Peter Scholten, the former head of cargo for Saudia Cargo, has merged Fast Forward Cargo and First Priority Cargo into Fast Logistics, which will launch on July 1. Scholten founded Fast Logistics Solutions Group, in January, as a holding company for Fast Forward Cargo (founded in 2009), First Priority Cargo (founded in 2011), and Fast Forward Solutions, among others.
Fast Logistics will now be the largest local freight forwarder in the United Arab Emirates, with annual airfreight volumes estimated at 50,000 tonnes and oceanfreight volumes at 20,000 TEUs. With the merger, Fast Logistics will have a staff of 600 people in 40 offices across the UAE, Africa and Asia. UAE locations will have 269,000 square feet of warehouse space in five locations. Fast Logistics plans to open a new head office for international activities in Bangalore, India. Additionally, all the international forwarding offices will be rebranded to Fast Logistics.
FLS Group reportedly generated US$200 million revenue, with airfreight volumes at 45,000 tonnes and oceanfreight volumes at 20,000 TEUs in 2014. The group provides scheduled air cargo service, air cargo charters, multimodal services, 3PL warehousing and distribution, IT infrastructure and trucking services in the UAE and Africa.