Today the airspace is safer than ever before. Since the terrorist attacks of 11. September 2001 every person who wants to board an aircraft has to pass through several inspection points and has to observe a lot of rules.

But what about the air cargo shipments? It was in October 2010 that parcel bombs from Yemen made it clear that certain gaps in the airspace danger defence had to be closed.

In order to ensure a safer handling of airfreight cargos without the access of unauthorized persons, special EU regulations have been introduced and have already been implemented Europe-wide since 25. March 2013. The new regulations have the following designations:

EC No. 300/2008 and EU 185/2010. They declare an air cargo shipment of a certain company as “safe” only if the respective enterprise had previously obtained the status of “officially accepted known consignor”. This requires the approval of the German Federal Office of Civil Aviation (LBA). KARL MAYER got the certification as “known consignor” on 28. May 2013, after having implemented a comprehensive catalog of measures.

Preparations for the certification

Already in August 2012 KARL MAYER decided to obtain the certification as „known consignor“. For this purpose, the company fixed a time frame of nine months, provided a considerable budget and initiated a relevant project. The main focus was on the following measures:

- Application for validation sent to the German Federal Office of Civil Aviation (LBA)
- Appointment of an airfreight security officer and of his/her deputy
- Reliability check according to §7 of the German Aviation Security Act (LuftsiG) of the airfreight security officer and of the staff members who might come into contact with identifiable airfreight
- Completion of the required 35-hour training as airfreight security officer
- Completion of the prescribed 3-hour training of the company staff
- Working out of a security program
- Submission of the security program to the German Federal Office of Civil Aviation

In addition to the administrative and organizational steps it was also necessary to carry out constructional changes in KARL MAYER’s Logistics Center. The crucial point of the building modifications concerned the set-up of a separate room in the Logistics Center which is only accessible after having passed through several predefined safety procedures.

The worked-out and implemented safety solutions have been put to the test on 28. May. On this highly anticipated key date the authorized persons of the German Federal Office of Civil Aviation came to KARL MAYER for auditing purposes – and left the company without any objections.

The importance of the certification as “known consignor”

The “known consignor” status entitles KARL MAYER to dispatch “safe” airfreight. Companies without this status must have their air cargo shipments separately checked, x-rayed and released by a special service provider (before the loading of the cargo to an aircraft) – a procedure that implies increased freight charges for the dispatcher. Moreover, there is a higher risk of delays in shipment.

On the other hand, this certification ensures reduced door-to-door times as well as a safe supply chain for the air cargo. In other words: our customers can rely on a fast and safe delivery. Compared to many other eco labels known from the consumer sector, this certificate is officially recognized by the German Federal Office of Civil Aviation.

Karl Mayer