A partnership that involves Amsterdam Schiphol airport, hub carrier KLM and Parcel International has launched a same-day parcel service across Europe. The fledgling venture, which marks an effort to draw e-commerce providers to the airport’s doorstep, leverages its baggage system for faster processing of parcel traffic.
The service, which operates under the moniker 12send, is built on the flight network of KLM, offering same day service to European destinations in the carrier’s flight roster. It aims to cover 20 European cities and includes pick-up near Schiphol and delivery at the destinations.
“We can provide an ‘ordered before noon, delivered before 11pm’ service all over the continent,” said Casper Plat, a partner in Parcel International, the majority stakeholder in the venture. KLM Cargo and Schiphol Cargo have contributed to the start-up and launch of the service. Parcel International handles the first and last mile sections, delivering to the final customer by electric van and e-bike.
Parcel International, which was established in 2007, has a presence in six European countries as well as in the US, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. It is part of Tailormade Logistics Europe and offers import and export services in air, road and ocean freight, including express and postal solutions. Parcel International operates a wholly online booking system and utilizes a network of carrier partnerships.
According to Marcel de Nooijer, executive vice-president of KLM Cargo and managing director of sister company Martinair Holland, the fledgling service sets a new standard in terms of cross-border delivery. “With the belly capacity of KLM’s broad European passenger network we offer great solutions for all customers in the rapidly growing cross-border e-commerce market and the trend towards delivery within 24 hours. We are glad to develop this service together with Parcel International and Schiphol Airport,” he said.
“Same-day delivery is soon to be a standard, and as Europe’s leading e-commerce hub, we have backed an innovative high-end service which is also CO2 responsible,” said Jonas van Stekelenburg, head of cargo, Schiphol Cargo. “Schiphol has a world-class baggage system which is fast, secure, and seamless, and working with KLM’s efficient network and Parcel International’s e-commerce expertise we are confident 12send will be a valuable enlargement of European air freight services, and meet the growing needs of our air freight partners.”
The service was officially launched in December, following trials on the route from Amsterdam to Barcelona.
By offering pick-up in the vicinity of the airport, the partners are trying to strengthen Schiphol’s role as a base for e-commerce providers. The airport has been working closely with partners in industry as well as government to develop solutions to cement its role as a leading European gateway. Last year saw the launch of a pilot scheme aimed at speeding up and enhancing the flow of European cargo through Schiphol for international shipment.
The endeavour, which started off on the route from Frankfurt, is operated by a consortium that includes Schiphol Cargo, two large logistics firms, handling giant Swissport, the Dutch air freight community system Cargonaut and Dutch Customs. Ultimately it aims at the establishment of a cloud platform to facilitate data exchange amongst the cooperating parties.
Last year Amsterdam clocked up a 2.5% rise in throughput to 1.66 million tonnes, which Stekelenburg attributed in part to an upswing in e-commerce traffic.
“Close collaboration with our cargo community remains a strong focus for 2017. Together with the community we will continue to pursue ambitions such as better digital information exchange and further quality improvements in the supply chain, particularly for pharma, e-commerce and perishables,” he added.
A spokesman for Lufthansa Cargo declined to comment on competitors’ activities but added that the German carrier has been active in the same day market for years through its time:matters subsidiary. Last summer LH Cargo took over full control of the time-critical service provider, acquiring the 51% stake in time:matters that it did not own already.
The subsidiary’s revenues amounted to €65million (US$73.3 million) in 2015, compared to €2.3 billion that LH Cargo tabled for 2015. However, time:matters revenues have grown in excess of 300% over the past 10 years.
Two years back, IAG Cargo, the freight arm of British Airways and Iberia, launched EuroConnector, a time-definite service that utilizes its narrowbody capacity in Europe.
By Ian Putzger
Air Freight Correspondent | Toronto
