{"id":111419,"date":"2026-07-29T15:48:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ai-race-redraws-asian-air-cargo-replacing-e-commerce-as-growth-engine-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T15:48:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:48:25","slug":"ai-race-redraws-asian-air-cargo-replacing-e-commerce-as-growth-engine-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ai-race-redraws-asian-air-cargo-replacing-e-commerce-as-growth-engine-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"AI race redraws Asian air cargo, replacing e-commerce as growth engine | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
A China Airlines Cargo plane taxis at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Photo: Reuters <\/p>\n
\n
The global race to build artificial intelligence is redrawing Asia’s air cargo map, prompting airlines to redesign networks around growing \u200bsemiconductor manufacturing hubs as cross-border e-commerce loses momentum.<\/p>\n
Unlike the post-pandemic\u00a0parcel boom, demand tied to AI infrastructure is underpinned by multi-year orders for advanced memory chips and processors \u200cand hundreds of billions of dollars of planned investment in data centres, airlines and logistics companies say.<\/p>\n
At the same time, tighter low-value\u00a0import rules\u00a0in the US\u00a0and Europe are dampening the cross-border e-commerce trade that has driven much of the industry’s recent growth.<\/p>\n
“E-commerce was air freight’s single biggest growth pillar, but that is no longer the case,” Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at Xeneta, said when the freight analytics firm issued its mid-year outlook \u200bthis month.<\/p>\n
Korean Air Lines offers one of the clearest examples of the transition.<\/p>\n
Cargo\u00a0revenue surged\u00a046% in the second quarter to 1.54 trillion won ($1.07 billion), driven by AI chips, server \u200bracks and data centre infrastructure that the airline said had replaced e-commerce shipments from China as its primary growth engine.<\/p>\n
Advanced high-tech cargo “has rapidly expanded \u2060as a core growth driver,” said Jaedong Eum, executive vice president and head of Korean Air’s cargo business.<\/p>\n
Demand is unusually visible, he said, with orders for advanced high-bandwidth memory chips and processors \u200balready stretching two to three years into the future even as demand continues to exceed supply.<\/p>\n