Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has said it is the first cargo handler to offer independent certified cargo screening facility (ICSF) locations in more than one state in the US after its Pittsburgh International Airport operation was certified by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

This follows TSA certification of the WFS facility in Miami in January, the first CCSF to be approved in Miami and then only the third in the US.

WFS operates a 4,388 square metre cargo centre in Pittsburgh with customers at the airport including Air Canada, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta/Northwest Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, US Airways, United Airlines and USPS.

Karen Avestruz, WFS’s director, Cargo Security and Compliance, said: “While we recognise that there is a limited need for the third-party screening facilities right now, we will continue to certify our cargo facilities in anticipation of the August 2010 TSA mandate to screen 100 per cent of all cargo traveling on passenger aircraft.

The certification from the TSA as an independent cargo screening facility eliminates the need for forwarders to invest in screening technology. WFS’s independent cargo screening facilities give forwarders the option to deliver pre-screened cargo to the carrier without having to wait in queue at the cargo facilityawaiting screening, WFS said.