Swiss International Air Lines Ltd., (Swiss WorldCargo) has signed a five-year agreement with Unitpool who will provide the airline with ULD (Unit-Load Devices) control and pooling services.World Airways has contracted recently also ULD control services from Unitpool.

Swiss WorldCargo, the cargo division of SWISS, who operates an extensive global network with ULD configured aircraft has reached agreement with Unitpool who will not only handle the day-to-day ULD control management, but will also take over the SWISS ULD's and integrate them into its growing ULD pooling fleet.

Unitpool sees the collaboration with Swiss WorldCargo as a further endorsement for ULD pooling and outsourcing of ULD control, a concept that is being closely followed by the airline industry as it considers viable options to streamline operations and generate cost savings.

The transaction deal includes some 8500 ULD's of various types making Swiss WorldCargo one of Unitpool's biggest customer.

"In recent months SWISS and Swiss WorldCargo have introduced service innovations that mark it apart from many other airlines" says Philip Hill, Unitpool's CEO, adding: "In considering and selecting Unitpools unique services we believe that SWISS has further demonstrated its forward thinking approach in not only moving with the times, but in setting trends for the airline industry ".

Markus Vetsch, Swiss WorldCargo's Vice President Operations commented: "As we focus on our core cargo activities we have a very open-minded approach to our non-core activities, and with Unitpool saw a viable value proposition that would enable us to out-source our ULD control operations."

Swiss WorldCargo is the cargo division of Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. With its global network of over 150 destinations in more than 80 countries and its broad range of products and services.

Established in April 2002 , Unitpool manage 14,000 ULDs serving 200 stations world wide and 20 airline customers. Unitpool offers ULD management and global ULD pooling services, meaning: Global ULD purchases – management and operations - repair and maintenance and state-of-the-art ULD management IT solutions.