This time in our 'In the spotlight', colleague Frank Rotteveel.

Who are you?

My name is Frank Rotteveel and my current role is Practice Lead Airports & Air Cargo. I joined Districon almost 20 years ago.
To some this might sound long, but to me, as an aviation professional, ‘time flies’, with of course sometimes a bit of turbulence, but predominantly blue skies!

My experiences

Where?

Where did these blue skies bring me? I have worked for many clients worldwide in beautiful and interesting places with different cultures and perspectives. Some of these places include New York, Delhi, Singapore, Joburg, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Moscow, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Doha and last, but definitely not least, my ‘home-town’ Amsterdam!

Who?

We typically support all stakeholders in the air cargo industry such as airports, authorities, airlines, cargo handlers, forwarders and real estate investors. Together they represent the ecosystem of air cargo, all with their own interests and objectives. These stakeholder dynamics differ at every airport, making sure each project is unique and there is no such thing as a ‘been there, done that before’ kind of project.

What?

We support airports with their business strategy, masterplanning and development, we design and optimize cargo terminals and we innovate the air cargo supply chains in almost every aspect.

Why?

Why do I like this work so much? Quite simple, I like the continuous puzzle to deliver value in different environments. This could be the puzzle to bring together various stakeholder interests, to change and innovate the cargo chain, to define a targeted development strategy or to solve a puzzle for an optimal design.

And the cherry on the cake? Of course, the different countries, cultures and most of all the very interesting people to work with, each with their own story and drive. This is a continuous trigger to explore the blue skies globally for many years to come! Click here to read more about consultancy jobs in the aviation industry.

Future

What will the future bring? Of course, COVID-19 has been a big factor in aviation the last two years. Air Cargo has been flourishing with continuous high volumes and high yields. Nonetheless cargo carrying passenger airlines and airports have been hit hard. COVID-19 also made people realize what the value of air cargo is and that solid supply chains are a critical asset to any economy.

Creating resilient supply chains is now on the top of many board room agendas. We are already engaged in various projects to rethink air cargo strategies and (re)development plans for cargo infrastructure. This will also significantly contribute to the sustainability goals as many cargo terminals have been developed in the eighties and nineties with poor sustainability ratings. I’m looking forward continuing to support our clients in making the transition and creating a high-performance airport and terminal operations from both a logistics and a sustainability point of view!

Next up

The next person ‘in the spotlight’ is my colleague Martijn de Rond. Martijn, are you ready for take-off?