Nippon Express develops new transport route to Casablanca and Tangier

Nippon Express de Espana, S.A. (Katsuhisa Mikuni, President), an overseas subsidiary of Nippon Express Co., Ltd., has developed a new door-to-door air cargo transport service to Casablanca and Tangiers, key shipping destinations in the Kingdom of Morocco.

Located on the northern coast of Africa within the Mediterranean Sea economic sphere, Morocco has a wealth of marine and subterranean resources and has enjoyed remarkable development in recent years, symbolized by the decision of Japanese automobile manufacturers to set up factories in the kingdom.

Air cargo transport to Morocco has heretofore relied primarily on air forwarding via Europe, but airport facilities in Morocco are not presently equipped to deal effectively with the increases in size and volume of cargo resulting from industrial development. There was thus a pressing need to establish an alternative route.

The new route utilizes air transport from Japan to Europe; once consolidation and transfer procedures have been completed in Barcelona, Spain, the cargo is then shipped by truck, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar by ferry. This approach enables Nippon Express to handle cargo in sizes and volume beyond the capabilities of small aircraft, improving at a stroke both the regularity and speed of shipments.

Air transfer from Japan via Europe requires 3 to 4 days, and truck transport from Barcelona takes one week. The reliability of the Barcelona transport route has already been verified and has earned high praise from many customers.

Air cargo from locations other than Japan can also be handled utilizing Nippon Express' global network spanning 210 cities in 37 countries worldwide. In addition, ocean LCL cargo can be shipped via the “SAT! Iberica"* route.

Nippon Express is committed to continued development of transport products that anticipate the needs of customers and to ever greater efficiency in its logistics operations.

• “SAT! Iberica" is an ocean LCL combined transport product offered by Nippon Express' Air Cargo Business Division.