Before air cargo became a global standard, airplanes were considered a complete novelty. The foundation for our future in the skies was laid decades before our first official cargo flight.
When Hedwig Wassing founded the company in 1919 at the Stationstraat in Tilburg the primary focus was local transport. But innovation followed quickly. Just one year later in 1920 the very first travel agency in the city was added to the business.
To get people comfortable with the modern airplane Wassing organized sightseeing flights at Gilze Rijen airfield. This early passion for aviation and forward thinking approach quickly led to an appointment as a commercial agent for KLM.
The company was already deeply embedded in the aviation world long before moving goods by air became a logistical necessity.
The leap into commercial air freight
The real breakthrough for cargo came right after the war when supply chains desperately needed speed to rebuild the economy. In 1946 we officially started our air freight modality.
We were the very first logistics provider at Eindhoven Airport, which was also known as the Heliport at the time. This was such a monumental moment for the region that it was celebrated grandly with the local fanfare playing to mark the occasion.
Early air freight in the Netherlands was a true pioneering effort driven by practical necessity.
There were no standardized cargo hubs or automated luggage belts. Loading and unloading the aircraft was done entirely on site using our very own trucks which were pulled right up to the planes on the tarmac.
Shaping the ground handling industry
Operating at an early airport required much more than just delivering goods. It demanded full operational control over the aircraft handling.
Because of this hands on approach Jan Wassing stood at the very base of Handling Agency Welschap. Today that exact same handling agency is known as Viggo Eindhoven, which is a well-known handler in the modern aviation industry.
This shows how deeply intertwined our local roots are with the broader development of Dutch aviation logistics.
A lasting legacy in global supply chains
Today our air freight division (in Amsterdam) at MOL Logistics manages complex global supply chains daily. We coordinate international flights handling customs clearance and precise delivery schedules around the world.
The scale has grown exponentially but the core motivation remains identical to our mindset in 1946. We look at the logistical challenges our clients face and we deploy the right transport method to solve them efficiently.
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