Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) private cargo airline has launched its second international route as it approaches the one-year anniversary of its wholesale air cargo business selling excess capacity to third-party shippers.
On Wednesday, Miami-based cargo agent ALK Global Logistics announced it is booking customer shipments to and from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Amazon Air Boeing 767-300 freighter aircraft. The Dominican Republic is the first market in the Caribbean served by Amazon Air Cargo, the wholesale business unit established in late September 2024 help fill aircraft with heavy shipments independent from Amazon’s parcel ecosystem.
ALK Global Logistics was previously listed on Amazon Air Cargo’s website as a partner, but prior to Wednesday no details were available about what their contractual arrangement involved.
Amazon Air manages a fleet of about 100 passenger-to-cargo converted aircraft to support next-day and two-day package delivery for the Amazon marketplace. Amazon Air Cargo is the direct sales channel to logistics providers and other businesses seeking to move general cargo by air.
ALK is the fourth Amazon Air Cargo customer that has been publicly promoted, although the company’s website lists a handful of other users. The flights connect Miami and Santo Domingo with seven weekly frequencies. Amazon outsources the flying to contractor 21 Air, according to flight activity on Flightradar24.
Aerodom, the operator of Las Américas International Airport (SDQ), is collaborating with ALK to fill the flights with cargo.
“This new route positions us at the forefront of logistics in the region, allowing exporters and importers to benefit from faster and more reliable solutions,” said ALK Chief Executive Officer Alfonso Alemán, in a news release.
SDQ is the Dominican Republic’s primary air cargo gateway and is experiencing an influx of e-commerce traffic. A new terminal is dedicated to express parcels and e-commerce shipments, with capacity for 4 million additional packages per year.
In the spring, Amazon began operating daily flights between Miami and Bogota, carrying e-commerce packages to Colombia and returning with shipments tendered by the cargo division of flag-carrier Avianca. Those flights are also operated by 21 Air.
Amazon engages all-cargo airlines to operate its fleet because it doesn’t have an air operator’s certifcate.
In July, Air Premia, a passenger airline based in South Korea, entered into a transportation services agreement with Amazon Air Cargo under which it transfers belly cargo to Amazon at Honolulu airport for onward carriage to the continental United States. Those Amazon flights utilize Airbus A330-330 converted freighters operated by Hawaiian Airlines, which was acquired last year by Alaska Airlines. Once at U.S. hubs, the Air Premia shipments are relayed to 45 cities, including Atlanta and Houston, through the Amazon Air network.
Air Premia flies to Los Angeles, Newark, New Jersey, and San Francisco and moves cargo, along with passengers, on its small fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The collaboration with Amazon Air expands its cargo transportation network across the United States.
Third-party logistics provider Kuehne+Nagel has also said it uses Amazon Air. Hong Kong-based subsidiary Apex Logistics transships cargo to the United States via Honolulu and Amazon Air.
The news about Amazon Air Cargo’s expansion into the Caribbean came the same day FreightWaves reported that Maersk Air Cargo has begun flying for the first time to South America with Boeing 767-300s operated by Miami-based Amerijet.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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