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June 2005

That’s show business

Air Charter Service were once again on hand to ensure the show could go on after being commissioned to transport the set and stage equipment of hit show Chicago from London Gatwick to Athens.

London based charter executive Andy Holmes made the most of his moment in the spotlight as he worked closely with Graham Bebby of Rock-It Cargo to identify the most cost-effective option – trucking the cargo from Belfast to Gatwick to make significant savings on the charter.

An A300 freighter aircraft was used for the flight to Greece, with a 20-pallet configuration that allowed the 27-ton consignment to be carried in a single load.
For more information contact one of our Cargo Charter Executives.

Military jeeps to Kosovo

A large reception, including the President of Kosovo and General of the Italian Airforce, greeted the delivery of four Hummer army jeeps to Italian peacekeeping troops in Kosovo recently.

The Moscow office successfully organised two rotation flights from Frankfurt to a military base in the Balkan state using an Antonov 12 aircraft – ideal for the transportation of such loads.

After the second rotation the AN12 crew departed Kosovo carrying a Chevrolet jeep, which is to be taken out of service, back to Germany.

Find out more about chartering an An12.

IACC 2005 at Houston

Air Charter Service has underlined its reputation in the global market after a successful exhibition at the International Air Cargo Conference.

The annual event, which was held last month at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, offers a range of cargo industry companies a great chance to meet up and talk business.

Ruan Courtney, President of the New York office, and his team - including charter consultant Jerry Hyatt - took the opportunity to discuss our unique services with numerous freight forwarders, sales agents and airlines.

Ruan was delighted with the response and said, ‘the conference was one of the high spots of the quarter. Substantial interest was shown in Air Charter Service and we enjoyed being able to build further on our reputation in America.”

Find out more about our services in the USA by contacting Ruan Courtney.

May 2005

Managed fleet operations move to NEMA

After many years based at Ostend airport, Belgium, Air Charter Service were this month delighted to announce their move to a new operations facility at Nottingham East Midlands airport (NEMA) in the UK where our managed fleet of An26’s, An12’s and the recently acquired An74 will now be based.

The benefits are numerous: The costs incurred operating the fleet from NEMA are less than Ostend and the crews get a faster response to handling. Plus, the central England location means the new office is only two hours from the London headquarters.

Alan Russell, who has a wealth of experience working for cargo airlines for over 30 years, joins Air Charter Service as Operations Manager. Lloyd Robinson and Rachael Desmond Drew who were based in Ostend have moved back to the UK to complete the team.

Please contact Alan and his team for further information.

Hi-tech cargo to help Haiti

Air Charter Service has once again played its part in the US-led relief effort in Haiti after coming up with a solution to a hi-tech cargo problem.

Ruan Courtney, president of the New York office, was contacted by a US government-appointed freight forwarder to help in the transport of a delicate cargo of computers and related hardware. The 18-ton cargo consisted of new computers and associated equipment that was too valuable and fragile to be shipped by sea or onboard scheduled air freight.

Ruan organized a charter flight from Miami to Port au Prince on behalf of the forwarder using a US-registered (as per shipper’s requirement) Boeing 727 Freighter.

The New York office also called upon their expertise in handling valuable air freight to assist in obtaining the necessary traffic rights and permits to allow the flight to go seamlessly. They were also able to help co-ordinate the loading of the aircraft to ensure the fragile cargo would arrive in perfect condition.

For more information on charters involving valuable equipment please contact our cargo department.

April 2005

Oversized cargo successfully loaded onto IL-76

A Russian-based oil company was spared a logistical headache with the successful transportation of an oversized piece of equipment - with literally inches to spare.

The extraordinary dimensions of the 16,800 kg piece, measuring 565 x 256.5 x 314 cm, meant this was one of the most challenging consignments dealt with by Air Charter Service's Moscow office.

However, Moscow General Director Sergey Vekhov chartered the rear-loading Ilyushin-76 aircraft for the job and the equipment was successfully loaded on to the aircraft, leaving a gap of just 6 cm between the top of the container and the ceiling.

The urgent charter, successfully carried out on March 23-24, flew from Johor Baru to Usno Sakhalinsk via a fuel-stop in Taipei. The equipment will now be put to use on an oil platform on the Sakhalin shelf.

After the successful transportation, a delighted Sergey admitted it had been one of the toughest cargo loads faced by the Moscow team.

He said: "Obviously we knew this would be a difficult item to charter due to its size but once we had worked through the logistical challenges we were confident we could transport it successfully.”

