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The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) is fully mobilized in this unprecedented crisis that the world is facing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The air cargo industry has a decisive role to play in the fight against COVID-19 and the industry’s voice must be fully heard by regulators and governments. This is why TIACA has joined the “ICAO Technical group on joint actions related to COVID-19”, other members of which are the WHO, IATA, ACI and GEA[1].

For TIACA, the goal is clear: to draw attention both to the fundamental role that the air cargo industry plays and to the need to protect its continued existence and vitality. In the current major crisis, air freight is essential for the transport of food, basic necessities and health-related products – in other words, everything necessary for people to survive. The global economy also needs air freight to continue to supply businesses and factories.

In addition to the recognition of its vitality, the way the industry operates must be clearly understood. In this crisis situation, multiple financial issues are emerging:

  • Leasing payments for expensive aircraft;
  • Salaries, energy supplies, and payments to service providers and equipment providers;
  • Taxation;
  • Difficulties arising from uncoordinated travel bans, restrictions imposed on crew movements, airport slots and route changes, etc.

Several strong steps have already been taken. But TIACA is committed to continuing to highlight the real issues facing its members and calls on them to keep it informed of the difficulties they encounter.

“TIACA sees its role in the ICAO Technical Group as using ICAO’s mechanism to reach out to governments and remind them that air cargo is a significant contributor to the global economy and international trade, and that it plays a very important role in preventing and battling the disastrous effect of coronavirus,” said Vladimir Zubkov, TIACA Secretary General.

TIACA urges governments to exempt the movement of cargo from any bans. “We support IATA’s appeal to have air cargo recognized as vital in the fight against COVID-19 and for action to be taken – in particular, removing all travel restrictions on air cargo operations and taking all necessary measures to allow air cargo to continue to circulate around the world,” said Steven Polmans, TIACA Chairman.

Gerry’s dnata Expands Offering; Launches Line Maintenance Services in Pakistan

Karachi, Pakistan, 13 January 2022 – Gerry’s dnata, Pakistan’s leading ground services provider, has expanded its offering. The company obtained Maintenance Organization Approval from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority to provide aircraft line maintenance services to airline customers, and now offers a one-stop-shop of ground handling, cargo and technical services at the airports of Karachi (KHI), Lahore (LHE) and Islamabad (ISB). 

Gerry’s dnata’s team of professionals can provide full line maintenance support and are trained on customers’ company procedures, providing a seamless service to both passenger and cargo airlines.

The launch customer is flydubai, which Gerry’s dnata already serves at four airports in Pakistan providing a range of ramp and passenger handling services to the airline and its customers.

Syed Haris Raza, Vice President of Gerry’s dnata, said: “As Pakistan’s leading ground handler, we constantly enhance our offering to best meet the needs of our customers. We are confident that our airline partners will welcome the expansion of our portfolio and take advantage of getting quality and safe ground handling and technical services from a single provider. Our team of highly trained, seasoned professionals will deliver world-class quality and safety for our valued customers.”

Mick Hills, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Maintenance at flydubai, said: “We are looking forward to expanding our relationship with Gerry’s dnata to include line maintenance services in Pakistan. Having a single, local provider to oversee our line maintenance, as well as ground handling, will add more efficiencies to our fleet management and ensure a quicker turnaround of our aircraft.”

Gerry’s dnata have the capability to handle the following aircraft types for scheduled, unscheduled and AOG services:

  • Airbus A319/A320/A321 NEO (CFM LEAP-1A)
  • Airbus A318/319/320/321 (CFM56)
  • Airbus A319/320/321 (IAE V2500)
  • Airbus A330 (RR RB 211 Trent 700)
  • Airbus A330 (GE CF6)
  • Boeing B737-600/700/800/900 (CFM56)

Over the past year, Gerry’s dnata has continued to enhance its operations and services to deliver the highest level of quality and safety and help airline customers safely transport passengers and precious cargo to and from Pakistan. It made significant investments in infrastructure, technology and equipment, including the opening of a new, state-of- the-art cargo facility in Lahore which doubled the company’s cargo handling capacity at the airport.

Gerry’s dnata’s quality of service helped it win or retain over 20 contracts with key accounts across its network. The company also achieved prestigious industry certifications, including GDP and IATA’s ISAGO accreditation, which validate its capabilities and place the business in a market leading position.

Gerry’s dnata serves more than 20 airline customers at seven Pakistani airports. The company’s team consists of over 2,500 dedicated aviation professionals who assist more than seven million passengers and handle 150,000 tons of cargo annually.

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Contact
Gabor Vasarhelyi
Public Relations, dnata
gabor.vasarhelyi@dnata.com