Kuehne+Nagel, the world’s largest third-party logistics provider and airfreight intermediary by gross revenue, announced Monday it has added two destinations to its around-the-world air charter service to support increasing demand from the semiconductor industry.
The Switzerland-based freight forwarding giant deploys two Boeing 747-8 freighters it controls under a dedicated transport arrangement with Atlas Air. One of the freighters will now make two additional weekly routings from Atlanta and Chicago to Amsterdam and from there to Taipei, Taiwan.
Kuehne+Nagel (SIX: KNIN) management last year targeted semiconductors requiring air transport as a new area of growth because the complexity of that supply chain makes it a high-margin business. In December, it offered a specialized product tailored to the unique requirements of the semiconductor industry, including security measures and high quality standards for reliability.
Taiwan is a global hub for semiconductor production, accounting for about 20% of all microchips made in the world. There are many companies in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg that rely on semiconductors in their products.
“Developing and offering logistics solutions for the semiconductor industry is part of our strategic Roadmap 2026. By introducing these two new connections, we can support our customers better and facilitate future growth in the sector,” said Yngve Ruud, K+N’s head of airfreight, in a news release.
K+N said businesses in the healthcare and perishables sectors are also expected to be primary users of the new service.
The new route provides twice weekly service to several cities (Amsterdam-Taipei-Hanoi, Vietnam-Hong Kong-Chicago), continuing with a trans-Atlantic loop in primary support of Mercedes-Benz (Stuttgart, Germany-Liege, Belgium-Birmingham,Alabama-Atlanta-Amsterdam).
K+N earlier this year opened a dedicated cargo facility at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, a second-tier airport that previously didn’t handle freighters on a regular basis, primarily to support Mercedes-Benz’s Alabama assembly plant.
Competitor DSV has also invested in logistics services for the semiconductor industry, with a special focus on customers in Arizona.
Upgrade at Paris airport
Last week, K+N bolstered its airfreight capabilities by relocating to a larger airside warehouse at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
The new hub, which is 2.5 times larger than the previous space and also is located adjacent to the freighter ramp, is able to handle 300 air containers each week from commercial cargo and passenger airlines, the company said. More than 48,400 square feet are zoned for temperature-controlled pharmaceutical and medical shipments, including R&D samples and direct-to-patient medical shipments supported by QuickSTAT, a K+N life sciences logistics subsidiary.
Meanwhile, Emirates SkyCargo last week said its airfreight products, schedules, rates and capacity are now available on K+N’s internal transportation management system thanks to a direct software interface. The host-to-host connection allows K+N customers and specialists to quickly look up capacity on any route and book shipments instantly. Emirates said it is the first time it has made its service available on a freight forwarder’s own portal.
The new connection was first launched in Switzerland and Austria and will open up to users in select countries around the world by the end of the year.
K+N also announced last week it is working closely with ground handling agents Worldwide Flight Services and SATS Group to improve the handling of freight at airport locations.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
(Correction: The rotation of the 747-8 freighter that stops in Taiwan has been changed to reflect more updated information provided by K+N.)
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