Air Freight
Dependable, secure and cost-effective
One of the UK’s leading exporters by Air, Metro is an IATA agent for all major airlines and has strategic relationships with regional airports and leading carriers. Metro operates direct and deferred air freight services to and from all major destinations, together with expedited and charter services for urgent and special shipments.
Charter
We leverage our long-standing carrier relationships to secure and position cost-effective charter aircraft for urgent cargo and project shipment needs.
Freight
Metro’s air freight team ensures that your cargo always arrives on time, at the lowest cost, by using the optimum blend of carriers, service and transit time.
Courier
We have access to the most competitive integrator rates and services for valuable consignments and samples, with solutions for the most urgent requirements.
Metro operates regular inbound and outbound consolidation services and works with the leading global carriers and carefully selected regional carriers. By integrating carrier schedules, we offer the widest choice of routes, transit and services, to provide the most cost-effective
solutions for every need, from next flight out to time-definite and economy. We handle all types of cargo, door-to-door, dealing with paperwork and arranging customs clearance anywhere in the world.
More testing times
This leading midlands-based British car manufacturer invested £1bn in the latest iteration of a popular model, covering research, design, advanced technology engineering and manufacturing.
The client had been moving cars for overseas testing through mainland European gateways, served by export cargo freighters, which increased transit time and reduced the time available for testing on arrival.
Due to the nature and sensitivity of prototype vehicles, and the time restrictive test programme, every additional day spent in transit costs many £000’s per vehicle.
With so much investment sunk in the new model there was a determination to drive ROI, by reducing transit times to test sites and create greater availability for engineers and on the ground.
The Metro automotive team calculated that the optimum solution was a direct freight service from the client’s closest airport, Birmingham, to their test locations.
Working in partnership with Birmingham Airport and Emirates Airlines a Boeing 777 aircraft was scheduled through the Birmingham gateway for the first time, reducing transit-times to destinations by up to five days, which massively reduced prototype down time, saving a lot of money and resulting in the eventual movement of 500 vehicles over nine months.
Overall the client attained a 50% reduction in transit times, leading to savings on the freight, an increase in productivity from testing and engineering staff and increased availability of vehicles.