DHL Airfreight Revenues Jump 30.4% as Capacity Constraints Feed Express

DHL's forwarding division lifted third-quarter airfreight revenues 30.4% year on year to €1.5bn, and the same capacity squeeze that pushed those rates higher handed its express sister division roughly €100m in extra earnings.

The numbers, published with the group's Q3 results, show airfreight gross profit at the forwarding unit up 28.4% to €321m, with volumes rising 12% to 497,000 tonnes. DHL credited demand out of Asia and higher airfreight rates for the lift.

"The [forwarding] division helped customers adapt transport routes to changing trade flows and maintain reliable supply chains," the company said in a press release.

Overall forwarding revenues for the quarter reached €5.6bn, up 23.4%, with operating profit of €259m, a 32.7% increase. DHL said the growth also reflects successful pass-through of cost and fuel inflation to customers.

Why is the air cargo market so tight?

Market-wide airfreight rates and volumes have climbed this year on several fronts:

• higher fuel costs;
• a surge in demand for data centre-related goods;
• overall market strength;
• the conflict in the Middle East;
• capacity tightness from certain markets.

That tightness has produced an unusual dynamic inside DHL: constraint in one business has become revenue in another. Express third-quarter revenues rose 19.2% to €7bn, while ebit jumped 50% to €1bn.

"DHL Express benefited from a continuing gradual rise in weight transported throughout the network. Capacity constraints in the airfreight market also had a positive effect on earnings of around €100m," DHL said. "The positive earnings performance from increased capacity utilisation was additionally supported by effective cost and yield measures."

Time Definite International daily shipment weight grew 9.7% year on year as the express division deliberately chases heavier cargo.

What is driving heavier freight into the express network?

Earlier this year, Mike Parra, chief executive of DHL Express for Europe, told Air Cargo News that e-commerce platforms moving away from integrators to lower-cost bulk transport and 'local hero' last-mile networks had pushed the share of heavier shipments up.

Geopolitics has since accelerated the shift. The current unpredictability and the war in Iran have pushed a growing number of urgent heavier items into the express network, drawn by its speed, certainty and uncomplicated pricing model.

DHL has moved to capitalise. As part of a strategy to refocus on industrial customers, it launched a Heavy Weight Express (HWX) service at the start of the year that accepts shipments of up to 1,000 kg per piece and 3,000 kg per shipment.

How does DHL compare with its forwarding rivals?

The Q3 results put DHL in the middle of a strong quarter for freight forwarders across the board:

• Kuehne+Nagel: airfreight revenue up 38% year on year, volumes up 10%.
• DSV: air forwarding revenues up 16.6%, despite volumes falling 3%.

DHL's 30.4% revenue gain on 12% volume growth sits between the two, suggesting it captured more rate than DSV but less than Kuehne+Nagel on stronger tonnage.

What does this mean for full-year guidance?

The group has already translated the express momentum into higher expectations. Earlier this year, DHL Group raised its operating profit outlook for 2025, citing the express division's strong performance and expectations for a good peak season.

The company now expects full-year earnings before interest and tax of €7bn, up from its previous forecast of €6.5bn.

With express weight still climbing gradually and forwarding riding elevated rates out of Asia, DHL enters the peak season with both divisions leaning on the same market tightness — a position that holds only as long as airfreight capacity stays constrained.