London-based Air Charter Service has recorded its busiest quarter for its cargo division with 1,445 cargo charters in the period from August to October.

Combining all of its other divisions, ACS  logged its highest ever revenue in one quarter, amounting to a total of US$430 million  (£321.1 million).

Dan Morgan-Evans, group cargo director at ACS, said his division had one charter departing every 90 minutes over the course of each month during this period.

The group saw demand coming from manufacturers and retailers who have had to rely on air transport due to the current supply chain disruptions. It also moved large shipments for humanitarian operations in Haiti and Afghanistan over the same period.

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Chris Leach, ACS founder & chairman, noted that revenues have been increased due to demand for long-haul, larger aircraft which are naturally more expensive. Majority of this demand was seen from Asia, which has seen a significant reduction in belly capacity due to travel restrictions, which limited the charter options as well.

“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,” said Leach.

“Just last month we paid US$2 million for a trans-Pacific flight for the first time—it was on a Boeing B777, a flight that would normally cost less than US750,000 dollars.

“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!”