DB Schenker bigins Shanghai-Munich daily cargo shuttle

May 04 2020 Print This Article

Three Boeing 767 passenger aircraft from Icelandair converted exclusively - Further connections planned, including to Chicago - Urgently needed capacity to tackle Corona bottleneck

Capacities against the bottleneck: DB Schenker has set up a new daily air cargo connection between Shanghai and Munich. Three Boeing 767 passenger aircraft from Icelandair, converted exclusively for the leading global logistics service provider, will be used on this route. The first flights of the China Shuttle have already brought dozens of tons of medical equipment to Europe.

"Where capacity is lacking, we create it. DB Schenker is thus also expanding the global supply network in the fight against Corona”, says Thorsten Meincke, Member of the Management Board for Air and Ocean Freight at DB Schenker. "With these additional flights, we have demonstrated our ability to act in a crisis in a flexible manner and in the shortest possible time.”

The China Shuttle is aimed specifically at customers who import medical equipment such as masks or protective suits from China to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Bookings for several thousand cubic metres of freight have already been received. The lead time to delivery at the destination is five to seven days. Initially, 45 shuttle flights are planned from Shanghai Pudong to Munich in 12 rotations per week once fully operational. An expansion of the shuttle and further connections, e.g. twice a week to Chicago, are in preparation.

The cooperation partner Icelandair has converted the three passenger aircraft exclusively for DB Schenker by removing the passenger seats. This will create more than 200 cubic metres of cargo space in the belly and on the passenger deck. In addition, as part of the cooperation, a DB Schenker logo has been placed on the outer hull of the three Boeing 767. This is the first time the DB Schenker logo is presented on an aircraft.