Teleport, a fully owned subsidiary logistics venture under AirAsia Group Berhad, has expanded its cargo business with the first dedicated freighter and plans to add six more freighters by 2023.
Pete Chareonwongsak, chief executive of Teleport, said with the aim to generate 25% of revenue for AirAsia Group in the long run, its network requires a larger capacity from the belly space in passenger planes, planes with no seats and freighters.
E-commerce accounts for around 18% of global air cargo, while e-commerce in Southeast Asia continues to grow by 40% a year.
The future of cargo looks promising with moves by the big players, such as JD Logistics which plans to add 100 freighters by 2030.
Mr Pete said Southeast Asia still has market potential to be absorbed, so it might convert a number of airplanes from AirAsia Group's fleet of 360 airplanes in order to serve the cargo service in the future.
"During more than 18 months of the pandemic, even though passengers could not fly, we are still growing faster than during the pre-pandemic period," Mr Pete said.
In terms of fundraising, Teleport is in the process of raising capital which should be concluded before the end of this year.
Mr Pete said the plan to raise funds of US$50-100 million reflected the ambition to list the company on the bourse within three years.
Teleport has spanned its network across 232 cities and 115 routes and is considered the third largest cargo operator in Southeast Asia by capacity, with a fleet of 252 planes under partnership with airlines, including Singapore Airlines, SpiceJet and IndiGo.
Its cargo fleet is comprised of Boeing 737-800 freighters, AirAsia Group's passenger planes and Airbus A320 modified plane with seats removed to add cargo capacity.
Adrian Loretz, Teleport's chief operating officer, said dedicated freighters will serve high-demand routes including Southeast Asia and China.
Due to a surge in cargo demand, Teleport has had to shift strategy to focus on pure cargo network.
At present, it has 5-6 fully cargo aircraft that operate in Thailand, mainly at Suvarnabhumi airport.
Mr Loretz said the country's reopening is good for aviation, but cargo supply, particularly from key markets like China and Hong Kong, might take at least until mid-2022 to gain more capacity from passenger flights which are almost completely halted now.
