From left to right At Logitrans—Emre Eldener, President-UTIKAD; Arif Badur, Reibel Transport; Turgut Erkeskin, Genel Transport; and Onur Badur, Reibel Transport.

From Germany To Istanbul

     Messe München, the folks that bring you Air Cargo Europe every other year, once again organized Logitrans International Transport Logistics Exhibition in Istanbul 2019 in conjunction with EKO Fair Limited, Munich.
     Held just off the main runways of Istanbul Ataturk International Airport inside Hall 9 & 10 of the Istanbul Expo Center, the event runs November 13-15 with the trade show floors open 11:00-17:00 daily.

Lively Discussions

     Not to be overlooked is an aggressive grouping of sessions and speeches during Logitrans Istanbul 2019.
     Conference sessions that are held amongst the display stands on the floor of the big event which engage major issues and logistic trends and truck and trailer action in Turkey and beyond, as well as air and rail cargo in Turkey.
     With beautiful Istanbul as backdrop, Logitrans says it expects more than14,000 plus participants and 136 exhibits from 20 nations to engage together in all aspects of the transportation at this last major event of the global cargo transportation season.
Geoffrey
More including registration here

Exclusive from the other side of the pond—Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 30, 2019.
     Who can explain it, who can tell you why?
     Fools give a reason, wise men never try!

     For 26 years Air Cargo Americas has met in Miami every other year.
     Two weeks ago at the same time as Air Cargo Americas, IATA held some sessions in Amsterdam.
     Talk about the cup running over!
     Thankfully, while there were two major air cargo events going on at the same time, both were markedly different.
     First in Florida, Air Cargo Americas, among other topics in an expanded session roster, focused on Latin America-themed sales and operations, while in Amsterdam across the pond gathered a healthy sampling of the operational people of the air cargo industry at the IATA Air Cargo Events in the Netherlands.

IATA Five Session Five

     The IATA gathering featured five simultaneous sessions including Air Cargo Operations Conference, Airpharma Conference, Lithium Battery Workshop, Cargo Claims & Loss Prevention Conference and the Cargo Security & Facilitation Forum.
     This IATA summit was well stocked and delivered sumptuously by operational people that behind the scenes truly make air cargo move.
     There is no other gathering where air cargo operations from around the globe come together like this one.
     This year, over 400 attendees attended the five sessions.
     Prior to the kick off, IATA working groups covering security, customs, dangerous goods, ground handling and other important cargo members met to discuss the hot topics that airlines and their customers are facing. Many government regulators attend the event as well from the World Customs Organization, ICAO, World Trade Organization, EU regulators, U.S. TSA, DOT and CBP.

A Ford In Our Future

     Michael Ford, (right) VP of Government and Industry Affairs for BDP provided a great overview as to what it took to implement the important air cargo advance screening (ACAS).
     He stressed the need for carriers to communicate that the past is the past and change is essential. ACAS was a great example of how his global offices had to change the mindset and bring focus on data accuracy and timeliness.
     His major point was, that by paying attention to these key areas helped to in improving his customers’ experience in getting cargo cleared quicker.

Delta Cargo Calls The Hounds

     Another key panel was the move to use of third-party canine as primary screening of air cargo in the U.S. after the approval in January by the TSA.
     Jeff Koehl, Director of Operation from GK9pg and Alex Rodriguez, Compliance Manager for MSA Security were on panel with Warren Miller, Manager of Global Initiatives for TSA and Howard Stone, VP of Global Programs for UPS.
     All were able to share experiences of the first few months of new screening by man’s best friend, which have resulted in significant change in how air cargo is checked.
     The moderator for the panel Abhishek Chauhan, Program Manager - Cargo for Delta Air Lines led with some great questions: how the K9 are managed, what the issues in startup and how effective the K9 are in this new approved screening. It was evident that there is much interest of expanding K9 not just in the U.S., but in other places around the world.

At Last A TSA Man Is All Cargo

     Lastly on day one, it was great to hear from John Beckius, the new Director of the TSA’s Air Cargo Division.
     “Mr. Beckius brings a breath of fresh air from someone who understands air cargo,” observed Mike White, President of Cargo Network Services (CNS).
     “There was a good feeling that the TSA wants to work as a true partner with the industry as he explained how the reorganization of the department is being arranged,” Mike added.
     There has been quite a void in the cargo area of TSA since the departure of Doug Britton a few years ago.
     Certainly, from far and wide, air cargo stakeholders are eager to see the new department and the new director work for aviation security more in partnership with the industry. (To be continued)
Geoffrey

     The last time a Lufthansa freighter touched down at Miami International Airport twenty five years ago, Bill Clinton was U.S. President.
     But proving what goes around comes around, Lufthansa Cargo comes back to Miami with a weekly B777 freighter, and Norbert Pahlsmeyer, Director Sales and Handling Florida for Lufthansa Cargo (pictured here with Geoffrey and Lionel Van der Walt CEO of Pay Cargo) could not be happier.
     “MIA,” Norbert declared, “currently is served by four daily flights to Europe with great connections to the world – and we are now adding a weekly freighter via ATL to serve additional demand for outsized and special cargo, into MIA.
     “Operated by a B777 freighter, LH8171 is scheduled each Tuesday evening.”
     Not to be out done, accolades came from the Mayor of Miami and Lester Sola, MIA Director and CEO as well.
     Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez declared,
     “We proudly welcome Lufthansa Cargo’s new freighter service to Miami-Dade County.
     “Our community already benefits from the daily world-class passenger service Lufthansa provides, and we look forward to the additional economic impact its cargo service will have on our community.”
     “We appreciate Lufthansa for choosing to expand its operations at MIA with cargo-only service.
     “As the cargo gateway of the Americas, we expect Lufthansa to see continued success on their new Miami cargo route,” Lester Sola, (left) MIA Director and CEO enthused.
     For the record, right now Miami air cargo is number one gateway in USA for international freight, offering service to over 160 cities on four-continents with dedicated freighter service to 112 global destinations. MIA is the largest gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean; it handles 79% of all air imports and 77% of all exports to/from the region.
     MIA is the first airport in the Western Hemisphere and only the second in the world to be designated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a pharmaceutical freight hub and a trusted industry leader in the transport of pharmaceuticals.