Kintetsu World Express, Inc. begin in May 1948 when Kintetsu Railway, then known as Kinki Nippon Railway, established a travel service department. Upper management launched the department into the foreign airline agency business, looking ahead to the future of air travel. The airline business was later stewarded by Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT, a subsidiary of KNT-CT Holdings), established in 1955.
Japan’s high economic growth period had just begun, and air cargo freight forwarding was rapidly growing with increasing international business opportunities. In January 1970, the newly formed Kintetsu Air Cargo International split off from KNT to become the first air freight specialist in Japan.
Kintetsu World Express expansion began when an American magazine publisher sought our expertise to relocate its printing operations from Japan to Hong Kong. In April 1969, KNT’s air freight business department became the first among Japan’s forwarders to establish a subsidiary in Hong Kong.
In the following month, our second subsidiary was established in the United States. While other Japanese forwarders had set up base in New York, we chose to establish operations and prioritize our business expansion in the city of Chicago–a central hub for American manufacturing.
These efforts started to bear fruit in the mid-1970s with the emergence of the US electronics industry, particularly in the area around San Francisco that would come to be known as Silicon Valley.
Kintetsu World Express made strategic investments to cultivate business partnerships with US electronics companies and further strengthen its freight forwarding capabilities; these clients would later develop into global enterprises.
Kintetsu World Express advantages
- Close, Long-term Partnerships with Preferred Air Carriers
- Broad, Flexible Services Can Be Customized for Your Unique Needs
- Comprehensive Transport Logistics Solutions Across our Global Network
- Experts in High-Tech, Pharma, Auto, Oil & Gas, Perishables, and More
- Dependable Consolidation Services for Stable Year-round Capacity in Key Markets
- Ad Hoc and Scheduled Charter Solutions
- Time-defined Services
- Multimodal Sea-Air Services
- User-friendly Cargo Tracking System
- Charter Solutions Tailored to Your Needs
- In-house Customs & Compliance
- Affordable and Flexible Supplemental Cargo Insurance
- End-to-End Supply Chain Solutions
