Alibaba doubles stake in YTO Express 

Alibaba injected 6.6 billion yuan, or $970 million, to double its stake in YTO Express, looking to boost its logistics network which relies on third-party logistics services. 

Alibaba has invested in major couriers from YTO’s home base of Tonglu through its logistics arm Cainiao. YTO commands a 14 percent share of China’s express delivery market, according to TechCrunch.

In 2018, a Cainiao-YTO joint venture started building a digital logistics centre at Hong Kong International Airport, the world’s busiest cargo airport.

Delivery firms in China dispatched 33.9 billion parcels in H1, up 22.1 percent from the same period last year, while revenue jumped 12.6 percent year-on-year to 382.4 billion yuan ($55.9 billion), according to data from the Ministry of Transport.

UN agencies call on states to support air cargo, express operators

A joint statement by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Universal Postal Union urged governments to provide postal, air cargo and express mail operators like DHL, Fed Express and UPS with much needed flexibility to maintain delivery services during the coronavirus crisis.

Officials emphasised the importance of postal logistics for economic recovery, citing its role in the air transport of medical supplies and e-commerce goods, including information and samples to support Covid-19 research.

ICAO and UPU have identified trends and forecast growth for e-commerce items carried by postal authorities using air transport, which countries can use to plan the infrastructure needed to match the capacity.

The agencies said applying artificial intelligence to postal supply chains could unlock great value overcoming e-commerce constraints. 

Here’s more from FreightWaves. 

Emirates gets $2 billion aid from Dubai

Emirates airline has received 7.3 billion dirhams ($2 billion) from the government of Dubai as it faces a cash crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a bond prospectus seen by Reuters shows.

The government provided 7.3 billion dirhams to the airline it owns after Dubai’s crown prince in March promised equity to Emirates to see it through the crisis, the prospectus shows.

No such injection has been publicly announced by the government or the airline.

Here’s more from Reuters.