Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has won a three-year contract to provide full cargo handling services for Singapore Airlines Cargo at London Heathrow and at all of its UK regional locations.
The contract takes effect in January 2015 and will see WFS handle some 46,000 tonnes of cargo a year for the airline. Singapore Airlines Cargo operates two Boeing 747 freighter services a week from the UK with a payload of 100 tonnes per flight and provides cargo uplift for Singapore Airlines’ twice daily Airbus A380 flights and twice-daily B777-300 from London to Singapore, each offering between 10 and 27 tonnes of cargo capacity respectively.
At London Heathrow, Singapore Airlines Cargo will be handled in WFS’ Building 550 in the World Cargo Centre, which is undergoing significant investment prior to the start of the contract. This will provide new equipment and systems, more cargo acceptance doors and extra operational offices, and see the refurbishment of offices for Singapore Airlines Cargo’s team based at Heathrow.
WFS has also been awarded the ramp transportation contract for Singapore Airlines at London Heathrow.
Patrick Roberts, Vice President UK & Ireland for WFS, said: “Having provided cargo handling services to Singapore Airlines Cargo in Manchester for some 20 years, we are extremely proud that this new contract now makes us the airline’s sole handler in the UK and Ireland. Singapore Airlines Cargo is a major cargo carrier with a strong reputation for the quality of its freight services. This contract is a significant addition to our business in the UK and Ireland. It is also a tribute to the service levels provided by the WFS teams at all of our locations that we have been successful in what was, not surprisingly, a very competitive tender process.”
WFS is the largest on-airport cargo handler at London Heathrow, with more than 280,000 square feet of freight facilities. In September this was boosted by the opening of a further 50,000 sq ft location in Scylla Road at the airport, adjacent to the World Cargo Centre. In the UK and Ireland, WFS also operates cargo centres at London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, as well as at Luton, Bristol, Leeds-Bradford, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dublin, Shannon and Cork. WFS was founded in 1971 and is a leading global provider of ground handling and technical services, and the world’s largest cargo handler. Today, it is present at some 140 major airports in more than 20 countries on five continents. WFS serves 300 airlines globally, handling four million tonnes of cargo and serving 50 million airline passengers per annum. The company employs 10,000 staff worldwide and reported revenues for 2013 of €620 million.
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