In response to growing demand for a seamless, flexible, and fully digital cargo experience, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has added an allotment customization feature to its myCargo platform. This is a “significant update” because it allows customers to have complete control over their allotment bookings. The release speaks of bringing “the autonomy of spot bookings to contracted capacity”.
The company is focused on facilitating the entire cargo experience, it says: “from quotation and booking through to tracking.” In giving authority to customers to customize their allotment bookings so that they meet contractual requirements, does away with manual intervention via a customer service representative, and is therefore a far quicker and more efficient process. The new feature allows users to select their own Air Waybill (AWB) numbers as well as define specific origin and destination points for shipments, ensuring routing requirements are met. Further, detailed cargo and handling information can be entered and shippers designated according to the respective contract terms and agreements. These enhancements deliver substantial benefits – mostly speed and control. Customers gain enhanced flexibility to manage complex contracts, including those involving multiple origins, destinations, or product groups. They are not bound by the limitations of pre-assigned AWBs, since choosing their own means accelerated booking and handling processes. And finally, a fully digital, self-managed booking experience brings convenience and independence. GertJan Roelands, SVP Commercial at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, stated: “Empowering our customers to manage their business anytime, anywhere lies at the heart of our digital strategy. The new allotment customization option in myCargo is a game-changer, giving users full control over their allocations 24/7. This launch marks a key milestone in our commercial transformation and reaffirms our commitment to customer-centric innovation.”

In today’s world with freighter delivery delays, limited capacities and aging fleets, partnerships are more important than ever, says CargoTech. Strategic partnerships can help to ensure that capacities are used more efficiently, since these have become increasingly constrained in the past five years. The lack of capacity is pitted against a massive increase in e-commerce business, but also maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) bottlenecks. CargoTech’s digital solutions offer support to airlines when it comes to analyzing and sourcing available capacity, expanding interline networks, and optimizing space and load factors in real time – particularly since different partners often operate very different digital systems. Its press release illustrates three of its members and their tools: Rotate is first up. Its solution is capable of analyzing different scenarios regarding fleet, network, and partnership strategies. CargoAi’s Interline module enables airlines to cross-book capacities and combine offers from different carriers, simplifying the booking process and ensuring real-time data for all parties. Wiremind’s CARGOSTACK then optimizes all available capacity, manages rates, highlights exceptions, and supports efficient inventory management.
Cédric Millet, President of CargoTech, commented: “Any form of partnership or interline agreement looks good on paper but can pose large operational challenges since often more than one ground handler is involved in addition to the airlines’ own digital systems, and therefore differing software solutions need interfacing. Also, the cargo market seeks long-term capacity stability, and yet airline schedules, negotiations and allotments are usually done on a seasonal basis, which can be difficult to balance. Three points are important when it comes to optimizing available assets and delivering better revenue: smooth digital interaction, easy access to partner capacity, and ensuring optimum use of all available space. Three of our CargoTech members offer precisely those solutions.”
Michael Teoh, Head of Strategy at CargoTech, said: “Capacity optimization requires reliable, real-time information, excellent IT interfacing, and useful scenarios suggestions on which to base quick, commercial decisions. CargoTech delivers the digital framework and human expertise to fully support partnering airlines in maximizing on available capacities in the market. Our aim is an agile, responsive, and profitable air cargo industry – one with a future, despite its current space limitations.”

Kales Airline Services announced this week that it is the world’s first General Sales & Service Agent (GSSA) to secure the strict, industry-recognized quality stamp that is the IATA CEIV Pharma certificate. This was awarded for its operations in Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland following a long and structured audit by an independent validator. By achieving this certification, Kales has proven its ability to meet the most rigorous international standards for quality, safety, compliance, and operational efficiency – all crucial steps in a supply chain catering to the pharmaceutical industry, as failure to meet standards can have very costly if not fatal consequences. The GSSA is committed to top-quality handling of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments and the CEIV Pharma gives peace of mind to customers as they can trust that Kales is compliant, reliable, and understands their requirements and the relevant regulations around pharmaceutical transport. With the ever-increasing volumes of pharma being transported, those companies that can demonstrate their standards will be in a better position when it comes to tenders. How soon will other GSSAs follow?
Sebastiaan Scholte, CEO of Kales Airline Services, commented: “This is an important milestone as the first GSSA ever to certify for CEIV Pharma. Pharmaceutical shipments are increasing, and it is important not only to have the certification, but also the knowledge and the right mindset to handle these shipments properly. We are proud to lead the way in raising the standards for GSSAs globally.” Brendan Sullivan, head of cargo for IATA underlined: “Pharmaceuticals are among the most sensitive and time-critical cargo we transport, and CEIV Pharma helps ensure they are handled to the highest global standards. We congratulate Kales Airline Services on becoming the first GSSA to achieve certification. Their achievement is a notable step that reflects the growing recognition of quality across all parts of the air cargo supply chain.”

Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY has chosen ECS Group subsidiaries Globe Air Cargo France and Nordic GSA (Denmark) as its General Sales & Service Agents (GSSAs) for France, Denmark, and additional European markets. They will expand PLAY’s cargo operations using CargoTech digital tools, supporting its fleet of 10 A320neo/A321neo aircraft. PLAY launched in JUN24 and serves 37 destinations in 18 countries across North America, Europe, and Africa. Each flight offers up to 4.5 tons/10 m³ of bulk cargo space for general cargo, aircraft and ship parts, or vegetables. The airline’s Keflavík hub in Iceland connects to Europe, Africa, and North America – an attractive network for ECS Group’s forwarding customers.
Jean Ceccaldi, CEO of ECS Group, said: “Word of mouth is the best business card, especially in a people-centric industry like ours. Globe Air Cargo France and Nordic GSA won the tender for PLAY because of ECS Group’s success with one of PLAY’s partners. Our teams proved that they have the local expertise and advanced digital tools needed to support this new and ambitious leisure airline in building a stable and expanding belly cargo business almost from scratch. Paris Charles de Gaulle is currently PLAY’s leading destination by frequency, followed by Copenhagen, so our teams were a logical geographical choice for European GSSA headquarter operations. ECS Group welcomes PLAY to its customer portfolio and will be following its expansion with great interest.”
Franck Tordjman, Managing Director of Globe Air Cargo France, commented: “The potentials for cargo growth with such a young airline – PLAY began operating just four years ago – are very appealing and Globe Air Cargo is thrilled to be its first French GSSA and to develop a successful network together. We have devised a clear strategy that includes digital process enhancements and a vision to securely place PLAY and Iceland on the map, and fly cargo to and from as many of PLAY’s destinations as possible.” Thomas Frederiksen, Managing Director of Nordic GSA in Denmark, stated: “We already have regular flows of cargo on PLAY flights from Denmark to Tenerife (TFS) and Gran Canaria (LPA) in the Canary Islands. While these are primarily highly popular holiday destinations for passengers, Nordic GSA’s mission is to equally promote opportunities for cargo business on board of PLAY, and to generate excellent baseload revenue for the airline. Not just for these destinations, but also others within its network that may have never seen cargo before. We’re fortunate, as part of ECS Group, to have state-of-the-art digital support at our fingertips when it comes to reading and acting on market trends and establishing new cargo revenue streams.”

Mondial Airline Services GmbH, a Global GSA Group subsidiary, has secured the GSA contract to represent Coyne Airways in Germany as of 17APR25. The agreement centers on Coyne’s scheduled B767 freighter operations from Frankfurt via Liège to the Caspian region (serving Tbilisi, Georgia, and Yerevan, Armenia), with flexible connections to the Middle East and Africa.
Mondial manages the road feeder services between Frankfurt and Liège for the regular shipments of automotive parts, healthcare products, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and foodstuffs. The contract also covers Coyne’s Gulf network, offering access to over 30 destinations across the Middle East and Africa via Sharjah (SHJ) and Dubai (DWC) hubs – including otherwise rarely served destinations such as Kabul (KBL), Baghdad (BGW), Basra (BSR), Erbil (EBL), Sulaimaniyah (ISU), Asmara (ASM), Juba (JUB), and Ndjamena (NDJ).
Larry Coyne, Chief Executive Officer of Coyne Airways, commented: “Local market expertise is the foundation for business success. With its offices in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart and Hamburg, and proven sales excellence, we are confident that Mondial will deliver the high quality response times and customer service levels that our customers at Coyne Airways expect and deserve. And, as we continue to expand, Mondial will be able to provide the additional resources necessary to meet the increasing demand for our freighter services to the Caucasus region, the Middle East and Africa.”
Zafer Aggunduz, Chief Commercial Officer, Global GSA Group, said: “To count such an established and unique airline model as Coyne Airways as our latest partner is both an honor and an inspiration for us at Global GSA Group and Mondial Airline Services GmbH, in particular. Our GSA teams across Germany pride themselves in the entrepreneurial spirit, agility and product knowledge required to act as a perfect extension of Coyne Airways in their local markets. We look forward to contributing to Coyne Airways’ continued success.” Aytekin Saray, Chief Executive Officer of Global GSA Group, stated: “Coyne Airways is an outstanding example of how flexibility and reliability can be perfectly in tune. Its service covers the entire spectrum of cargo commodities from pharma to dangerous goods, and connects many of the more challenging and lesser-served destinations, so processes need to be expertly organized and all eventualities considered to ensure the quality expected by its customers. Mondial Airline Services GmbH is always ready to make the seemingly impossible effortlessly possible, in line with its airline partner’s philosophy.”

