How does Kuehne + Nagel use Amazon Air to accelerate e-commerce logistics between China and the United States?

CEO Stefan Paul said Kuehne + Nagel is pleased with how the new air cargo service is helping the world’s largest freight forwarder transport e-commerce packages from China to the United States.

Switzerland-based Kuehne + Nagel is one of Amazon Air Cargo’s first external customers. FreightWaves previously reported that Amazon has begun offering third-party shippers access to its fleet of dedicated freighters. The Amazon Air Cargo website lists Kuehne + Nagel’s Hong Kong subsidiary Apex Logistics as a customer.

Amazon’s private airline speeds up deliveries for Prime members. For years, it sold excess freight space to a small number of logistics providers on a pilot basis. Now, Amazon Air Cargo has begun shipping general cargo and its own packages after expanding the concept to the full freight forwarding market. Amazon Air Cargo’s service is mainly aimed at the domestic US market (Amazon controls dozens of aircraft operated by partner airlines), as well as Europe and India.

Paul said in a recent earnings call that Kuehne + Nagel is using Amazon as a service provider for transit and last-mile transportation. Apex Logistics consolidates goods from Chinese e-commerce platforms and manufacturers and arranges scheduled commercial flights or charter flights to Hawaii. The cargo is transferred at the Honolulu airport and loaded onto Amazon’s new Airbus A330 converted freighters.

Amazon has six wide-body freighters, four of which are currently in service. Hawaiian Airlines is responsible for Amazon’s A330 flights, mainly used for important routes, including between Honolulu and Amazon’s West Coast hub at San Bernardino Airport in California, according to Flightradar24. Two other aircraft are being upgraded in the hangar facility.

“I have to say that we are very satisfied with the service provided by Amazon Air,” said the Kuehne + Nagel executive.

We inject e-commerce business into Amazon’s air freight network and use them for distribution in the US market. On the one hand, we take advantage of Amazon’s return flights from Honolulu, and on the other hand, we directly connect to Amazon Air’s different hubs in the US market. So overall it’s a win-win situation.”

According to flight data, the main transfer points for the A330 include New York’s JFK Airport and Amazon’s national hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport