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Davies Turner to establish new airfreight HQ outside Heathrow

Davies Turner has acquired a logistics facility close to Heathrow Airport that will become the new headquarters of Davies Turner Air Cargo. The facility is currently being prepared for occupation, with an official opening scheduled for later this year. Its acquisition represents one of the most significant property investments in the UK-based independent freight forwarding group's recent history, the company said. The 130,000 sq ft facility is located less than two miles (3.2km) from Heathrow Airport's cargo terminal and just 500 yards from Junction 14 of the M25, the orbital motorway that surrounds London. It comprises approximately 70,000 sq ft of high-specification warehousing, with 12.5m clear internal height, and two mezzanine floors providing a further 50,000 sq ft of operational space. The site features five dock-loading doors and two level-access loading doors, together with 10,000 sq ft of office accommodation Davies Turner said that the acquisition forms part of its long-term strategy to "invest in critical logistics infrastructure that supports customer growth, operational excellence and future expansion". The new site has been selected to "strengthen the company's capacity, improve efficiency and provide a modern, future-ready environment for both employees and customers", it added. James Wheatley, managing director of Davies Turner Air Cargo, stated: "This acquisition represents a major milestone for Davies Turner Air Cargo and demonstrates our long-term commitment to the UK airfreight market. "Heathrow remains the country's premier international cargo gateway and this strategically located facility provides an exceptional platform from which to support our customers' future growth." He observed: "The investment gives us the capacity, infrastructure and operational flexibility required to continue developing our services for many years to come." Meanwhile, the long-running saga of Heathrow's own expansion rumbles on. Earlier this month, the airport indicated that the opening of its planned third runway is likely to be closer to 2039 than 2035. In its first quarter 2025 results, published on 30 April 2025, it said that depending on the UK Government's response, it aimed for the third runway to be operational by 2035. But in January 2026, Heathrow said the UK Government timetable was to secure planning permission by 2029 and bring the runway into operation within a decade, up to 2039. And, in a recently issued statement to Reuters, a spokesperson for Heathrow said that 2035 had been an "ambitious target". The airport added: "Our focus has always been to secure planning permission by 2029. Once achieved the runway will be open within a decade."

Hong Kong air cargo volumes bounce back in September

The world's busiest cargo airport, Hong Kong International, reported an increase in volumes in September following two months of declines. According to figures released today, the airport handled 433,000 tonnes of cargo in September, an increase of 6.3% compared with last year. This improvement follows year-on-year declines of 1.2% in August and 1.9% in July, partly as a result of the European Union's decision to add a €3 charge for packages worth less than €150 as it sought to tackle the impact of large volumes of low-value e-commerce goods entering the bloc. The Airport Authority of Hong Kong (AAHK) said that September's increase was led by transhipments and imports, which increased by 26.9% and 9.2% respectively. "Southeast Asia and the Chinese Mainland were the main growth drivers, offsetting the decline in volume in Europe following the removal of the EU's duty-free de minimis exemption in July," AAHK said. Over the first nine months of the year, cargo volumes have improved by 3.1% against 2025 levels to 3.8m tonnes. Changi on the up Hong Kong International was not the only airport in Asia to report strong cargo volumes in September as Singapore's Changi continued its good run of form. The airport saw cargo volumes increase by 9.7% year on year in September to 191,000 tonnes. Over the first three quarters of the year, cargo volumes at the airport are up 8.7% year on year to 1.7m tonnes. The growth was driven by healthy demand across export and import flows, particularly for AI-related semiconductor and electronics shipments. China, the US, Australia, Hong Kong and India were the airport's largest cargo markets during the quarter. Meanwhile, SF Airlines launched a new Shanghai-Singapore service in September, complementing its existing Shenzhen operations and strengthening connectivity for high-value technology shipments.

Carriers eye FAK hikes as spot decline eases and capacity stays tight

Three months of declining container freight spot rates on the Asia-Europe trades were brought to an end this week when pricing reversed ahead of new FAK price hikes this month. This week's World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry saw the spot rate on its Shanghai-Rotterdam leg up 6% on the week before, at $3,522 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route was up 7%, to $3,945 per 40ft. Meanwhile, a range of new freight all kinds prices are due to be introduced by carriers on Monday, which forwarders said had been pushed back by a few days, and possibly explains this week's rise. The 19 October FAK rates range from: $4,200 per 40ft on Asia-North Europe and $4,600 on Asia-Mediterranean, as advised by Hapag-Lloyd; to CMA CGM's $4,600 to North Europe and $4,700 to the Mediterranean; while MSC is looking for $4,500 per 40ft to both North and South Europe. While this week's WCI rise was enough to wipe out the past three weeks of Asia-Europe declines, forwarders told The Loadstar they expected rates to fall again. "We did get FAK rate increases for the second half of October, and these were then pushed back to start 19 October, but I have received this morning downward revisions for those, almost back to the levels we saw in the first half of October," one European forwarder told The Loadstar today. "We're not seeing any noticeable increase in demand - it's all still a bit flat in that respect," he added. Meanwhile, another forwarder noted that, when carriers specified an end date to the FAK prices - 31 October by both MSC and CMA CGM - it usually suggested an expectation that rates were expected to soften. "One useful indicator is when you see carriers place a time limit on the validity of their FAK pricing, as is the case now, because in my experience they don't normally increase prices before that period expires," the forwarder explained. More concerning for forwarders and their shippers was the declining reliability of services, said Jon Charles, head of product at WiseTech, echoing many anecdotal reports The Loadstar recently received. He said: "On Asia-Europe, the challenge we foresee is reliability rather than space. Only 9.9% of shipments arrived on time in September, and delays of eight days or more now account for almost half of volume, so building extra time into delivery commitments is essential." Meanwhile, MSC this week announced its Asia-North Europe Britannia service would be blanked in weeks 45 and 46, "due to ongoing market challenges". Spot rates on the transpacific trades diverged this week, with the WCI's Shanghai-Los Angeles route up 3%, to $7,884 per 40ft, while its Shanghai-New York price continued a gradual descent that began three weeks ago. This week it fell 1%, to $10,075 per 40ft, although Drewry noted that "strong US import demand continues to support transpacific rates". US west coast forwarder Freight Right said carriers had this week prioritised clearing backlogs that had built up during Golden Week, which made space for new bookings difficult to secure and propped up spot rates. "Post-holiday backlogs are taking priority - containers rolled before or during the holiday are filling available slots, leaving fewer opportunities for new bookings," it said. "Vessel removals and service adjustments over recent months are keeping space tight - limited availability does not necessarily indicate stronger overall demand," it added.