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February 2008 Bolivian flooding calls for urgent international assistance… Floods affecting nearly 25,000 families hit parts of Bolivia last month causing the country’s President Evo Morales to declare a state of emergency after weeks of heavy rain; this has been caused by the climatic phenomenon known as La Niña, and has devastated several parts of the country. Air Charter Service (ACS) one of the leading operators in cargo and passenger air chartering, received an urgent call from a Spanish based relief agency to carry 10 tonnes of much needed water purification equipment, medical kits, tents, blankets and mosquito nets from Madrid Torrijon Airport on the 12th February 2008, just three days after the agency approached ACS. The 70cbm cargo was expertly loaded into the AN-12 with only a 90cbm volume, resulting in the on site load master remarking how ‘our skills at Tetris have come in very handy today’. Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst, ACS said: “This is the fourth charter that we have successfully operated for this client and ACS’ dedicated broker relationships and the added bonus of the team being fluent in Spanish certainly helps put our customers’ minds at rest. Speaking the language also helped me to secure landing rights and permits with the minimum of delay.” ACS works to assist governments, charities and aid agencies when ‘every minute counts’ in saving lives. Being very aware of the urgency required in these situations, as a minimum requirement many of the charter brokers at ACS are bi- or tri-lingual. They have supported relief efforts into countries including Algeria, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Sudan and operated a variety of nearly 500 flights in the aftermath of the catastrophic tsunami which struck Thailand on December 26th 2004. Contact: Ruan Courtney, President and Charter Sales Manager ACS New York and team cargo@aircharterserviceusa.com
December 2007 ACS Condors fly 200 tonnes of ‘Christmas Trees’ to Egypt… Enormous ocean freighters are generally the preferred mode of transport when carrying 200 tonnes of oil drilling equipment from the UK out to the Middle East. However, when the production of 15 massive ‘Christmas tree’, component parts of oil drilling equipment required by an Egyptian oil development was delayed back in November the shippers involved turned to Air Charter Service (ACS) who chartered two mighty AN-124 aircraft. ACS’ key qualities as an international organization with a high level of professionalism on the ground were vital. The difficulties the Houston-based shipper had in arranging transport from the UK to Egypt were overcome by the smooth and easy interactions of ACS’ New York and East Midlands offices. However it was the skills of ACS employees on site which proved critical. Ruan Courtney, President and Charter Sales Manager ACS New York, emphasised the importance of the “experience of Ralph Cutting our EMA based Operations Manager, in ensuring that any problems the shipper experienced prior to loading – such as the cargo not being able to fit through the airport gates! - were dealt with efficiently and well in advance of the flight.” Yet another example of ACS’ ability to offer quick and effective logistics solutions to their customers. Contact: Ruan Courtney, President and Charter Sales Manager ACS New York and team cargo@aircharterserviceusa.com
August 2007 Speed bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing… The opening line of the traditional Sky Boat Song was never meant as a prophecy. But earlier this month it became literally true when a fast ferry called the Spirit of Skye was flown from Scotland to Kazakhstan. The vessel was bought by a mining firm with an urgent need for a vessel to carry a VIP on a tour of its sites in September. The 16.5 tonne boat, which can carry 36 passengers, was flown on board an Antonov-22 flight which ACS expertly brokered with absolute precision. The mining firm launched a worldwide search for the perfect vessel and the Spirit of Skye which had been up for sale for a while was the only craft that fitted their very precise specifications. The journey as the crow flies from Scotland to Kazakhstan is 2,400 miles and the time scale, nor the height of the bridges through Europe, would have allowed this cargo to be moved by sea. Nick Harris, Cargo Charter Analyst, ACS said: “The Antonov-22 with its 50 tonne payload capacity was the perfect choice for this flight; the aircraft is the largest propeller-driven aircraft in the world, we are very familiar with the aircraft but the complex shape of the vessel meant that it took nearly five hours to load. We had a tight deadline and the flight was a complete success.” Contact: Nick Harris / Paul Hoatson, Cargo Charter Analysts at london@aircharter.co.uk As appeared in the Scotsman
