DHL air freight volume to rise 6.8% in 2024

DHL sees air freight volumes rising 6.8% in 2024, driven by e-commerce demand and disruptions in the Red Sea, while continuing to invest in expanding its fleet and global network.

DHL airfreight
Source: DHL

DHL air freight volumes grew in Q4, driven by strong peak season demand and additional demand from the impact of the Red Sea and e-commerce, while demand on Asia and Europe trade lanes drove a positive result for the full year 2024.

DHL saw air freight volumes in Q4 reach 468,000 tonnes, up 8.1% year-on-year. Global Forwarding, Freight (GFF) air freight revenue up 16.4% to €1.6 billion, gross profit up 21.3%.

GFF’s total revenue in the fourth quarter increased 12% year-on-year to €5 billion.

Asia and Europe drive 2024 volume

For the full year of 2024, air freight volume reached 1.8 million tonnes, up 6.8% year-on-year. DHL said the growth was mainly driven by Asia and Europe.

Air freight revenue increased 4.1% in 2024, but gross profit fell 11.3% as lower freight rates in the first half weighed on results.

GFF’s total revenue increased 1.8% to €19.5 billion, driven by higher volumes and freight rates. Excluding the negative exchange rate impact of 88 million euros, revenue increased by 2.2% year-on-year.

DHL said: "The global forwarding market in 2024 was characterized by capacity constraints as a result of the disruption in the Red Sea and by ongoing geopolitical conflicts, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East."

"Market volumes exceeded the previous year’s figures. Higher demand, particularly in e-commerce, and limited capacity caused freight rates in air and ocean freight to rise over the course of 2024."

The Group's total revenue in the fourth quarter increased by 6.4% to 22.7 billion euros. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 12.9% to 1.9 billion euros in the same period.

The Group's total revenue for the year increased by 3% to 84.2 billion euros, while EBIT decreased by 7.2% to 5.9 billion euros.

DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said: "We increased our revenue in 2024 despite the challenging environment. In a strong fourth quarter with good service quality for our customers, we achieved substantial revenue and earnings growth."

"We expect the global political and economic situation to remain volatile in 2025. However, we want to continue growing in this environment and are focusing on the measures we can control. We are actively increasing our efficiency and accelerating our sustainable growth ambitions with our Group cost program ‘Fit for Growth’."

Last year, DHL also continued to expand its fleet. The company said it has signed contracts to purchase a total of 28 Boeing 777 freighters between 2018 and 2022.

The remaining six are scheduled for delivery in 2025.

Last year, DHL reached an agreement with Chinese cargo carrier Central Airlines to operate two DHL 777Fs. In Europe, DHL continues to invest in two regional carriers, DHL Air Austria and European Air Transport (EAT).

DHL Air Austria adds a third Boeing 767-300F to its fleet. EAT strengthens its fleet with an Airbus A330F and two A300-600Fs, while two 757-200Fs are transferred to DHL Aero Expreso (DAE) in Panama. In the Americas, DAE’s fleet has grown from six to ten aircraft, with the addition of two newly converted 767-300P2Fs and two 757-200s from Europe.

DHL is also investing in its global operations hub in Cincinnati (USA) and building a new aviation maintenance facility for its fleet there. In Brazil, DHL has opened a new hub at Viracopos International Airport.

In the Asia-Pacific region, DHL has opened a new hub in Kuala Lumpur and expanded its Air Hong Kong fleet with three converted A330-300P2Fs.

The modernization and upgrade of the fleet in Asia is expected to be completed by 2025.

Under a new partnership with Japan Airlines, DHL has operated flights between Japan, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei. At the same time, the company also opens direct flights from Hong Kong to Jakarta (Indonesia), Sydney (Australia) and Toronto (Canada).

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