AirAsia X has announced a major new air logistics partnership with global leading transport and logistics provider GEODIS, providing additional cargo capacity and boosting revenue during the downtime in commercial flying. This agreement is set to run for an initial period of six months commencing from 20th January 2022 with further extensions to be contemplated. Under the agreement, AAX will provide regular dedicated scheduled cargo flights between Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, Chennai, Shanghai, and Sydney.
With an extensive footprint in the Asia Pacific, the partnership with GEODIS will not only complement the existing AAX network but will also stimulate additional air-cargo traffic in a number of markets that they both operate in. Through its hub and spoke model, including the ability to switch transport modes at the Kuala Lumpur facility, the network also benefits from GEODIS’ expansive road network to ensure that cargo from its flights to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are able to be transported across the whole of Southeast Asia. With highly integrated, multimodal transport solutions, GEODIS aims to help more customers to circumvent disruptions that have negatively affected both air and sea cargo flows historically.
This innovative partnership is the first of many that will be finalized in the coming months. These augment the significant short-term cargo charters completed in recent months and represent a rapid financial turnaround post a comprehensive successful restructuring of the airline.
CEO of AirAsia X Malaysia, Benyamin Ismail said: “Air cargo rates will continue to remain robust as long as planes remain grounded. We intend to capitalize on this opportunity for as long as it lasts. Cargo revenues were four percent of our total revenues pre-Covid. It has been our lifeline over the past two years. We expect that our cargo operations moving forward will contribute at least 40 to 50 percent of our total revenue. Importantly we are now perfectly hedged to take advantage of the huge surge in air transport demand. Furthermore, passenger revenue will offset any drop in cargo rates when we start normal scheduled flights again.
“We are tremendously excited with this new opportunity with GEODIS. We have operated ad hoc charter services for them in recent months but this new arrangement provides better certainty on utilization of our planes and better visibility of earnings.”
Onno Boots, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, GEODIS said: “It is more crucial now than ever to supplement integrated transport networks with strategic routes that offer customers a high degree of efficiency, personalization, and flexibility. Especially given the increasingly complex supply chain landscape that has affected the logistical expectations and needs of industries across the board.
“These new intra-APAC flight routes represent our sustained commitment in bringing customers highly reliable, innovative, and cost-effective solutions that are tailored to what their business truly needs, allowing them to fully optimize the e-commerce boom and chart their long-term business growth. “We look forward to working in partnership with AirAsia X to strengthen its logistics footprint.”
