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According to local myth, there is a pub in Shropshire where Eric Clapton used to stroll in occasionally and ask if the band would let him join them for a few numbers. That was in the late 1970s; today, any performance by the legendary artist requires meticulous management over an extended period. To illustrate the scale of a Clapton event, his recent packed-stadium tour of the Far East involved the movement of around 25 tons of band and stage equipment between venues.

Eric had not played in Singapore since 1990 — and it was only his second Bangkok performance in 30 years — and audience expectations were high, so every aspect of the tour had to be perfectly handled. Ian Haynes, director of Rock It cargo, turned to Air Charter Service to guarantee that all of his equipment would always be in the right place at the right time. The tour entailed five performances, in five countries, within a nine-day period in January.

Justin Bowman, Air Charter Service’s worldwide commercial director, arranged an Airbus A-300 to carry the vital cargo across thousands of miles: from Bangkok to Singapore, then to Hong Kong, onwards to Shanghai and finally to Seoul. As with any such itinerary, details had to be changed along the way, but ACS always rose to the occasion.

Sometimes the strength of an organisation lies in its commitment to detail and its quality of foresight. This proved truer than usual when Air Charter Service were asked to carry two 31 tonne, four metre high transformers nearly 3,000 miles from the UK to Iran.

Securing a massive Antonov-124 Ruslan, ACS had to plan carefully to ensure that the load could be properly fitted and supported.

Ben Dinsdale, London based Cargo Charter Analyst, describes how, realising that the weight of the transformers was such that they would be too heavy to be supported during the flight on the original bases, “We organised a visit to the factory the week before the flight in order to advise how to spread the weight efficiently by altering the base for optimum loading onto the AN-124.”

Contact Ben Dinsdale, London based Cargo Charter Analyst and team london@aircharter.co.uk

In October 2009 Cargo department of Air Charter Service company successfully executed just another flight for ACS partner – major helicopter operator. This time ACS delivered helicopters to Kazakhstan for maintenance after completing humanitarian mission in Africa. 4 helicopters together with crew and spare parts were transported with two flights by cargo aircraft Ilyushin 76 on route Entebbe (Uganda) – Almaty.
Professional work of cargo manager on each phase of preparation and executing of flight, such as thorough planning, optimal choice of operator with professional crew, consideration of route peculiarity etc, helped ACS to accomplish another successful project for the client. The dates of the flight coincided with the national holiday in Uganda  - Independence Day. It required a special attention to the obtaining of permissions, organization of cargo loading in airport of  Entebbe from all the involved parties.
Air Charter Service is continuing the cooperation with the partner and looking forward to our future projects.

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru

Air Charter Service (ACS) one of the leading names in cargo and passenger air chartering, arranged for an Antonov-12 to carry seven tonnes of urgently needed relief cargo from Spain to Mexico and South America in the aftermath of Hurricane Noel which left widespread flooding and mudslides.

Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst at ACS confirmed the flight on the evening of Friday 2nd November for a 4th November departure. The flight was for the Spanish Government so using his fluent Spanish, Richard was able to negotiate the permits for each country, not an inconsiderable task due to the long duration of the flight and the two drop stops in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The AN-12 carried seven tonnes of medical kits, two water purifying plants, blankets and jerry cans to the effected regions.

Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst, ACS said:
“The challenge with this flight was the route – the 26 hour flight stopped in two different countries on the way and with only 24 hours notice we had to work hard to finalise everything.”

ACS is called in to assist governments, charities and aid agencies when ‘every minute counts’ in saving lives. Being very aware of the urgency required in these situations, as a minimum requirement many of the charter brokers at ACS are bi- or tri-lingual. They have supported relief efforts into countries including Algeria, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Sudan and operated a variety of nearly 500 flights in the aftermath of the catastrophic tsunami which struck Thailand on December 26th 2004.

Contact Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst and team at london@aircharter.co.uk

Air Charter Service are delighted to announce the opening of their new office in Paris. The venture is their third passenger operation in Europe with offices already in Bilbao, Spain, and their head office in London; along with 6 other offices worldwide.

Heading up the new operation is Benjamin Sinclair. Benjamin has been working in the London office for a number of months now, and is very excited to be starting ACS's office in his native France. He has many years in the industry already as both an airline pilot and as a broker. Sinclair commented: "I have established good relationships within the industry over the years, and this is a great new challenge for my self and Air Charter Service. This is the next step in the European growth of the company”.