Contact our cargo department for more information on oversized cargo charters.

Air Charter Service add Antonov-74 to growing fleet

Air Charter Service's managed fleet has expanded once again with the welcome addition of an Antonov-74 aircraft that will be based with its crew at East-Midlands (EMA) in the UK.

The AN-74 operates with combined cargo and passenger configurations, making it an attractive option for customers wishing to send attendants with valuable technical or live cargo, including the transportation of horses.

Built in 1996, the YL-KSB jet aircraft is young for a cargo freighter, and complies with all modern aviation standards, including stage 3 noise certification.

The versatility of this aircraft proves a major selling point, including its long flight range and ability to use airfields that require short take-off and landings.

The aircraft is capable of taking 6,500 KGs and 10 passengers (or 7,500 KGs if solely using the cargo configuration), with a usable cargo space of 10 x 2.10 x 2 metres.

The new aircraft is European-registered and therefore does not require time-consuming traffic rights or permits in EU countries. This matched with the capability to be airborne with 90 minutes of confirmation means this aircraft is ideal for urgent charter requirements.

Commercial Director Justin Bowman revealed the aircraft was brought in to help meet the increased demand for the ACS managed fleet.

He added: "We have already chartered this aircraft several times, and it looks like our AN-74 will be a popular addition in the 'go-now' market."

For more information on this new aircraft please contact Justin Bowman.

Urgent charter to grounded private jet in Barbados

Ruan Courtney, President of Air Charter Service's New York office, prevented a client's island holiday ending in a frustrating wait on the tarmac in Barbados.

The VIP's Dassault Falcon was stranded on the tarmac at Bridgetown after it was discovered to be missing a fire extinguisher cartridge which legally needs to be carried for all flights - and Ruan received a call from a freight forwarder requesting assistance in getting a new one from New York to the Caribbean.

The owner of the jet needed to return from his family's vacation in Barbados back to New York as soon as possible and so wanted to minimize the delay as much as possible.

Despite the request coming on a Saturday Ruan had sourced a Learjet 24 Freighter for the job within 30 minutes and less than an hour later the cargo was loaded onto the aircraft at New York's Teterboro Airport for the 9 hour flight to Bridgetown.

Ruan worked through the night to track the flight and inform the customer of the aircraft's departure and arrival times as it traveled to the stricken jet.

The freight forwarder was extremely happy with the service and regular updates and the VIP was able to depart in his private jet less than an hour after the cargo arrived.

Ruan was pleased to have provided such a thorough operation to get the piece of cargo to the grounded jet.

He said: "it just goes to show that even the smallest piece of equipment can keep and aircraft from flying, so it is important that we can respond quickly to such requests with urgent consignments of equipment and spares."

Contact our cargo department to find out more about urgent charters.

March 2005

British Government thank ACS for Tsunami efforts

Air Charter Service London has been thanked by the British Government for their "commitment and hard work" for their relief work following the Asian tsunami in December.
 
A letter, personally signed by Hilary Benn and Gareth Thomas of the Department for International Development (DFID), was sent to Chris Leach, Group Chairman, thanking staff for their work in helping to transport aid to the crisis-hit region.
 
"The speed, professionalism and practicality of the UK's response has been very impressive and is entirely down to the commitment and hard work of you and your colleagues. Both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have expressed their appreciation to us”, said Thomas.

London based employees worked round the clock through their Christmas break to ensure aid was delivered to the affected countries - finding rapid logistical solutions during the chaotic first few days following the disaster.
 
Dan Morgan-Evans from the London office was repositioned to the DFID government building in Victoria Street, London, to co-ordinate operations between Air Charter Service and the department. The company also quickly deployed three members of their UK-based team - James Leach, Andrew James and Mike Walsh - to the the region to co-ordinate the aid flights from the ground in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The staff of Air Charter Service, which has a long-standing reputation for the swift despatch of urgent humanitarian cargo, were praised by DFID for their "speed, professionalism and practicality" in the wake of the disaster.
 
Chris Leach said: "When these disasters strike, virtually everyone in the country is moved by the desire to do something to help. At Air Charter Service, we are able to put our professionalism to work and I think we all recognise that, despite the hard work, being able to actually contribute is a very real privilege."
 

