Current news
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ACS lend a helping hand October, 2008 Air Charter Service recently chartered an ILYUSHIN-76 on behalf of a UK development company, as part of a UN contract. This cargo charter was for an outsized land mine clearance vehicle weighing 15 tonnes. Due to the size and weight of the machine the only feasible way to move it quickly enough was to charter an aircraft. The stage two aircraft flew from Vatry International (France) to Juba in Southern Sudan. The transportation of this vehicle is part of a programme to demine and rebuild the roads in Sudan in order to rebuild the infrastructure and help those that had been displaced because of the civil war and return home in safety. Richard Thompson said “Arranging any charter flight into Southern Sudan is problematic at the moment, due to the current political climate. We had to work closely with our consignee the UN in order to get the flight and landing permits that we needed” Air Charter Service work with a number of development agencies that are helping to rebuild countries due to wars and other humanitarian crises, their quick reaction times are extremely valuable to these agencies. When it is a matter of urgency ACS will be able to find a charter solution day or night in the fastest possible time. Contact our cargo team 24/7 +44 (0) 20 8943 9966 |
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Urgent relief for Gustav and Hannah victims September, 2008 Haiti was torn apart by two hurricanes in the space of a week, destroying 11,000 homes leaving 850,000 people in desperate need of aid. Richard Thompson was approached by a Spanish relief agency to charter an aircraft to get their aid to the people of Haiti. Due to the urgency of the situation there was only 24 hours to organise this charter- including permits. The aircraft used to carry the 12 tons of urgent relief cargo which included two water purifying units, generators and ration packs was the Anthonov-12. This aircraft is cost effective, rear loading and with internal loading systems allowing cargo to be loaded quickly and easily making it an ideal solution for this urgent charter. Richard Thompson said“ACS was able to arrange all permits for the flight and position the aircraft into Torrejon (Spain) within 24 hours after the customer’s confirmation” ACS specialises in this type of emergency response, and with 17 years experience their expertise in this area is highly respected. This reputation has directly lead to ACS being appointed the nominated broker for the British Government’s Department for International Development and they have won many other contracts with governmental and non-governmental relief organisations worldwide.
Contact Richard Thompson by email cargo@aircharter.co.uk |
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ACS Provides air transport of relief goods to USAID for Typhoon Frank June, 2008 When USAID were faced with a colossal relief operation they called on ACS London who efficiently transported 31,000 kilograms of relief cargo to the Philippines in one day after Typhoon Frank hit the region on 20th June 2008.
Using an Airbus A300F the 31,000 kilograms of cargo was rapidly flown 6500 nm from Pisa, Italy to aid some of the 20 provinces of the Philippines affected by the storm. Nick Harris and the London team ensured that the 3,620 families left homeless by Typhoon Frank quickly received the emergency cargo which included plastic sheeting, jerricans and hygiene kits. According to the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council Typhoon Frank destroyed, or damaged, more than 150,000 homes, flooded approximately 555,987 acres of farmland, and ruined 18.5 tons of agricultural produce. This represents the second relief effort in as many months following ACS’ gallant efforts last month, when 37 cargo flights carrying relief goods were operated for aid agencies after a cyclone hit Burma in May. Nick Harris Cargo Charter Analyst at ACS commented: “As with every aid agency call received the ACS London team treated the Typhoon Frank relief flight as extremely urgent. We only had one day to obtain all the permits in addition to organising offloading equipment when no conventional equipment was available. We are very proud to have been selected to assist USAID and to help so many people when they needed it most.” With established offices in London, New York, Dubai, Moscow and Hong Kong, ACS assists Governmental organisations, non-governmental relief organisations. Their extensive work has directly lead to ACS being appointed as the nominated broker to the British Government’s Department For International Development (DFID) and to assisting many other relief organisations. Contact: Nick Harris, London based Cargo Charter Analyst and team Cargo@aircharter.co.uk |
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ACS is proud of its quick reaction to the deluge of calls received to mobilise aircraft into cyclone hit Burma. May, 2008 A natural disaster can hit any part of the world at any time, you can’t predict where or when it will happen but in ACS’ line of work it has to be ready for when it does. The air charter industry is an integral part of the logistics chain necessary for the execution of the worldwide relief efforts undertaken by governments, NGOs, Charities and private organisations. The mobilisation of aircraft into Burma carrying relief shipments for the cyclone victims and into China transporting specialist earthquake equipment and teams once again showed just how effective air support can be. Time is of the essence in these circumstances and the time saved by flying the aid into the worst effected areas protected lives and got medical and food aid to where it was needed quickly and effectively. There are few companies better placed