Asiana Airlines announced on the 6th that it will continue its air cargo business in the form of 'belly cargo' in collaboration with ECS Group, the world's largest air cargo sales and transportation agency.
The belly cargo business utilizes the lower cargo space of passenger aircraft for cargo transportation. It has the advantage of high punctuality and fast cargo delivery by utilizing operating passenger routes.
Key cargo items include semiconductor parts that require high punctuality and urgency, fresh food, and small express cargo.
Asiana Airlines signed a contract for air cargo sales and transportation services on the 11th of last month. The contract targets 33 key locations across nine countries, including Europe, the Americas, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. As of the 1st, it began receiving services needed for the overall belly cargo transportation, including sales, reservations, customer support, and ground handling, from ECS Group.
This is a measure taken after Asiana Airlines completed the sale of its cargo division due to demands for corrections from the European Union (EU) and Japanese competition authorities concerned about monopolies during the business combination process with Korean Air last year.
Asiana Airlines transferred a total of 800 employees from its cargo division, including flight crew, along with 11 medium and long-haul freighters such as the B747-400F (10 units) and B767-300F (1 unit) to Air Jet (formerly Air Incheon) as of the 1st.
The belly cargo business is a strategy to continue cargo operations actively utilizing passenger routes, even in the absence of freighters and related staff.
The A350-900 passenger aircraft, Asiana Airlines' main model, can carry up to 18 tons of cargo and baggage in its lower fuselage space. Last year, Asiana Airlines' international belly cargo transportation volume reached 158,000 tons.
An official from Asiana Airlines noted, 'We will proactively respond to the global air logistics market by combining ECS Group's global network with Asiana's professional capabilities.'