Teleport, the logistics arm of Capital A, which owns the AirAsia brand, has acquired three A321-200(P2F)s with delivery set to take place in "stages" from 1Q 2023. The incoming aircraft will significantly bolster Teleport's existing dedicated freighter fleet - presently a single B737-800(BCF) operated by K-Mile Asia (8K, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi). The three planes will arrive on lease from BBAM.

“It is a timely and strategic move on our part to complement our exclusive AirAsia passenger belly planes with a freighter network to expand and reinforce our increased capacity for key markets like China and India into ASEAN," said Pete Chareonwongsak, Chief Executive Officer of Teleport. "The combined fleet approach with multi-hub freighter and belly operations will give us a unique “many to many” network advantage to serve our customers in this region."

Chareonwongsak added that e-commerce continues to be the main driver of cargo demand in Southeast Asia, with significant growth in international cross-border e-commerce and express shipping. He said Teleport cargo is already carried on 252 AirAsia passenger aircraft that reach 160 cities across the Asia-Pacific region but the new dedicated freighters would strengthen Teleport's cargo network and help it better manage demand for a diverse range of cargo services.

“The addition of these freighters creates an added availability of skidded cargo capacity for key markets like China, which will allow us to load pre-packed, larger cargo in a secure manner," said Francis Anthony, Head of Commercial Cargo at Teleport. "These three freighters will be seamlessly positioned across AirAsia’s key markets like Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. This allows Teleport the agility to take advantage of each hub-country’s unique geographical strengths, air traffic rights and cater to every possible dimension of regional demand."