In recent years, Air Charter Service (ACS) has been making significant strides in expanding its operations and strengthening its presence in the Asia Pacific region, strategically expanding its footprint in key markets.
Currently, the company operates from two offices in mainland China, in addition to offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, and Brisbane. Furthermore, they have plans for more openings in the near future, indicating their commitment to growing their presence in the region.
Understanding the importance of having a strong presence on the ground in Asia, ACS has harnessed the local knowledge and presence of staff to both benefit new business ventures and support their offices worldwide.
“Speaking the local languages, a physical presence and local cultural knowledge are all essential to break into these markets,” Dan Morgan-Evans, Air Charter Service’s Global Director of Cargo, said. “That local knowledge and presence doesn’t only benefit new business locally but also supporting our offices around the globe.”
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Fluctuating demand in emerging markets
While the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected demand for all of the industry, including charter services in the Asia Pacific region, ACS managed to navigate around the supply chain disruption.
Turning to opportunities in the market, ACS supported the transportation of PPE and test kits around countries like China, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Seeing the region as a “growth area,” ACS is keen to keep an eye on any opportunities that might arise in the APAC area.
“Obviously we look for peak season demand for consumer goods and e-commerce – but we’re always serving the more traditional markets you see around the world, such as oil and gas, project cargo, etc,” Morgan-Evans explained.
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Avoiding disruption through innovation
In the face of recent disruptions in the supply chain across Asia, and elsewhere, ACS has had to embrace a fundamental principle of flexibility.
“Charters are all about adapting and being dynamic so no real change in how we operate – we have always been agile and able to adapt to market conditions,” Morgan-Evans stated.
This is reflected in how ACS has embraced the opportunities technology provides in a strategic manner to deliver the best possible service. Focusing on efficiencies in-house, ACS has positioned itself to be able to work faster and deliver improved offerings to customers.
“Technology for technology’s sake is not something we are interested in,” Morgan-Evans said.
“The internal system we have developed is synced across our entire network enabling us to leverage availabilities and one-ways to reduce prices and increase the speed of response,” he continued. “We believe this enhances our customer experience in real terms. Obviously, we will work towards outward facing technology but only if it improves the experience and isn’t just a gimmick.”
