Three major freight management companies in the past month have introduced air charter services from Asia and Europe to Chicago-area airports, underscoring strong demand on key trade lanes from customers in the Midwest.
Freight forwarders offer white-label, dedicated cargo service because of the greater control it gives them over capacity, routes, scheduling, ground logistics and service compared to tendering freight with a multitude of commercial airlines. That flexibility and speed is prized by customers that need goods on quick turnaround.
Ceva Logistics said it has organized a new service from Hanoi to Chicago O’Hare International Airport that will operate three times per week on a Boeing 777 freighter operated by sister company CMA CGM Air Cargo. The service provides more connectivity for the high tech, industrial, retail and e-commerce sectors as more production shifts from China to Vietnam. The flights carry consolidated shipments from around the country, with Ceva coordinating pickup and transport by air and truck from cities such as Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, to Hanoi.
Ceva, the fifth largest logistics company by gross revenue, also renewed for a second year its dedicated air cargo service from Wuxi, China, to Chicago. The twice-weekly service is also operated by CMA CGM Air Cargo with a 777 freighter, which offers 100 tons of capacity per flight. The previous charter was with Nippon Cargo Airlines, according to a Ceva spokesperson.
To maximize the route’s reach, Ceva has expanded its pickup coverage across key manufacturing and export hubs throughout China, leveraging an extensive ground network to enable multi-origin consolidation and delivery to the Wuxi gateway.
In Chicago, shipments are processed through Ceva’s large, near-airport warehouse, which includes 350,000 feet of dedicated freight space, an 8,000-square foot free trade zone and 6,000-square foot dual-chamber cold-storage unit.
The charter programs are expected to run for a year and be renewed based on customer demand.
Kuehne+Nagel
Kuehne+Nagel, the world’s largest pure freight forwarding company, in early June added Frankfurt, Germany, to the weekly transcontinental rotation of its self-owned Boeing 747-8 cargo jet, operated by Atlas Air. The updated service now includes a weekly route from Chicago O’Hare to Frankfurt, an important cargo hub in Europe. The freighter recrosses the Atlantic Ocean to Atlanta before looping back through Liege, Belgium; Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; Taiwan; and Chicago.
The new route supports healthcare and other time-sensitive cargo, such as high-tech and semiconductors, K+N said in a news release. Frankfurt and Chicago are major pharmaceutical production and distribution hubs. The forwarder’s charter network comprises more than 100 weekly connections worldwide.
DSV
Last week, Denmark-based DSV, the world’s second largest freight forwarder, announced a new weekly freighter service from Luxembourg to Chicago-Rockford International Airport. The new charter service builds on the DSV’s existing weekly service from Shanghai, China, to Chicago-Rockford, which started in November. Both services are operated by Atlas Air using Boeing 777-200 freighter aircraft, according to a spokesperson.
Chicago-Rockford is located about 70 miles west of O’Hare and has increasingly gained popularity among cargo airlines and forwarders for handling international cargo for its lack of congestion, processing speed and lower fees.
DSV said in a news release it is evaluating plans to introduce a new service between Seoul, South Korea, and Chicago-Rockford later this year.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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