Strong demand from automotive and aerospace clients have propelled Air Partner’s freight division’s gross profit in the first half of 2018 ending 31 July to £1.5 million – up 36.4 per cent on the £1.1 million in the same period last year.
The charter company said its “24/7 offering and personalised service” have continued to attract clients over the past year and time critical requests are an important segment of the freight business.
Clients have included O&G companies to charities while demand from automotive and aerospace sectors remains strong, both in charter and on-board courier products.
Air Partner’s freight division has continued to grow its global operations. In 2017, the German office moved to larger premises in Cologne to allow for further growth and 2018 has seen the appointment of a new freight charter sales broker and sales manager.
This summer also saw the opening of a Los Angeles office and the expansion of the freight team into new office space in Fort Lauderdale. The team in Turkey has also increased in size, following significant business growth last year.
Air Partner said the freight division has achieved this growth in the “face of mounting pressure in the market” for charter brokers to change tactics to increase their market share by either working directly with shippers or becoming aircraft operators in their own right.
Air Partner director of freight, Mike Hill said: “I am proud of the tireless work of the Freight team and our success in the first half of the year. We won’t be resting on our laurels, however – we are committed to continue growing our client numbers, whilst never sacrificing the high levels of customer service that are synonymous with Air Partner.”
