IAG Cargo is to build a new premium freight facility at its London Heathrow Hub. The facility will handle the flow-through of express prioritised shipments and passive constant climate shipments.
The facility will be double the size of IAG’s current Premia building, and include a larger dedicated Constant Climate Quality Centre for pharmaceuticals, new delivery and collection doors, and an advanced WMS that prioritises freight.
“IAG Cargo’s four airlines now carry more premium freight than at any point in their combined history,” said CEO Drew Crawley. “With the continued growth of high speed e-commerce and cool chain logistics in particular, as well as the on-going expansion of the IAG family and network, we need facilities that are ready for the next generation of premium freight.”
The new facility is set to be fully operational in 2018. It will operate alongside the original Premia site.
Sarah Coulson, head of strategy and business development, said: “Over the past few years we have continued to see year on year growth in premium freight. Our commitment to consistently deliver a high level of service to our customers has undoubtedly influenced our strong performance in this market. We want to continue our growth and performance in this sector and our new facility will help deliver this.”
Emergency shipment service launch
IAG Cargo is launching an emergency shipment service called ‘Critical’ on 3 October. The freight company has said that the service will “provide the airfreight market with an emergency product that ensures critical shipments are both intensely monitored and guaranteed to fly”.
“We understand the pressure our freight forwarders and supply chain partners come under when a customer demands that a shipment must move that day,” said commercial director David Shepherd. “Until now we have not had a product that fully satisfies this unique need, with short cut off times and non-off loadable status, we can now meet the exact demands for shipments that simply must fly”.
