Is there a pilot shortage or isn’t there? LIFE-SAVING AID DELIVERED

Chapman Freeborn, the global air charter specialist and part of Avia Solutions Group, has chartered numerous flights from across the world to deliver humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 6 February 2023.

A second earthquake hit Turkey on 20 February, two weeks after the first quake, which currently has a death toll of over 47,000, with thousands more people missing and millions displaced.

Chapman Freeborn’s humanitarian team has worked around the clock to source and secure aircraft in what has become a volatile market with ever-dwindling capacities. They have overcome these challenges and successfully chartered aid flights to the affected regions from the USA, UAE, Germany, Spain, Belgium, India, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Singapore and the Philippines.

“The tragic situation in Turkey and Syria is heart-breaking. The Chapman Freeborn

Emergency Response Team was activated immediately upon learning of the initial huge earthquake; I was travelling in Dubai at the time and met with Giuseppe Saba, CEO of International Humanitarian City to discuss the situation and how we could assist,” Neil Dursley, group CCO, commented.

“Chapman Freeborn is pleased to support many governments and humanitarian organisations, such as NGOs, and I’m proud to say that we have the most caring and supportive team in the industry who go above and beyond 24 hours a day, every day of the week to ensure emergency aid reaches the populations of these seriously impacted countries.”

Many years of civil war has rendered delivering cargo to Syria very challenging, however Chapman Freeborn’s expert team has navigated embargoes and closed borders to ensure the aid reaches the people who need it most, also co-ordinating its onward passage.

The team has utilised their expertise and experience to gain the necessary land permits, flyover rights and approvals from the Syrian Civilian Aviation Authority and the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, resulting in thousands of tonnes of aid reaching the population.

“The worldwide compassion expressed following this disaster just underlines all that is good amongst the human race. The whole aviation industry and associated industries were quick to react, with Chapman Freeborn proud to be at the forefront with their support. Our teams work relentlessly to help those in need, and the efforts of the whole industry must be commended. We will of course continue to support people in the affected regions over the coming weeks and months,” David Tasker, group director – government and humanitarian, said.

Chapman Freeborn has been an integral part of the humanitarian efforts for every major global crisis over the past 50 years, providing solutions for airlifts, airdropping, search and rescue flights, evacuations and repatriations.

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Cool Chain Association undertakes trial tracking flower exports from farm to table

THE Cool Chain Association (CCA) plans to draft a best practice handling procedure for perishables based on a series of trials tracking perishables exports from farm to table or vase undertaken by CCA partner the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB).

A PPECB pilot trial monitoring cut flower exports from South Africa to Europe, has already highlighted the impact of temperature excursions on vase life, according to Vijan Chetty, CCA board member and general manager, PPECB.

The trial was conducted in collaboration with Arnelia Farms, a South African wholesale flower nursery and exporter, and tracked Sunshine Conebush flower consignments packed on-farm near Hopefield in the Western Cape province of South Africa and travelling to destinations in the Netherlands and Germany.

“Trials over the past few years have focused primarily on the final mile of a specific trade lane,” said Chetty, speaking at the Air Cargo Africa Event in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“We will be looking at farm to table or vase across a trade lane, and not only focusing on monitoring the temperature of the product, but also aiming to identify all areas where shelf life could be influenced, including, for example, post-harvest practices, packaging and palletisation, and the functionality of cold storage.”

CCA, which recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the PPECB, will be reviewing the research trials, analysing the activities of stakeholders within the value chain, and identifying possible risk areas, in order to draft a best practice handling procedure for perishable products.

“The handling procedure can be used to train staff to mitigate risks and increase the vase-life of flowers and the shelf-life of other perishables,” said Chetty.

“The CCA is looking for implementable solutions that the industry can easily initiate.”

The PPECB pilot trial used air temperature loggers on two consignments sent two days apart to monitor variations in cold chain conditions.

Flower consignments were packed in boxes and palletised on-farm, then loaded on a refrigerated truck before taking a two-hour journey to the courier service provider.

ST Engineering has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pensacola State College to explore setting up an Aviation Training Academy in Pensacola, USA. The collaboration is part of ST Engineering’s continued growth and expansion plans in Pensacola, where it is developing an airframe MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) complex that comprises four large state-ofthe-art hangars at Pensacola International Airport when completed.

The MoU was signed at the official opening of the airframe MRO complex’s second hangar.

Pensacola State College is the oldest and biggest college in the Florida Panhandle, offering academic and career options including bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, advanced technical certificates, college credit certificates, vocational certificates and diplomas.

Under the agreement, ST Engineering and Pensacola State College will collaborate to develop a Federal Aviation Administration

Part 147 Aircraft Maintenance Technician School at the Pensacola International Airport. ST Engineering will use its expertise and experience as a global aviation MRO provider to develop the apprenticeship programme and provide “direct to industry” job opportunities for the academy’s apprentices, while Pensacola State College will seek FAA approval for the certification of the academy partnership and work together with ST Engineering to strengthen public awareness of career opportunities in the aviation sector.

The plan to develop an aviation training academy comes at a time when global air travel is recovering strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic, and skilled aviation maintenance professionals are in high demand not only in the US, but across the world.

Targeting to roll-out training in 2024, the academy will help support the talent needs of ST Engineering’s airframe MRO complex in Pensacola, as well as meet the hiring needs of the aviation industry in the region at large.

ASM invests in expanding IT and customer service team to tackle customs challenges

AGENCY Sector Management (ASM) has undertaken a major recruitment drive as part of its strategy to prepare for anticipated challenges set to confront UK-based forwarders in the wake of recent customs and BREXITrelated changes in regulations.

The scaled-up team across its customer service and tech departments is set to guide ASM customers through customs procedural modifications, such as the migration of export declarations from the customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system to customs Declaration Service (CDS).

Last December, HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) announced an extension for exporters to make the transition to CDS to 30 November 2023, coinciding with significant changes being introduced for transit.

“We are acutely aware of the time-critical nature of our industry and, as such, the need for

ASM customers to be fully supported by a wellstaffed team, with enquiries being responded to accurately, expertly, and in good time, with all our systems up and running efficiently,” said Peter MacSwiney, chairman, ASM.

“We hope ASM’s expanded team will provide much-needed resources to support our industry through the upcoming changes.”

The new hires will be fulfilling roles in administration, technical support, service management and IT development.

ASM, which has been providing customs software for forwarders for nearly 30 years, is currently assisting more than 500 businesses that use Sequoia to migrate to CDS.

ASM will be exhibiting at Multimodal 2023, taking place at NEC Birmingham, on the 13th –15th June, and will be sharing industry insight and the latest updates around NCTS-phase 5 and CDS exports.