Our history

In 1973, Chris Chapman and Mike Freeborn established Chapman Freeborn. It began with a shared passion for aviation and a unique business opportunity to market Alaska International Air’s fleet of Hercules freighter aircraft.

At its peak Alaska International Air operated five aircraft, but with business faltering in the local oil and gas industry new revenue streams were urgently required. Chapman Freeborn successfully utilised these aircraft for ad hoc charters and longer-term contracts in Africa and later across the globe.

The Hercules and other chartered aircraft types were used to transport everything from oil and gas equipment to automotive parts.

Changes in consumerism in the 1970’s meant that empty leg flights would often be filled with fruit and vegetables destined for supermarkets.

Tastes were becoming more exotic and demand began for shipments of grapes from Cyprus, avocados from Israel, peppers from Ethiopia, and other new food industries based in countries like Kenya and Columbia that still continue today.

In 1982, Chapman Freeborn opened its first office outside of the UK, in Frankfurt, Germany. As the economic powerhouse of Europe, our business has thrived in Germany and we now have additional offices in Berlin, Cologne and Munich.

Our strengths can be found in supporting the requirements of global industries such as electronics, engineering and automotive construction.

Chapman Freeborn has been involved in transporting humanitarian cargo since its earliest days, and the 1980s saw demand for our charter expertise reach new levels.

Widespread famine hit Ethiopia from 1983 to 1985 placing five million people at risk of starvation. Governments including the UK, Germany, Poland, Canada, USA and the Soviet Union led the international aid effort – supplemented by a large civilian component.

We played an important role in the effort to transport food and medical supplies, managing a variety of aircraft to deliver cargo from Europe to Addis Ababa on behalf of aid agencies.

In 1987, Chapman Freeborn set up the charter operation to support David Bowie’s Glass Spider Tour and since then our company has developed a niche expertise managing flights for high profile music tours, movie promotions and other entertainment industry clients.

The Rolling Stones, U2 and Coldplay are just some of the household names to have worked with us over the years.

A period of rapid expansion saw us launch new businesses around the world, including office openings in Poland, United States of America, Belgium, Singapore and United Arab Emirates.

Our growing coverage helped to give us access to local airlines, unique knowledge of local operating conditions, and the ability to serve charter clients on a global basis.

With the company’s charter activities now spanning the globe, we launched our 24-hour flight support company Paragon Global – now called Chapman Freeborn Flight Support.

Based in the UK, Chapman Freeborn Flight Support provides professional flight support services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – including flight monitoring, fuel purchasing, ground handling, diplomatic clearances and flight permits.

In 2004, Chapman Freeborn assisted the International Olympic Committee with an ambitious project to fly the Olympic flame around the world. For the first time in history, the torch relay visited all five continents represented by the Olympic rings.

On your marks… jet set… GO! Our passenger charter team arranged and operationally managed two Boeing B747 aircraft for a 46-day tour which included visits to 34 cities in 26 countries.

Chapman Freeborn had been active in China for several years and opened its first office in Beijing in 2004. Since then, we’ve expanded our market coverage with office openings in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

We pride ourselves on our ability to react rapidly to emergency situations – including setting up time-critical flights outside of regular working hours.

When the devastating tsunami struck on Boxing Day 2004, Chapman Freeborn’s offices around the world were called into action. In the days and weeks that followed, over 250 charters were coordinated by our teams to deliver aid to countries including India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

In 2006, Chapman Freeborn launched its specialist on board courier (OBC) service offering door-to-door, hand-carry solutions for time-critical shipments.

Headquartered in Germany, with additional operations centres in Hong Kong and USA, clients are provided with access to couriers around the clock.

We reached another milestone in 2009, becoming the first international charter company to establish a presence in Africa, with office openings in Uganda and South Africa.

Next up was the launch of our first business in India, followed by Australia and the acquisition of Alltrans International – a highly-respected logistics company with over 12 years of experience in the local cargo market.

In 2014, the acquisition of a majority share in Intradco Cargo Services allowed us to expand our product portfolio further. UK-based Intradco Global offers over 30 years of animal transport experience, making it the number one choice for equine, livestock and conservation project shipments worldwide.

Chapman Freeborn played a part in showcasing the aviation technology of tomorrow by providing charter support for the Solar Impulse 2 project – an ambitious attempt to circumnavigate the globe in a solar-powered aircraft.

In addition to providing our client with chartered support aircraft including an Ilyushin IL-76 and an ATR-72, our in-house flight support team was tasked with operational arrangements for the 17-stage mission.

In 2017, Chapman Freeborn increased its stake in Magma Aviation to a majority shareholding to help support the company’s long-term growth plans.

UK-based Magma Aviation was launched in 2010 to commercially and operationally manage dedicated wide-body cargo aircraft, contracted on an exclusive basis from airline partners. The company currently controls a fleet of B747-400F aircraft – serving a global client base of freight forwarders, block space consolidators, and charter brokers.

Chapman Freeborn is no stranger to challenging missions, and in late 2017 our expertise was required to establish an intercontinental air bridge between Cape Town and Novolazarevskaya Airfield in Antarctica.

On behalf of our client, we sourced and managed a chartered B757-200 aircraft to transport 50 passengers, scientific equipment and supplies back and forth between South Africa and the remote ice strip for four months during the austral summer.

In 2019, Chapman Freeborn was acquired by Avia Solutions Group – a global aviation holding company with subsidiaries engaged in aircraft maintenance, pilot training, ground handling and fuelling, aviation IT solutions and business aviation.

Joining forces with Avia Solutions Group provides us with a greater level of business scale, resources and expertise to accelerate growth and deliver our services to an even wider client base – all while preserving our unique company culture and ongoing commitment to charter market innovation.

In 2020, Arcus Air Group divested its logistics division consisting of air cargo charter and on board courier businesses. Arcus Air Logistic and Arcus OBC became part of the Chapman Freeborn Group.

Russi Batliwala has been appointed as the new chairman, and Eric Erbacher has been welcomed back to replace him as CEO. Russi, a prominent figure in the aircraft charter industry, started his career with the company as a trainee aviation broker 33 years ago and has led the company through a significant period of growth and expansion since becoming CEO in 2009.

Eric Erbacher, who previously spent three years with Chapman Freeborn as Regional Director for Asia, returns with a mandate to continue driving the company’s growth strategy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chapman Freeborn Airchartering’s broker teams successfully executed large-scale repatriation programs to the US from South America, the Middle East, throughout Europe, and across Asia, working tirelessly to repatriate thousands of foreign nationals worldwide. While the passenger teams focused on repatriation flights, the cargo brokers contributed by delivering millions of PPE items to those in need.

Chapman Freeborn was among the first to initiate operations of the ‘preighter,’ a hybrid of passenger and freighter services.

The gatherings took place on Friday 15th September, bringing together the company’s global workforce.

Using this occasion as an opportunity to further its fundraising for fly2help, a charity dedicated to changing lives using the power and wonder of flight. With two branches to its fundraising, fly2help runs the Aim High programme, which aids people in launching their career in aviation, and Air Smiles, which gifts unforgettable flight experiences to families and individuals going through challenging times.

New commercial offices open in New York, Houston, the City of London and Saudi Arabia.