Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK), working alongside Royal Mail, has welcomed its first full e-commerce freight flight, following several developments in its e-commerce operations over the course of this year.
The flight, chartered by Zhonger Express and Jumen Logistics, was operated by Silk Way West Airlines Cargo and carried a 90-tonne cargo for final mile delivery for Royal Mail.
Products from two of the four major e-commerce platforms, Temu and TikTok, were on board and representatives were on site to monitor the processing process at PIK.
The announcement follows PIK’s partnership with Royal Mail, becoming its international e-commerce hub in the UK, and recent efforts to expand operations in Asia, including the appointment of a dedicated sales representative in China.
“This trip was an opportunity for us to showcase PIK’s efficient and reliable solution for e-commerce imports into the UK,” said Nico Le Roux, Business Development Director at PIK.
“Our expert handling teams unloaded, dismantled and quickly separated the load by area, before loading it onto trucks for subsequent delivery.”
Earlier this year, PIK also invested over £2 million in new freight equipment, including two high loaders and 12 new loading vans, supporting fast delivery times.
“Doing a business of this size obviously carries a high level of risk,” said Edwin Ning of Zhonger Express and Jumen Logistics.
“I have great confidence in my teams here in China, and I had to go to great lengths in the UK to find the perfect dealing partner to make this trial an overwhelming success.
“The Prestwick and Royal Mail team went above and beyond their capabilities and we delivered a new, market-leading solution for e-commerce platform shippers.
“We will be regular visitors to Prestwick in the new year.”
PIK’s partnership with Royal Mail was announced at this year’s China Air Cargo Expo in Shanghai.
Vivien Davies, Global Imports Director at Royal Mail, said: “Our successful collaboration with PIK in managing the arrival of this flight for our international e-commerce customers during peak times has demonstrated smoother landings, efficient processing at the airport, and faster and more streamlined processing of all procedures.” The path to our final mile delivery.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with PIK and our customers to develop more innovative solutions in this new e-commerce hub.”
PIK’s business development team is now scheduling regular e-commerce flights in the new year and working with Scottish exporters to ship Scotch whiskey and salmon to the Far East on return e-commerce flights.
