Key Markets of Asia Pacific

Running head: AIR FREIGHT MANAGEMENT
Air Freight Management
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AIR FREIGHT MANAGEMENT
Top five air cargo operators at the Changi International Airport in terms of market share
Singapore is one of the largest logistics hubs of the world. Thus, Changi International
Airport handles a huge volume of airfreight each year. In the year 2016-2017, Changi airport
handled more than two million tonnes of cargo, which recorded the all the high for the airport. In
2018 also, the airport handled 2.01 million tonnes of airfreight. Changi Airfreight Centre
currently has nine cargo terminals that has a combined handling capacity of around three million
tonnes annually (Airport Technology, 2017), which makes it 8th largest cargo hub
(Changiairport.com, 2020).
Figure 1: Air freight movements at Changi Airport in Singapore from 2014 to 2019 (in
million metric tonnes)
(Source: Statista, 2020)
Changi International Airport currently has a network for 25 cargo airlines, which covers
not only the Asia-Pacific region, but also the other parts of the world. Among these, all the major
flagship airlines, led by Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air Hong Kong, China Airlines,
Korean Air, Emirates, All Nippon Airways, Polar Air Cargo, Nippon Cargo Airlines, and Hong
Kong Air Cargo, take up a significant share in airfreight through Changi airport. 25 airlines
operate with 320 weekly cargo flights, covering 48 freighter city links. All the key markets of
Asia Pacific are reachable within only 7-hour of flight time, increasing the popularity of the

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AIR FREIGHT MANAGEMENT
Changi airport. At this airport, 24 out of 25 biggest airfreight forwarders of the world have
established their hubs, such as, SATS Coolport, dnata Coolchain, DHL South Asia Hub, SATS
eCommerce AirHub and FedEx Express South Pacific Regional Hub, which handles the FedEx
Express-TNT cargo (Changiairport.com, 2020).
The websites of Changi airport and the Singapore government have been explored to get
the information on the cargo flights arrivals and departures at Changi airport from 6th to 9th April,
2020 (Changiairport.com, 2020). This will give an idea about the total and average number of
cargo flights from different cargo operators that will discharge and load cargo at the Changi
airport from 6th to 9th April. This data also gives an overview of the countries, from where
maximum cargo is loaded and discharged at Changi. The data has been presented in the chart
below.
6-Apr 7-Apr 8-Apr 9-Apr
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2
4
2
4
24
16
20 21
6
2 1 1
4 3 4 3
8
4 5
8
3 2
6
22 2 2 2
3 2 3 22 2 3 3
4 4
2 2
0
4 4 4
0 0
5 5
2 2 2 2
Cargo traffic flow at Changi Airport (6th - 9th April, 2020)
HONG KONG AIR CARGO
SINGAPORE AIRLINES CARGO
QATAR AIRWAYS
KOREAN AIR
FEDERAL EXPRESS
MY INDO AIRLINES
RAYA AIRWAYS
EMIRATES
MY JET XPRESS
CHINA AIRLINES
K MILE AIR
NIPPON CARGO AIRLINES
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
Figure 2: Cargo operators at Changi Airport, by total flights (6th – 9th April, 2020)
(Source: Changiairport.com, 2020)
It can be seen that for all the four days, the cargo traffic flow is highest for Singapore
Airlines Cargo. It indicates that Singapore Airlines Cargo is the largest cargo operator and
undisputed leader in the cargo market in terms of market share at Changi airport. Federal Express
holds the second position in terms of number of flight arrival and departure. Korean airlines has

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AIR FREIGHT MANAGEMENT
a moderate traffic flow on all the four days, reflecting the credible market share of the airline.
My Indo Airlines, and Hong Kong Air Cargo, China Airline and K Mile Air also have a
substantial flow of traffic in comparison to rest of the airlines in between 6th and 9th April, 2020.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
12
81
10 14
25
13 8 10 10 12 12 10 8
3.0
20.3
2.5 3.5 6.3 3.3 2.0 2.5 2.5 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.0
Total and average number of cargo flights, by Airlines
Total for
each
airline
Average
for each
airline
Figure 3: Top cargo operators at Changi Airport, by total flights (6th – 9th April, 2020)
(Source: Changiairport.com, 2020)
The above image shows the total number of cargo flights to and from Changi airport that
will load and discharge cargo from 6th to 9th April, 2020. It can be seen that Singapore Airlines
Cargo holds the top position as cargo operator in terms of market share. It is the most dominant
player in the cargo operator market at Changi airport. In the four days under consideration, there
are total 81 flights of Singapore Airlines Cargo, with an average of 20.3. It is followed by
Federal Express at 2nd position with total 25 flights, with an average of 6.3 flights. Korean Air
holds 3rd position with total 14 flights (average 3.5) and My Indo Airlines holds the 4th position
with total 13 flights (average 3.3). Hong Kong Air Cargo, China Airlines and K Mile Air hold
the 5th position each with total 12 flights from 6th to 9th April, 2020.