Aeroscraft and Icelandair Cargo Sign Memorandum of Understanding
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 25, 2013 -- Icelandair Cargo and Aeroscraft Corporation (Aeros) are working together to establish a strategic partnership that provides a new logistical air freight service and intermodal standard container transportation solutions throughout arctic circle destinations on multiple continents. The partnership would establish Iceland as a hub and enhance air cargo distribution in areas lacking significant infrastructure, such as Greenland, Siberia, Alaska and Northern Canada. The flourishing relationship will benefit both air cargo partners, leveraging the Icelandair Group’s capabilities and its strong network and business strategy.
The partnership will help access and enable commercial development of large recent onshore and offshore natural resource discoveries in Arctic and surrounding Northern territories, as well as prevalent known resources including: oil and gas, mineral deposits, fishing, etc.
Due to the limited developed road systems and other supporting transit systems in these austere areas, infrastructure costs become barriers to recovering resources, as it is difficult to get cargo from point-of-origin to point-of-need. The Aeroscraft also provides significant operational fuel savings when compared to air cargo alternatives, establishing an ideal logistical solution and partner to augment and bolster Icelandair Cargo’s service capabilities for existing customers and their established air cargo network.
The Aeroscraft will solve many of the current logistical problems in the Arctic Circle through its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability for heavy and outsized cargo and ability to transport ISO containers vertically, delivering to the full range of IAC’s territorial reach over the Arctic Circle to Russian, Siberian, Canadian and other Arctic territories. Aeros and the Aeroscraft will not only assist Icelandair Cargo enhance service capabilities but ultimately augment air cargo distribution to new destinations throughout the world.
“Because of their location and the fact that a great number of North American and Eurasian air routes transit through or over Iceland, IAC is extremely well positioned to utilize the Aeroscraft and we are excited to see how we can service their network,” explains Igor Pasternak, CEO of Aeros. “As a leader in air cargo logistics throughout the arctic, Icelandair Cargo is a strategic partner for Aeros and will hope to service much of the austere areas of the world.”
“We are pleased to begin a partnership with Aeroscraft and jointly explore the expanding market opportunities in Greenland, Iceland, and surrounding Northern territories. The aeroscrafts will revolutionize arctic transportation forever,” stated Gunnar Sigurfinnsson, Managing Director with Icelandair Cargo.
Iceland is located geographically in a strategic distribution location, and has become a gateway to Europe, Nordic and Arctic areas for numerous global exports and leading air cargo distribution. Icelandair is the main airline of Iceland, headquartered in Reykjavik. It is part of the Icelandair Group and currently operates scheduled services to 35 cities in 16 countries on both sides of the Atlantic. The geographical position of Iceland currently allows one-stop transatlantic flights, serving as a gateway between Europe and the U.S., and facilitates access to cargo distribution to northern territories and future North Pole transit of air cargo.
Aeros’ newest vehicle, the Aeroscraft, will deliver opportunities for business and consumers globally through access to remote locations, and by its new VTOL cargo delivery capabilities. Aeros plans to have the first if its initial fleet of 22 vehicles ready for operation in 2016, in two different classes; the 66-ton capacity ML866 with a range of up to 3,100 nautical miles and the 250-ton ML868 with a range up to 6,000 nautical miles. This fleet will operate on an ACMI lease model, providing services including aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance.
The proof-of-design technology demonstration vehicle for the Aeroscraft was successful in establishing its internal variable buoyancy technology in January 2013, known as COSH or control-of-static-heaviness, and the advanced prototype demonstrated integration of this key technology with other innovative sub-systems during flight operations in the fall of this year. The demonstration of technological maturity now leads Aeros into fleet development for two configurations of the innovative aircraft this decade, a smaller 66-ton capacity vehicle (ML866), and a larger 250- ton capacity vehicle (ML868).
John Kiehle, Worldwide Aeros, Corp., http://www.aeroscraft.com, (323) 201-8374, [email protected]
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