Marina Is First Lady Of Air Cargo

     Marina Marzani of Esse Emme Srl in Italy is the embodiment of a Woman in Airfreight who deserves a commendation, having risen to her current success, within not only one company but also a worldwide freight network.
     Marina’s freight history started in 1988, when she joined Kuehne + Nagel handling their Key Accounts. Marina’s Director, Clem Ruscio, reported that Marina’s commitment to her customers was such that she flew to Tokyo and back in only 3 days just to sort out a problem for a customer.
     In February 1998, Marina’s moved to Esse Emme Srl in Milan.
Esse Emme Srl, founded in 1975, deals with air and ocean freight, warehousing, distribution, customs brokerage and insurance.
     Esse Emme has since grown from 5 to 18 staff in Milan and a further 3 in Bologna, with an estimated annual turnover of about 6.5 million Euros. Marina grew with the company to achieve her current status as Vice President.
     In 1996, Esse Emme joined the Global Freight Group, a network of independently owned freight forwarders and customs brokers.
     Marina became the main GFG contact for Esse Emme, building relationships with the other members in up to 65 countries and U.S. states, helped by the fact that Marina converses fluently in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.
     Such was Marina’s standing within the Global Freight Group (GFG) that, in 2000, she was invited to join the Board of Directors.
     She gladly accepted this role, offering full commitment – on a voluntary non-paid basis – to become involved in the running of the GFG.
     The GFG is a non-profit organization, run simply for the good of its members – a mentality matched by Marina’s dedication.
     This dedication was rewarded by her promotion to the position of GFG President in 2003, a role to which she has since been re-elected twice.
     When interviewed about her Presidency she commented:
     "I am very proud to be the first lady President of a freight forwarding association, in an industry which has essentially been male-led.
     The GFG's special strength is that the members build their business relationships based on friendship and mutual respect.”
     This friendship and mutual respect treasured by Marina is evident in that her colleague, Clem Ruscio, came out of official retirement to join her at Esse Emme as an outside consultant, even to this day.
     Despite traveling for perhaps six months of the year or more, Marina never seems to tire.
     She went almost directly from presiding over the GFG conference, in the Bahamas, to India for a 3-week business tour in Asia, with only a 2-day turnaround between.
     With 20 years experience in the air freight business, there are few places in the world that Marina hasn’t visited in order to handle business and win new clients.
     Wherever Marina finds herself, if she can get a signal, your emails and phone calls will be answered.
     Proving that you can mix business with pleasure Marina even won a contract to ship fresh mozzarella from Italy to the Bahamas while dining at a local restaurant during a single day stop over. Marina simply does not miss an opportunity to make business for both Esse Emme and the Global Freight Group.
     Freight is in the air that she breathes!
By Rachel Marchant
(Rachel is Group Administrator for the Global Freight Group. Clem Ruscio of Esse Emme also contributed to this story.)

Alexandra Builds Frankfurt

     Many carriers that fly into Frankfurt know Alexandra Ulm as their contact when they want to start or increase both their cargo and passenger presence at Frankfurt Airport. She’s the go-to person especially for North American carriers when they need to identify slots that are available.
     The key is interpersonal communication about how the market develops at Frankfurt, she said in an interview last year: Talking to the local and route managers and airlines’ head offices.
     She said it’s best to know that a route is busy and the market is developed enough in Frankfurt for a carrier to start up their service through research; and then starting dialog on that possibility with the airline and looking for an actual timeframe.
     If the airline chooses a route to Frankfurt and is granted an acceptable timeframe for a slot and all the pieces of the rather complex puzzle fit and service does start – Fraport can then help the carrier find a lot of other services, like offices, IT solutions, ground handling and cargo services, Ms. Ulm said.
     Ms. Ulm said passenger service is vastly important to Frankfurt’s total cargo throughput as about 40% of the airport’s cargo tonnage – a total of over two million metric tons in 2007 – moves in the form of belly freight in passenger aircraft. There are 46 daily non-stop passenger flights to North America alone, she said.
     Ms. Ulm said she’s in regular contact with people from airlines including Continental, American, U.S. Air, Delta, United, Northwest and Air Canada – and their cargo people; while cargo airlines she’s in contact with at Frankfurt include Polar, Evergreen, and FedEx.
     Although Ms. Ulm says there aren’t a lot of women in cargo, or passenger aviation for that matter, girls thinking of getting into the business shouldn’t be discouraged she says:
     “Be normal, don’t think you have any special rights. The gender thing is not an issue at all,” she said.