Groupe ADP, Bolloré Logistics and Qatar Airways Cargo came together to ease air freight activity and transportation of pharmaceutical products in France. Bolloré Logistics received medical equipment at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport coming from China, after a stopover in Doha, Qatar. The company’s-chartered plane, a Qatar Airways Cargo Boeing 777 freighter, was also carrying products from several other industries. This operation was a collaboration made possible through the mobilisation of Groupe ADP, Bolloré Logistics and Qatar Airways Cargo.
Bolloré Logistics
In Bolloré Logistics’ Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub, covering a surface area of 33,000 sq m, a crisis unit has been created to respond to emergency needs. For each shipment it provides an alternative, flexible transport plan through its international network of 107 countries.
Henri Le Gouis, CEO Europe of Bolloré Logistics, said, “we are happy to join other players at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport to ease the transportation of pharmaceutical products and protection masks, aimed to be distributed in all the France’s regions. We also thank the French Customs as well as our partners Groupe ADP and Qatar Airways for their support and the trust in us. The Bolloré Logistics whole network is involved to provide scalable solutions and helps clients to face this crisis.”
Qatar Airways Cargo
Qatar Airways Cargo is operating a large number of Boeing 777 freighters with a capacity of 100 tons each between China and France for its customers with the first freighter having commenced on 8 April. The freighters originate from Guangzhou and Shanghai and serve as an air bridge to France, delivering essential cargo and humanitarian aid. The cargo carrier has partnered with the French Embassy in Doha to support the French government and French Ministry of Health.
Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways said, “air freight plays a critical role in the global response to the COVID-19 crisis and has become the lifeline of the world. We are honoured to be able to support France with a special flight operated by a crew of French nationals.”
Groupe ADP
Groupe ADP has been strongly mobilised since the start of the crisis with all the players in the sector, such as Customs and Civil Aviation departments, freight forwarders, handlers, integrators and companies to ensure the continuity of air freight, and therefore the maintenance of an essential economic activity for the country.
Marc Houalla, Executive Director of Groupe ADP and Managing Director of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, explains, “we want to thank all our partners and especially the DGAC (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) which has in particular enabled optimal use of the slots usually devoted to passenger flights for the exclusive transport of goods, and several companies operating at the airport have thus been able to reassign their passenger plans as ‘ferry’ planes in which the entire hold is now used to transport goods”.
Consequently, while the fall in air traffic has hit passenger transport hard, the cargo activities in the current context demonstrate exceptional resilience.
Source: Bolloré Logistics
