“Teleport” stems from the Greek “tele” (distance) and the Latin “portare” (carry) and means “to disappear and then reappear at a different place.”
Invisible cargo transportation?
That certainly would be magic!
The Malaysian air cargo airline is far from invisible, however, having launched its first dedicated B737-800 freighter and proudly unveiled its new livery on 03NOV21.
“We move things better than anyone else in Southeast Asia!” The digital airline oozes confidence on all of its Social Media channels, and promoted an impactful introductory video of the first member of its dedicated B737-800 freighter fleet last Wednesday.
Who is Teleport?
Belonging to 19-year-old AirAsia, Teleport was founded in 2018, as part of its airasia digital venture. The aim? To open air logistics up to everyone from individual “merchants to the largest
companies,” and enable them to move their “goods and e-commerce anywhere in Southeast Asia and beyond. It should simply work, like magic,” the company’s boiler plate reads.
The ‘magic’ is in the airline’s business USP: It is not just a cargo airline, but goes all the way from first to last mile, and its pricing reflects that: “Teleport’s pricing includes
everything from pick up, lift off, to drop off.” A one-stop air-cargo-complete-transport shop, with ambitious delivery standards, too: “Teleport is bringing magic to parcel delivery that
is oftentimes seen as too slow and a hassle,” its CEO, Pete Chareonwongsak, stated back in OCT20, when the digital airline pledged to “deliver parcels, packages or goods across major
cities in Malaysia, door-to-door in 24 hours.”
And the dedicated freighter?
Up until now, the company has been using AirAsia’s as well as partner freighter, preighter and passenger-belly capacities on board of Singapore Airlines, SpiceJet, and IndiGo, for example, to
fulfil its logistics services across a network of 232 cities and 115 routes.
Teleport’s first dedicated B737-800 freighter, bringing its accessible fleet to 252 aircraft, stems from a multi-year agreement with the Thai express freight airline, K-Mile Asia. Hence the name
also appears on the livery and the aircraft will be based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Teleport’s COO, Adrian Loretz, explained: “It was important for us to join forces with a strong partner like K-Mile Asia, as we expand our logistics footprint across Asia. Their expertise in
operating these aircraft with high reliability and punctuality, will allow us to extend our regular cargo schedule to meet the specific demand to key cities in Asia.”
K-Mile Asia’s CEO, Kledchai Benjaathonsirikul, hinted at more to come: “We are excited to be partnering with Teleport in providing more avenues to transport cargo to different cities across
Asia. We foresee a long-term partnership as we grow the logistics industry together.”
Reports talk of Teleport’s plans to add another six freighters by 2023.
Teleport and the AirAsia Group are aiming to achieve Top 3 ranking of cargo operators by capacity in Asean, with Teleport eventually generating around 25% of AirAsia Group’s total revenue,
according to Pete Chareonwongsak.
More capacity to serve growing cargo markets in Southeast Asia
Its Bangkok base provides good, containerized capacity connection possibilities to key markets such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chennai, Mumbai, and all the major destinations in Southeast
Asia.
Adrian Loretz pointed to the airline’s focus on building a cargo-only network to cater for the fast-growing e-commerce demand, alongside general cargo: “The growth of cargo services in
emerging markets, along with the increase in air cargo revenue due to e-commerce and technological developments in both new aircraft technologies and the digitization of the industry, has
spearheaded our company’s focus. We are certain that the addition of the freighter under our belt will reinforce our stand in the industry — with more to come in the coming year.”
This particular freighter offers a generous 21-ton max payload and will also transport dangerous goods category as per IATA regulations, such as lithium batteries – an e-commerce favorite, though
one that can cause major problems.
Shift to a complete multi-modal operator
“The addition of the freighter into our fleet will accelerate the company's goal to shift from a pure air freight logistics provider to a complete multi-modal operator. We’ve always been on a
fast-track growth route to continuously propel Teleport’s air cargo business forward by spotlighting our commitment towards moving anything across Southeast Asia. We look forward to what’s in the
pipeline, not just for Teleport, but for everyone in the industry,” Pete Chareonwongsak concluded.
The “multi-modal” issue is fascinating for anyone following Teleport’s developments over the past three years, since – aside from the highly unusual business model of end-to-end transportation
all-in-one for everyone and anyone, the airline also acquired a local Malaysian online food delivery platform, “Delivereat”, earlier this year to strengthen its first and last-mile capabilities,
and in APR20, it launched “Freightchain”: the world’s first-ever blockchain-based air cargo network for the air cargo industry, enabling “freight forwarders and shippers to instantly book and
confirm cargo on any of AirAsia’s 247 aircraft without the need to go through traditional time-consuming sales or email channels.” There is certainly a whole lot of disruptive future magic
going on at Teleport!
Brigitte Gledhill
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