Carriers grow fleets, route networks to support e-commerce

Booming e-commerce has driven fleet growth and influenced route planning among freighter operators, pushing air cargo into a new role. Prior to the e-commerce boom, air cargo played a significant role in the supply chain, but not consumer consumption, Robert Zhang, commercial director of SF Airlines, said on a March 26 panel about e-commerce and express at Cargo Facts Asia 2025 in Shanghai. [caption id="attachment_57149869" align="aligncenter" width="1916"] Industry leaders discuss the e-commerce boom on a panel at Cargo Facts Asia 2025 in Shanghai. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] “Lots of reports showed that airfreight transported a very small volume, but very high-value" items, he said. “But, after the e-commerce boom, it's become part of our consumption, our daily life. “It impacts everything about our operation," he said. “E-commerce makes airfreight play a role which this industry had never played before.” The same holds true at Etihad Cargo, which has seen a 50% increase in e-commerce packages on its 777 freighters in the past three or so years, Amanda Zhou, China country manager at Etihad Cargo, said on the panel. To improve trade between China and the United Arab Emirates and to address rising e-commerce demand, Etihad Cargo and SF Airlines last year announced their intent to form a joint venture. The airlines already have a partnership , but the joint venture will go beyond shared capacity, according to the September 2024 announcement. While details have yet to be finalized, the carriers plan to move from being competitors to partners, even in marketing efforts, Zhang said. Skyway caters to e-commerce E-commerce is what brought cargo carrier Skyway Airlines into existence. The Philippines-based carrier received its AOC from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in 2024. “The reason why we created the cargo airline is to cater to the e-commerce demand,” Jose Angelo Peralta, founder and chief executive of Skyway Airlines, said on the panel. Skyway launched a route to Hong Kong (HKG) last week. The route goes from Clark (CRK) to HKG to Manila (MNL), then back to HKG and back to CRK. “We are really banking on the growth of e-commerce domestically and internationally,” Peralta said. “Our fleet planning will be based on this. The majority of our payload, even in the past few months, is almost like 80% to 90% e-commerce.” Fleet planning E-commerce demand has driven SF Airlines to expand its fleet, Zhang said. SF expanded to ninety units when a 767-300BCF entered service last week. SF is the largest operator of Boeing-converted 767-300BCFs, with the 2001-vintage, CF6-powered unit 30048 (ex-Condor) becoming its twenty-fifth of the type. Last year, SF put more of its 767s for the region on international routes, “a fundamental change for our fleet,” Zhang said. “This year, we will keep increasing our 767 freighter utilization” through increased resources and added routes, he said. As for its four 747s, SF increased their use from roughly ten hours per day to fourteen hours per day in 2024, Zhang said. Also responding to increased demand, ATSG placed its first A321-200PCFs in the second half of 2023 and expects to deliver as many as four A330-300P2Fs to customers in 2025, with the first two to be delivered in the next thirty days to ULS Airlines Cargo, Todd France, chief commercial officer at ATSG, said on the panel. “At the same time, the 767 remains the workhorse and the backbone of the organization,” he said. “We will continue to convert the aircraft today and for years into the future. We remain resourceful in finding feedstock, which, quite honestly, is one of the biggest challenges with regards to the 767-300.” With feedstock scarcity, ATSG evaluated its options and “quickly and thoroughly came to the decision of the A330 with the additional payload and the range” as a replacement, France said. See more coverage of Cargo Facts Asia 2025 . Register now for Cargo Facts EMEA, an essential regional event for industry stakeholders, on May 6-8 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus in Turkey.

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