Tag Archives: PH-CKB

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo launches world’s first SAF program for the airfreight industry

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has launched the world’s first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) program for the airfreight industry, enabling freight forwarders and shippers to reduce their CO₂ emissions. By investing in the Cargo SAF Program, customers will not only help pioneer the use of SAF in our industry, but will also scale up the SAF market, contributing to a cleaner future for air transport.

SAF – a key instrument in reducing CO₂ emissions The first step towards a carbon-free future is carbon-neutral growth in our industry, which implies there should be no increase in CO₂ emissions despite traffic growth. Investing in SAF is a necessary step in this process and one of the primary instruments in reducing CO₂ emissions. For years, Air France and KLM have led the way in terms of fuel efficiency and seeking alternative fuel solutions. KLM operated the world’s first commercial flight using SAF on 29 June 2011, with a flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Shortly thereafter, we began offering our corporate customers the option of compensating for CO₂ emissions from business travel by investing in SAF.

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SAF is still not widely available. That is why we have set up this program for shippers and forwarders, to stimulate and enlarge the market for SAF. Your investment will help to further develop SAF and the market for SAF, but also to put SAF higher on the agenda of all stakeholders. This new program will enable us to team up with shippers and forwarders who share our commitment to sustainability, making SAF more widely available at a more reasonable price, competing with standard jet fuel.

Customers determine level of engagement

The Cargo SAF Program enables shippers and forwarders to power a percentage of their flights with SAF. Customers determine their own level of engagement and we ensure that their entire investment is used for sourcing SAF. When investing in SAF, our customers receive a third-party audited report, justifying the purchased volume of SAF in relation to traffic and indicating the reduction in CO₂ emissions achieved. By participating in the Cargo SAF Program, our customers not only reduce the carbon footprint, but confirm their commitment to leading the industry towards a more sustainable future. Only with the support of all industry stakeholders can we successfully develop a more viable market for SAF.

Above Copyright Photo: KLM Cargo (Royal Dutch Airlines) – Martinair Boeing 747-406 ERF PH-CKB (msn 33695) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 951924.

KLM aircraft slide show:

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is ready to distribute COVID-19 vaccines

The Group has made this announcement:

Since the 3rd week of March 2020, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has made every effort to maintain its global airfreight network, helping to keep vital supply chains in place. This has always been essential, but even more so since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring that healthcare facilities as well as private citizens have access to medicines, medical equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical products. Approximately 6,000 cargo-only flights have been carried out in recent months. Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is currently operating services to more than 100 long-haul destinations.

One of the next logistical challenges will be the global distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines. Earlier this week, the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, together with German partner BioNTech, announced great success in the first interim analysis from the Phase III study of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

Above Copyright Photo: KLM Cargo (Royal Dutch Airlines) – Martinair Boeing 747-406 ERF PH-CKB (msn 33695) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 951924.

KLM aircraft slide show:

In terms of volume, distributing the vaccines will be an unprecedented logistical operation. Initial expectations are that around 15 billion vaccines will need to be distributed worldwide. Many of these will also need to be distributed at very low temperatures. The Pfizer vaccine must be kept deep frozen (at -70 degrees Celsius). Others will need to be distributed at a constant temperature of between +2 and +8 degrees Celsius. This means that logistical solutions will be essential to maintain quality throughout the vaccine distribution chain.

Senior Vice President Sales & Distribution Air France KLM Martinair Cargo GertJan Roelands: “Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has years of experience with temperature-controlled transportation of pharmaceuticals and was the first airline group to be CEIV certified by IATA. The distribution of Covid-19 vaccines poses specific challenges in terms of volume, transportation requirements and security. In order to be fully prepared for this we started a Covid-19 Vaccine taskforce four months ago. This taskforce represents all the relevant Air France KLM Martinair Cargo departments. Our teams have been working on an extensive action plan. For example, at our Schiphol Pharma Hub, we opened up a 1,118 m3 Climate Controlled storage facility a few months ago and we are building an additional 2,061 m3 additional Cool Room. At our Charles de Gaulle Pharma Hub, a new Climate Controlled storage area is about to be finished. We also introduced Hybrid and Advanced Passive Solutions that will be used to transport the vaccines, on top of existing full range of Active Containers. Along with many other initiatives, extra monitoring and intervention management have also been implemented.”

Executive Vice President Air France-KLM Cargo Adriaan den Heijer: “We believe that cooperation and building communities around the upcoming global vaccines distribution are essential. We’ve established partnerships with many of the parties in the logistical chain, including forwarders, trucking companies, container providers, airports, cargo/logistical associates, pharmaceutical companies and healthcare-related institutes and authorities. We believe that strong cooperation between partners will be essential to successfully executing this logistical challenge.”

Together with Air Cargo Netherlands (ACN) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and with Aéroport de Paris (already two leading European Pharma hubs), we’ve established two taskforces to fully prepare both airports communities for upcoming vaccine transport operations.

Adriaan den Heijer: “In recent weeks, we successfully shipped the first Covid-19 vaccines. Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is ready for this logistical challenge, ready to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the Netherlands, to France and to many other countries around the globe.”

About Air France KLM Martinair Cargo

The Air France-KLM Group is a global airline group with a strong European base. Its main areas of business are passenger transport, cargo transport and aeronautical maintenance. Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is the Air France-KLM Group’s dedicated air cargo business. Air France-KLM Cargo is a member of SkyTeam Cargo (www.skyteamcargo.com) offering an even larger network coverage.

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