Air Partner to attend WCA conferences in February 2017 to build on freight forwarder relationships

Air Partner, the global aviation services group, will be attending the 19th WCA First Conference and the 9th WCA World Conference, which are being held on 7-10 February and 9-13 February respectively.

Both conferences are taking place in Singapore for the first time, at the state-of-the-art Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, and are expected to attract thousands of freight forwarders from around the globe. Members of Air Partner’s Freight team will be in attendance at both events, but will also host a stand at the WCA World Conference.

WCA is the world’s largest and most powerful network of independent freight forwarders - with over 6,291 member offices in 189 countries globally – and is dedicated entirely to providing world-beating benefits and networking opportunities to its members. Air Partner became a member in 2008 and has shown constant support ever since, not only exhibiting at every WCA World Conference but also often sponsoring parts of the event.

Since joining the organisation, Air Partner has forged strong ties with many of the other members: these relationships work both ways, with freight forwarders calling on Air Partner if they require a charter or on-board courier, and Air Partner making use of the forwarders’ services when required.

Recent case study

Air Partner, the global aviation services group, recently carried out a time-critical lift of automotive parts on behalf of a leading freight forwarder in order to prevent critical line stoppages at an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in Brazil.

Air Partner arranged the charter of a private jet from Toluca International Airport in Mexico to Salvador International Airport in Brazil to transport 74 boxes of automotive freight, weighing 340kg in total. Since the flight time was approximately 13 hours, Air Partner had the challenging job of organising several overflight permits and landing authorisations for fuel stops. 

After the aircraft was positioned into Toluca International Airport to pick up its cargo, it stopped for fuel in Tocumen International Airport (Panama) and Cheddi Jagan International Airport (Guyana) before flying to its final destination.

The project did face obstacles but the experience of Air Partner’s Freight team meant that they could respond to these quickly and effectively. For instance, obtaining the necessary permits from these South American countries before the planned departure was no easy task, but the team was able to get this done on time on account of their contacts, local knowledge and ability to speak the local language. 

There was also bad weather at Toluca International Airport at the time of take-off, but this was pre-empted by Air Partner’s 24-hour Operations centre (which monitors all flights) and so the Freight team were able to act accordingly to minimise disruption to the flight.

Mike Hill, Director of Freight at Air Partner, commented: “We were delighted that we were able to leverage our extensive experience of arranging time-critical operations to help our client. Without the speedy delivery of these parts, production at the OEM would have been badly affected, which would have been extremely costly for the manufacturer. Flying in this part of the world is not without its challenges but our expert team are well versed in working to tight deadlines and in adverse conditions."