“We are proud to support our long-term customer and facilitate Panalpina’s growth,” said Michael Steen, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of AAWW. “Our industry-leading service enables Panalpina to offer its customers a unique and highly flexible solution for time-definite airfreight.”

According to Claus Schmidt, Panalpina’s Middle East Area Manager, “Our DWC service is a milestone in Panalpina’s growth plans in the region. It links our new Middle East distribution center at DWC with our network in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. It also allows us to offer our customers fast turnaround times from cargo arrival to delivery.”

A new multi-year ACMI service agreement between Panalpina and Atlas Air, under which Atlas Air operates two 747-400 freighter aircraft for Panalpina, was announced on September 15, 2010, at the 20th anniversary party of Panalpina’s “Dixie Jet” freighter service connecting Huntsville, Ala., with Europe.

AAWW is the parent company of Atlas Air, Inc. (Atlas) and Titan Aviation Leasing (Titan), and is the majority shareholder of Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc. (Polar). Through Atlas and Polar, AAWW operates the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 747 freighter aircraft.

Atlas, Titan and Polar offer a range of air cargo services that include ACMI aircraft leasing – in which customers receive a dedicated aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance on a long-term lease basis; CMI service, for customers that provide their own aircraft; express network and scheduled air cargo service; military charters; commercial cargo charters; and dry leasing of aircraft and engines.