E-Commerce Drives Air Freight for Europa
Europa Worldwide Logistics, one of the largest privately owned Transport and Logistics companies in the United Kingdom, has seen its air freight operation in Hong Kong register record results over the past 12 months. The office saw year on year growth of 116% from 2012 to 2013, driven in the main by the continuing boom in e-commerce, especially from China and the Far East.
With consignments consolidated locally and shipped on daily services into the UK, Europa is able to offer what is effectively a 24-hour line haul product from China. On arrival in the UK, shipments are handled and split in its Heathrow facility before being distributed nationally and internationally on behalf of a number of postal operators and integrators.
It is this speed of delivery and one-stop shop approach that has enabled Europa to establish and maintain its place in the air freight market.
Angus Hind, Air, Ocean & Logistics Director, said, “As a location for air freight, Hong Kong has an extensive network supported by a strong transportation and logistics infrastructure. This coupled with our UK and European distribution offering has enabled us to build strong partnerships with key providers in the postal sector to deliver an unrivalled service.
“Increasing internet use and online shopping offers even more growth potential for us. The number of internet users is estimated to be close to 3.5 billion and as the number of e-shoppers grows, we expect demand for air freight services to rise significantly – and we want to be in a position to capitalise on this..”
Europa was acquired by Andrew Baxter in August last year, who announced his plans for significant investment in the business. He has already delivered two major projects to deliver this promise, aimed at expanding and building Europa. The branch network has been extended with a new office in Leeds and increased staffing in Southampton, plus Europa has just announced it is investing in a state-of-the-art 262,500 sq. ft head office and South of England hub, at Prologis Park near Dartford.
