WFS’ ground handling volume has grown steadily in North America since January

As is the case with most of the carriers and forwarders reporting on air cargo volume this summer, ground handler Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) said total volumes across its nearly 60 cargo locations in the United States rose by more than 17 percent in the first seven months of 2017.

“The air cargo industry is experiencing an uptick and we feel that we are in a good position to accommodate this growth with our current operations,” said Ray Jetha, senior vice president, sales and business development for WFS in North America. “As predicted, we will see an increase in the eCommerce market and this will certainly put some pressure on regular air cargo shipments. We are ready to take on this challenge and have put the necessary infrastructure in place in order to minimize the impact.”

WFS also increased its airline contracts by 37 between January and July of this year, and renewed 10 existing customer contracts. These customers included Avianca Cargo in Miami, Atlas Air/Polar Air Cargo in Cincinnati, and AirBridgeCargo Airlines in Los Angeles, as well as China Airlines in Chicago, LOT Polish in Newark and Los Angeles, and Swiss International Air Lines in San Diego.

This year has also seen the full and successful integration of Consolidated Aviation Services (CAS), following its acquisition by WFS at the start of 2016. CAS officially rebranded as WFS earlier this year, making WFS the largest cargo handler in North America.

WFS said it handled more than 1.8 million tonnes of airfreight for customers in North America in 2016.