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As the world slowly begins to open up again and we regain some semblance of normality, we’re all thinking about our next escape. White sands and blue seas, bustling spice markets and abundant street food, gothic architecture and untouched cosmopolitan ground, or a serene escape into the mountains and greenery.
Used by over eighty different airlines, Heathrow Airport, the UK’s gateway to the world and the busiest airport in the country, is due to welcome many of us back safely (and, hopefully, quickly). Although we were denied international exploration for much too long, imports and exports continued; we may have had to pause our plan to explore every corner of the world, but there’s a packet of biscuits somewhere that travelled four-thousand miles.
At Mixed Freight Services, our twenty-four-seven business didn’t and doesn’t stop. We’ve been in the industry for over thirty-five years, managing every aspect of air freight handling, from transport and truck rental, to security screening and pallet build & breakdown. All throughout the year, we’re ensuring cargo is safe and ready to fly around the world; goods arrive to us to be screened before being safely transported to the airport where they’re ready to travel to shops, factories, and hospitals around the UK and rest of the world.
At every point of the supply chain and the delivery process, we ensure our clients are kept up to date with the latest updates and movements of their cargo. Discover what happens on the journey of air cargo and let Mixed Freight take you on a trip around the world.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Start with a stroll through the bustling streets of Istanbul (alongside many, many cats) and satisfy your senses at the spice bazaar. Visit the mesmerising Blue Mosque and practice your haggling skills at the colourful souvenir stalls of the Grand Bazaar, where you’ll find ceramics, ornate jewellery, and evil eye amulets. Perhaps you’ll stop by a mall for authentic cosmetics and perfumes, both widely sought-after commodities in Turkey that, of course, must be properly transported before arriving.
Many items that are safe to use at home can be hazardous for aircraft, especially when they’re transported in quantity. Its flammable nature means perfume is classed as dangerous goods, and must adhere to DG regulations. Both perfume and cosmetics arrive to our warehouse ready to be screened.
We use Smith’s Dual View machinery for our x-ray screening; the largest and most advanced x-ray machinery available in the UK today. Our warehouse guys then quickly have the items x-rayed for safety and delivered to the airline within short timeframes, ensuring the products are safe and ready to fly out and land on shelves in Istanbul.
Despite our daily challenges, everything we do meets the stringent standards of the Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority. Read more about our aviation security screening services.
KYOTO, JAPAN and SCOTLAND, UK
Next, we’ll wind down with a peaceful trip to Kyoto. Soak up the history of the Golden Pavilion and the Fushimi Inari shrine, or take some snaps of the stunning (and very Instagrammable) cherry blossom trees. Stop at a traditional teahouse and participate in a Japanese tea ceremony, enjoying carefully prepared matcha and a plate of sashimi from salmon that arrived all the way from Scotland. That’s right. Once an order is placed at a Sottish fishery, that salmon will begin its journey halfway across the world.
Making its first trip within UK borders, salmon is harvested from Scottish farms and delivered (very quickly) to Heathrow. Being temperature-sensitive and perishable goods, fresh fish must be kept cool in transit, and is therefore placed in polystyrene fish boxes that provide both physical and thermal protection.
Once the salmon arrive to us, our guys will offload and x-ray the boxes so they’re safe to travel; with our expert ability and special equipment, we’re then able to assist with pallet-building and roller-bed trailers so the goods can then be quickly delivered to the airline and placed straight onto the aircraft where it then flies to Japan and beyond.
This is possible with our excellent transportation and pallet build and breakdown services. For goods that are imported, Mixed Freight Services are able to collect goods in one of our vehicles/trailers, including refrigerated and roller-bed trailers, and pallets can then be broken down in our warehouse.
CUSCO, PERU
After a peaceful and picture-perfect trip, it’s time to revitalise yourself by jumping straight into Cusco and exploring wherever the wind takes you. Hike the Inca Trail to the famous ruins of Machu Picchu, situated within beautiful mountainous scenery. Paddle along rivers of the Southern Amazon, seeing how many of the exotic animals you can spot, from colourful macaws to the friendliest capybaras. Indulge in Peruvian cuisine, from ceviche to the more daring guinea pig and fall asleep under the stars to the sounds of rainfall and distant animal calls.
To Peru, we’re involved in the handling and security screening of courier material. Of course, the materials that are being transported also need to undergo security screening and secure transportation when travelling around the globe.
Goods like envelopes, courier bags, and parcel packaging are screened at our depot to ensure there’s nothing sinister hiding inside them before they get loaded onto a vehicle and taken to the airline to be flown off.
As security screening cargo experts, we have the ability to handle all types of normal and yet difficult cargo, from courier materials, to vehicles and even wild animals.
Read our case study about the transportation of Zambezi the black rhinoceros.
ZANZIBAR
Last on the itinerary is the magical island of Zanzibar. Disconnect from civilisation and take a walk along beautiful, crystal-clear blue beaches as you wind down on warm, white sands. If you’re brave enough, you might take a trip to Cheetah’s rock, where you can come face-to-face with these majestic African natives. Take a tour of a spice farm, where you can learn about the origins of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, before indulging in aromatic spiced tea and traditional Swahili dishes.
This might be the exquisite way a lot of us would like to escape and relax after the hectic and difficult year we all had. However, in the midst of the pandemic, we were very involved in the handling of vital medical supplies, including oxygen, face masks, PPE, and surgery instruments. The nature of these goods meant it was more important than ever to keep things moving around, and the distribution of medical supplies needed to be efficient.
At Mixed Freight Services, we were still operating twenty-four hours a day to assist with the transportation of urgently required supplies around the globe; our team was working hard all year-round, ensuring air freight consignments were able to be handled quickly and efficiently. No matter the situation, our dedicated team is ready to tackle any job that comes our way.
YOUR GLOBAL GATEWAY WITH MIXED FREIGHT
With airlines flying to over one hundred and eighty destinations around the globe, in normal times Heathrow Airport is one of the most important links in the chain of international trade. Over two-hundred of the top three-hundred companies in the UK are headquartered within a 25 mile radius of the airport, giving us at Mixed Freight the perfect base to be easily reached by those who need our help.
With Mixed Freight’s office rental services, we’re able to bring clients closer to the action. We love doing what we do and appreciate the dynamic environment created when working with people and products from all corners of the world; we’ve even gained international confidence through hosting tenants from across the seas.
Every team member of Mixed Freight plays a pivotal role in supporting global supply chains, whether they’re taking care of your invoices in our offices or they’re on the ground deploying trucks or working in our warehouse. You can learn more about some of our team members and what they get up to on our Meet The Team page.
We’re committed to providing pragmatic solutions to all your logistics needs with our dedicated and dynamic team of experts, working round the clock to ensure cargo is handled, screened and transported efficiently. If you want to learn more about what we can do at Mixed Freight Services, don’t hesitate to contact us today.