KLM decided this week to keep a large part of its fleet on the ground.
More and more countries are deciding to close their borders to passenger aircraft. Airfreight is still welcome but the number of air freighters and cargo lines is limited. After all, 80% of air freight goes via passenger aircraft, each with their own space for air freight.
This often consists of 10 tons freight for a large passenger aircraft and 1-2 tons for smaller aircraft. Many airliners offer last-minute freight flights with the message: full-is-full. Depending on the material, it remains uncertain when the next flight will depart.
As of today, released slots at Schiphol are first offered to cargo aircraft
“It is currently very difficult to find suitable flights,” says René Baan of APC handling in Aalsmeer. At the moment we see a lot of cancellations in herbs from Kenya. The catering industry is a major customer and it is currently on hold. With regard to exports from Schiphol, the many re-bookings demand a lot of flexibility from our team."
He currently works from home due to these circumstances. “Only cargo flights are allowed to leave. ACNL (Slot Coordination Netherlands) has just informed us that the Local Rule 2 will be put aside for the time being and that all available slots at Schiphol will immediately be made available for cargo aircraft. This is of great importance for the Dutch economy and companies in the food industry. ”
The APC Handling warehouse in Aalsmeer
At the moment René does not yet have a definitive picture of the situation. “It has all happened very quickly in the last few days and it is changing every moment. Many flower shipments have been canceled this weekend. That is why all attention is now focused on food shipments. APC Handling is now fully operational and has extra capacity to enable the handling of this segment.
The impact of this? We must still wait and come to the question whether the mangoes by air is at risk; it is still too early to give an answers. Some lines are currently still running smoothly and the additional slots for freighters give us new possibilities.”
For more information:
IPHandlers - APC Handling
René Baan
Noordpolderweg 20
1432 JH Aalsmeer
The Netherands
T: +31 (0)297 747 222
M: +31 (0)6 4155 2045
rbaan@iphandlers.nl
www.iphandlers.nl