Geodis has confirmed the extension of its air charter services with the addition of a weekly flight from Shanghai (PVG) to Guadalajara (GDL) starting 3 March until at least the end of 2022.
The forwarder claims this will be the only service in the market that offers direct access to Mexico from north and central China and will complement the existing AirDirect Hong Kong to Guadalajara schedule initiated in November 2019.
Geodis said it is refining its services in response to the ‘dynamic market forces currently on display,’ and the new service augments the nearly 700 charter flights performed last year.
“The success of the AirDirect Mexico service over the past fifteen months has encouraged our investment in a direct Shanghai flight to add to our existing Hong Kong offer,” explained Stanislas Brunn, senior vice president of global airfreight at Geodis.
Onno Boots, regional president and CEO for Asia Pacific, explained that the latest extension to AirDirect is part of an own controlled network (OCN) that provides ‘seamless’ control over shipments within Geodis multimodal network throughout Asia.
“We believe a freight partner who is controlling the transport service network, including flight operations, is a vital asset to Asian exporters,” noted Boots.
Mike Honious, regional president and CEO for Americas, said the new air charter route provides much needed capacity for Mexico’s general cargo market.
“Access to premier scheduled wide-body capacity provides our clients with better lead times and supply chain security for sensitive cargo, including lithium batteries,” said Honious.
“In addition, our Road Network services in Asia and on-carriage solutions to destinations throughout Mexico allow trustworthy end-to-end supply chain management for our customers,” he added.
In related news, DB Schenker expanded its own-controlled charter flights with the introduction of a new route to be operated by National Airlines. The air charter service runs from Chicago (RFD) via Munich (MUC) to Tokyo (NRT) and Seoul (ICN) before flying back to Germany and from there again to the US.
Payload Asia reached out to Geodis on which carrier and what type of aircraft will be used and will provide further updates.
