In a landmark transaction, AirAsia X (AAX) has secured full belly space utilisation for one-third of its wide-body A330-300 fleet for an initial period of one year. Teleport, the logistics venture of Capital A (formerly AirAsia Group), will use the additional capacity from AAX to fulfil its robust customer requirements, both intra and across the whole of Asia Pacific.
This is the second major announcement in as many weeks for the newly restructured AAX seeking to significantly boost its regional presence as a viable long term partner to some of the biggest global freight forwarders. It recently announced a strategic partnership with global logistics leader GEODIS, to mount several weekly dedicated cargo flights throughout the Asia Pacific for an extended period.
CEO of AirAsia X, Benyamin Ismail said: “We are also in discussions with several other major global clients that have air cargo requirements, particularly to where we have established bases and flying rights. It’s just two months post our restructuring and the appetite for expansion of our cargo operations is significant. This dovetails neatly into one of the core pillars of our combination carrier strategy. For the foreseeable future, cargo revenue will underpin our route strategy and passenger revenue for the first time will be ancillary.”
“We will only fly if it’s profitable to fly. With our restructured low-cost base, we can fly profitably where other airlines may not be able to and this is a significant advantage to us. We intend to add a further one plane a month to full service from now and we hope to have our full fleet operational by the end of the third quarter. As more aircraft are brought back into service, we are able to recall back pilots and crew who have been through a tough period during this pandemic,” said COO of AirAsia X, Captain Suresh Kumar Bangah.
COO of Teleport, Adrian Loretz added: “We are happy to work closer with AAX on their A330 fleet as an integrated cargo carrier. In addition to our dedicated 737-800 freighter, the added A330 aircraft from AAX allows us to provide more capacity access for our customers to serve the demand in the region while operating from our main hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. In 2022, we are looking at strengthening our fleet and adding more prime destinations into our scheduled network with extensive coverage in Southeast Asia and beyond – coupled with the wide coverage and high frequency from our existing AirAsia passenger flights’ capacity. This is especially important as we are focusing a large portion of our resources on playing a key part in the supply chain as we expect this segment will continue to significantly grow over the coming years.”
“As a fully capable cargo provider, Teleport is on the right track to contribute to the logistical accessibility and the growing demand of the region by spotlighting our commitment to move things across Southeast Asia better than anybody else. We do this by offering the best speed, value and coverage to all our customers. Our partnership in supporting AAX further strengthens our position in the market and further validates that,” said CEO of Teleport, Pete Chareonwongsak.
Edited by: Stephen Morton
