THE air freight market is becoming crowded with traditional operators facing new competition, reports London's Air Cargo News
Amazon's fleet of leased or outright owned freighters is in excess of 80 planes and growing, as are the fleets of the likes of Cainiao, SF Express or Mercado Libre.
Meanwhile, Maersk and CMA CGM are morphing into end-to-end logistics providers whose activities extend into air freighter operations.
CMA CGM has four A330 freighters in operation and is preparing to receive two B777 and four A350Fs all-cargo planes, while Maersk is leasing three 767 freighters next year and has signed a purchase order for two B777 cargo planes.
Maersk underscored its ambitions in the air cargo sector with the US$644 million acquisition of Senator International, a forwarder with $730 million in revenues in 2020 and on course for $950 million this year.
Hanjin, Evergreen, and NYK already own airlines with freighters - Korean Air, EVA Air and Nippon Cargo respectively.
For airlines and forwarders, these developments raise questions about how far they are changing the industry.
At a minimum, it means more players competing for freighters in a market where capacity is precious.
An executive of a large forwarder declared that the shift of logistics providers to dedicated capacity is more than a short-term reaction to exceptional circumstances.
The executive expects this to continue for some time. In the executive's eyes, an even bigger change in the market is the push of e-commerce players beyond regional fulfillment into the international arena.
This is why Amazon is looking at B777 freighters to add to its line-up.
As for Maersk and CMA CGM, their airfreight capacities are relatively small, according to the executive.
SeaNews Turkey
Amazon's fleet of leased or outright owned freighters is in excess of 80 planes and growing, as are the fleets of the likes of Cainiao, SF Express or Mercado Libre.
Meanwhile, Maersk and CMA CGM are morphing into end-to-end logistics providers whose activities extend into air freighter operations.
CMA CGM has four A330 freighters in operation and is preparing to receive two B777 and four A350Fs all-cargo planes, while Maersk is leasing three 767 freighters next year and has signed a purchase order for two B777 cargo planes.
Maersk underscored its ambitions in the air cargo sector with the US$644 million acquisition of Senator International, a forwarder with $730 million in revenues in 2020 and on course for $950 million this year.
Hanjin, Evergreen, and NYK already own airlines with freighters - Korean Air, EVA Air and Nippon Cargo respectively.
For airlines and forwarders, these developments raise questions about how far they are changing the industry.
At a minimum, it means more players competing for freighters in a market where capacity is precious.
An executive of a large forwarder declared that the shift of logistics providers to dedicated capacity is more than a short-term reaction to exceptional circumstances.
The executive expects this to continue for some time. In the executive's eyes, an even bigger change in the market is the push of e-commerce players beyond regional fulfillment into the international arena.
This is why Amazon is looking at B777 freighters to add to its line-up.
As for Maersk and CMA CGM, their airfreight capacities are relatively small, according to the executive.
SeaNews Turkey