Network Airline Management and Liege Airport Extend Their Long Standing Relationship

Network Airline Management (NAM) and Liege Airport are pleased to extend…

Network Airline Management (NAM) and Liege Airport are pleased to extend their already long standing working relationship for a further 3 years, cementing the cargo operation in Liege for the foreseeable future. Since Network moved their freighter operation to Liege in 2014, cargo levels have strongly increased with unprecedented growth across all sectors. This is mainly down to the introduction of various new freighter routes and destinations served from Liege. Liege Airport is one of the most cargo friendly airports in Europe, with global connectivity by air and European connectivity by road, making it the perfect gateway for cargo operations.

NAM continues to expand its business and network out of the Liege hub, with its widebody freighters operating a minimum of 12 weekly flights into leading African destinations as well as operating charter flights globally. Liege welcomes this new extension as it confirms its leading position as the front running airfreight hub for the African market, committing to continuous support of this core market.

Liege airport offers 24/7 slots for widebody freighters and has dedicated infrastructure as well as processes for freighter operators, with airfreight, requiring more than just belly hold capacity. The airport workforce, local cargo community and service suppliers, gives the operators the required combination of flexibility, speed and cost efficiency.

“We have been able to grow our business over the last 5 years with the support of Liege Airport with their dedicated cargo infrastructure, we fully expect to continue developing and growing the business even further. Liege is ideally located as NAM’s European hub and offers the advantage of ease of access with a large road feeder service, as well as good widebody freighter connectivity into Asia and North America. This allows NAM to focus on the African continent utilising more than 30 years expertise, and still being able to cater for the ever increasing global opportunities”, says Malcolm Higginson – Operations Director of Network Airline Management.

“It is our pleasure to continue and expand our contract with Network Airline Management and all their partners and customers”, says Steven Verhasselt, VP Commercial Liege Airport. “NAM brings very specific expertise that fits perfectly with the #FreightersFirst strategy of Liege Airport. Africa is very important for Liege and the local cargo community. We see a lot of opportunities to continue growing the business with perishables inbound, as well as oil and mining equipment and general cargo outbound. We believe that Liege will grow into the eCommerce hub linking the Global Market to Africa, and Network Airline Management will be a crucial part of that fast developing, exciting, prospect for the Airfreight industry not only in Liege but worldwide.”

About Liege Airport

Liege Airport is Belgium’s biggest cargo airport and the most specialised platform in the heart of the Amsterdam-Paris-Frankfurt Golden Triangle for air cargo. Having a product driven development strategy, it positions itself as an easy in & out cargo hub for Central Europe. Liege specialises in express freight, eCommerce items, pharmaceutical and perishables products, as well as livestock cargo. Each specific procedure guarantees the fastest throughput time on the market. Liege Airport’s Flexport^® service takes less than one day by truck from large European cities, thus reaching around 400 million consumers. Besides offering an uncongested 24/7 operational airport it also offers the advantage of an excellent, uncongested motorway network for swift transit.

About Network Airline Management

Network Airline Management manages a fleet of freighter aircraft offering both scheduled and charter services on a worldwide basis.

NAM have a comprehensive network of scheduled and charter flights plus with the benefit of three decades of cargo expertise can deliver cost saving efficiencies to its customers. With the wealth of specialist knowledge and equipment Network possesses, virtually any commodity can be carried by air.

NAM’s scheduled network is concentrated in Africa and is complemented by freighter aircraft that can offer ad hoc or regular long term capacity, globally.

Network’s current freighter fleet consists of B747F and MD11F aircraft. No matter the size, shape or weight of the cargo, a tailored solution will be built for you.

Network Airline Management offer a range of specialist air cargo services including oversized and hazardous cargo, urgent oil industry equipment as well as livestock. Most small and large shipments can be accommodated – the nose loading capability of the B747F allows items of cargo that are in excess of twenty metres in length to be carried.

Network Aviation Group is planning a move to Crawley town centre following the acquisition of a 6,595 sq. ft office building.

The recent acquisition of Sterling House at 103 High Street, Crawley, was agreed and finalised in May 2019. The new Network Aviation Group global HQ, which was formerly home to property advisers SHW, follows significant recent expansion which has seen us outgrow our current premises in Manor Royal.

With more than 50 offices globally, handling more than 70,000 tons of aviation cargo a year, we have seen staff numbers increase from 15 to over 30, whilst revenues have gone up 30% to £200m+ (Dec 2018).

The new premises will provide more than 6,500 sq. ft of Grade A office space, with plans to refurbish and extend the premises which will create additional grow-on space for our expanding business and workforce.

Andy Leslie, Group Chairman of Network Aviation Group, said: “We’re thrilled with our new acquisition which, situated in the heart of Crawley town, responds to both the needs of our clients as well as our people.”

“We have some exciting plans to…”

“We have some exciting plans to extend the building which will create over 9,000 sq. ft of office space, including some excellent facilities such as onsite gym & fitness suite as well as a shower block and a provision of bike stands to encourage more staff to cycle to work – reaping both environmental as well as health and well-being benefits.”

Once the proposed refurbishment works are complete the three-story open-plan office will boast a unique floor-to-ceiling glass outlook over Crawley town centre. There will also be a dining-entertaining space for customers and supplier visits, as well as a large car park for staff and visitors.

