Recently, a 1963 Aston Martin traveled from Frankfurt, Germany to New York via Delta Air Lines. The $450,000 luxury car needed to make the trip overnight, so it was secured into the hold of the aircraft on a standard freight pallet with its polished bumpers protruding over the edges! The classic car attracted much attention during the loading and off-loading processes, naturally. This reminded me of the Lamborghini Aventadors being offloaded.

An Aston Martin travels in the hold of a Delta aircraft from Frankfurt, Germany to New York. Would you ever dream of shipping a vehicle worth a half million dollars in a standard hold? 

Delta is not a stranger to luxury transport, and it moves around 100 cars annually. This particular trip made the airline a cool $10,000 USD. The greater the value of the vehicle being shipped–the greater the profit for the airline. It is simple math. Delta boasts a comfortable billion-dollar per year cargo business. Of that cargo shipping business, the company profits around 50%, which is quite a cozy sum.

A pair of Lamborghini Aventadors were being offloaded in the photo above

Many wealthy and well-traveled car owners and collectors prefer to ship their vehicles with European airlines. Great lengths are typically taken to ensure that the cars arrive without a single scratch.

But is Delta qualified to handle supercars and sometimes irreplaceable exotic sports cars? The low volume of exotic cars shipped by the badge hints that it is not the preferred method of travel by owners. The company has moved hypercars like a Lamborghini and Porsche without incident. While it manages to attract a few impressive auto shipments annually, Delta still lags behind competitors. European airlines get the majority of the overseas luxury transport business. The occasional financial bump when they do get a car like this is likely very appreciated, however.

 

 

Post by Imagine Lifestyles Luxury Rentals