Cainiao launches 7 weekly Singapore-Hainan charter flights

Alibaba logistics arm Cainiao has announced plans to launch seven weekly chartered flights from Singapore to Hainan to ship goods for duty-free shops located in Hainan’s Free Trade Zones in Sanya and Haikou. The routes are comprised of five weekly Haikou (HAK)-Singapore (SIN) direct flights and twice-weekly SIN-Sanya (SYX)-Guangzhou (CAN) flights, according to an April 26 release. Although Cainiao didn’t specify the aircraft or charter operator, the accompanying image features a Suparna Airlines 737-300F. Each flight has 13 tonnes of available capacity and can arrive in Hainan from Singapore within three hours, with goods available for sale in duty-free shops within 12 hours of clearing customs. Prior to these direct flights, it typically took two to three days to import goods to Hainan since aircraft first had to land in either Shenzhen (SZX) or CAN before goods were transported via truck and ferry. [caption id="attachment_95402" align="alignright" width="350"] Photo courtesy of Cainiao[/caption] Cainiao’s chartered flights are meant to help satisfy a booming demand for luxury brands in China while also exporting e-commerce goods to Singapore. Consumption in Hainan increased 244% between July 2020 and April 2021, compared to the same period last year. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) released a master plan in June 2020 that seeks to position Hainan as a strategic free trade port system by 2025, and a globally significant trade port by 2050. The policy is organized into several stages, including zero tariffs and a variety of tax incentives to help with the development of the free trade port; Cainiao’s direct flights are meant to help leverage Hainan’s position as a major duty-free shopping hub, according to the release. “This is our first foray into the Hainan Free Trade Zone,” said James Zhao, Cainiao’s general manager for global supply chain, “and we have plans to launch more dedicated freight routes between Hainan and other countries to provide import and export merchants with faster, more efficient, and reliable logistics services.” He added, “Hainan will be a pivotal priority for Cainiao in the coming years, and we expect to open more direct cargo routes to link Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Europe to Hainan soon.” Cainiao has increased its carrier partnerships and cargo charters since 2018, after signing a memorandum of understanding with Volga-Dnepr Group , with most of the expansions occurring in 2020 following the increase in e-commerce demand due to the pandemic. This includes the carrier’s partnership with Saudia Cargo for five weekly flights from Hong Kong (HKG) to its European hub at Liege (LGG), as well as Challenge Airlines and its affiliate CAL Cargo , Atlas Air and El Al seeing flying increase due to growing demand at Alibaba.

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