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COVER STORY<br />
Ashwin Bhat:<br />
The airfreight specialist<br />
A chemistry graduate from the University of Mumbai,<br />
Bhat entered India's vast workforce as a cargo<br />
accountant at a subsidiary of Swissair. He stayed<br />
with the company for seven years before moving to<br />
Swiss Cargo AG which led him<br />
to his current role.<br />
Bhat has been with SWISS since<br />
2002 and climbed his way up the<br />
corporate ladder serving in various<br />
capacities and management roles,<br />
most notably as head for the<br />
Americas, the Middle East and Asia.<br />
A chemistry graduate from the<br />
University of Mumbai, Bhat entered<br />
India's vast workforce as a cargo<br />
accountant at a subsidiary of Swissair.<br />
He stayed with the company for seven<br />
years before moving to Swiss Cargo<br />
AG which led him to his current role.<br />
Three years since his appointment<br />
as Head of Cargo at SWISS, Bhat has<br />
proven his capabilities to sail the<br />
company through good and bad<br />
times, living on its name as the top<br />
belly carrier for pharmaceuticals and<br />
other specialized cargoes.<br />
Last year, SWISS announced its<br />
total QEP (Qualified Envirotainer<br />
Provider) accredited stations have<br />
reached 36, an industry distinction<br />
and an assurance in the ever growing<br />
global pharmaceutical industry of its<br />
commitment to provide best-in-class<br />
services to its customers, which was<br />
further substantiated by receiving the<br />
IATA CEIV Certification.<br />
Bhat who continues to steer SWISS<br />
to growth briefly describes their<br />
markets as follows:<br />
Middle East<br />
Swiss WorldCargo offers daily<br />
flights to Dubai and Muscat, giving us<br />
a strong presence in the region and<br />
allowing us to carry out shipments of<br />
high-value goods.<br />
Asia<br />
Swiss WorldCargo offers regular<br />
flights to Singapore, Hong Kong,<br />
Beijing, Shanghai and Bangkok, in<br />
addition to Phuket and Saigon<br />
seasonally. Additionally, SWISS serves<br />
Tokyo, Mumbai and Delhi which<br />
rounds out the presence in Asia. With<br />
these flights, we are able to connect<br />
major industrial and financial centers<br />
throughout Asia with Switzerland.<br />
Europe<br />
We fly and truck to all major<br />
destinations in Europe. This offers<br />
seamless international connections<br />
through Zurich through via hub<br />
(which offers the fastest connection<br />
time in the industry). It also offers<br />
direct city-to-city transport from<br />
Zurich to different cities on the<br />
continent.<br />
Africa<br />
We cover many major destinations –<br />
Johannesburg, Dar-es-Salaam,<br />
Nairobi, Cairo, and others through<br />
seasonal capacity (Cape Town, Malé),<br />
through which we can showcase our<br />
strong traffic in the region. We focus<br />
on carrying out various high-value<br />
products from the region both to/from<br />
Switzerland and to/from Africa & other<br />
destinations throughout the world.<br />
Americas<br />
The Americas continues to be a<br />
major market for us, and we offer daily<br />
services to Miami, New York, San<br />
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and<br />
Chicago year-round. We are focused<br />
on a variety of shipments that cover<br />
this region, and further destinations<br />
can be reached via a dedicated<br />
trucking route, which complements<br />
our network.
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