ACS France plans to utilise the global network of offices that the group has, enabling Benjamin and his team to offer such advantages as empty leg charters – where an aircraft is available flying empty in one direction already - allowing the client to charter more efficiently, therefore saving them money. ACS’ offices span four continents and continue to win more and more business with their local knowledge, a trend that the Paris office intends to keep going.

ACS's managing director, Tony Bauckham, said of the new office: "Within our global strategy we have always had plans to open an office in France and it's very exciting to see those plans come to fruition. The French market is a large one, and, with a team now based in the country we are in a good position to further our already strong business there. We have opened two other new offices so far this year and we expect Paris to emulate their success".

Air Charter Service was founded in 1990, and currently turns over €180 million annually and it operates over 3000 charters per year on all types of aircraft. ACS’s offerings and service have proved so popular, that in a market considered to be shrinking by 25-30% so far in 2009, ACS has grown by around 20% in the first 6 months of the year, in both terms of numbers of charters, as well as overall revenue.

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru

Enormous ocean freighters are generally the preferred mode of transport when carrying 200 tonnes of oil drilling equipment from the UK out to the Middle East. However, when the production of 15 massive ‘Christmas tree’, component parts of oil drilling equipment required by an Egyptian oil development was delayed back in November the shippers involved turned to Air Charter Service (ACS) who chartered two mighty AN-124 aircraft.

ACS’ key qualities as an international organization with a high level of professionalism on the ground were vital. The difficulties the Houston-based shipper had in arranging transport from the UK to Egypt were overcome by the smooth and easy interactions of ACS’ New York and East Midlands offices.

However it was the skills of ACS employees on site which proved critical. Ruan Courtney, President and Charter Sales Manager ACS New York, emphasised the importance of the “experience of Ralph Cutting our EMA based Operations Manager, in ensuring that any problems the shipper experienced prior to loading – such as the cargo not being able to fit through the airport gates! - were dealt with efficiently and well in advance of the flight.”

Yet another example of ACS’ ability to offer quick and effective logistics solutions to their customers.

Contact: Ruan Courtney, President and Charter Sales Manager ACS New York and team cargo@aircharterserviceusa.com

Floods affecting nearly 25,000 families hit parts of Bolivia last month causing the country’s President Evo Morales to declare a state of emergency after weeks of heavy rain; this has been caused by the climatic phenomenon known as La Niña, and has devastated several parts of the country.

Air Charter Service (ACS) one of the leading operators in cargo and passenger air chartering, received an urgent call from a Spanish based relief agency to carry 10 tonnes of much needed water purification equipment, medical kits, tents, blankets and mosquito nets from Madrid Torrijon Airport on the 12th February 2008, just three days after the agency approached ACS.

The 70cbm cargo was expertly loaded into the AN-12 with only a 90cbm volume, resulting in the on site load master remarking how ‘our skills at Tetris have come in very handy today’.

Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst, ACS said:
“This is the fourth charter that we have successfully operated for this client and ACS’ dedicated broker relationships and the added bonus of the team being fluent in Spanish certainly helps put our customers’ minds at rest. Speaking the language also helped me to secure landing rights and permits with the minimum of delay.”

ACS works to assist governments, charities and aid agencies when ‘every minute counts’ in saving lives. Being very aware of the urgency required in these situations, as a minimum requirement many of the charter brokers at ACS are bi- or tri-lingual. They have supported relief efforts into countries including Algeria, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Sudan and operated a variety of nearly 500 flights in the aftermath of the catastrophic tsunami which struck Thailand on December 26th 2004.

Contact Richard Thompson, Cargo Charter Analyst and team at london@aircharter.co.uk

Air Charter Service continues its global expansion with the opening of its second Asian office, in Tokyo, Japan. Able to offer both cargo services, along with executive & commercial jet passenger services, ACS Japan can cater for any charter requirement.

In charge of the Japanese operation is Toru Chiba, who brings a wealth of experience in the charter business with him. Toru has been in the aviation and charter industry for a total of 18 years now, and is excited by this new venture, which is part of a GSA agreement. He commented: “This is a great opportunity for ACS’s expansion within Asia. The Japanese market is a large one, which I know well, and I look forward to utilising my expertise in assisting the many other ACS offices worldwide with localised solutions.”

ACS managing director, Tony Bauckham, said: “Following the success of our office in Hong Kong since it opened, we have been looking to expand in the Asia Pacific region, and we targeted Tokyo a while ago. Many western business people travel to the region and having a local presence allows ACS to offer them the very best solutions using local knowledge. Obviously it also allows us to better serve Japanese clients as well, further expanding our customer base and further strengthening ACS’s position as one of the world’s leading charter companies. Toru has the perfect credentials to make the office as successful as all our others, and we look forward to its development.”

