The weekly international air cargo service between Luxembourg and Indianapolis is the result of a partnership between Roche Diagnostics, Schenker Logistics, Cargolux, Indianapolis International Airport and US Customs and Border Protection. The Luxembourg to Indianapolis flight, which carries diagnostic equipment and supplies and other cargo, arrives every Friday.
Once on the ground, cargo aboard the massive Cargolux Boeing 747-400F is unloaded and temporarily stored before distribution in specially designed warehouse space at the Indianapolis Maintenance Center (IMC). The cargo aboard the jumbo jet ' 24 tons of cargo in all ' is unloaded in about an hour.
"The addition of international air cargo service to Indianapolis International Airport further establishes Indianapolis, the Crossroads of America, as a key transportation and logistics center. This service not only will benefit our airport, but also will provide a needed service to our business community, especially our life sciences industry,' Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson said.
"This is a great first step to growing our international air cargo business. I hope other international air cargo carriers will also realize Indianapolis' strategic advantage for both logistics and transportation,' Peterson said.
Added Airport Director Patrick Dooley, 'With backing from the mayor's Air Service Task Force and the Indianapolis Airport Authority, our strategy has been to aggressively pursue every opportunity to expand and market air cargo business at the airport. This shows that our efforts to position Indianapolis as a global air cargo destination are paying off.'
'This new service is a win for the city, the airport, but most of all for businesses across Central Indiana because it gives them access to lucrative air cargo markets across Europe, Asia and beyond,' Dooley said. 'This truly makes Indianapolis a gateway to the world.'
For Roche Diagnostics, whose North American headquarters is in Indianapolis, bringing international cargo through the airport reduces the time it takes for the company to get products to its customers and provides a cost savings, giving both the company and its customers a competitive advantage.
'A cornerstone for Roche Diagnostics is innovation. This new transportation process is a great example of innovation, as it will significantly reduce the time that our products spend in transit thereby allowing us to better serve our customers,' said Kent Kost, president, Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc.
'We are proud of the work done with the City of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Airport Authority, Cargolux and Schenker Logistics to further simplify our business processes," Kost added.
Officials with Schenker Logistics, a key partner in the international air cargo initiative, said the new Indianapolis service will benefit both the business community and the city.
'Schenker is very pleased to announce the expansion of our Indianapolis operations to include a direct flight from Europe. Bringing a direct flight to Indianapolis has allowed us to increase our customer satisfaction, improve our operational effectiveness and generate some well deserved recognition for the City of Indianapolis,' said Thurman Walker, branch manager of Schenker's Plainfield office. 'This is a great accomplishment for Schenker and I want to thank our customers, US Customs and Border Protection and the Indianapolis Airport Authority for their support.'
For Cargolux, the new Indianapolis gateway means even better service to a host of international clients.
'The new Cargolux gateway Indianapolis proves very beneficial for our overall distribution network, in line with our expansion plan, and will meet the highly sophisticated requirements of our clients, with ma
