One month ahead of deadline

A full month ahead of the scheduled implementation date, Lufthansa Cargo is now equipped to meet the new, tougher cargo screening requirements imposed by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at all its field stations in America. From today, the carrier will perform the mandatory 100% screening of outbound cargo shipments transported on passenger aircraft at the 17 American airports it serves.

“Over the past three years, screening requirements in the USA have steadily increased,” said Klaus Holler, Vice President The Americas at Lufthansa Cargo.

“We therefore invested early on in new technologies and in staff training. By meeting the requirements well before the mandated deadline we are able to give our customers planning reliability.” Mr. Holler emphasized that the cargo carrier’s customers would not feel any negative effects of the heightened security requirements when shipping freight consignments.

In furtherance of its pioneering role in aviation cargo security, Lufthansa Cargo has been requested to testify before the United States Congress yesterday on Capitol Hill in Washington, Harald Zielinski, Head of Security and Environmental Management at Lufthansa Cargo, was the only representative of an international airline to be invited to a US Congressional hearing in Washington. Mr. Zielinski underlined the high priority that the company places on security. “Cargo security is an uncompromised priority at Lufthansa Cargo”, he said. Mr. Zielinski praised the solid cooperation with the TSA and offered insight to areas where collaboration and communication can be further strengthened, with specific emphasis on transatlantic cooperation that recognizing mutual standards between the USA and Europe. He encouraged a robust ‚government to government’ dialogue in order to raise security levels and at the same time ensure standardised, efficient processes.

Mr. Zielinski testified that “Smart security” depends upon the responsible allocation of justified resources in order to invoke the most efficient flow of operations while maintaining a balanced and reliable security environment.
(Source:www.transportweekly.com)