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru

Air Charter Service is delighted to announce that it has signed an exclusive contract with Evergreen International Aviation of Oregon, USA to become the European agent for its Boeing 747 Supertanker.

Since 2002, Evergreen International Aviation has been developing the Supertanker - an advanced aerial firefighting aircraft converted from a Boeing 747. The aircraft won certification for operation this season after receiving its interim approval letter from the Interagency Air Tanker Board. The aircraft also received its Supplemental Type Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in November 2008. It is now available to assist world firefighting agencies during the 2009 season and beyond. The award is unique because the Supertanker has an 8:1 drop ratio compared to that of all other current firefighting aircraft, meaning the Supertanker will forever change the way wildland fires are fought. The plane is the first of a fleet designed to accommodate the needs of U.S. and International private and public agencies.

The aircraft’s drop capabilities, effectiveness, safety standards and operational flexibility are all revolutionary.  It is the most advanced, targeted and largest capacity firefighting jet in the world. With a 77,600 litre (20,500 gallons) capacity, it is able of carrying  almost twice the amount of retardant than any other firefighting aircraft. It is also the only aircraft to have a variable pressure delivery system, and is able to perform segmented drops, meaning it can fight more than one fire in a single mission. It also has loiter capability enabling ground control to direct it to specific areas. The Supertanker also has the ability to respond quickly to a variety of environmental and homeland security threats.  Wide area decontamination, soil stabilization, oil spill response, and radiation knockdown are all within the response capability of the Supertanker, making it the most versatile aerial application vehicle in the World.   

Tony Bauckham, Managing Director of ACS, was formerly Executive Vice President of Evergreen International Airlines, and was involved from the early stages in the development of the Supertanker. He commented: “After so much hard work from the Evergreen team it is exciting to see this project completed. ACS feels privileged to be able to offer this aircraft within Europe to reduce the damage caused by costly forest fires. Europe has experienced several notable forest fires in the last few years, and the Supertanker is a major addition to the continent’s fire fighting capabilities.”

Since its inception in 1990, Air Charter Service has always been available 24/7, which will prove essential when the Supertanker is required. ACS currently works alongside many European governments when humanitarian aid is urgently needed after natural disasters, and is very pleased to have added the Boeing 747 Supertanker to its portfolio of services to those same governments.

For all supertanker enquiries please emai: cargo@aircharter.ru

ACS, one of the leading names in passenger and cargo air chartering was chosen as the preferred broker to charter an L-100-30 Hercules flight on behalf of a large company who specialise in geological exploration, geophysical and geochemical work. The payload included various pieces of highly sensitive seismic surveying equipment for seismic stations and 10 Avenger 8x8 EFO all-terrain Argo vehicles for exploration.

The relatively low payload weight enabled the flight to be non-stop from Anchorage to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky; what made it more interesting was that the flight path crossed the International Date Line during the five hour flight.

Vehicles in air transit are officially categorised as ‘hazardous cargo’ so our expertly trained team were able to advise the client on precisely how to package and load the cargo in accordance with the International Air Transport Association (IATA DGR) official rules and regulations.

Sergey Vekhov, Moscow based Senior Cargo Charter Broker, commented:

“We were given one week to arrange the flight for a new customer who has since chartered another flight with us! The time difference between the origin and destination was indeed a challenge but we worked together with our client who was extremely pro-active and took an interest in the end to end process. A very successful flight all round.”

Contact: Moscow cargo team moscow@aircharter.ru

Air Charter Service continues its global expansion with the opening of the company’s first African office in Johannesburg, South Africa. Offering both passenger and cargo services, ACS South Africa can cater for any charter requirement, always finding the right aircraft for the job.

Heading up the African operation is Lyndee DuToit, who brings with her 16 years of experience in the charter business. An office on the African continent has been seen as essential to the company’s global expansions for a number of years.

ACS managing director, Tony Bauckham said, “This is an exciting new development for the company. Not only will this allow us to better serve clients on the African continent, but having a local presence will allow us to negotiate better rates with local operators and therefore offer savings to our existing client base for flights in the region.”

ACS South Africa general manager Lyndee DuToit said, “Having spent a month working in ACS’ London office we have developed some fantastic procedures for working with ACS’ worldwide network of offices. These procedures will allow us to offer global solutions to local clients. Within a short time of opening we have already seen these systems work successfully culminating in the operation of a number of successful charters.”

