Air Time Critical® received an urgent transport request from a French industrial customer: ‘Hello, we need to deliver 1 pallet from our site in Orléans to Ostrava in the Czech Republic for 10am tomorrow latest. Do you think this is still feasible?’
Scenario: Deliver a consignment of urgent car parts in the Czech Republic before 10am.
Additional hurdle: The goods were still in production and would only be ready for pickup at 8pm.
The challenge: Cover 1,550 km in less than… 14 hours
The destination site was based near Ostrava in the eastern Czech Republic, close to the Polish border, i.e. more than 1,550 km away from the departure site.
Covering 1,550 km in less than 14 hours… There was no other choice: road delivery was not conceivable, even with 2 drivers. It was not therefore an option if we wanted to honour the delivery deadline set for 10am.
Consequently, we had to pull out all the stops to avoid downtime at the destination site.
When road transport is no longer an option… air charter enters the race!
Air chartering is the act of chartering a dedicated cargo aircraft for a specific shipment.
Advantages:
- Flying is by nature speedier than driving (>500 kmph)
- Air chartering offers a fully flexible schedule
- Different types of aircrafts are available depending on shipment weight and volume (parcels, pallets, crates, etc.)
- Option to create new cargo flight routes beyond scheduled ones
- Option to take off from a regional airport or airfield, and to land at a point of your choice anywhere in Europe (where an appropriate airfield or airport can be found)
These significant advantages shorten delivery time frames and make it possible to avoid large airports such as Paris CDG for transport to Europe.
As we’ll see below, delivery time frames for customers on the other side of Europe fall from one whole day to just a few hours door to door.
What can air chartering offer you?
As pointed out earlier, an air charter can take off from a regional airport. Given the late hour, we suggested departing from Châteauroux-Déols airport, which was the best option in the area for a night flight. Landing would happen at Ostrava airport, just a few kilometres away from the destination site in the Czech Republic.
Air chartering delivered on its promises and saved almost 8 hours compared to road transport
Detailed sequence of air charter operations
- 9 March, 19:00 – Confirmation from the French customer
- 9 March, 20:00 – Express pickup of the goods near Orléans
- 9 March, 22:30 – Cargo aircraft gets ready at Châteauroux-Déols
- 9 March, 23:30 – Air charter takes off for Ostrava
- 10 March, 02:45 – Landing at Ostrava airport, Czech Republic
- 10 March, 03:30 – Loading of the express taxi in Ostrava
- 10 March, 04:20 – Express delivery at destination site in the Czech Republic.
With a flight time of 3 hrs 15 mins and a door-to-door journey time of 9 hrs 20 mins, it can be said that the air charter ‘delivered the goods’ and saved 8 hours compared to road transport, which would have taken 17.
Beyond the competitive transit time, delivery of the urgent parts took place at 04:20, well before the 10am deadline, which left a large safety margin of more than 5 hours!
Air Time Critical®’s added value
- Door to door: Air Time Critical® offers a door-to-door transport solution inclusive of pre- and post-carriage by express road taxi to the destination
- Czech Republic: ATC®’s local agency in Bratislava coordinates transport in Slovakia and the Czech Republic
- No hassle: Once everything was confirmed at 19:00, the customer could forget about the shipment logistics until the next day when delivery was confirmed
- Peace of mind: The customer can go home stress-free. They will receive regular progress updates about the shipment straight onto their smartphone, all the way to final delivery.
ATC® helps you manage your logistics emergencies
Would you like to find out how Air Time Critical® can help you resolve your logistics headaches in Europe and beyond? Then don’t hesitate to contact us or to fill out our online quote request form. We’ll recommend the most suitable logistics solution for your urgent shipment.
Note: The dates, timings, locations, and names mentioned above may have been changed to preserve customer confidentiality.