The pandemic period has brought into focus another business for airlines and freight forwarders — cargo charters. While charter business was always a part of operations, the Covid period pushed chartering to the centre stage as passenger planes were grounded, shipping faced blockages and demand zoomed for all products.
“Globally, the air cargo industry has really been put on the world map,” says Neil Dursley, Group Chief Commercial Officer, Cargo Solutions, Chapman Freeborn. “At Chapman Freeborn, we are heavily involved on a global scale in supporting governments around the world. During the pandemic, firstly it was in the movements of PPE and then vaccines to multiple countries and multiple continents.
“Previously, there were the traditional freighter operators including our in-house airline Magma Aviation in conjunction with Air Atlanta Icelandic. But what we saw in the pandemic was the grounding of the passenger aircraft and, for survival, those passenger airlines modified their aircraft by removing seats. This was the P2F scenario — the passenger to freighter aircraft — and we worked on literally thousands of P2F flights throughout the pandemic. We filled up those aircraft, say from China to Europe or China to the United States, with commercial cargo as well as with Covid-related cargo. That was a real game changer for the industry. It kept the airlines flying and the crews employed, and it really helped the supply chain, which was under huge constraints and restrictions. It also helped the ocean freight business, as ports were shut down because of Covid, which created huge issues with cargo and staffing.
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