“The current space will be completely gutted and totally refurbished to look fresher and more modern with boundless natural light, incorporating a stimulating style and aesthetic that is in line with our business values. We’re looking forward to the next stage in this process and hope to be onsite and operational by April 2020,” concluded Mr Leslie.

Until April 2020 all enquiries and flights will be handled via our pre-existing office based out of town – Manor Royal.

Stay tuned for more exciting news in the coming months as this project progresses even further, on our LinkedIn page here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/network-aviation-group/

Artist’s Impressions: A CGI of proposed refurbishment plans to Network Aviation’s new HQ in the heart of Crawley following the recent acquisition of 103 High Street. The premises will be our new global headquarters following a deal to acquire the property.

July’s Network News Is Here! Click the button below to read about our latest aid charter to Mozambique, new contract awards and lots more!

Click the following link to read in full now: 

Network Airline Services and Air Mauritius – the flag carrier airline of Mauritius – have renewed their long-term GSA contract in Belgium.

The long-standing contract of GSA services between NAS and Air Mauritius in Belgium has been in place since 2013 and has recently, we’re pleased to announce, been renewed for a further 2 years. The renewed contract is effective from 1st April 2019.

Patricia Heilbrink, Managing Director of Europe, said: “We are delighted that Air Mauritius has renewed our contract. I am confident that our strong focus on service quality and value-added solutions have been a significant factor and we are looking forward to continuing our long and successful partnership.”

Network Airline Management (NAM) responded to an urgent request from Scan Global, Denmark to move a much needed relief aid to Mozambique after the devasting cyclone Idai. NAM and partner, Kenya’s all cargo airline Astral Aviation, flew 52 tonnes on its scheduled flight from Liege to Nairobi and transferred to Astral who operated 3 back to back B727F charters to Beira over a 3 day period.

Sam Lindsey, Commercial Manager at NAM said “once we received the request we worked on all possibilities to move the cargo as quickly as possible. We were unable to confirm ground handling equipment to support a wide bodied freighter and the quickest solution was to operate via Nairobi and transfer to Astral Aviation’s B727Fs to fly directly in to Beira.”

The final aid was successfully delivered to Beira airport on 28th March where it was distributed by UN agencies to meet the immediate needs on the ground for the affected region. The cargo consisted of important medicines, vital foodstuffs, emergency tents, shelters and life saving hospital equipment.

The charter was organised by Scan Global Logistics who are a major provider of global aid & relief logistics solutions to world leading NGO’s based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Alied Air Cargo Represented by Network Airline Services

February 1st , 2017 – Allied Air Cargo operated two flights from its hub in Liege/LGG/ to the capital of Nigeria Abuja/ABV.

The pay-load contained over 145 tons of construction material ordered by the Nigerian Government to carry out the urgent needed refurbishment of the single runway at Abuja airport.

Flights consisted of one full charter B747-400 freighter uplifting majority of the cargo (close to 115 ton gross). This flight was followed by an MD11 Freighter carrying the surplus to complement full uplift of complete shipment. Both flights landed at ABV airport within several hours of each other, making this project a great success for all parties involved.

The order for the construction material was a direct result on the decision by Nigerian officials as to the appalling state of the single runway at ABV airport, which was becoming a threat for flight safety hence an order for repair was issued.

Below quote from an International newspaper describes the detailed situation;

“The Abuja airport runway is completely damaged, the entire structure and the architecture is gone, the runway has failed, it is just a disaster waiting to happen.””

A Joint operation between German Logistics provider Transway Airfreight GmbH and Allied Air Cargo, resulted in the timely uplift of 145 tons of construction material.

The material consisted of; Asphalt, several items classified as Dangerous goods as well as spare parts for the machinery required to perform the repair work.

By personal involvement of Managing Director, Mr Lutz Klas, Transway Airfreight performed an outstanding job fulfilling all the aspects of the pre-flight process.

Gathering the material from several providers across Europe to their own facility nearby Frankfurt Airport.
Arranging airworthy packing at their in-house facility which was a task by itself.

The close cooperation with Allied Air operations team, who advised on the best way for packing, resulted in maximum utilisation of the chartered aircraft.

Pre-transport customs requirements including obtaining Form M
Save and on time delivery to Allied Air’s hub at LGG airport for the final stretch to ABV

All in all, this project was a prime example of how close cooperation between Forwarder and Airline results in positive synergy, bringing the project to maximum success for all parties involved.

Network Airline Services in Belgium have relocated.

As from 4th February 2019, Network Airline Services BRU will operate from the Warehouse & Offices
of WFS & Brucargo Building 832 – 1830 Machelen Belgium

All previous contact details remain the same.

When telephoning our London or Manchester office you’ll notice we’ve introduced an automated service.

There are now a few options relating to our principle airline partners so that your call is quickly directed to the most appropriate team.

While waiting for an available customer service agent, you will be encouraged to obtain post flight information directly via the airline website: www.etihadcargo.com, www.aviancacargo.com, or www.network-airline.com for many of our other airlines. To optimise reservations, we recommend you email spot-quote and other customer service requests to reslhr@network-airline.com.

These improvements will ensure our performance exceeds your expectations while keeping up with increased industry demand. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your business and are confident that Network Airline Services and our principle airlines will continue to be your partner of choice.

Andy Leslie, NAG Chairman, highlights our work transporting flowers from Africa across the world.

Click here to read full article

Fresh from the paintshop, Network Airline Management’s new B747-400F has been put to work immediately.