to answer an urgent call under these circumstances than Air Charter Service (ACS), the international air charter broker which monitors the movement of over 50,000 aircraft worldwide at any given time, to ensure that the best placed aircraft can be mobilised in the shortest possible time. ACS has a long and proud history in providing humanitarian aid charters to disasters around the globe. Justin Bowman, Group Commercial Director at ACS commented “We were able to assist aid agencies from all over the world handling the relief efforts for cyclone hit Burma. We operated 37 cargo flights to the region organised by our London, Dubai and New York offices, carrying tonnes of food, tents, blankets, mosquito nets, water purification tablets, flat bottom boats with outboard engines, medical kits and jerry cans.” The worldwide ACS team mobilised a wide range of cargo aircraft to the region, these included A300s, DC8s, IL-76s and AN12s. In addition to sourcing cargo aircraft from outside suppliers for charter requirements, ACS also has several aircraft that are on long term lease and which are under its commercial control. In addition ACS provides operational support for these aircraft from their base at East Midlands airport. Most importantly, the managed fleet can be airborne within 90 minutes of ACS receiving confirmation of a flight. With established offices in London, New York, Dubai, Moscow and Hong Kong, ACS assists Governmental organisations, non-governmental relief organisations, their extensive work has directly lead to ACS being appointed as the nominated broker to the British Government Department For International Development (DFID) and to many other relief organisations. Contact one of our cargo sales team to find out about all our relief capabilities CargoOnlineEnquiries@aircharter.co.uk
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ACS conduct urgent next day delivery March, 2008 When an oil refinery in the North of England urgently required a spare part to be replaced, they turned to ACS to tackle the crisis immediately. The call was made mid-morning on Friday 29th February and by that afternoon the flight was confirmed. The aircraft, a long-haul cargo carrier which needed to traverse the 5,000 miles between Houston, USA and Doncaster, UK to deliver the part, arrived by 1:30 pm the next day: less than 24 hours after the client confirmed. The speed and efficiency of the service provided by ACS is essential when the cost of non-production far outweighs the cost of retrieving the part. Richard Thompson, a Cargo Charter Analyst at ACS London, explains: “The crew of the B747 (100,000kgs capacity freighter) must have thought there was a mistake when they were presented with a 1,200kg pallet for loading. When you’re a company potentially losing around $1,000,000USD per day, we understand that speed outweighs the cost. Under all circumstances ACS will, of course, search out the most cost effective and appropriate aircraft for our customers, however, when time is of the essence exceptional solutions such as this may be used.” Contact: Richard Thompson, London based Cargo Charter Analyst and team London@aircharter.co.uk |
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Bolivian flooding calls for urgent international assistance… February, 2008 Floods affecting nearly 25,000 families hit parts of Bolivia last month causing the country’s President Evo Morales to declare a state of emergency after weeks of heavy rain; this has been caused by the climatic phenomenon known as La Niña, and has devastated several parts of the country. Air Charter Service (ACS) one of the leading operators in cargo and passenger air chartering, received an urgent call from a Spanish based relief agency to carry 10 tonnes of much needed water purification equipment, medical kits, tents, blankets and mosquito nets from Madrid Torrijon Airport on the 12th February 2008, just three days after the agency approached ACS. The 70cbm cargo was expertly loaded into the AN-12 with only a 90cbm volume, resulting in the on site load master remarking how ‘our skills at Tetris have come in very handy today’.
Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst, ACS said: ACS works to assist governments, charities and aid agencies when ‘every minute counts’ in saving lives. Being very aware of the urgency required in these situations, as a minimum requirement many of the charter brokers at ACS are bi- or tri-lingual. They have supported relief efforts into countries including Algeria, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Sudan and operated a variety of nearly 500 flights in the aftermath of the catastrophic tsunami which struck Thailand on December 26th 2004. Contact Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst and team at london@aircharter.co.uk |
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Transformer transport is Optimus Prime... December, 2007 Sometimes the strength of an organisation lies in its commitment to detail and its quality of foresight. This proved truer than usual when Air Charter Service were asked to carry two 31 tonne, four metre high transformers nearly 3,000 miles from the UK to Iran. Securing a massive Antonov-124 Ruslan, ACS had to plan carefully to ensure that the load could be properly fitted and supported. Ben Dinsdale, London based Cargo Charter Analyst, describes how, realising that the weight of the transformers was such that they would be too heavy to be supported during the flight on the original bases, “We organised a visit to the factory the week before the flight in order to advise how to spread the weight efficiently by altering the base for optimum loading onto the AN-124.” Contact Ben Dinsdale, London based Cargo Charter Analyst and team london@aircharter.co.uk |
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