Teleport and Etihad Cargo's capacity partnership is gathering pace with plans to add frequency on their cargo network between southeast Asia and the Middle East in the near future.
Since signing the partnership in May this year, Teleport has deployed its freighters for Etihad to ship equipment including machines, raw materials, phones and chip sets from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia twice a week, with onward connection via Etihad’s capacity to Abu Dhabi and beyond.
Teleport said the partnership enables both parties to maximise available passenger belly capacity, especially out of leisure hubs such as Bali and Phuket.
Etihad is anticipated to deepen its connectivity in Southeast Asia on the back of Teleport’s network in the region, while Teleport leverages on Etihad’s global network to expand its network reach into the Middle East, Europe, Americas and the African regions.
"By the end of this year, the partnership is expected to see 1,600 tonnes of cargo moved between the two destinations with potential for an increase in flight frequency and new routes," said Teleport.
Stanislas Brun, vice president of cargo at Etihad Cargo, said: “We continue to anchor our strategy on key partnerships that will enable us to better serve our customer needs while supporting global trade.
"This recent partnership with Teleport is important to enhance our connectivity to Southeast Asia, and we are confident that through the integration of their freighter operations and our capacity, we are able to continue to grow and build a more efficient and robust network that better serves both regions, and quickly.
"The market environment is highly favourable to grow our presence here today, and with a strong air partner like Teleport.”
Jagedeswaran Nadrajah, head of air partners at Teleport, commented: “The integration of Etihad’s global network with our largest Southeast Asia network has opened up a more dynamic way to connect cargo between these two regions - leveraging on the strengths of both our networks.
"This is valuable to both our existing and new customers trading between two important regions. This sort of synergy is testament to what Teleport has been building through its Air Partners programme as a win-win solution for all Teleport Air Partners, where we can continue to build and grow, and never fly empty.”
Teleport is aiming to grow its network and improve speed of services through partnerships, e-commerce demand and additions to its fleet.
In April, the company signed a contract to manage the exclusive commercial rights of Vietjet Air Cargo’s New Delhi – Ho Chi Minh City belly cargo capacity to better serve the growing air cargo demand coming in and out of Southeast Asia.
This follows the November 2023 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Vietjet Air Cargo and Teleport to mutually extend its network, combining Teleport’s southeast Asia air logistics network with Vietjet’s Asia Pacific flight network.
In May this year, Teleport said it was ramping up its next-day airfreight delivery services as cross-border e-commerce volumes increased into Southeast Asia and that it aimed to deliver 2m parcels daily by 2025.
The Malaysia-based logistics provider said the following month that it aims to further build up its e-commerce air cargo business between China and southeast Asia with next-day services.
The company is currently in the process of adding 10 A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) aircraft. Teleport currently has three A321Fs in service and expects all 10 aircraft to be delivered by the end of this year.
