich to congratulate ourselves on recent successes.
      “If you study the four days of conference programs, the two words that appear most frequently in the program titles are ‘opportunity’ and ‘change.’
       “I think that sends a productive signal that most of us in the industry are not content to celebrate our survival of the recent years of slow growth and stagnation—and we know we need to do more than be happy things are looking up.”

Time To Seize The Moment

      “I sense,” Fast Jacques insists, “a prevailing opinion up and down the line in air cargo that this is the moment to forcefully address the issues that will promote the industry’s long-term success, and that there is no better time than now to imagine, prepare for, and create our future.”

Lufthansa & Greater Reach

      “Speaking of an upbeat mood and the opportune moment, the whole United Cargo team and our partners at Lufthansa Cargo are very excited about the joint venture we announced a few weeks back and are celebrating at Munich this week.
      “At United, we’re all proud of the scope of our network and the long-term service relationships we’ve established with customers around the world.
      “But our ability to expand our network and customer base is somewhat defined by United’s passenger flight network.
      “The joint venture with Lufthansa Cargo will allow us to reach more cities and serve more customers more effectively without adding to our fleet or confronting the logistics challenges of opening new stations.
      “It will also lead to more efficient use of our existing flight and trucking capacity throughout the U.S. and Europe.
      “That’s a very inspiring prospect as we progress through 2017.”

Pharma Phlavor Of The Month

      “Another frequent theme highlighted throughout the Air Cargo Europe programs is pharma and other temperature-sensitive commodities.
      “This is an area of sharp focus for United Cargo as well, with developments and expansion in our TempControl service.
      “There are now 30 certified TempControl handling locations across Europe: more locations than any other United region worldwide, and Europe has also become the number one region in the export of TempControl. 
      “In addition to expanding our network and taking advantage of new, bigger, TempControl-friendly aircraft, we have established dedicated teams of pharma business experts in our primary export countries, with plans to extend this program to more countries.
      “Our experienced teams and specialized processes deliver the exceptional reliability these valuable shipments require, and our 24/7 Control Tower team ensures that customers are kept current on critical data at every stage of the shipment’s journey.
      “I think the pharma business is an excellent model to follow as our industry confronts the challenges of the future.
      “As companies develop their cool chain products, they strive to be ‘customer centric,’ to be as close to shippers and forwarders as possible and base the specifics of their offering on what customers want most.
      “Another common practice is to deploy whatever new technologies are available to improve the quality and timeliness of data and service.
      “Whatever the next generation of shippers demand, our industry will be served well if we apply the same spirit of innovation we bring to the pharma marketplace to every product and everything we do for our customers.”
Geoffrey