AIR FREIGHT SERVICES

Air freight services

The sky’s the limit with our air freight forwarding expertise. We know that global cargo shipments have become integral to modern life, which is why we provide exceptional air freight and air cargo tracking services that will meet your every need. As an industry leader, we tap into the world’s major routes and work with carefully selected carriers to deliver scheduled shipments all across the world. We’re on the ball, know what works and are here to make air shipping a whole lot easier to navigate.

Air shipping with Priority Freight - top cargo transportation

With our logistical expertise, we’re committed to organising the fastest and most efficient means of freight forwarding to all destinations worldwide – no matter what your cargo size. We know how important cargo delivery deadlines are, to many industries, which is why we tailor our services to suit your needs taking into account timescales and any specific instructions. Open communication with our clients then allows us to find the best possible route and arrange bookings either on scheduled passenger or freighter flights. We also offer full load and split air charter flights depending on load type, time scales, destination and circumstances.

Air freight track & trace

From small loads to heavy, bulky cargo, we can transport all kinds of goods across the globe using our air freight services. But did you know that we also offer sophisticated freight tracking software? This makes it easy to keep track of the freight forwarding journey and manage delivery goals in real-time. We’ll provide you with key information every step of the way throughout your cargo’s journey, so that you can stay in control and input the information into budgeting and scheduling plans. Our services have knock-on effects, which is why we work to a punctual and no-nonsense timescale.

If you’re looking for a company to take on your air freight requirements with confidence, don’t hesitate to get in touch today.

Security

While airport security can be a hassle for those of us who fly, strict regulations and screenings benefit air freight shippers. Cargo receiving areas and air terminals are highly monitored and secure, limiting the risk of theft or damage. Additionally, there is minimal handling and less time required for transit.

Tracking

Most air freight service providers offer web-based tracking that allows you to check the real-time status of your cargo, from destination to arrival.

Cost of Packaging

Because cargo is shipped in very lightweight packaging, there is reduced need for the packing materials and containers.

We are dedicated to delivering customized supply chain solutions that exceed expectations to customers across the globe!

Airport-to-airport deliveries

Our global reach allows us to offer international air freight shipping services connecting the most important airports in the world. Airport-to-airport solutions are used mainly by companies that have their own local freight network but need to get shipments from abroad.

Door-to-door shipping

End-to-end logistics solution. We will take care of all the shipping details, from collection to delivery, ensuring your products arrive on time at the location of your choice. Temporary warehousing can also be arranged in combination with air freight delivery services.

Fast courier delivers urgent medical supplies amid worldwide pandemic

The six most hard-hit nations – China, Korea, Italy, Japan, US and Germany – account for 60% of the world’s manufacturing and half of the world’s manufactured exports. As the virus originated from China, and they reacted so quickly, with no air traffic to or from the country, it became near impossible to source the necessary components to continue manufacturing processes around the world.

The supply disruptions hindering production had a substantial knock-on effect, significantly slowing world trade. Already we have seen the number of exports fall in the most severely hit nations as well as the number of imports fall in their trade partners.

The automotive sector has been particularly disrupted by breaks in the international supply chain, causing OEMs and suppliers from all nations to pause production and introduce temporary layoff measures for its staff (e.g. furlough and ‘Force Majeure’). For example, a shortage of parts coming from China forced Korean carmaker, Hyundai, to shut all its car plants in Korea in February. While others avoided closure for as long as they could, by flying emergency supplies from China in suitcases, but inevitably closed their plants in March.

In response to the Government’s call for help, many manufacturers changed production lines to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) – such as masks, shields, gowns, gloves, hand sanitisers – and medical equipment, making the CAD files open source to share with other firms so they may also manufacture them.

The critical global health crisis has brought about the biggest logistics challenges that Priority Freight has ever seen. During the pandemic, Priority Freight has not only supported automotive clients but also governments, local authorities and medical companies to ensure their goods arrive as quickly as possible, including delivering PPE into France, Germany, Sweden and the UK. It has been particularly challenging to not only source the scarce uplift from China but also to deal with severe customs delays, with some queues of nearly two days long caused by the necessary changes to customs procedures.

For example, the Chinese Customs put in place very strict regulations for all masks (surgical and protective) to trace the origin and licenses of all products exported by traders and producers. They have been checking the origin, license and certifications, and labelling are all correct and in accordance with regulations and carrying out detailed inspections of the content of every box to check the material inside matches with the documents.

