Panalpina: a forwarder that flies.

Panalpina, Inc., plans to start direct air service between the United States and Ireland this month, and will probably do the same in other trades as the demand arises, the company's top U.S. executive said.

Panalpina, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is chiefly a provider of transportation-related services such as logistics consultation and planning, customs brokerage, ocean and air freight forwarding. nonvessel-operating common carriage, distribution, warehousing and packaging.

But the company already operates as an air carrier on a pair of other routes, using chartered-in aircraft, as it will do in the U.S.-Ireland service.

Rolf Altorfer, …