Steven Wang: With the increasing share of cross-border e-commerce in air freight, e-commerce platforms' demand for air cargo space is growing. Currently, more than 50% of air cargo capacity is directly or indirectly controlled by e-commerce platforms. E-commerce platforms, which have signed direct contracts with airlines and charter operators, are gradually becoming the largest charter customers in the market.

For regularly operating airlines and charter operators, e-commerce goods are an extremely important and stable source of cargo. Since charter operations require stable daily cargo volumes, many scheduled flights, especially routes like those between Europe and the U.S. with three weekly flights or daily cargo flights, are difficult to maintain without the support of e-commerce goods.

However, e-commerce goods are highly sensitive to price. Sellers on these platforms can typically only afford economy-class space and cannot bear high freight rates. To control costs and ensure service stability, e-commerce platforms and specialized logistics companies sign long-term fixed contracts with airlines and capacity holders.

Despite the large and stable volume of e-commerce goods, the profit margins are relatively low. This forces airlines and charter operators to seek higher-margin customers outside of e-commerce, usually targeting B2B projects with greater air logistics needs.

When over half of a flight's cargo space or more needs to be filled with e-commerce goods, airlines and charter operators often sell this space through long-term contracts to e-commerce platforms or specialized logistics companies. As a result, less space is left for traditional B2B shipments.

Airlines and charter operators aim to increase profits through B2B projects. However, the rapid expansion of cross-border e-commerce has driven up air freight rates, further increasing logistics costs for B2B projects and brands. This not only squeezes the profit margins of B2B companies relying on direct shipping but also weakens the market competitiveness of direct shippers.

END

WeChat Public Account: Cross-border E-commerce Logistics Baixiaosheng