November 3, 2021 – Major shipping company, A.P. Moller – Maersk, announced it has made several moves to expand its air cargo fleet in 2022 in order to provide shippers with alternative transportation that avoids port and over-the-road capacity constraints. The company has signed an acquisition agreement to acquire Senator International Freight Forwarding Group (Senator) (Hamburg, Germany).
Senator is a freight forwarder that operates 19 weekly flights and provides distribution and packaging services across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and South Africa through its 64 offices and +1,700 employees. While the company operates a diversified vehicle offering, its airfreight services are its core, bringing in 65% of the company’s revenue in 2020.
The enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $644 million, according to Maersk. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2022.
Maersk’s aim is to increase its presence in the air freight industry, and that combining its air freight services with Senator’s complimentary offering will benefit customers through extended global routes and capacity. Maersk says it’s ambition is to have approximately one third of its air capacity as own controlled. This will be achieved by building and operating a global cargo flight network, combining owned capacity and through collaboration with partners on chartered capacity, which replicates the structure that the company has within its ocean fleet. The remaining part will be a mix of commercial and chartered flights.
“Air freight is a crucial enabler of flexibility in our customers’ supply chains. Therefore, as a natural next step in expanding our integrated logistics offering, we are ramping up our service within air freight,” said Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk Ocean & Logistics.
Maersk also announced it was expanding its own-controlled fleet, Star Air, with three leased cargo planes operational from 2022 and by purchasing two Boeing aircraft newbuilds to be deployed by 2024. The company signed leases for B767s and ordered two newly built B777Fs from Boeing.
“The B777F is the only suitable aircraft for optimal long-range intercontinental operations, and it is 10-15% more fuel efficient than older aircraft types,” according to Maersk.
According to the company’s Q3 interim report, Star Air’s current fleet includes 15 airplanes: 12 Boeing 767-200 SF’s, 1 Boeing 767-300BCF, and 2 Boeing 767-300F, including aviation licenses and 160 type-rated pilots and 50 certified aircraft mechanics. Star Air is headquartered in Dragør, Denmark, at the premises of Copenhagen Airport.