Chinese express carrier YTO Cargo Airlines will operate thrice weekly services between Singapore and Hangzhou for Alibaba’s e-commerce shipments with Cainiao Network  starting 2 November, with the first of many arriving at Changi Airport earlier today at 1600 hrs. 

The direct airfreight route between Hangzhou and Singapore is expected to improve Cainiao’s global delivery within 72 hours in Southeast Asia, amidst a surge in cross-border e-commerce orders and year-end online shopping festivals. 

Changi says cargo flows have been stable between Singapore and China, despite the reduction in bellyhold cargo capacity, and the airport has worked closely with air cargo partners to minimise disruption to supply chains. 

The city-state’s import and export market to China, Changi’s top air cargo market, grew 7 percent year-on-year to more than 108,000 tonnes in the first three quarters, with boost coming from import flows of PPE in the earlier months, as well as e-commerce products. 

In April, Changi added four new freighter links to China, including Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Nantong, adding to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen. In the past seven months, it managed seven freighter links as of October 2020.  

Freighter, passenger and cargo-only combined, there are currently 14 city links between Singapore and China.  

CAG noted that airfreight capacity suffered between the two countries at the onset of the pandemic, but the “capacity gap has now been “narrowed significantly. From January to September, Changi Airport handled 1.13 million tonnes of airfreight volume in total.