DB Schenker saw its airfreight business bounce back in the first half of the year as its volumes increased by more than 40% thanks in part to an expanded charter network.
The Deutsche Bahn-owned forwarder saw its first-half airfreight volumes increase by 43.8% year on year to 712,100 tonnes led by demand from the electronics, automotive and medical sectors.
Disruption in the ocean freight market also pushed some demand over to air cargo.
The company said that another reasons for the increase in air volumes was the expansion of its air charter network, which helped offset the loss of bellyhold capacity due to the Covid pandemic.
In January, DB Schenker added flights between Munich, Chicago, Tokyo and Seoul, which carried more than 400 tonnes of freight per week in the first half.
As a result of the volume increase and higher rates in both air and ocean, the forwarder's sea and air business registered a 42.8% year-on-year increase in first-half revenues to €5.5bn and earnings before interest and tax improved by 138% on a year ago to €450m.
In July, Kuehne+Nagel said that its airfreight volumes improved by 44% in the first half while last week DSV noted an improvement of 5.9%.
