Geodis has taken a ‘several years’ lease on a A330-300 freighter to operate between Amsterdam, London, Chicago and Hong Kong. Flying under the Geodis brand, the aircraft will also serve the China — Europe route during the peak season. The first flight will take off in September.
Eric Martin-Neuville, Geodis Executive Vice President Freight Forwarding, said: «Our AirDirect service has operated more than 650 air charter flights so far across Asia, Europe, North and Latin America in order to secure capacity for our customer shipments worldwide.
«The experience gained from these operations has led to the decision to charter our own Geodis freighter. This will provide our clients with a reliable schedule of flights, under our operational control, helping them overcome the significant logistical constraints that the market is currently enduring.»
The freighter will be integrated into the Geodis AirDirect global schedule. Initially, it will fly three times per week between Amsterdam/London and Chicago (AMS/ STN—ORD) and will additionally be deployed on weekly rotations connecting Amsterdam and Hong Kong (AMS—HKG).
Geodis is offering the entire range of its air freight products — Geodis AirFast, AirSave and AirFlex — on the AirDirect flights. The freighter will also provide the opportunity and flexibility to operate dedicated full capacity flights for its customers when required.
Marie-Christine Lombard, Geodis CEO, said: «With the continued strain on airfreight capacity, we wish to ensure a more sustainable supply of air cargo space for our clients and are therefore investing in this, our own, first dedicated freighter. Our aim is to constantly find dependable solutions to secure our clients’ supply chains, which are critical to their business growth.»
Growing trend
The Geodis initiative is part of a growing trend of freight forwarders seeking to be able to guarantee capacity for their clients though long-term leasing agreements.
Dachser USA Air & Sea Logistics (ASL), a subsidiary of global logistics provider Dachser, has just marked the first anniversary of consecutive flights on its weekly Frankfurt — Chicago — Frankfurt air freight service route.
Andy Frommenwiler, VP Air Freight USA, said: «This service was launched a year ago, when capacity in both air and ocean got very tight and our customers turned to us for a reliable service to ensure their cargo would move swiftly between Europe and the US. It has proven to be such a dependable, efficient solution that this route has become a cornerstone in our global air freight services network.»
More than 85% of Dachser USA´s customers have utilised this service more than once.
