LONDON – On December 2, Thai based cargo operator, K-Mile Asia announced that they will be starting a new charter operational programme to Shenzhen in southern China.
The Shenzhen Programme
As the cargo industry within Thailand begins to take on rapid growth in the coming months and years, K-Mile Asia is certainly wanting to get ahead of the other players on this demand.
Their new charter programme in conjunction with the Chinese cargo giant, SF Airlines, will help put K-Mile Asia on the grand-stage for cargo handling throughout Thailand and Asia.
This new programme will see K-Mile Asia operating two weekly dedicated cargo charter services from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) to Shenzhen’s Bao’an International Airport (SZX) using the carriers fleet of Boeing 737-400 Freighters.
Flight numbers 8K201 (KMI201) from Bangkok to Shenzhen and 8K202 (KMI202) for the return leg.
At present, K-Mile Asia only operates a small fleet of just five aircraft, consisting of three Boeing 737-400 Freighters and two Boeing 737-800 Freighters. K-Mile Asia operates these aircraft on routes across a good proportion of Asia, including Vietnam, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Indonesia and Singapore
SF (Shun Feng) Airlines is one of China’s largest dedicated cargo operators with a current fleet of 77 freighters, however, this fleet is constantly growing at quite a rapid rate.
Broken down, they operate 14 Boeing 737-300 Freighters, three Boeing 737-400 Freighters, 40 Boeing 757-200 Freighters, 17 Boeing 767-300 Freighters and three Boeing 747-400 Freighters.
SF is taking on a lot of new aircraft to help cope with the growth demand across the Chinese freighter market. Mainly SF are taking on more Boeing 757-200 Freighters and Boeing 767-300 Freighters.
In addition, they are gradually growing their Boeing 747-400 Freighter fleet to keep a steady handle on their long-haul cargo services.
Most of SF’s fleet tend to operate routes across China and into parts of Asia. However, their Boeing 747-400 Freighters can be seen on routes including Europe – mainly Frankfurt in Germany; as well as Delhi, India and the U.S. destinations of Anchorage and New York’s JFK.
SF Airlines are also operating charter services to other destinations and countries.
Leader Comments
Commenting on their latest charter programme announcement, K-Mile Asia’s Managing Director (MD), Pansith Sasunee, has said, “This is a proud moment for the team of about a hundred and fifty people in K-Mile Asia.”
“It is a very important step forward as we pursue our growth plans for the airline, and it is a positive statement of our confidence in the future of K-Mile as a leading express parcel cargo operator in Thailand and across the Southeast Asia.”
Overall
It is great to see this new programme for K-Mile Asia. It certainly is a step in the right direction for them wanting to achieve their ambitious growth plans of expanding their services across Thailand and Southeast Asia.
These plans should also see the carriers fleet expand over time; likely with more dedicated Boeing 737 Freighter aircraft, specially the Boeing 737-800 Freighters.
They seem to be taking the market by storm, given many carriers are slowly replacing their ageing Boeing 737-300 Freighters and Boeing 737-400 Freighters with them.
