Purolator grows airfreight network with Voyageur Aviation charter deal

Canadian logistics and express provider Purolator is growing its express air network through a three-year cargo charter deal for two Dash 8-100 Package Freighters with Voyageur Aviation, an Ontario-based subsidiary of Chorus Aviation, which is headquartered in Nova Scotia. [caption id="attachment_89265" align="alignright" width="450"] Purolator International has a U.S. hub in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Chicago Department of Aviation.[/caption] The companies announced the deal today, although the contract dates from April 12, according to a statement from Voyageur. The deal was preceded by a six-month trial service when Voyageur operated two Dash 8-100 Simplified Package Freighters, which are being replaced by the Dash 8-100PFs under the full contract, for Purolator. The charter capacity will support Purolator’s cross-border service with the U.S., according to Purolator’s statement. The company’s U.S. subsidiary expanded its next-day air service for those cross-border shipments from the U.S. into Canada in August of last year, and recently told Air Cargo World it is seeing growing demand for express air services, particularly in the industrial and healthcare sectors. “We are seeing double-digit growth in our express service,” Frank Jacketti, director of U.S. districts for Purolator International, told Air Cargo World . “That’s after a long trend of non-express services growing over the past 20 years. I think that’s because of what’s going on in the environment, and the need for capacity. Titans in networks, like integrators and like Purolator — customers recognize that and find the express mode being more critical to serve the just-in-time needs for customers.” The increase in e-commerce demand has been a major driver of growth for express companies during the pandemic and recently helped deliver UPS its strongest-ever quarterly results . The e-commerce growth also initially correlated with a decline in business-to-business shipments as fewer shoppers visited brick-and-mortar stores, but 2020’s drop-off in B2B shipments has since been erased, according to Jacketti. “We look at companies trading with us on a weekly basis, [and] that fully recovered in February 2021 where we’re back to pre-COVID levels and now we’re just absolutely exceeding that number,” Jacketti said. “That’s a trend for both B2B and B2C. B2C was obviously very high, but that B2B level fully recovered as of February this year.” The return of B2B volumes has also seen a larger-than-normal share of those shipments moving via express service. Due to the ongoing supply chain issues and capacity shortages, particularly for ocean freight, more businesses are utilizing express shipments to keep up with customer demand, despite the higher associated price tags. “That’s probably the root cause of our express service [growth], not just for Purolator, [but also] for other companies that supply services like this,” Jacketti said. “There’s a greater demand for speed because the inventory, quite honestly, isn’t there in a lot of cases.”

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