Global air freight business division opens its doors at Schiphol Airport

Samskip has established a dedicated air freight business, adding significant new options to a service portfolio that already includes rail, road, shortsea and inland waterway links throughout Europe and global cargo logistics solutions.

On May 1, 2021 Samskip Air opens its doors at new offices at Schiphol Airport, tasked with growing the air freight volumes Samskip already books, establishing new routes and developing opportunities for cooperation with Samskip’s pan-European multimodal network. The ‘one stop shop’ logistics options already available to Samskip generate 850,000TEU in container traffic each year, as well as sizeable general, breakbulk and project cargo volumes.

Samskip Air will be managed by Hans Blauw, whose 35-year resumé reads like a Who’s Who of air freight, including executive positions with KLM, Hellman Worldwide, FedEx, TNT and ALM (Aircraft Load Management). Joining Samskip as Airfreight Manager after four years of running Fairways Group to support Aeroméxico and DHL Aviation, Blauw reports to Mon Verstegen, General Manager Freight Forwarding, Samskip Logistics.

“As a career logistics professional, the opportunity to help Samskip Air become a force in airfreight logistics was too good to miss, in a market that is currently under-served on quality,” says Blauw. “The group has exceptional skills in temperature-controlled goods, pharmaceuticals, electrical goods and automotive parts, and there is always room for services that offer reliability, cargo handling expertise, security and robust documentation.

“With 47 offices in 35 countries, Samskip has the network, the local staff, the customs knowhow and the digital booking systems to flourish in offering airfreight services for high value cargoes, pier-to-pier and door-to-door.”

While Covid-19 brought a dip in 2020 traffic, recent years have seen annual freight volumes handled by Dutch airports stabilise at between 1.6 million and 1.8 million tonnes. Around 93% of this freight is handled at Schiphol, Europe’s no.2 airport for freight.

“Schiphol is a global gateway for air freight business with China, the United States, South America, Russia, the Middle East and Africa, and provides a European gateway to Samskip’s multimodal network of trucks, trains, barges and short sea vessels,” says Martijn Tasma, Director Global Forwarding, Samskip Logistics. “Hans’s track record speaks for itself and we are delighted to welcome him aboard as the entrepreneurial engine driving Samskip Air. We look forward to consolidating our leading logistics role in Scandinavian fisheries exports and working with our global offices to develop other volumes and links at other airports.

“In the weeks ahead, we will be presenting Samskip Air and explaining how, as a major transport group, Samskip has the negotiating power that works to the advantage of its airfreight customers and the support network to de-risk the air freight supply chain.”