• e-commerce is now a structural driver of air cargo, increasing volume volatility, operational complexity, and demand for faster, more flexible fulfilment.
• Hactl integrates e-commerce into core operations via its Hacis E-commerce Fulfilment Centre, offering storage, repacking, minor assembly, and climate-controlled handling.
• Real-time AI-driven tools like the iHCC enable workload forecasting, instant resource allocation, and resilient terminal management, keeping peak periods manageable.
• Expanding global demand from new corridors, including India, raises unpredictability, requiring robust visibility systems like COSAC-Plus for data flow between airlines, forwarders, and authorities.

e-commerce is no longer an emerging trend. It is now baked into the logistics ecosystem, reshaping cargo flows, operational timelines, and fulfilment expectations. While marketplaces and digital platforms dominate headlines, the heavy operational lift is increasingly falling on air cargo handlers — those tasked with turning fragmented, high-frequency shipments into reliable throughput.

At Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (Hactl), that challenge is being met not with grand rebranding or speculative investment, but with deeper integration, structural upgrades and a quiet recalibration of what a cargo terminal does.

“e-commerce is the dominant focus of trade as a whole right now and is likely to continue to be so in the foreseeable future,” says Wilson Kwong, Hactl’s Chief Executive. “Even with the current geopolitical instability and the potential challenges posed by US tariffs, global trade as a whole will continue to grow, and we will continue to see a significant share by e-commerce.”

That growth, however, is not straightforward. e-commerce is more volatile, less consolidated, and more operationally demanding than traditional freight. It calls for a different kind of readiness.

Rewiring the terminal for fulfilment, not just throughput

To meet the shifting shape of cargo, Hactl has expanded its role beyond traditional handling. At the centre of this evolution is its subsidiary Hacis, which operates the Hacis E-commerce Fulfilment Centre (HEFC). There, shippers can access services ranging from storage and re-packing to minor assembly and onforwarding — all within a system tightly integrated into Hactl’s digital infrastructure.

“All that is provided with a seamless flow of data through our automated systems,” says Kwong. “We can meet every type of customer need, including those requiring a controlled climate.” That includes the Cool Zone, designed for commodities that are both sensitive and fast-moving — a growing segment of e-commerce.

Unlike some peers who frame e-commerce as a discrete business line, Hactl is embedding it into core operations. And this shift isn’t about increasing volume — it’s about managing volatility. That’s where the iHCC (Integrated Hactl Control Centre) comes in. Designed to centralise operational control, the system provides AI-driven, real-time forecasts and enables instant resource adjustments. Managers can monitor every aspect of the terminal — from flight tracking and CCTV to a 3D schematic of all cargo locations.

“Our iHCC enables us to boost both efficiency and resilience,” says Kwong. “It forecasts workloads for the next eight hours, allowing instant adjustments to staffing and resources to cope with unexpected workload peaks.”

Peak season, in this model, is just another shift. “There are many players in the supply chain which deliver your mobile phone cover, for example, and our job is to ensure that the parties who rely on us receive a service they can depend on,” he says. “Peak season should be no different to any other time of year. We wouldn’t act any differently, we’d just ensure the job is done — and done right — every time.”

More markets – more unpredictability?

e-commerce is reshaping not just volumes, but geographies. While China and the US remain the biggest nodes, Kwong sees new demand emerging from less conventional corridors. “e-commerce has successfully created demand for many new products from many new production locations to many new markets,” he says. “Even if this is being shipped in bulk in general cargo, from producers to e-commerce merchants, it’s still e-commerce.”

He flags India as a market to watch: “Developing countries are growing a greater appetite for consumer goods. That may well become an exciting area for future development. Think about the growing middle classes in somewhere like India and you can see what I am referencing.”

This decentralisation makes capacity planning more difficult, while raising the bar for flexibility and visibility. Hactl’s COSAC-Plus system, which handles around a million data transactions per day, is designed to meet that need. It connects government agencies, forwarders, and airlines, and provides the kind of real-time data flow that e-commerce depends on.

There is also growing pressure from consumers and regulators to green the logistics chain. “The primary considerations have to be the carbon emissions from the transportation element and the packaging waste from over-packaging,” says Kwong. “The end-user consumer is fully aware of this and is demanding more eco-friendly practices from the companies they are buying from.”

Hactl’s approach is to make changes where it has control, such as switching to cargo protection sheets made with 30 to 50 percent recycled plastic. It’s a small but material shift, and more honest than issuing lofty sustainability promises that go unfulfilled.

Asked about longer-term innovation, Kwong again avoids overstatement. “We’ve been around for four decades and drones, AI and e-commerce didn’t even exist when we started, so it’s been an exciting time to be part of the development of these new technologies and markets,” he says. “Drones will certainly be part of the mix of the future, but perhaps not in the way people currently think.”

That kind of tempered thinking may serve Hactl well. The next wave of logistics technology will likely reward those who align innovation with actual process improvement, not just PR potential.

e-commerce is not a niche vertical or a seasonal challenge anymore. It is a structural force, one that rewires how cargo behaves — in volume, in frequency, and in its demands on the ground.

Hactl’s strategy is not to treat e-commerce as a side business, but to rebuild its infrastructure around the idea that unpredictability, not predictability, is now the baseline. That includes fulfilment capability, short-term forecasting, digital integration, and incremental sustainability improvements — all delivered without claiming reinvention.

“We don’t accept the status quo, and we are always looking for ways to improve the services we offer and the way we provide them,” Kwong says.

The bigger takeaway for the industry? The challenge is not simply to keep up with e-commerce demand, it is to absorb it without losing operational grip. And that requires more than capacity.