France-based shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM made air cargo news on two fronts last week.
Ceva Logistics, the eighth-largest 3PL in the world, introduced a scheduled air charter service from China to the U.S. amid rising trade tensions between the countries. Meanwhile, sister company CMA CGM Air Cargo received a green light from a court in Belgium to take over Air Belgium’s all-cargo operations.
Ceva Logistics said it has rented a Boeing 747-400 freighter and crew from Atlas Air to operate flights three times per week from Wuxi, a city in eastern China near Shanghai, to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The first flight departed on Friday.
The service is expected to attract a diverse range of goods, including e-commerce shipments, industrial equipment, electronics, oversized cargo and apparel.
The freight management company said it is offering the charter service through an agreement with Wuxi Suan Shuofang International Airport Group. Ceva officials declined to provide further details, but the language suggests that Wuxi, a former military airport that is relatively small from a cargo standpoint, is subsidizing part of the terminal use and ground handling charges.
Wuxi provides an inland advantage for goods made by companies on the outskirts of Shanghai and also is less congested than Shanghai airports.
Upon arrival, shipments are trucked to Ceva’s airfreight warehouse located less than 10 miles from O’Hare airport. The 700,000-square-foot facility includes a free trade zone and a 10,000-square-foot cold storage facility with two chambers. From there, shipments can be distributed to many U.S. cities within 24 to 48 hours through Ceva’s less-than-truckload ground network.
Ceva Logistics last year generated $18.3 billion in revenue and arranged the movement of 750,000 metric tons (827,000 U.S. tons) of material, according to the company.
A spokesperson declined to provide details on the extent of Ceva’s overall air charter operation.
Ceva likely has enough cargo business to justify the trans-Pacific charter costs, but the timing of the flights is unusual. Many shippers are taking a wait-and-see approach or canceling charter flights and block space agreements with airlines as the Trump administration ramps up economic pressure. The U.S. earlier this year hit all Chinese products with a 20% tariff and is expected to soon ban shipments of low-value (de minimis) Chinese e-commerce imports from receiving favorable duty-free treatment, which could have a significant negative impact on air cargo flows.
The International Air Transport Association on Monday reported that global air cargo volumes in February were essentially flat year over year after growing by double digits between 2023 and 2024. Shipping rates are on the decline, and air cargo executives are preparing for material reduction in revenues this year.
“Launching this program is a reflection of our commitment to long-term partnerships, ensuring reliable service between two major hubs for our customers. As such, we are confident that the service provides value even in light of the pending decision on the de minimis situation. The feedback on the program from customers is already very positive, and we will continue to add capacity to our charter network wherever there is true value for our customers,” Loic Gay, global air product leader, said in response to a FreightWaves query.
CMA CGM has expanded over the past six years from a container shipping line into an integrated logistics company, offering end-to-end services to meet a variety of customer needs. Toward that end, it also established a small cargo airline in 2021 that has a current fleet of three Boeing 777 freighters and one Airbus A330 cargo jet, with two more Boeing 777s set for delivery this year.
CMA CGM Air Cargo launched trans-Pacific service with one Boeing 777, also operated on its behalf by New York-based Atlas Air, early last fall.
Another fleet expansion
On Thursday, a Belgian court approved the transfer of Air Belgium’s cargo operations to CMA CGM Air Cargo, Air Belgium confirmed in a statement.
CMA CGM in March offered to acquire struggling Air Belgium along with its fleet of two Airbus A330-200 freighters and two Boeing 747-8 freighters.
Air Belgium said 186 employees out of a total of 401 will be retained, including administrative, operational, ground and flight staff positions. It will continue to operate from Brussels and Liège airports.
A partnership between Air One Aviation, a U.K.-based startup with 747 freighters, and a Dutch aviation management firm said it will appeal the court’s decision. The court early last month revoked the Air One Belgium consortium’s license to absorb Air Belgium after it allegedly missed deadlines for achieving conditions of the transactions, such as approval from Belgium’s aviation authority and contract guarantees. CMA CGM then moved in with a rival bid.
Air Belgium and CMA CGM have a history together. In 2022, before CMA CGM Air Cargo obtained its own air operating certificate, the company placed four A330-200 freighters it acquired with Air Belgium to fly on its behalf.
Air Belgium ended passenger operations in 2023 to focus on providing outsourced air cargo services to other carriers.
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