Bollore Logistics, a part of group division Bollore Transport & Logistics, is in discussions with partner Dnata, which wishes to build a new facility at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) for long-term regional logistics support, expected to be ready by late 2020. “Aerospace is a very specialized product, due to the timeframe pressures aircraft face at airports,” said Marc Doherty, general manager, Bollore Logistics LLC. “Generally, depending on size, an aircraft has anything between 20 and 80 minutes to offload passengers and cargo, be cleaned and then reloaded for the next flight. We have a very short time frame to provide our services.”
Dnata, which holds a 51 percent stake in Bollore Logistics, runs cargo villages at Dubai International Airport (DXB), as well as at DWC. It also employs a light industrial unit at Abu Dhabi Airport Free Zone to receive inbound freight being handled for UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) customers.
Bollore Logistics’s Doherty continued, “Here in the UAE, we are 150 staff and manage 23,000 square meters [247,570 sq feet] of warehousing, of which 5,000 sq m is dedicated to aerospace.”
A Middle East-based airline can often require an item from a supplier in Florida, Seattle, Toulouse, Germany, or the UK. “We will then arrange with our aerospace team in that country to pick it up, and air freight it to the customer as quickly as possible,” he said. “We will arrange for the part to be picked up, flown to the GCC, cleared with customs, and delivered to the client.”
He said Dubai has become one of the logistics gateways to East Africa. “Of the 26,000 employees in Bollore Logistics, more than 12,000 are based in Africa. Bollore Logistics is the number one logistics provider on the African continent. It is also number one in France, number three in Europe and in the top 10 worldwide. Dubai has become a logistics gateway, moving goods in from Europe and Asia-Pacific.”
Shafaf Shereerudheen, regional manager, aerospace, GCC, said many freight forwarders lacked the expertise to get the aerospace logistics job done. “We have the network to get parts here. Our market advantage is speed and our global network in the region, and on five continents.”
