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According to local myth, there is a pub in Shropshire where Eric Clapton used to stroll in occasionally and ask if the band would let him join them for a few numbers. That was in the late 1970s; today, any performance by the legendary artist requires meticulous management over an extended period. To illustrate the scale of a Clapton event, his recent packed-stadium tour of the Far East involved the movement of around 25 tons of band and stage equipment between venues.

Eric had not played in Singapore since 1990 — and it was only his second Bangkok performance in 30 years — and audience expectations were high, so every aspect of the tour had to be perfectly handled. Ian Haynes, director of Rock It cargo, turned to Air Charter Service to guarantee that all of his equipment would always be in the right place at the right time. The tour entailed five performances, in five countries, within a nine-day period in January.

Justin Bowman, Air Charter Service’s worldwide commercial director, arranged an Airbus A-300 to carry the vital cargo across thousands of miles: from Bangkok to Singapore, then to Hong Kong, onwards to Shanghai and finally to Seoul. As with any such itinerary, details had to be changed along the way, but ACS always rose to the occasion.

Air Charter Service continues its global expansion with the opening of the company’s first African office in Johannesburg, South Africa. Offering both passenger and cargo services, ACS South Africa can cater for any charter requirement, always finding the right aircraft for the job.

Heading up the African operation is Lyndee du Toit, who brings with her 16 years of experience in the charter business. An office on the African continent has been seen as essential to the company’s global expansions for a number of years.

ACS managing director, Tony Bauckham said, “This is an exciting new development for the company. Not only will this allow us to better serve clients on the African continent, but having a local presence will allow us to negotiate better rates with local operators and therefore offer savings to our existing client base for flights in the region.”

ACS South Africa general manager Lyndee du Toit said, “Having spent a month working in ACS’s London office we have developed some fantastic procedures for working with ACS’s worldwide network of offices. These procedures will allow us to offer global solutions to local clients. Within a short time of opening we have already seen these systems work successfully culminating in the operation of a number of successful charters”.

Email Lyndee and the team on: sales@aircharter.co.za

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

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

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:
“This is the fourth charter that we have successfully operated for this client and ACS’ dedicated broker relationships and the added bonus of the team being fluent in Spanish certainly helps put our customers’ minds at rest. Speaking the language also helped me to secure landing rights and permits with the minimum of delay.”

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

Air Charter Service (ACS) one of the leading names in cargo and passenger air chartering, arranged for an Antonov-12 to carry seven tonnes of urgently needed relief cargo from Spain to Mexico and South America in the aftermath of Hurricane Noel which left widespread flooding and mudslides.

Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst at ACS confirmed the flight on the evening of Friday 2nd November for a 4th November departure. The flight was for the Spanish Government so using his fluent Spanish, Richard was able to negotiate the permits for each country, not an inconsiderable task due to the long duration of the flight and the two drop stops in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The AN-12 carried seven tonnes of medical kits, two water purifying plants, blankets and jerry cans to the effected regions.

Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst, ACS said:
“The challenge with this flight was the route – the 26 hour flight stopped in two different countries on the way and with only 24 hours notice we had to work hard to finalise everything.”

ACS is called in 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

Enormous ocean freighters are generally the preferred mode of transport when carrying 200 tonnes of oil drilling equipment from the UK out to the Middle East. However, when the production of 15 massive ‘Christmas tree’, component parts of oil drilling equipment required by an Egyptian oil development was delayed back in November the shippers involved turned to Air Charter Service (ACS) who chartered two mighty AN-124 aircraft.

ACS’ key qualities as an international organization with a high level of professionalism on the ground were vital. The difficulties the Houston-based shipper had in arranging transport from the UK to Egypt were overcome by the smooth and easy interactions of ACS’ New York and East Midlands offices.

However it was the skills of ACS employees on site which proved critical. Ruan Courtney, President and Charter Sales Manager ACS New York, emphasised the importance of the “experience of Ralph Cutting our EMA based Operations Manager, in ensuring that any problems the shipper experienced prior to loading – such as the cargo not being able to fit through the airport gates! - were dealt with efficiently and well in advance of the flight.”

Yet another example of ACS’ ability to offer quick and effective logistics solutions to their customers.

Contact: Ruan Courtney, President and Charter Sales Manager ACS New York and team cargo@aircharterserviceusa.com

Air Charter Service (ACS) has been a specialist in outsize cargo transport for the past 15 years. Recently they were able to demonstrate just how accomplished they are in this area of expertise when they assisted one of their clients, a major freight forwarder in Norway, to transport outsized cargo across the world.

ACS were contacted when a leading Norwegian oil company urgently needed to transport some vital oil well equipment from Osaka, Japan to Oslo, Norway. The cargo included 124 oil pipes, all 12 metres long, 30 centimetres in diameter and weighing 110 tonnes in total.

Experienced cargo broker Andy Holmes located an Antonov 124 to transport the cargo in no time. Experience is often the key when dealing with air cargo, and in this case it proved vital as Andy was able to obtain Japanese traffic rights within ten days, thereby meeting the client’s deadline for delivery.

ACS prides itself on quality service with great flexibility to suit the customers’ needs. Once again ACS was able to deliver a full service on an international route and leave another one of their valued clients satisfied.

Air Charter Service plc, the private air charter specialist is delighted to announce that it is to base an Antonov 26 cargo plane at Châteauroux-Déols "Marcel Dassault" Airport, situated 220 km south of Paris. This is the first time that an aircraft has been based at the facility.

Air Charter Service is London-based, with other permanent offices in New York, Dubai and Moscow. Globally recognised as a leading name in passenger and cargo air chartering, it operates around 2,700 flights annually. The company was established in 1990 and provides a complete turnkey service for anyone needing to charter an aircraft on a one-off basis, arranging all aspects of a charter from fully crewed aircraft to ground transfers. ACS monitors real-time movements of more than 50,000 aircraft worldwide and tracks data on airports, fuel prices, legislation and routings.

Justin Bowman, ACS commercial director, comments,

“Châteauroux is perfectly placed for the heartland of the French automotive industry, and basing the Antonov 26 there means that we can better serve the needs of our clients in the auto industry, co-ordinating “just-in-time” deliveries of parts.”

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