LATAM Cargo Brazil inaugurated its new cargo warehouse in Fortaleza, Ceará, intended exclusively to domestic business mainly in the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil. With an investment estimated at about USD 1.2 million (BRL 4.1 million), the new terminal is the most modern that the company owns in the Northeastern region of the country; it has available a structure of 1,687 m2 and services that represent a significant advancement in relation to the former terminal.
Situated in the region of Pinto Martins International Airport, the new warehouse has capacity to move around two thousand tons of cargo per month, which represents a 33% increase in relation to the previous capacity. The space is completely vertical and has racks with a height of over five meters and capacity for 648 pallets.
In this airport, LATAM Cargo Brazil ships cargo in over 20 passenger flights a day, while it receives about 20 others. To this the exclusively carrier operation is summed up, which is once a week. Among the goods that are most transported in this area are garments, pharmaceutical products and perishable goods.
We expect an upturn of the economy for 2017 and we want to be prepared for this. For this reason we have invested in improving our infrastructure and services and we will continue to do so. At LATAM Cargo Brazil we want to be well positioned to face the conclusion of this crisis and Fortaleza is an important market for customers in terms of imports and exports,” Luis Quintiliano, CEO of LATAM Cargo Brazil.
Among the advantages of the new terminal is the simultaneous management of cargo transported on cargo and passenger aircrafts. Moreover, it has exclusive areas for stockpiling of hazardous goods, three new doors for receiving cargo and a closed circuit television security system.
Summed up to this, the whole cargo handling process is automated with an smart identification system, where each bulk is labeled through a barcode. This permits delivery to customers to be much faster and more unobstructed.
In the former terminal we could only assist between 16 and 17 customers at one time. Now we have the capacity to assist 45 customers at the same time,” Luis Quintiliano, CEO of LATAM Cargo Brazil.
The new warehouse will be open from Monday to Friday from 6:00 am up to 10:00 pm, Saturdays from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm, while on Sundays and holidays assistance hours will be between 7:00 am and 12:00 pm.
Infrastructure in Brazil
Started in 2013 and with an investment close to USD 25 million (BRL 80 millon), the infrastructure improvement project of LATAM Cargo Brazil includes 22 terminals throughout the entire country and will culminate in the course of 2017 with the construction of new warehouses and the reform and expansion of other terminals.
In 2013 the Manaus cargo terminal was inaugurated. The following year, operation in Goiânia and Natal started. In 2015 and 2016, besides the cargo terminal in Guarulhos, the company also delivered the terminals of Uberlandia, Ribeirão Preto, Sorocaba, Belém, Osasco and Galeão, in Rio de Janeiro. For 2017, aside from the Fortaleza terminal, the company contemplates the inaugurations of Curtiba and Imperatriz em Maranhão.