BALtrans logistics group opens at Charles de Gaulle Airport

HONG KONG's freight forwarding and logistics group BALtrans has established its first operation in France at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

The new operation is headed up by Jean Claude Melin as managing director. Mr Melin has 30 years' experience in forwarding and logistics.

BALtrans Logistics France provides global freight forwarding by air and sea, and pan-European road freight services, using BAltrans' own network of over 60 offices in more than 20 countries as well as partnerships and alliances in another 40 countries. One of BALtrans' early specialisations in France was inbound consolidations from Hong Kong and China.

"The French market is one of the biggest in Europe and the BALtrans network could not afford to overlook this opportunity to capture new import and export traffic. July is our first full working month, and clients are already joining us regularly. Ocean is currently 70 per cent of our business, but we expect the airfreight element to become larger in time," said Mr Melin.

"Our aim is to be fully operational at all of France's main air and sea gateways at the earliest opportunity. This is an exciting opportunity to build an operation entirely from scratch, based on a very strong and experienced team. We expect our own success, particularly in niche markets such as aerospace, automotive and pharmaceuticals."

Founded in 1982, BALtrans' range of services includes airfreight forwarding, sea freight forwarding, sea-air combination services, exhibition forwarding, air chartering, international household removal, marine insurance brokerage, project shipping and third-party logistics solutions. In 2003, BALtrans Jardine Logistics Limited, which became its subsidiary.