Esipost, the wholly owned subsidiary of the French post office La
Poste carved out of its e-commerce division to interface between its
various divisions and the external business world, is gearing up to
introduce a new set of products aimed at brick-and-mortar merchants
looking to sell online. Included are a suite of online financial
products and package tracking services.
Starting in autumn 2001, Lufthansa Cargo is planning to strengthen its business ties with freight forwarders and shippers through longterm contracts designed to obtain clear commitments from the latter and to get them to share at least part of the risk inherent in the airfreight business.
From October. the air cargo specialist will offer its customers the option of making a twelve month commitment. The long-term and non-returnable use of a set amount of cargo space capacity at fixed prices (Commitment) will be a key feature of these contracts.
Like most aviation and logistics companies around the world, Federal
Express (FedEx), is feeling pressure from the global economic slump. Traffic is down and, with it, earnings.
In the face of this adversity, FedEx is cutting costs. It is
discarding 29 ageing cargo aircraft and trimming expansion plans.
There is also a hiring freeze and employees know enough not to
expect a bonus from the company’s profit-sharing programme at the
year-end. But growth in China has exceeded the company’s expectations.
TNT, the Dutch express parcels, logistics and mail company, has
thrown down the gauntlet to arch rivals Federal Express, UPS and DHL
with ambitious plans to be the market leader in Asia by 2005. Ken McCall, TNT Asia chief executive, said the company is aiming for
fourfold growth overall in the next four years. He said that within this overall growth figure, TNT wants to grow
its express business threefold and its logistics business by more
than 10 times by 2005.
Consignia, the rebranded UK post office, is following in the footsteps of French cousin La Poste in outsourcing its 40,000-vehicle fleet serving the Royal Mail and Parcelforce. It is likely that other UK large vehicle fleet operators will follow suit and decouple their non-core transport operations as haulage costs look set to rise. Lex Transfleet expects the outsource
trend to gather pace.
Air New Zealand has put Ansett Australia up for sale after Australia’s competition watchdog indicated it might give the green light to a Qantas bid for the troubled Australian subsidiary that is losing A$1.3m (US$675,000) a day.
The Australian government has lent its support to the sale despite the fact that a deal with Qantas would give the national carrier a 90 per cent share of the domestic market
Read MoreA consortium led by BAA, the UK airports operator, has defeated six other groups to win the contest to take control of two airports in Oman in its first move into the Gulf region.
Read MoreAd Scheepbouwer (57), Chairman and CEO of TPG N.V., has handed in his resignation to become Chairman and CEO of Royal KPN N.V
Read More
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