DHL Global Forwarding (GF) is adding a new freighter operation from Southeast Asia to the US in another sign of the current strength of the transpacific trade lane.
The forwarder will offer a three-times-per-week service from Bangkok to Cincinnati to capitalise on growing demand levels from Southeast Asia and to provide predictable costs and supply chain resilience.
The service will offer 100 tons of capacity per flight – indicating the use of a Boeing 777 freighter – and will be complemented by road feeder service connections for cargo once it arrives in the US.
The service operates on a rotation of Hanoi, Taipei, Anchorage, Chicago O’Hare International, Incheon and Hanoi.
The capacity is secured through a long-term charter deal with an unnamed US carrier.
In a press release, DHL GF said that the market is characterised by disruption and fluctuating rates. The regular service will therefore provide secure maindeck capacity, stable schedules and improved cost predictability.
“The solution is particularly suited for oversized and high-value cargo, supported by end-to-end operational control,” the forwarder added.
Henk Venema, global head of airfreight at DHL GF, said: “Southeast Asia continues to gain strategic importance as a manufacturing and sourcing region.
“With our new Bangkok–Cincinnati connection and broader Transpacific network coverage, we are offering customers not only speed and capacity, but also the reliability and control they need to build more resilient supply chains.
“Expanding our controlled airfreight capacity is a key lever to help customers navigate volatility and respond to disruption more effectively.”
DHL GF added that the service was part of its broader controlled capacity strategy that has seen it expand its airfreight network covering Asia, Europe and the Middle East, including multiple weekly rotations across key hubs such as Frankfurt, Liège, Amsterdam, and Hong Kong.
In a recent interview with Air Cargo News for the summer issue, Venema spoke of growing demand for the transport of data centres containing servers and data storage.
And thanks to the China Plus One supply chain diversification strategy implemented by companies, many of these cloud shipments are being moved out of Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan to the US, mainly, but also into Europe and Latin America.
“Those are the three countries that we’re paying a lot of attention to, especially when it comes to US demand,” he said during the interview.
The decision to add capacity to the lane comes as demand continues to soar. In May, IATA figures show that volumes from Asia to North America, which is the world’s largest trade lane, increased by 23.5% year on year.
These trade lanes continue to be boosted by high-value cargo, such as data centre equipment and computer chips. Meanwhile, e-commerce growth has returned to the US in recent months following the ending of its duty-free allowance for small packages in 2025.
DHL Global Forwarding is not the only air cargo company looking to capitalise on demand growth from Vietnam to the US, with Emirates also looking to add a freighter service from the country.
Speaking to Air Cargo News at the recent Air Cargo China exhibition, Nadeem Sultan, senior vice president, cargo planning and freighters at Emirates SkyCargo, said that the carrier was expecting to enter the transpacific trade lane to capitalise on rising demand.
The service, which could launch this month, would operate on a round-the-world basis, starting in Dubai before going to Hanoi, Anchorage, Chicago, Europe and then back to Dubai.
In Europe, the service would likely call at either Schiphol or Frankfurt, he said.
“Demand is driven by a lot of general cargo but also, out of Vietnam, a lot of tech and electronics, whether it’s phones, AI industry-related hardware, laptops, all of that kind of demand,” said Sultan.
“Vietnam has become a massive production destination and that is driving a lot of this growth.”
