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KLM reshapes cargo handling as AI demand fuels growth

KLM plans to consolidate cargo handling at Schiphol to accommodate additional freight without hiring more staff, as AI supply chains and disruption to ocean shipping strengthen parent Air France-KLM's cargo business. The changes form part of a wider restructuring, announced today, aimed at improving KLM's finances and its ability to fund investment. Freight carried on passenger aircraft and freighters will be handled in KLM's own warehouse at Schiphol, said the airline, adding that the consolidation would help attract more transfer freight and prepare for a new cargo terminal, scheduled for completion in 2035. "The increased cargo volumes will ultimately be handled without hiring additional employees," KLM said. It plans to achieve this through "simpler processes, greater automation and deploying employees across different activities". It also intends to expand services for customers requiring additional support, although it gave no further detail. The announcement follows conversations at last week's TIACA Air Cargo Forum in Miami, where The Loadstar heard that AI infrastructure shipments were contributing to transit cargo flows through Amsterdam. Air France-KLM's third-quarter results provided evidence of the wider demand trend. Group cargo revenue increased 25.2% year on year, to €677m ($760m), while cargo traffic revenue rose 24.9%, to €566m. The group attributed the growth to sea-to-air modal shift amid disruption around the Suez Canal and Strait of Hormuz, alongside AI-related demand. "The surge in air freight demand driven by AI-related supply chains tightened global market conditions," it said. This helped the group win additional volumes and full-freighter charter business, supporting yields. KLM's cargo traffic, measured in revenue tonne-km, rose 15.7% against capacity growth of 4.5%. Its cargo load factor increased 5.2 percentage points, to 53.9%. Across Air France-KLM, tonnage rose 5%, to 236,000 tonnes. Revenue per available tonne-km increased 21.9% at constant currency, with demand outpacing capacity growth. Scheduled and unscheduled maintenance constrained freighter availability. Schiphol's latest monthly figures show September cargo volumes of 127,750 tonnes, up 8% year on year, with growth of 10% over the first nine months. Freighters accounted for 54% of September tonnage, and belly cargo 46%. Despite cargo's performance, KLM said its overall profitability remained insufficient to support investment. Third-quarter adjusted operating profit rose to €458m, from a restated €352m a year earlier. "Fuel prices continue to put pressure on our results, our cost base remains too high," said KLM CEO Marjan Rintel. The Dutch carrier is seeking a further €1bn improvement in annual earnings, taking its total target to €1.4bn, and at least an 8% structural productivity increase by 2028. The wider programme involves around 5,000 positions whose work has been, or will be, reorganised, including transfers to external providers and the parent group. Productivity improvements are expected to result in approximately 1,000 fewer positions at KLM. The airline expects to limit the impact through natural attrition, voluntary arrangements, and internal transfers.

Hong Kong reviews river fees as mainland ports lure cargo away

Hong Kong is reviewing permit fees charged to river trade vessels as it seeks to maintain its port's competitiveness amid growing competition from mainland Chinese terminals in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The secretary for transport and logistics, Chan Mei-po, announced the review in a written reply to the Legislative Council on Wednesday. China-flagged vessels carry containers between ports in the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong, where cargo may be transferred to ocean-going vessels for onward shipment. Mainland Chinese ports offer incentives to attract inland waterway vessels carrying cargo, promising financial subsidies and exemptions from mandatory pilotage requirements. Hong Kong operates a multiple-entry permit scheme, allowing operators to make up to 10 port entries within a month for a fee equivalent to five single-entries - the "buy five, get five free" system. Ms Chan said: "The Action Plan on Maritime and Port Development Strategy proposes various measures to strengthen Hong Kong's position as a regional transhipment hub, including reviewing the permit fees charged to river trade vessels in order to maintain the competitiveness and attractiveness of the port to the industry. We have completed a preliminary review and are now discussing the matter with relevant departments, with the details to be released in due course." Laden container movements between Hong Kong and mainland China account for more than 40% of the territory's annual laden container throughput. But statistics show a decline in river cargo vessel arrivals and associated container volumes since 2023. The numbers cover vessels mainly berthing at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals. In 2023, there were 4,344 arrivals, handling 1.63m teu. By 2025, this had fallen to 3,519 arrivals and 1.52m teu. In the first seven months of 2026, there were 2,101 arrivals, handling 878,000 teu. Decades ago, Hong Kong was among the world's three busiest container ports. but mainland ports have overtaken the territory as Chinese exports surged and their port infrastructure was upgraded. Hong Kong handled 12.99m teu in 2025, down 5.1% year on year.

Continued congestion at ports puts pressure on intra-Asia box rates

Congestion at several ports continues to put upward pressure on intra-Asia container freight rates, despite improving conditions at major Chinese gateways and key transhipment hubs. The result is the Drewry Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI) is up by $46, to $1,504 per 40ft. Spot rates from Greater China to North-east, South-east and South Asia were mostly stable during the week, as major ports, including those in China and Singapore, managed to absorb congestion. However, smaller South-east Asian ports continued to struggle with vessel delays and operational constraints, keeping rates elevated on several tradelanes. Rates from Shanghai to Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, and Laem Chabang remained high and continued to rise. At the end of October, rates from Jakarta to Shanghai were up 9% from the previous week, to $81 per 40ft. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index on Friday showed the Shanghai-South-east Asia rate up 2% from 30 October, to $1,164 per teu. Jakarta's primary port, Tanjung Priok, is struggling to cope with vessel bunching, because sudden, unscheduled multi-ship arrivals instantly overwhelm bottlenecked roads and container depots that are already at full capacity. One forwarder at Taiwan's Dimerco told The Loadstar Jakarta's landside logistics had not caught up with improvements in terminal capacity. In August, Indonesia state-owned terminal operator Pelindo preliminarily launched Terminal 2 Petikemas. However, construction of New Priok Eastern Access, a new road to improve access, only started in July, and will take 20 months to finish. The forwarder said: "Slow turnaround makes shipping lines reluctant to absorb the costs of repositioning empty containers. This local equipment shortage drives up the prices for available containers." At Ho Chi Minh City, average vessel waiting times have increased from eight to 22 hours over the past fortnight, reflecting worsening congestion at the Vietnamese port. Rates from Shanghai remained unchanged, at $44 per 40ft. In contrast, improving conditions at the major ports resulted in modest rate reductions on some routes. Rates from Shanghai to Singapore fell 3%, to $1,889 per 40ft, while those to Tanjung Pelepas declined 2%, to $2,053 per 40ft. Adding capacity to the Straits-Indonesia trade, Pacific International Lines (PIL) is scheduled to launch its new JKS service today. The fortnightly service will deploy two vessels of between 1,900 and 2,600 teu, calling at Singapore, Laem Chabang and Jakarta.