September 2007 Air Charter Service flies relief to Peru earthquake… In keeping with Air Charter Service’s proud association with relief work, their New York office recently chartered a DC-10 to carry 3,000 tents, toys and classroom materials to Lima, Peru from Miami. The flight was arranged on behalf of a manufacturer and supplier of emergency shelters and was flown to Peru to provide aid in the wake of the August earthquake in the South West San de Cañete area of Peru. The earthquake killed over 300 hundred people and left many more homeless; because of the urgent nature of the cargo, Air Charter Service organised for three cargo attendants to accompany the flight to assist with unloading at Lima. Air Charter Service won the commission on price, as the Company was set on doing its best to help in the situation. Michael Guthenberg, cargo consultant at ACS USA, said: “At Air Charter Service, we are extremely proud of our broad and varied scope of work with charities and relief agencies. We had a short time to source the most suitable aircraft for the flight but secured a DC10 that matched the payload requirements perfectly.” Contact Michael Guthenberg, Cargo consultant at Air Charter Service New York cargo@usa-aircharter.com
May 2007 Air Charter Service bases aircraft at Châteauroux Air Charter Service plc, the private air charter specialist is delighted to announce that it is to base an Antonov 26 cargo plane at Châteauroux-Déols "Marcel Dassault" Airport, situated 220 km south of Paris. This is the first time that an aircraft has been based at the facility. Air Charter Service is London-based, with other permanent offices in New York, Dubai and Moscow. Globally recognised as a leading name in passenger and cargo air chartering, it operates around 2,700 flights annually. The company was established in 1990 and provides a complete turnkey service for anyone needing to charter an aircraft on a one-off basis, arranging all aspects of a charter from fully crewed aircraft to ground transfers. ACS monitors real-time movements of more than 50,000 aircraft worldwide and tracks data on airports, fuel prices, legislation and routings. Justin Bowman, ACS commercial director, comments, “Châteauroux is perfectly placed for the heartland of the French automotive industry, and basing the Antonov 26 there means that we can better serve the needs of our clients in the auto industry, co-ordinating “just-in-time” deliveries of parts.”
July 2007 Transport of oil well equipment across the world... Air Charter Service (ACS) has been a specialist in outsize cargo transport for the past 15 years. Recently they were able to demonstrate just how accomplished they are in this area of expertise when they assisted one of their clients, a major freight forwarder in Norway, to transport outsized cargo across the world. ACS were contacted when a leading Norwegian oil company urgently needed to transport some vital oil well equipment from Osaka, Japan to Oslo, Norway. The cargo included 124 oil pipes, all 12 metres long, 30 centimetres in diameter and weighing 110 tonnes in total. Experienced cargo broker Andy Holmes located an Antonov 124 to transport the cargo in no time. Experience is often the key when dealing with air cargo, and in this case it proved vital as Andy was able to obtain Japanese traffic rights within ten days, thereby meeting the client’s deadline for delivery. ACS prides itself on quality service with great flexibility to suit the customers’ needs. Once again ACS was able to deliver a full service on an international route and leave another one of their valued clients satisfied.
March 2007 Eric Clapton: live in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong... According to local myth, there is a pub in Shropshire where Eric Clapton used to stroll in occasionally and ask if the band would let him join them for a few numbers. That was in the late 1970s; today, any performance by the legendary artist requires meticulous management over an extended period. To illustrate the scale of a Clapton event, his recent packed-stadium tour of the Far East involved the movement of around 25 tons of band and stage equipment between venues. Eric had not played in Singapore since 1990 — and it was only his second Bangkok performance in 30 years — and audience expectations were high, so every aspect of the tour had to be perfectly handled. Ian Haynes, director of Rock It cargo, turned to Air Charter Service to guarantee that all of his equipment would always be in the right place at the right time. The tour entailed five performances, in five countries, within a nine-day period in January. Justin Bowman, Air Charter Service’s worldwide commercial director, arranged an Airbus A-300 to carry the vital cargo across thousands of miles: from Bangkok to Singapore, then to Hong Kong, onwards to Shanghai and finally to Seoul. As with any such itinerary, details had to be changed along the way, but ACS always rose to the occasion.