Etihad Crystal Cargo, a division of Etihad Airways, has renewed its global contract for the management of Unit Load Devices (ULD) – the pallets and containers used to load luggage, freight, and mail onto aircraft – with Unitpool for a further three years.
Abu Dhabi – The Abu Dhabi-based airline initially outsourced ULD management to Unitpool in June 2004. Since then Etihad has grown at an impressive rate both in terms of fleet of aircraft and destination network. Unitpool has also grown during this period, investing in its own ULD fleet now operating more than 20,000 ULDs across the world.
Unitpool’s CEO, David Harman commented, “Renewing our relationship with Etihad is a very important step, not only for Unitpool the company but for confirming that outsourcing ULD Management, which is seen by many as a mission critical function, is a real option for carriers of all sizes.
“Etihad continues to expand year-on-year and Unitpool continues to provide solutions for its baggage and cargo requirements and in doing so has grown as an organisation.” Des Vertannes, executive vice president Cargo at Etihad Airways said, “Managing the growth in our business presents a challenge across our network especially in
terms of people, facilities and equipment. Unitpool has risen to the challenge helping us to maintain customer satisfaction so we are pleased to renew our contract with Unitpool and build on this success further.”
Notes: Unit Load Devices are pallets and containers used to load luggage, freight, and mail on wide-body aircraft and specific narrow-body aircraft. ULDs allow large quantities of baggage and cargo to be loaded into large units. Since this leads to fewer items to load, it saves ground crews time and ensures time effective aircraft
turnarounds. Each ULD is manifested separately so that its contents can be tracked.
Further information on Etihad Airways and Unitpool can be obtained from the following web sites – etihadairways.com and unitpool.com