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru

Air Charter Service (ACS) has been a specialist in outsize cargo transport for the past 15 years. Recently they were able to demonstrate just how accomplished they are in this area of expertise when they assisted one of their clients, a major freight forwarder in Norway, to transport outsized cargo across the world.

ACS were contacted when a leading Norwegian oil company urgently needed to transport some vital oil well equipment from Osaka, Japan to Oslo, Norway. The cargo included 124 oil pipes, all 12 metres long, 30 centimetres in diameter and weighing 110 tonnes in total.

Experienced cargo broker Andy Holmes located an Antonov 124 to transport the cargo in no time. Experience is often the key when dealing with air cargo, and in this case it proved vital as Andy was able to obtain Japanese traffic rights within ten days, thereby meeting the client’s deadline for delivery.

ACS prides itself on quality service with great flexibility to suit the customers’ needs. Once again ACS was able to deliver a full service on an international route and leave another one of their valued clients satisfied.

Air Charter Service plc, the private air charter specialist is delighted to announce that it is to base an Antonov 26 cargo plane at Châteauroux-Déols "Marcel Dassault" Airport, situated 220 km south of Paris. This is the first time that an aircraft has been based at the facility.

Air Charter Service is London-based, with other permanent offices in New York, Dubai and Moscow. Globally recognised as a leading name in passenger and cargo air chartering, it operates around 2,700 flights annually. The company was established in 1990 and provides a complete turnkey service for anyone needing to charter an aircraft on a one-off basis, arranging all aspects of a charter from fully crewed aircraft to ground transfers. ACS monitors real-time movements of more than 50,000 aircraft worldwide and tracks data on airports, fuel prices, legislation and routings.

Justin Bowman, ACS commercial director, comments,

“Châteauroux is perfectly placed for the heartland of the French automotive industry, and basing the Antonov 26 there means that we can better serve the needs of our clients in the auto industry, co-ordinating “just-in-time” deliveries of parts.”

In April ACS Cargo Charter department accomplished the series of flights with installation equipment for bore-hole in russian city Noyabrsk. The main challenge of this cargo air charter was that necessary equipment for installation in the bore-holes was to be delivered before the time when snow in Noyabrsk starts to melt so it would fill up the bore-holes with water. Each flight was worked out in close co-operation with customer, the forwarder, which allowed to minimize the time of each part of the programme. Deep knowledge of the peculiarities of all the airports on the way helped Cargo Account Manager from Air Charter Service to plan and execute the flight in a minimal time frame which made the customer very happy.

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru

ACS Moscow’s cargo department recently transported radioactive equipment for an atomic power-station. An Ilyuhsin 76 was chartered to take the highly dangerous cargo to its destination.

Due to the dangerous nature of the cargo there are certain procedures that had to be followed, the aircraft that the cargo was travelling on had to be a jet and there had to be 3 attendants with a Geiger counter on board. There was a tight time frame for this flight with large penalties to be paid if it ran late. A second aircraft was found at late notice when the planned aircraft was unable to fly.

Permits were rushed through to ensure everything was in place so that the flight ran smoothly and on time through the cooperation of the ferry man, ACS account manager and customer.

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru

In March Cargo department of Air Charter Service company successfully executed a charter flight with heavy and oversized cargo on board. The equipment was to be delivered from Moscow to the capital of Turkmenistan – Ashgabat. The detailed planning and excellent communication with the cargo shipper, a Russian forwarding company, allowed to organize this cargo charter perfectly and helped to continue long-term and productive business relations with customer. Successful choice of operator for this flight proved once again that ACS is able to find non-typical solutions in a difficult situation which suits customer the best. Excellent cooperation with the airline helped to organize the flight exactly in indicated time frame. 

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru

In February Cargo Charter Manager together with the colleagues from head office of Air Charter Service in London organized a complicated flight with hazardous cargo. Mining explosive materials were to be delivered from Orebro, Sweden to Ust-Kamenogorsk, in Kazakhstan. During the preparation of that charter flight ACS managers handled co-ordination of every details between the customer, forwarder and aviation authorities of 4 countries. As a result all permissions for aircraft Antonov 12 to charter hazardous goods were obtained on time and flight was executed exactly as scheduled.
Chartering that equipment by air was the only acceptable way of delivery due to the nature of cargo and planned itinerary. 

Contact Moscow Cargo account managers at cargo@aircharter.ru