Air 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 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: “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, developments in compliance, such as 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 flights and Shanghai with 14 AFKL passenger flights. We closely follow all market dynamics and listen carefully to our customers to see how and where we further can better fulfil their needs,” he concludes.
Looming geopolitical concerns
Duval is observing geopolitical events across the globe as they may come to influence AFKLMP’s airfreight routes and operations in the Asia Pacific region. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, tensions in the Red Sea and Middle East and labour disruptions such as US port strikes create ripple effects across global supply chains. Additionally, Asia faces frequent natural disruptions, including typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and floods which significantly impact operations.
Heightened concerns around the potential deterioration of China-Taiwan relations add another layer of uncertainty. Such developments could have far-reaching implications for regional and global trade routes. In light of this unpredictability, AFKLMP is proactively exploring alternative scenarios to mitigate risks and maintain operational resilience.
The airfreight industry is inherently shaped by geopolitical and economic factors, and AFKLMP remains committed to continuous reassessment of its full freighter network to capitalise on emerging opportunities. The company’s ability to adapt swiftly to changing contexts ensures both profitability and alignment with customer needs.
Agility is the cornerstone of AFKLMP’s strategy, considers Duval. By maintaining a flexible approach to network planning and operations, the company is well-positioned to navigate the complexities of global and regional challenges, safeguarding its leadership position in the dynamic airfreight sector.
Heightened competition
The expansion of freighter capacity by competitors in the Asia Pacific region presents both challenges and opportunities. As some airlines shift capacity to Asia to align supply with rising demand, it inevitably reduces available capacity in other global regions. This redistribution could result in traffic being rerouted to alternative destinations, potentially altering traditional trade flows.
European airlines, including AFKLMP, face a unique set of challenges in this competitive landscape. Asian and Gulf carriers benefit from Russia’s airspace availability, allowing for more direct and cost-efficient routes. In contrast, European airlines are forced to bear additional costs due to extended flight paths that increase crew hours, aircraft utilisation and overall operational expenses. This disparity creates a competitive imbalance, particularly as regional and global demand fluctuates.
Despite these headwinds, AFKLMP remains focused on leveraging its extensive expertise, high-quality service, and strategic network to maintain its leadership position. Continuous optimisation of its freighter and belly capacity, coupled with adaptability to shifting market conditions, ensures that the company can meet customer demands while navigating competitive pressures.
In this dynamic environment, maintaining agility and delivering value to customers will be critical to countering the impacts of competitor expansions and addressing the inherent challenges of operating in a globally interconnected airfreight industry.
Standing out from the competition
Naturally, the Asia Pacific market has attracted a great deal of competition for its airfreight business. How does AFKLMP counter this? Duval says: “Our AFKLMP teams are passionately delivering best in class customer experiences at every touch point, bringing customised solutions to each and every customer.
“On the platform “myCargo”, Asia is one of our top performing regions in the world with 85% of our bookings initiated online via myCargo. Thanks to our high level of digitisation, we can offer personalized solutions to our customers.
“At AFKLMP, we differentiate ourselves from competition thanks to the expertise of our teams combined to advanced technology and digitisation.”
Investing in innovation and sustainability
AFKLMP continues to invest in advanced technologies and infrastructure to optimise cargo handling and improve operational efficiency across the Asia Pacific region. One significant initiative includes the implementation of ULD (Unit Load Device) trackers and readers. This technology enhances the monitoring of ULD inventory, enabling greater operational control and offering potential applications such as ambient temperature monitoring for sensitive cargo.
Another cutting-edge development under evaluation is digital volume scanning. This innovation is poised to revolutionise capacity management and streamline onward connections from AFKLMP’s key hubs in Paris (CDG) and Amsterdam (AMS). By providing high-resolution digital images of shipments at acceptance, the technology allows for better planning and visualisation of cargo conditions and dimensions enabling remote handling and reducing dependency on warehouse support.
Fleet versatility
AFKLMP’s fleet, a mix of full freighters and wide-body belly aircraft, is uniquely configured to address the complex demands of airfreight in Asia Pacific. Equipped with flexible layouts and temperature-controlled holds, the fleet ensures the safe and efficient transport of varied cargo types, from perishables to high-value goods.
Sustainability Initiatives
Sustainability is central to AFKLMP’s strategy. The company has implemented eco-piloting techniques, partnered with customers on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) initiatives, and introduced the goSAF programme on its digital platform, myCargo, enabling optional SAF contributions with every booking.
Recent milestones include the signing of five new SAF contracts during the Air Cargo China 2024 convention in Shanghai, adding to existing partnerships with 14 customers in Greater China. In addition, AFKLMP extended its Ground Handling Agreement (GHA) with EAL in Shanghai (PVG), collaborating on sustainable solutions to reduce plastic usage in cargo operations.
Through these investments and initiatives, AFKLMP reinforces its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and operational excellence in the dynamic Asia Pacific airfreight market.