For further information on humanitarian aid charters please contact: london@aircharter.co.uk

Air Charter Service Conference 2005

The weekend of the February 4-6 saw members of Air Charter Service's London, New York and Moscow offices meet for the annual company conference, held this year in scenic Puerto Banus on Spain’s southern coast. We were also delighted to welcome guest speakers, Tony Bauckham, of Volga-Dnepr, and David Malempre the company's legal representative.

The weekend offered the opportunity for the company to review the remarkable achievements of 2004, and consider the bright future for the Air Charter Service group. As well as the conference itself, the weekend gave representatives the chance to enjoy team building exercises, presentations, and a formal dinner in the harbour’s top seafood restaurant.

Commercial Director Justin Bowman highlighted the exceptional achievements of the London Cargo Department that has turned over record profits in both ad-hoc and managed fleet charters. It has proved a busy year for his team, with flights being chartered to such places as Iraq, famine-hit Sudan, Haiti and, more recently, Southern Asia, devastated by the Tsunami.

Guest speaker Tony Bauckham, Sales and Marketing Director of Volga-Dnepr, praised the close working relationship of Air Charter Service with his company and spoke of the importance of building global bridges with companies such as ours in the cargo aviation market.

Passenger Sales Manager, Gavin Copus spoke positively about his rapidly expanding department which saw a record number of flights in 2004. As a result his department are moving to their own trading floor and doubling their number of staff in 2005.

Our Moscow office has continued its development in 2004 and will shortly move to new premises to accommodate the extra business generated as a result of their accomplishments. General Director Sergey Vekhov was upbeat at his expanding team's potential for the coming 12 months.

Ruan Courtney, President of our newly opened New York office, said he was confident that the Air Charter Service work ethic and quality of service will prove superior to all competition in the Tri-State area. Ruan is fully expecting Air Charter Service New York to outgrow their current offices within 18 months.

The achievements in London, Moscow and New York were underpinned by the news that the company is now financially stronger than ever. Finance Director Tina Leach was delighted to report that the last year has seen an 84 per cent increase in sales, and the group has increased its annual turnover to $70m.

Chris Leach, Group Chairman, ended the conference by stating that the Air Charter Service Group will continue along the current path that is proving so successful and spoke of plans to open more offices worldwide in the next few years.

Air Charter Service, with its unique way of working and its global vision, is preparing for a very exciting future.

For further information please contact: london@aircharter.co.uk

February 2005

Helicopters to aid Banda Ache region

As part of the on going Tsunami relief effort, the Air Charter Service Group completed nearly 50 flights in the month of January.

As part of our contact with the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), Andy Holmes, based in our London office, sourced three SA330J Puma helicopters and two MI8 MTV helicopters to be flown in to the Banda Ache region of Indonesia to help distribute urgently required medical equipment and personnel.

Fortunately, the Puma’s had been in Spain during the summer as part of a fire fighting contract and were packed up and ready to be transported back to South Africa. Andy organised for the Puma’s to be flown on an AN124 from Seville in to Malaysia, where they were made operational, painted, and safety checked before being sent to Indonesia.

The MI8’s were sourced in Moldova and were released by their owners, the Moldovan Government, following extensive negotiations between Air Charter Service, DFID and the Moldovan authorities. They were flown on an AN124 to Medan in Indonesia where they are currently being used for cargo transportation.

For further information on relief work please contact andy.holmes@aircharter.co.uk

January 2005

Tsunami tragedy

2004 ended in tragic circumstances when an earthquake in the Indian Ocean created a devastating Tsunami in the Asia-Pacific region, with the loss of over 150,000 lives.

Our offices in London and New York have been heavily involved in getting aid to the worse hit regions; In the first week of January the London office have organised 15 flights to Phuket, Thailand; Jakarta, Indonesia; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Medan and Banda Aceh on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra – an area that has been completely decimated.

So far 423 tons of tent, blankets, medical equipment, water purifying kits, and sanitation equipment have been flown out on behalf on various European aid agencies and the Government’s Department for International Development (DFID).
In addition, 400 tons of tents are being flown to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as part of a complex programme of flights for DFID using B747’s, Il76’s and MD11’s. A disused airfield has been re-opened to receive the aid. From there AN12’s are taking the cargo to the worse hit regions in Indonesia where helicopters will then distribute the tents to the local villages.

The New York office have organised a flight for the Canadian Red Cross in to Jakarta, Indonesia. The DC8 flew 29 tons of relief consisting of water bladders, plastic sheeting, generators and warehouse structures.

For further information on relief flights please contact london@aircharter.co.uk or new.york@aircharterserviceusa.com

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