epened its ties with Alibaba subsidiary Cainiao Network as reaction to increased demand for e-commerce shipments. That demand shot up in recent months, triggered by lockdowns and the closure of retail shops during the corona crisis in many countries, leading to consumers refocusing from offline to online shopping, benefitting the e-commerce business.
Cainiao and the V-D Group have been collaborating since 2018 in a mutual effort to form a partnership for different joint initiatives in cross-border trade. The step came as reaction to the Belgian Government’s decision to establish the first Electronic World Trade Platform hub (WTH) in the region, helping digitize Liege Airport’s customs-clearance and logistics operations and streamline international shipping. This project was now upgraded, driven by fast growing e-commerce volumes that need to be transported from China to western consumer markets or Russia, whose dweller’s e-commerce hunger has also grown rapidly in Covid-19 times.
Hong Kong – Madrid flights launched
The supplies were kicked off on 14JUL20 with an AirBridgeCargo flight from Hong Kong to Madrid, operated entirely on behalf of Cainiao on the westbound leg. The Boeing 747 freighter aircraft was
packed with parcels containing high-tech products and consumer goods exported from the sellers on the AliExpress e-commerce platform. On the eastbound return flight, ABC provided capacity to the
market as well.
Runtime of 3 to max 10 days
According to ABC, the frequency of the transcontinental flights will be gradually upped from 1 in its initial phase to 3 in August. They also will be operated via Liege Airport in Belgium that
has become a popular e-commerce destination within VDG’s global network. After arrival in Liege or Madrid, the items will be quickly distributed all over Europe through Cainiao’s network of
trucking and terminal distribution. The network connects the warehouses and transport hubs in Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Last-mile logistics
partners, such as Spain’s Correos, then help deliver parcels to customers.
This way, the timeframes of the transports from China to Europe are kept within 10 days, versus the industry average of 15 to 20 days, Cainiao said.
“Since 2018, we have been closely working with Cainiao Network to develop fast, flexible, and cost-efficient solutions. We will further support Cainiao with the fleet of best-in-class 39
freighters to accommodate e-commerce volumes, which have tripled within the Group for the first five months of 2020 and reached the level of 20,000 tons,” Tatyana Arslanova, Executive
Operating Officer, Volga-Dnepr Group highlighted.
“Cainiao has been working with partners globally to raise logistics efficiency and optimize user experience,” said William Xiong, Cainiao's Chief Strategist and General Manager of Export
Logistics. “This year, Cainiao plans to launch 1260 chartered flights to safeguard cross-border logistics and help Chinese merchants sell globally.”
Heiner Siegmund
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