The long-time Lufthansa Cargo executive, J. Florian Pfaff has become external advisor to ATC Aviation Services AG. As an independent consultant operating under the brand J. Florian Pfaff – Aviation Consulting, he will support ATC going forward with his expertise in the general sales agent’s business development. Ingo Zimmer, CEO ATC Aviation Services states: “We are more than happy that Florian is joining forces with ATC. We are confident that his in-depth market knowledge and global network will make a valuable contribution to the continued growth of our activities.” With 35 years of international experience in the air cargo industry, Pfaff a real airfreight veteran.
Throughout his career, he has been responsible for the markets Asia, Germany, Europe, Africa, as well as parts of North and Central America. On 01MAR25 the former Singapore-based head of Asia Pacific exited LH Cargo due to age reasons. Shortly before his retirement, he told CargoForwarder Global that although his career at Lufthansa Cargo was over, his professional activities in the airfreight industry were not. This has now been realized through the partnership with ATC. On the occasion, Pfaff stated: ”I am extremely excited to work with ATC – the leading GSSA worldwide. I look forward to supporting their business and growth.” Frankfurt-based ATC Aviation Services AG is one of the biggest and most experienced GSSAs worldwide. Approximately, 75+ cargo airlines belong to the agent’s overall portfolio. The list includes numerous well-known names like, ANA Cargo, Avianca Cargo, China Airlines, Ethiopian Cargo, Korean Air, Sichuan Airlines, Turkish Airlines, to name but a few. It runs 52 offices in 30 countries.

WestJet Cargo outsourced its customs processes to TCE on 18NOV24, citing TCE’s resource efficiency and expertise. TCE quickly developed a tailored customs monitoring and reporting solution for all WestJet Cargo’s international movements. Within just six weeks, TCE analyzed workflows, identified optimizations, and established a system for customs messaging, accessing WestJet’s SmartKargo ACMS and CHAMP portals to manage and action all customs communications. It now delivers comprehensive customs reporting, supporting all Advance Cargo Information (ACI) processes, including AMS, ACAS, PLACI, PACT, VUCEM, and ICS2. The dedicated customs team covers three key areas: Monitoring and Documentation (ensuring accurate, compliant data submissions), Reporting and Communication (providing timely updates and liaising with stakeholders), and Investigation and Corrective Action (analyzing penalties, investigating causes, and managing appeals). WestJet has already noticed reduced fixed costs, optimized resource use, and improved customer service.
Sarah Scheibe, Managing Director of TCE, described: “We tailored a bespoke solution for WestJet Cargo that aligns with the airline’s unique requirements and system configurations, ensuring seamless messaging synchronization. Following the setup phase, we conducted trial runs in a test environment to identify and address any potential gaps before going live shortly after these were successfully completed. We now have a dedicated TCE WestJet Cargo customs monitoring team in operation 24/7, with two main targets: to manage and maximize customs compliance, and to minimize customs fines.” Julius Mooney, Director – Cargo Commercial at WestJet Cargo, explained that the decision to outsource customs processes, to alleviate pressure on its Operations Control Center and allow them to focus on core responsibilities, had been taken in NOV24: “Given the increasing complexity the air cargo industry has seen in this area over the past four months, our decision could not have come at a better time. Customs training and understanding are a challenge for any airline as the rules often change and we are constantly working against the clock to ensure that our aircraft leave as scheduled, with all cargo correctly and safely declared and stowed on board. […] Judging by the money we have saved so far in customs fines, by the end of this year, we could be looking at having to pay out less than a fifth of what was paid in 2024. They say ‘money talks’: I can’t think of a better example to prove TCE’s efficiency and expertise, and would like to thank Sarah Scheibe and her amazing team, at this point. As far as I am concerned, the C in TCE stands for Total Customs Expertise – which I can ‘declare’ to be a total success for WestJet Cargo.”