IAG puts a premium on ‘Critical’ service

In an effort to capture more of the ultra-time-sensitive air cargo market, IAG Cargo will launch a new service next month, called “Critical,” which will focus on premium emergency shipments. The carrier also said it will build an expansion to its existing Premia freight facility to handle various premium products.

The new Critical service, to begin on Oct. 3, will be IAG Cargo’s first non-off-loadable product and will carry “an absolute guarantee to fly on the service booked,” the carrier said. So far, IAG said some customers have already signed up for Critical, mostly in the high-tech and aerospace sectors.

“On the rare occasion that a key drill bit fails offshore in Nigeria, or a Boeing 777-200 engine requires an emergency spare part in Brazil,” the carrier said, “Critical will be available to guarantee that a new drill from Stavanger in Norway or a new fan blade from the U.K. is dispatched and delivered on time.”

Critical will be available via IAG Cargo’s network of more than 350 destinations and will include a dedicated monitoring service at its London Heathrow, Madrid and Dublin hubs.

“We understand the pressure our freight forwarders and supply chain partners come under when a customer demands that a shipment must move that day,” said David Shepherd, commercial director at IAG Cargo. “Until now we have not had a product that fully satisfies this unique need.”

In additon, IAG Cargo will further develop its premium business with its new Heathrow facility, which will effectively double the size of its current Premia footprint. The new structure will include more dedicated space for IAG’s Constant Climate cool-chain centers for pharmaceutical handling, plus new a new warehouse management system to prioritize time-sensitive freight. The facility is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

“IAG Cargo’s four airlines now carry more premium freight than at any point in their combined history,” said Drew Crawley, CEO of IAG Cargo. “With the continued growth of high speed e-commerce and cool-chain logistics in particular, as well as the ongoing expansion of the IAG family and network, we need facilities that are ready for the next generation of premium freight.”

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