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A charter every hour and a half for busy cargo broker 

[ November 25, 2021   //   ]

UK-based international broker Air Charter Service has recorded its busiest ever quarter for its cargo division, with 1,445 charters between August and October. This, combined with its other divisions, resulted in the highest ever revenue for the company in one quarter – a total of £321.1 million (US$430 million).  
Group cargo director Dan Morgan-Evans said it was equivalent to a charter departing every 90 minutes.  
He explained: “Manufacturers and retailers who have historically relied on shipping to move the bulk of their orders are now considering charters as the only solution to hit impending deadlines and, in particular, Christmas. The bulk of air cargo is traditionally carried in the belly of scheduled passenger airliners, but that network will not be up to its full capacity for some time yet, and now is the time to turn to charter.    
“We also had some large humanitarian projects in the period, flying in shelter kits from the UK government and aid from other nations to Haiti following the devastating earthquake in the country. We arranged transportation of several hundred tons of relief goods, including medical kits and food supplies to Afghanistan following the troubles in the country in July and August. Our group charter division also helped to evacuate almost 25,000 people out of the region in that same period. ”
ACS founder and chairman, Chris Leach, added that revenues had increased due to more demand on long haul routes on larger aircraft most of it from Asia, which has seen an especially significant reduction in belly capacity due to travel restrictions, meaning charter options have also been extremely limited. “Our speciality in finding these solutions, along with our strong presence in Asia, has meant that we have been able to find solutions that others simply haven’t,” he said, adding: “On top of this we have seen some of the highest charter prices the industry has ever experienced – availability is currently so scarce that airlines’ rates have had to increase dramatically as the aircraft are positioning for the flights from further away, thus increasing the operating costs. Just last month we paid $2m for a trans-Pacific flight for the first time – it was on a Boeing B777, a flight that would normally cost less than $750,000. 
“This period of disruption has lasted much longer than we, and everyone else, first forecast and it is currently showing no signs of slowing down. Our total revenue for this past quarter was more than our turnover was for the whole of 2015.” 

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