AIR CARG O WEEK


ASIA PACIFIC


AFKLMP: MOVING MOUNTAINS OF CARGO, ASIA STYLE


A


ir France KLM Martinair’s (AFKLMP) airfreight operations in the Asia Pacific region demonstrate a robust and strategic approach to cargo transport. Annually, the company moves approximately 115,000 tonnes of export cargo from Greater China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia,


and India. This figure rises to 140,000 tonnnes when including exports from the Middle East. Cargo tonnages flown into the region remain unaccounted for in these totals. AFKLMP utilises a balanced network, with nearly 20% of cargo


transported via full freighters and the remainder handled in the belly space of wide-body passenger aircraft.


Key hub and cargo types Hong Kong stands out as the most critical airfreight hub in the Asia Pacific region for the business. Its prominence is driven by surging e-commerce demand, making it a focal point for AFKLMP’s operations. Cargo flows in the region primarily consist of general goods,


strongly linked to e-commerce exports from China. Additionally, there are significant volumes of high-value commodities such as pharmaceuticals and high-tech products. This operational framework highlights AFKLMP’s agility in meeting diverse market demands while leveraging strategic hubs and transport modes to optimise efficiency and service quality across the Asia Pacific airfreight landscape.


Strategic resumption The decision to resume freighter flights to Hong Kong after a nine-year hiatus reflects AFKLMP’s commitment to aligning operations with evolving customer needs, according to Bénédicte Duval, vice president of the intercontinental area at AFKLMP, this strategic move was driven by a clear surge in demand for exports from China. The addition of five weekly freighter flights to Hong


Kong has significantly boosted AFKLMP’s market share in the Asia Pacific region. By leveraging its expertise and high-quality service, the company continues to deliver reliable solutions during a period of heightened demand. Duval says: “We regularly assess our freighter


network, in combination with our belly capacities, to evaluate new opportunities linked to changes


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in our customer demand. That is why we resumed our KLM Martinair full freighter operations to/from Hong Kong in September 2024 with four weekly scheduled flights and now serve as well with our AF Full Freighters Beijing (twice weekly) and Mumbai (twice weekly). “AFKLMP’s approach involves regular assessments of its freighter


network alongside belly capacity on passenger aircraft, ensuring operational


agility and responsiveness to shifting customer


requirements. This proactive strategy underpins the resumption of KLM Martinair full freighter services to and from Hong Kong in September 2024. These flights operate four times weekly, further solidifying AFKLMP’s presence in the region. “In addition to Hong Kong, AFKLMP has expanded its full freighter


network with two weekly Air France freighter flights to both Beijing and Mumbai. This multi-hub strategy enhances capacity and connectivity, positioning AFKLMP to seize growth opportunities in key Asian markets while reinforcing its reputation as a leader in global airfreight logistics.”


Partnerships and growth Are there any partnerships with regional cargo handlers or forwarders to strengthen AFKLMP’s presence in Asia Pacific? Duval notes:


developments in compliance, such as


“We are working with different handlers in Asia


Middle-East and have two main handling partners, DNATA and SATS. With both parties we have a continuous dialogue on technical innovations,


increased


customs requirements, and on further operational standardisation and simplification, which benefits all actors in the supply chain. “We are also very pleased with the good and increasingly solid


partnership with our shareholder Eastern Air Logistics. They have been handling our cargo at PVG for a couple of years to our great satisfaction and we are currently investigating in which areas we can strengthen our co-operation. Looking at our extensive combined network, we see good potential synergies. “Our business development is based on both global players and


local champions. With a long-standing local presence of our AFKLMP brand, we are very well established in many Asian countries from where we can leverage our global network and product expertise. “Hong Kong is our main full freighter gateway in Asia and plays a pivotal


role in strengthening our presence in Asia with four weekly scheduled KL/MP flights and even more during peak season. This comes on top of a total of 11 AF and KLM passenger flights. In Greater China, we also serve Beijing twice weekly AF FF flights and 14 AFKL passenger


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