LONDON area-based air Charter Service (ACS) has reported record sales last year as demand soared at the broker's cargo division as a result of the Covid crisis, reports London's Air Cargo News.
The company, which has just reported 2020 figures, saw sales reach US$1.2 billion for the financial year ending January 31 with all three divisions - private jets, group charters and cargo - reporting year-on-year increases.
However, the cargo division was the star performer: 'With up to 80 per cent of air freight usually travelling in the belly of scheduled passenger aircraft, the cancellation of so many passenger flights meant that cargo charter solutions were needed to compensate, and ACS was in one of the strongest positions to provide them.
'This was particularly a consequence of the company's decade-old investment in the Chinese market from where a large amount of goods including PPE and test kits and, later on, more general cargo from reopening factories were being exported through often overwhelmed airports.
'ACS's diverse business also proved invaluable at the peak of the crisis when the demand for shipping goods by air exceeded the capacity of dedicated freighters, as its group charter division stepped in to source passenger aircraft for use in transporting cargo using their holds as well as goods being transported in the cabin.'
The company is not expecting a repeat performance this year as the urgency of Covid has abated.
Said ACS chief executive Justin Bowman: 'While these results are unlikely to be achieved again this year, they have allowed us to re-invest heavily in the business across a number of exciting strategies, which are already generating returns.'
SeaNews Turkey
The company, which has just reported 2020 figures, saw sales reach US$1.2 billion for the financial year ending January 31 with all three divisions - private jets, group charters and cargo - reporting year-on-year increases.
However, the cargo division was the star performer: 'With up to 80 per cent of air freight usually travelling in the belly of scheduled passenger aircraft, the cancellation of so many passenger flights meant that cargo charter solutions were needed to compensate, and ACS was in one of the strongest positions to provide them.
'This was particularly a consequence of the company's decade-old investment in the Chinese market from where a large amount of goods including PPE and test kits and, later on, more general cargo from reopening factories were being exported through often overwhelmed airports.
'ACS's diverse business also proved invaluable at the peak of the crisis when the demand for shipping goods by air exceeded the capacity of dedicated freighters, as its group charter division stepped in to source passenger aircraft for use in transporting cargo using their holds as well as goods being transported in the cabin.'
The company is not expecting a repeat performance this year as the urgency of Covid has abated.
Said ACS chief executive Justin Bowman: 'While these results are unlikely to be achieved again this year, they have allowed us to re-invest heavily in the business across a number of exciting strategies, which are already generating returns.'
SeaNews Turkey
