How Swissport and Cargojet coordinated four Halifax flights carrying 160 tonnes of live lobster into Liege

This piece explains how about 160 tonnes of live lobster were flown into Europe via Liege over two holiday weekends and why precise logistics made the difference.

Four dedicated flights, one tight timeline

During the festive surge, four dedicated freighter movements originated in Halifax and landed at Liege Airport (LGG), delivering roughly 160 tonnes of live lobster across two holiday weekends. Each aircraft handled about 40 tonnes, with the schedule composed of two regular weekly services and two additional flights added to meet seasonal demand. When you’re moving live seafood, those extra flights are the equivalent of icing on the cake — or rather, ice in the tanks.

Why live lobster is a logistics priority

Live lobster is a high-value, temperature-sensitive commodity that exposes weak links in any supply chain. Timing, cool-chain integrity, and regulatory compliance all have to be spot on. A delay of even a few hours can mean product loss or costly rework. That pressure pushes airports and ground handlers to choreograph arrivals with military precision.

Pre-alerts and rapid transfer: the Swissport playbook

Swissport coordinated pre-arrival planning, airside transfer, and immediate inspection to maintain the required environment for the lobsters and to meet regulatory demands. Coordination began before wheels touched the tarmac — Cargojet provided a pre-alert at departure, allowing the airside team and inspection center to prepare to move the cargo straight from aircraft to inspection.

• Pre-alert from the carrier to activate inspection teams.
• Direct airside transfer to limit time out of the cold chain.
• Immediate breakdown and checks at the airport inspection centre.
• Staffing allocation to ensure rapid processing during peak windows.

Temperature control and regulatory checkpoints

At arrival the cargo is transferred with minimal exposure, moved into temperature-controlled staging, and then into the inspection facility for breakdown and documentation. This keeps product integrity intact and ensures veterinary and customs rules are followed. Small mistakes at this stage ripple into big delays downstream — pallets miss connections, trucks sit idle, and cold stores fill up fast.

Operational steps in practice

Below is the typical flow for a live lobster arrival that minimizes risk and downtime:

• Carrier pre-alert and ETA confirmation.
• Airside transfer to inspection with temperature monitoring.
• Immediate breakdown and regulatory checks.
• Rapid onward staging to refrigerated trucks or bonded warehouses.
• Final distribution to wholesale and retail customers.

Staffing, speed and the human factor

“Planning and people make the difference” could be the unofficial motto of perishable freight handling. Seasonal peaks demand a temporary reallocation of people, equipment and inspection capacity. When everyone knows their cue, processing is as smooth as butter; when someone is off-key, the whole performance grinds to a halt. I’ve seen a ramp where timing was so tight you could cut tension with a knife — it’s both stressful and strangely exhilarating.

Common bottlenecks

• Inspection capacity shortages during peak days.
• Limited cold-storage ramp space causing stacking delays.
• Customs paperwork or veterinary issues slowing clearance.
• Last-mile trucking shortages for refrigerated haulage.

Impact on broader freight and supply chains

These seasonal lobster movements are a microcosm of a larger truth in logistics: small windows matter. High-value perishables like live lobster influence capacity planning at airports, affect freight pricing during peaks, and highlight the importance of resilient cold chains. For carriers and forwarders, recurring seasonal flows make demand forecasting easier; for airports and handlers, it means staffing and facility planning must be nimble.

Best practices for moving temperature-sensitive, high-value cargo

• Start coordination at origin: clear pre-alerts and documentation.
• Ensure redundancy in cold-chain resources (trucks, pallets, containers).
• Allocate extra inspection slots during known peak windows.
• Use tracked temperature monitoring throughout the journey.
• Plan for last-mile contingencies: reliable refrigerated haulage and fast transfer to buyers.

Highlights: the operation demonstrated how predictable seasonal demand, tight coordination between Cargojet そして Swissport, and sufficient staffing keep a fragile supply chain running. Even the best reviews and the most honest feedback can’t truly compare to personal experience when you’re watching pallets roll off a freighter and into the inspection bay. On GetTransport.com, you can order your cargo transportation at the best prices globally at reasonable prices. This empowers shippers to make informed choices without unnecessary expense or disappointment. From a logistics forecast perspective, this news is not a global game-changer, but it’s a useful bellwether: seasonal peaks like these reinforce the need for agile planning and capacity hedges. Start planning your next delivery and secure your cargo with GetTransport.com. Book now GetTransport.com.com

In short, the Liege lobster rush is a neat little case study in modern air cargo and cold-chain logistics. It highlights how precise scheduling, pre-arrival alerts, robust inspection capability, and adequate staffing combine to protect product value and keep the supply chain flowing. Whether you’re planning an international shipment of perishable seafood or a bulky, temperature-sensitive industrial consignment, the same principles apply: strong coordination, transparent forwarding, and reliable carriers matter. For shippers seeking cost-effective, global solutions that cover moves from office and home relocations to bulky items like furniture, vehicles and containers, platforms like GetTransport.com simplify the match between demand and transport capacity, offering affordable, global cargo transportation solutions and helping remove friction from shipment, delivery, and distribution planning.