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Dutch air cargo body remains critical of Schiphol slot decree

Industry body Air Cargo Netherlands (ACN) is critical of the Dutch cabinet's final Schiphol Airport Traffic Decree (LVB) for its lack of protection for cargo slots. The LVB has set a maximum of 478,000 aircraft movements per operating year, of which a maximum of 27,000 are allowed at night, which runs from 23:00 to 07:00. A strict limit for the total amount of noise that all take-off and landing aircraft combined may produce annually is also introduced. ACN said that it had submitted several inputs during the consultation period but said it was critical of the final decree. "Although the Cabinet explicitly acknowledges the significant strategic and economic importance of air cargo in the final explanatory memorandum, ACN remains critical of the lack of structural protection of cargo slots and the threatened reduction of night capacity," the group said. One of the key concerns highlighted by ACN was the reduction to 478,000 aircraft movements - from a previous limit of 500,000 - which it said poses a direct risk to the air cargo sector. "In the event of slot scarcity, full freighters lose out to passenger flights," ACN had argued. "Moreover, the volatile, demand-driven nature of the air cargo market makes it extremely difficult to retain or regain historical slot rights within the rigid European 80/20 slot regulations. "ACN therefore advocates for the protection of air cargo as a strategic segment and a rapid, predictable return towards 500,000 movements based on fleet renewal." In response, the cabinet said a special cargo pool of slots was not possible under European regulation but added that the new ad hoc slot system implemented over the summer should benefit the cargo market. The new system proactively anticipates slots that will be returned later in the season, which can then be re-allocated to freighter airlines. Previously, slots were only available once a flight had actually been cancelled. There had also been calls for a complete night closure at the airport, although in the end, the cabinet opted to allow 27,000 night flights per year with plans for a future partial night closure. ACN had highlighted that accessible capacity during the night and the fringes of the night is indispensable for time-critical shipments (such as medical goods, fresh produce, and express transport) and that no realistic alternatives exist for this. In the Memorandum of Reply, the ministry acknowledged that decisions regarding the night must take into account the economic and operational functions of the airport, and that a night closure must not lead to undesirable peaks at the edges of the night. "At the same time, the cabinet announces that, based on the new coalition agreement, a new balanced approach procedure is being initiated to reduce noise between 23:00 and 07:00 by 50% in 2030 compared to 2024, including a partial night closure (between 00:00 and 05:00)," ACN said.

MSN Air Service to utilise Kalé platform at new Guyana cargo station

US ground handler MSN Air Service is expanding its use of Kalé's cargo handling platform in line with plans to add new stations globally. At the Tiaca Air Cargo Forum, MSN Air Service signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kalé Info Solutions (Kalé) to deploy Galaxy as its standard technology platform at every new station it opens as part of its international expansion. The agreement comes as MSN expands its operations beyond JFK, with a new base at Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana. "MSN is entering an exciting phase of growth, driven by a clear ambition to expand into international markets and strengthen our position in the global air cargo industry," said MSN Air Service group chief executive Manoj Singh. "For us, this expansion is about building a future-ready business, investing in technology and creating the capabilities to compete in an increasingly connected industry. "With Galaxy in use at JFK and committed for deployment across every new station we open, we are building a common technology platform to support operational consistency, visibility and scalability throughout our network." Galaxy supports import, export, and transfer operations through a single cargo handling platform. "International expansion can multiply operational complexity very quickly, and technology should remove that complexity rather than reproduce it at every new station," said Amar More, chief executive and co-founder of Kalé. "MSN is taking the right approach by building a common technology platform into its expansion strategy from the outset, rather than trying to retrofit systems as its network grows. "A common platform gives handlers consistent workflows, real-term visibility, and comparable performance data across locations, allowing them to add new operations without rebuilding their processes from scratch."

EXCLUSIVE: CargoWise customs message delays leave forwarders waiting for clearance

CargoWise users handling British and Japanese customs declarations suffered messaging delays on Wednesday, while the backlog had been fully cleared the following morning. Customer notifications seen by The Loadstar show WiseTech acknowledged an issue affecting message responses at 10.37am on 28 October. At 11.24, it confirmed that GB and Japan customs messaging were "particularly impacted". One UK forwarder said the disruption prevented its team from processing customs entries normally for much of the working day, leaving customers waiting and staff struggling to provide useful information. The forwarder said its biggest concern was the impact on customers, that were "waiting and complaining", adding "while operationally, we had very little we could tell them about when normal service would resume". WiseTech's initial notification said its senior eServices team was investigating backlogs. Subsequent updates at 12.04 and 14.07pm said engineers were working on mitigation, before a 3.51pm notice reported backlogs 'processing slowly'. Customers were instructed not to resubmit messages awaiting replies, as this would worsen the backlog and could cause confusing rejections once both messages were delivered. The forwarder criticised the support and escalation process, saying its team had followed the established reporting route, but received little actionable information as customer complaints mounted. "My concern isn't that a system outage happened, as clearly there will be occasions outside our control. It's whether we have a strong enough escalation and communication process when it does happen," the source said. WiseTech's notices show recovery work continued into the evening. At 8.47pm, the company said the backlog across most queues had been processed, but teams remained 'engaged on the core issue' and working towards full restoration. At 8.33am yesterday, it confirmed that the backlog had been fully processed, and messaging services had recovered. However, it added that teams would continue monitoring while addressing the underlying issue. The notifications span almost 22 hours, between acknowledgement and recovery confirmation, although they do not establish how long individual customers had been affected. The number of users impacted and the root cause remain unclear. The Loadstar has asked WiseTech Global to comment. The disruption follows a separate CargoWise outage reported by The Loadstar in June, when customers in several countries experienced log-in failures and electronic messaging problems. WiseTech subsequently attributed that incident to a faulty data update.