Global logistics giant DSV on Saturday launched a weekly dedicated air charter service from Seoul, South Korea, to Chicago-Rockford International Airport through the end of August, underscoring the airport’s growing popularity as a cargo relief valve for crowded O’Hare airport, an hour’s drive to the east.
DSV has contracted with all-cargo airline Atlas Air to operate a Boeing 747 jumbo jet to Chicago-Rockford, continuing on to Huntsville, Alabama, and then Luxembourg, the route.
On Tuesdays, a DSV-controlled Boeing 777 from Shanghai, China, will land at Chicago-Rockford (RFD) before traveling to Incheon airport in Seoul. And on Fridays a 777 will depart Incheon and return, before heading to Jinan, China. In total, DSV is providing eight flight operations per week through RFD, primarily to support healthcare customers, said Mohamed Siraj, DSV’s vice president Air Direct / Global Gateways via email.
DSV, the third-largest logistics service provider in the world based on revenue, began utilizing RFD in November when it began weekly charter flights from Shanghai. In June, an inbound service from Luxembourg began. All the flights are operated by Atlas Air and flow through RFD on their way to other destinations in the DSV network.
“Incheon is one of Asia’s most important cargo hubs, and with this new service, DSV can provide reliable capacity and connectivity via the network we are building through Rockford,” Siraj said in a joint news release last week. “The airport has consistently demonstrated the operational reliability and flexibility needed to support scheduled international freighter services, making it a natural choice as we continue developing our air cargo operations.”
And DSV isn’t finished adding air freight service to Chicago-Rockford. The company plans to introduce a scheduled service connecting RFD to Chennai, India, later this year because of high demand from the tech sector.
The lease arrangement with Atlas Air is flexible, allowing DSV to adjust capacity and deploy aircraft where customer demand is greatest in its network.
Many freight forwarders charter aircraft and deploy them on specific routes for customers because of the greater control it gives them over capacity, scheduling, and delivery speed versus handing freight to various commercial airlines.
Why It Matters: DSV is using the small airport in Rockford, Illinois, to bypass Chicago O’Hare airport and gain efficiencies.
DSV uses a multi-client terminal operated by Menzies Aviation to transfer loads between the freighter aircraft and trucks that support its local warehouses.
RFD is No. 19 in North America for cargo. In 2025, the airport handled 498,432 metric tons of cargo, up 10.8% from the previous year, according to figures from Airports Council-International. The Federal Aviation Administration ranks RFD as 12 in the U.S. based on total landed weight, which also includes the weight of the aircraft and likely reflects the fact that more large cargo aircraft serve the airport.
UPS, Amazon Air and Maersk Air Cargo are the dominant carriers at RFD and have their own parcel and cargo handling terminals. Maersk provided trans-Pacific service on its own fleet of Boeing 767-300 freighters until early this year, when it terminated its flying contract with Amerijet. But it still brings in freighters, operated by Magma Aviation, from Liege, Belgium, each week.
Since the Covid crisis, second-tier airports like RFD have become more attractive to logistics companies chartering their own aircraft due to less crowding, lower fees and operating costs, airside cargo terminals that give them direct control over their freight compared to using a third party for disassembling and preparing loads for pick up, and less congested roads. The upshot is goods can be expedited from the airport to their final destination, making customers happier.
RFD officials tout that airlines can save up to 25 minutes in taxiing time compared to O’Hare airport, saving fuel and reducing carbon emissions.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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