Consol Alliance ups UK-Australia frequencies in face of booming demand

Leading Australian airfreight consolidator Consol Alliance has increased its services from the UK to four Australian Airports, responding to a boom in e-commerce and general cargo traffic.

Consol Alliance now serves Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane a total of 20 times weekly, using premium carriers and a proven transhipment routing. All cargo is pre-palletised before presentation to carriers for added security, safer transits and faster handling. The company is offering both door-door and airport-airport options.

A steady rise in demand throughout 2020 is seeing Consol Alliance now handling a record 300 tonnes of airfreight per month on the UK-Australia trade lane alone, and the company has already processed 500,000 inbound e-commerce parcels in the first quarter of 2021.

Says National Airfreight Product Manager Alana Raitt: “Having successfully maintained a totally reliable service throughout the last year, despite the considerable challenges, we are pleased to announce this increase in capacity and frequency to Australia, with over 20 consolidations per week from the UK.

“Capacity has not been an issue for us. We make bookings one month in advance, and have pre-allocations to all airports. Our consistent support for carriers and our excellent carrier relations have given us a strong edge in securing space for our customers.”

Although the normal services do not allow for outsize or project shipments, these can be accommodated on a back-to-back (separate AWB) basis, still receiving attractive rates. Consol Alliance is also attracting dense cargo by offering discounts based on its ability to optimise pallet capacity by carefully combining dense and volume cargo. “For Dense cargo, we will always beat competitors’ pricing, and our local arrival charges are also discounted,” adds Alana.

Consol Alliance says its service quality is enhanced by its appointment of leading independent agent Davies Turner as its UK service partner; the company recently celebrated its 150^th anniversary. “We have been running this joint service since 2018, and have clients who have been using it since the first consolidation. They continue to do so because it is so reliable. Even through COVID19, it has grown, as clients looked for a service they could feel confident in using.”

Consol Alliance is also happy to quote for inbound shipments to the UK: “In the past we have been able to run consolidations from Sydney to the UK, and can always help with competitive pricing and quick transits for imports,” concludes Alana.

Consol Alliance also operates regular inbound airfreight consolidations from the USA - where it has its own office - and from Amsterdam - where it recently partnered with Wholesale by Vels.