Macquarie Infrastructure Company, which owns and operates US infrastructure businesses, has agreed to acquire the fi xed base operations business of Mercury Air Centers for $456.2 million. Mercury operates a network of 24 fi xed base operations, or FBOs, at 22 airports across the US. Mercury was founded in 1958 as a provider of refueling, baggage handling and ramp services at Los Angeles International Airport. The company grew to provide cargo handling and services to the military before … [Read more...] about AMERICA: Macquarie to buy part of Mercury Air

The Airfreight Institute of FIATA (AFI) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said they are forming a Global Air Cargo Security Industry Task Force (GACSITF) to improve air cargo supply chain security. At a recent AFI meeting in Zurich, AFI executive member Piet Timmermans said: ”We are afraid that the new laws and regulation will over roll the airfreight industry if we do not speak with one voice”. The move responds to an increasingly complex and costly security … [Read more...] about EUROPE: FIATA, IATA form air cargo security unit

Air cargo was right to have strong expectations of future growth, according to Dr Gene Huang, chief economist of FedEx, who predicted it would continue to grow in line with trade growth, that is two to three times as fast as worldGDP growth. The economist, who was ranked the second most accurate forecaster by the Wall Street Journal last year, said a combination of increased access to goods and also information was producing“explosive” growth in economic … [Read more...] about EUROPE: Economist paints rosy cargo picture

The air cargo industry needs to come up with a credible security regime if it is to avoid more stringent screening legislation from the US Congress, Rob Bonner, the former commissioner of US Customs warned the TIACA Executive Conference in Cologne in mid-March. Bonner, held his post from 10 September 2001 until 2005, and was responsible for putting in place advanced cargo manifesting, the C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism) programme which now has some 8,000 companies as … [Read more...] about EUROPE: Congress doubts ¡®known shipper¡¯ programme