In addition to these challenging delays, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) restricted international flights to one per week, making the task of sourcing uplift from China itself to be even more difficult. The market has become very competitive in terms of availability and causing daily fluctuations in pricing.

To compensate, many airlines have been increasing capacity by utilising cargo-only passenger flights and removing seats to make additional space. Qatar Airways even, on 23rd April 2020, set a new aviation record with 136 freighter flights on the same day.

With most shipments comprising of urgently required PPE masks – manufactured in Singapore, Japan and China, and urgently required in Europe and the UK, and despite limited uplift opportunities, Priority Freight has delivered some larger, more heavy loads, including one shipment of five million masks weighing a total of 32 tonnes.

Regardless of the complications, Priority Freight has supported a large number of OEMs and tier suppliers to move in excess of 100 shipments of PPE and medical equipment.

Fast Courier overcomes border delays with multimodal solution to avoid production line stop

It is a common scenario that parts are manufactured in one location before being transported across countries or continents to reach the assembly line where they become part of an end product. In the automotive industry, this process relies on accurate and timely sequencing, without which this fragile chain can easily break creating financial and reputational harm.

One recent example of this was a volume vehicle manufacturer who makes parts at its Serbian factory for distribution to its network of production plants, including one in East London, South Africa. This regular shipment usually involves road transport from the Serbian factory to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport where the goods are then flown to O.R. Tambo International Airport. However, issues at the Serbian-Hungarian border meant the goods would be delayed and potentially halt South African production.

Priority Freight received a call from the manufacturer on a Thursday evening, stressing the urgency of the shipment and need to avoid manufacturing delays and associated costs to the business. Priority Freight immediately formed a response team to devise suitable alternative shipping methods and arrange delivery of the 890kg of parts to the South African factory before Monday morning.

Overnight on Thursday, Priority Freight’s experts liaised with colleagues, ground agents and carriers worldwide to have the shipment back on track and by Friday morning a truck was waiting to collect the parts from the Serbian factory. Rather than exit Serbia by road and face border delays, the goods were taken to Belgrade airport where they were loaded onto a waiting ATR charter aircraft and flown to Oostende in Belgium. From there the parts were transferred to another truck which drove to Amsterdam Schiphol airport to meet a long-haul commercial cargo flight bound for Johannesburg.

After a flight time of 11 hours the cargo flight landed at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Saturday evening, less than 48 hours after the parts were collected from Serbia. A twin-prop Metro plane then completed the final 600 miles from Johannesburg to East London arriving at 03:30 local time on Sunday morning, in plenty of time to be unloaded and in place for the factory to recommence production the following day.

Fast Courier provides 24/7 technical assistance for European-based automotive manufacturer to continue production

For production to continue, the manufacturer required daily collection of parts, from up to 30 UK and EU suppliers. Due to the ever-changing schedules, there was limited knowledge of parts quantities, packaging dimensions and some supplier locations, making this challenge seem impossible.

COVID-19 closures had altered the operating hours for many suppliers which limited collection times. Plus, new air freight plans were issued daily, requiring a rapid and accurate turnaround of customs paperwork, export declarations and clearance.

As soon as the manufacturer requested assistance, Priority Freight assigned a team of experienced planners from within various areas of the business to oversee the project.

The logistics solution included 40 special rush shipments per day by road and, to help speed up the supply chain, required multiple air charters to match changing consignment sizes and weight.

Over the course of the project, more than 100 aircraft were chartered, ranging from multiple Antonov-12s, Boeing 737 freighters, the new-to-the-market A321 freighter and the fast-loading Ilyushin 76.

The expert team worked 24/7 over two weeks to:

  • Oversee the door-to-door transport of 250m3 or 50,000kg of air freight per day
  • Negotiate special operating hours at airports that would ensure the deliveries arrived on time (most airports operated limited opening hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
  • Liaise with handling agents to plan vehicle offloading, aircraft pallet building and aircraft loading distribution
  • Help ensure permits were granted by the relevant Civil Aviation Authorities due to new Brexit aviation rules between the UK and EU

With around-the-clock responses and time-critical logistics expertise, Priority Freight delivered all shipments in time and helped the automotive manufacturer avoid downtime that would have cost €150m per week in lost revenue.