- Geodis Wilson has jumped into the hotel logistics ring — a market that is already populated by specialty firms as well as Kuehne + Nagel, SEKO Worldwide and other organizations — by launching its luxury hotel and resorts division. Services will include global and domestic freight transportation, warehousing, Customs brokerage and consulting. “Geodis Wilson expects to become a single-source shipping solution for many of the top-tier companies in this market,” Anjali Sadarangani, the division’s head, said in a statement.
- Schenker Ltd. has signed a three-year contact with Scottish distillery William Grant & Sons, making it the global shipper of William Grant’s brands. Schenker Ltd. Operations Director Doug Coull points to the worldwide implications of this new partnership. “This is a really significant business win for our team in Scotland,” he said in a statement. “Our e-business solutions, combined with our international logistics capabilities, have enabled us to give William Grant & Sons a best-in-class service for the export of their products around the globe.” Freight will be shipped via air, land and sea.
- China’s aviation sector led the rest of the world in recovery last year, according to a Reportlinker.com analysis. With profits up 26.1 percent from 2009, China finished 2010 with a revenue ton-kilometer (RTK) of 53.845 billion. Although the first quarter of 2011 didn’t bring the same financial gains — largely attributable to sky-high oil prices and the earthquake in Japan — China’s aviation industry did grow 8 percent during this period. Still, these numbers are significantly lower than the 32.2 percent growth the nation posted in the first quarter of 2010.
- Qatar Airways has launched thrice-weekly service to Montréal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport from its Doha hub. This new route brings the total number of North American destinations serviced by the Qatari carrier to four. “The entire team at Aéroports de Montréal is delighted by the arrival of a carrier as prestigious as Qatar Airways and the addition of such a major destination as Doha, with connections to some one hundred other cities, including eleven in India alone,” Aéroports de Montréal President and CEO James Cherry said in a statement. “The arrival of Qatar reinforces our vision for Montréal-Trudeau, which is to accentuate the airport’s role as a hub for travel between North America and Eurasia.”
- DHL has inked a three-year deal with French automaker Renault to administer and deliver replacement batteries to its fleet of vehicles. To DHL Supply Chain Mainland Europe CEO Dan Ellerton, it’s a task his company is well equipped to handle. “Logistics are essential for the successful launch of electronic vehicles to the mass market, and the solution we have developed for Renault will provide a reliable and efficient way to organize aftermarket logistics for batteries, thus setting a new industry standard,” he said in a statement. This new partnership coincides with Renault’s launch of electronic cars, Fluence Z.E. and Kangoo Z.E.