Cargojet strikes e-commerce freighter deal between China and Canada

Logistics company Great Vision HK Express has contracted Cargojet to operate scheduled charter services between China and Canada to handle e-commerce volumes.

Under the three-year agreement, Cargojet will operate Boeing 767-300 freighters on the Hangzhou-Vancouver route at least three times a week.

The connection launched on May 22 and eight flights have been operated so far.

The Canadian freighter operator expects to generate more than C$160 million in revenue from the transaction over three years.

Cargojet is primarily known for its flights to the Americas and across the Atlantic, and the transaction will help further expand the 767 network.

The 54-tonne 767-300F aircraft have a range of just over 6,000km when fully loaded, meaning a stopover of over 9,000km between both airports is likely to be included.

The use of 767s – rather than 777s or 747s – across the Pacific also highlights the capacity crunch currently being experienced in commerce due to the number of cargo aircraft used by e-commerce entities.

The lack of capacity is also reflected in air freight rates, as shown by Baltic Airfreight Index data in May rates from Hong Kong to North America increased by 9.1% year-on-year to $5.53 per kilogram.

Cargojet said it will also provide Great Vision HK with connectivity to other Canadian cities on its domestic network.

“Leveraging Cargojet’s industry-leading history of on-time performance and reliability, along with connectivity from Vancouver to fifteen other cities in Canada, will enable Great Vision HK to provide enhanced services to China-based e-commerce service providers to their customers across Canada.” said Jamie Porteous, co-CEO of Cargojet.

“We continue to explore opportunities to maximize asset and aircraft utilization and look forward to a strong partnership with Great Vision HK,” added Pauline Dhillon, co-chief executive.

Great Vision HK provides comprehensive, integrated supply chain logistics solutions from China to Canada to China, including collection, pre-sorting, international air transport, customs clearance, distribution, last minute delivery and after-sales services.

Christine Cheng, co-founder and chief operating officer at Great Vision HK, said: “International air freight is a key part of this logistics chain and we believe that through our strategic partnership with Cargojet, we can offer our customers extremely reliable and efficient services. customers, while continuing to promote trade between the two countries.

In the first quarter of this year Cargojet reported improved profits as the company benefited from growing domestic e-commerce demand.

The company’s first-quarter revenue decreased 0.3% year-over-year to C$231.2 million, while earnings before tax (ebit) increased 8.7% to C$37.6 million and net profit increased by 6.6 % to CAD 32.5 million.

The revenue decline was largely the result of lower fuel surcharges and “other revenues,” which fell 15.7% to C$55.5 million.

Looking at the company’s revenues from domestic, ACMI and charter operations, there was an increase of 6.5% to C$181 million.

Revenues on the domestic network increased by 7.1% year-on-year, driven by e-commerce.

Cargojet operates a fleet of 24 767s and 16 757s

Cargojet earnings improve in first quarter

Air cargo rates and volumes continue to increase in May