Alibaba Group’s logistics unit Cainiao and Air China Cargo have started a new e-commerce freighter service operating three times a week to speed international deliveries between China and Europe.
The three weekly B777 freighter flights will be operated from the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, Hangzhou, to the Belgian air cargo hub Liege Airport. Flights will continue on from Liege to Madrid as a final destination.
As Cainiao has also established its e-Hub at Liege Airport, the company aims to improve logistics efficiency and expand its line-haul network in a bid to deliver globally within 72 hours.
Steven Verhasselt, VP-Commercial at Liege Airport, commented: “Hangzhou-Liege is the next step of the expansion of the Air China Cargo operation. This cooperation will greatly benefit Cainiao Network to further bring down delivery times for Alibaba Group deliveries.”
For Air China Cargo, this is the first direct cooperation with a cross-border e-commerce player. Cainiao’s rich experience in the field of cross-border e-commerce logistics is proving very complementary with Air China Cargo’s air freight network.
The development comes after Cainiao Smart Logistics Network just launched a new international shipping route this July. Air freight carrier Volga-Dnepr Group operates three flights each week from Hong Kong to Madrid via Belgium’s Liege Airport.
The new route aims at speeding up delivery times by over 30%. All goods shipped through the new route will arrive at warehouses in Europe in three to 10 days, versus the industry average of 15 to 20 days.
In similar efforts to continue its rapid expansion, Cainiao in June unveiled plans to invest RMB 1 billion (US$140m) in more flights and overseas warehouses to speed up deliveries from China to the rest of the world.
