Frankfurt-based NEO Air Charter has appointed Sascha Nauck as Airfreight Business Development Manager to head up its Neutral Airfreight Solutions division.

NEO's recently-created Neutral Airfreight Solutions division provides bespoke capacity for urgent shipments that do not warrant a whole plane charter but are too large for NEO's On Board Courier services.

The new department, which will now be managed by Nauck, has already moved 600 tonnes of cargo in recent weeks.

As with all NEO services, the new division offers its solutions only to bona fide freight agents and intermediaries.

The air cargo charter and aviation services provider noted that Nauck's entire 24-year career had been spent in air logistics, spanning sales and operational management roles with leading companies, including LSP DB Schenker and GSSAs Kales Group and Euro Cargo Aviation.

"We have successfully provided ad hoc air freight services to our clients in the past, where smaller movements did not justify full- or part-charters. We always recognised that this was a logical extension to our service offering but that it required the right person and skills to fully exploit its potential," said Brian Davis, commercial director at NEO. "We now have that person with the appointment of Sascha Nauck, and we are delighted to welcome him to our growing business."

Nauck, for his part, welcomed his new appointment.

"We are very confident that his can-do mentality, and widespread experience and abilities, coupled with our support and strong carrier relationships, will combine to provide our customers with a valuable additional service and open up new revenue opportunities for airlines," the newly-minted head of NEO's Neutral Airfreight Solutions division, said.

NEO's Neutral Airfreight Solutions division utilises block space agreements on selected routes, frequently at below-normal rates which are not generally accessible.

Davis added: "The market is currently very much price-driven and, as this is our daily business, we have a detailed market overview that enables us to offer competitive solutions for any shipment over 5000kg."

"We also offer ex-works collections and arrange export Customs clearance, DG checks and security screening where required," he added.

The ease and speed of quotations are also important benefits for customers.

Davis noted that when they receive requests from their clients — possibly ones who are not in their regular portfolio — they need fast and competitive quotes to grab the opportunity for this and future shipments.

"They may be short of the resources to research the market fully, so we do this for them and secure very competitive options."

"We will continue to invest heavily in this segment to expand the range of options for our customers. Our airfreight and charter teams work extremely closely, so we can offer a joined-up single resource to our clients," the NEO commercial director added.