Peach Develops Freight Business
Peach started operations at Kansai International Airport in March 2012 and celebrated its ninth anniversary in March 2021. Fully integrated with Vanilla Air in November 2019. With airports in New Chitose, Sendai, Narita, Chubu, Kansai, Fukuoka, and Naha as base airports, it aims to become Asia’s leading low-cost carrier (LCC). It is currently one of the low-cost airlines of the All Nippon Airways Group and plans to start code sharing with ANA on domestic passenger flights from August. Although the cargo business has not developed since its establishment, the corporate philosophy has embodied from the very beginning that it is a bridge for exchanging of ideas, information, and cultural understanding in Asia.
In November of 2020, Peach began to engage in domestic air cargo transportation business from the Fukuoka Airport, in December 2020, they began to engage in transit cargo transportation business from Narita Airport, and began to engage in air cargo transportation business in July this year from the New Chitose Airport. In June, a dedicated cargo business department was established. International flights are currently suspended due to the new coronavirus, but as soon as international flight resume at Peach, they are considering to implement Cargo service for Taipei, Hong Kong, Pudong among others. Peach Aviation carried an average total of 3 tons of cargo a day on all routes in November and December 2020. Many of the items were fresh products, as well as other food items, household goods and electrical components.
Due to the Corona virus, the demand for passengers decreased, and the inspection speed increased. It started in cooperation with ANA Cargo in November 2020. Sales to carriers will be handled by All Nippon Airways Cargo, and ground handling and airport shed operations will be handled by the All Nippon Airways Group. The aircraft is an A320 aircraft. Passengers’ luggage is basically packed in the back part of the abdomen, and the goal is to use the front part. Peach decided to load domestic air cargo in the front. According to business trends, Peach increased the load capacity from the initial 800 kg (unit loading equipment = about 2 ULD units) to the current 3 ULD.
ULD containers are, simply put, a containerized way to ship air cargo. Unlike standard international ocean cargo containers, ULD containers have specific (and somewhat odd) dimensions that are intended to make them fit in a standard airplane.
If you lookup any images of ULD containers, you’ll immediately notice the strange angled sides. The shapes of these containers is intended to maximize the allotted space in the bottom on an airplane – especially for passenger aircrafts.
International bonded cargo is loaded in bulk in the same rear area as passenger luggage. The maximum installed capacity is 500 kg. The operation at the airport is the same as before Corona, with a response time (TA) of 35-40 minutes. In August, the domestic flight operation rate rebounded to 80%. At first, there were many cargo transits handled by taxpayers. However, with the launch of domestic air transportation by New Chitose in July, the proportion of international and domestic cargo was nearly half. Handle attached cargo on the four routes of Kansai, New Chitose, Fukuoka, and Naha, departing and arriving from Narita. There are also places where the transit time is shorter than that of trucks, and there are goods coming out of Fukuoka. Freight is an industrial product, and some are perishable. There are many leaf and fish related products in Japan.
By Wayne Yoshida
