EXPRESS AIR CARGO IS DROWNING, MANAGEMENT HAS RAN AWAY AND “LOOKING FOR NEW CHALLENGES”

There have been cases related EXPRESS AIR CARGO (Tunisia) before. But the company tried to close them before they were published in the BLACKLIST.AERO to avoid publicity. However, time passed, new cases began to appear, and the company simply lost the ability to cope with the growing debt burden.

The company’s unstable position and problems with flight operations led to a deterioration in relations with customers and suppliers. The number of flights began to steadily decrease. As a result, the financial situation in the company began to affect the employees of EXPRESS AIR CARGO. The company began to have problems with paying salaries.

What caused such a sorry state of affairs in the company? A number of factors that are often encountered in such cases. Firstly, a lot depended on the position of its owner ANIS REAHI in the Tunisian government. At the time, he was closely intertwined with the political system of Tunisia and his stable position in power helped in business. Thanks to such connections, his company EXPRESS LOGISTICS became a partner of the world leader in postal services and air cargo transportation US company UPS (United Parcel Service).

Such partnership, in turn, became the key to the prosperity of the operator EXPRESS AIR CARGO. Having an anchor customer, the company was easy to develop. But at some point, what is called corruption throughout the world began to come to light. Having become the treasurer of one of the Tunisian political parties, Anis Reahi began to pay various expenses for the political events of this party from the account of EXPRESS LOGISTICS, which by that time had become known as UPS TUNISIA. The details of this case and documents can be found at this link.

The fact of corruption came to light quite quickly, as a result of which the reputation of UPS was tarnished. Yes, this did not lead to United Parcel Service breaking off relations with Express Logistics. But this became the starting point for Express Air Cargo, after which its affairs began to go from bad to worse. The position of Anis Reahi himself in Tunisia also began to deteriorate. Therefore, two years ago he chose to move to Dubai, where he is trying to live a lavish lifestyle. Again, at the expense of the working capital of his companies.

But if it is difficult for him to get into the pocket of Express Logistics due to control from UPS, then with Express Air Cargo everything is much simpler. Managing Director KARIM STAMBOULI could never put a barrier to Anis from washing out the airline’s working capital. Eyewitnesses call the extremely unprofessional management of Karim Stambouli the second huge reason for the company’s failure on the market.

I personally had the opportunity to talk to Karim on the phone many times, discussing cases in BLACKLIST.AERO and for my part I can only confirm the opinion that exists about him in the aviation market. His hysterics and constant transitions from threats to pleas resembled a hunted animal. However, the arguments that Karim Stambouli gave to justify the non-payments of the company he headed are much more important.

In particular, when one of the companies filed a case demanding payment of USD 53,261 for the provided aviation services, Karim stated that he was not paying the company because he had a dispute with them regarding some of the invoices for services to obtain permits to fly over Jordan. Therefore, he demands that the case not be published, since this is not a “default”, but a “dispute”.

Naturally, the Registry administration began to sort out the situation. It turned out that the total amount of all the invoices disputed by Karim Stambouli was slightly more than $4,000. That is, instead of paying an amount that is not subject to dispute and which exceeds the amount under discussion by 12 times, and then negotiating the remaining amount, the director of Express Air Cargo decided to make the entire amount hostage of this dispute. At least that is how it looked from the outside.

The second moment that personally alarmed me happened during a conversation with Karim Stambouli. Let me remind you that the dispute was about Jordanian overflight permits that the claimant’s company had been receiving for Express Air Cargo aircraft for several years. Usually, companies charge $10-50 (depending on the urgency) for each permit for such services. The agent’s price usually includes only the time spent filling out the application and monitoring the receipt of the permit number from the CAA. Sometimes you also have to be glued to the telephone for a long time to remind the CAA about yourself once again and finally knock out the desired permit. Everyone who is related to Operations knows these little things like the back of their hand.

However, Karim Stambouli said the following:
“After a few years, we found out that Jordanian overflight permits are generally free! We have to fly 4 kilometers there, Jordan does not charge for flying over this territory! And it turns out that the agent illegally charged us the cost of the received permits!”

When I asked Karim whether he was confused with the overflight permit, which you need to get regardless of how many, not even kilometers, but meters you flew over a particular country, and navigation fees, Karim assured me that he meant overflight permit. And here I personally thought seriously about the professionalism of this manager. However, I leave the right to judge this particular issue to the discretion of the readers. Most of you understand this issue perfectly.

When another case appeared in the BLACKLIST.AERO Registry, Karim Stambouli stated that he did not dispute anything and would definitely pay everything. But, he said, the situation on the cargo transportation market is very difficult and he asks everyone to understand their situation. After each of our appeals to the CAA of Tunisia or the company’s partners with information about Express Air Cargo's debts, Karim called me and promised to pay by a specific date. And each time these remained promises.

Finally, in October 2024, Karim informed me that a new founder would join Express Air Cargo by November 15 and all debts would be paid immediately, even those he tried to dispute. However, after November 15, Karim simply stopped answering calls and went off the radar. As one of the sources in the company told us: “Karim ran away, not only from the company, but also from Tunisia. The company is now managed by Anis Reahi from Dubai via the Internet.”

This “escape” of Karim happened right after BLACKLIST.AERO re-applied to the Tunisian CAA. And there, apparently, they paid close attention to Express Air Cargo. If you look at Karim Stambouli’s LinkedIn profile, he does not hide his location in France and indicates that he is “Looking for new challenges”. Well, Karim, the main challenge for you as a manager will always be the ability to keep your word. And it would also be nice to learn the material. Just an advice...

Before publishing this article, I offered both Anis and Karim to provide their perspective on the company's situation. However, both chose to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the opportunity.

Well, at the moment neither I nor the staff of Express Air Cargo have positive expectations regarding the company. The situation is becoming increasingly critical, the company is drowning. Anis Reahi is spending money like crazy in Dubai, Karim Stambuli is “looking for new challenges”. Apparently, it is high time to introduce external management to the company.