Cainiao charters air freight flights to Latin America

Alibaba owned Cainiao Smart Logistics is to charter air freight flights between China and Latin America through LATAM and Atlas Air.

There has been a fall in air freight space between China and South America due to the pandemic. Under the deal between Cainiao and the two air charter companies, there are to be new flights between Hong Kong, Bogota, Lima, Santiago and Sao Paulo.

Flights will carry many of the most popular items ordered by Latin American online shoppers – electronic devices, toys and beauty products. Thanks to the deal, the overall time of delivery between China and Colombia will drop to 10 days.

E-commerce is bouncing back with the daily parcel volume to South America from China growing by 14% in March by comparison to February. Air freight demand is now nearing pre-pandemic levels.

“The pandemic has resulted in a shortage of cargo flights from China to South America, and our collaboration with Atlas Air and LATAM can help meet the robust demand and raise logistics efficiency,” said William Xiong, Cainiao’s Chief Strategist and General Manager of Export Logistics. “This year, Cainiao plans to launch over 3,000 chartered flights to safeguard cross-border logistics and help Chinese merchants sell globally.”

“We are pleased to be the chosen partner for Cainiao’s intercontinental operations connecting China to North and South America,” said Michael Steen, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Atlas Air Worldwide. “Our scale and global footprint make us an ideal partner for Cainiao as they continue their efforts to reduce delivery times to their customers around the world.”

“LATAM’s participation is a recognition of the robust network, which has positioned LATAM Airlines Group and its Cargo carriers as the best alternative to, from, and between South America, and of the flexibility offered to adapt to the needs of our customers. The collaborative and efficient work between LATAM and Cainiao, in addition to the interline agreement reached with Atlas Air, will allow the implementation of a logistics chain that will satisfy the high demand of e-commerce and reduce delivery times from Hong Kong to Bogotá and Lima by 50%, a result that is of direct benefit to the end customer,” commented Jorge Galvez, Director of Marketing and Development of LATAM Cargo.

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