News / Amazon Air Cargo partners-up for new transpacific route into the US

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Amazon has joined the dots on yet another lane of its growing air cargo network, no doubt with an eye to attracting more forwarder volumes.  

Amazon Air Cargo has signed another interline cargo agreement, extending its transpacific reach for delivery into the US. 

According to local media, the ecommerce behemoth has partnered with an airline which will offer cargo space between Incheon and Honolulu.

From Honolulu, Hawaiian Airlines already operates flights on behalf of Amazon into some 45 cities on the US mainland.

Following the agreement with South Korean carrier Air Premia, the latter launched its Aloha Express service this week, which is expected to shave some 20% off both the costs and time of existing and direct routes. 

An Air Premia official told The Korea Post that “leveraging our core transpacific routes, we aim to strengthen our position in the global logistics market through this partnership with Amazon”. 

Air Premia has a small fleet, of just eight 787s, but has one more aircraft due to deliver soon and a plan to increase the fleet to 15 by 2027. A ‘hybrid’ low-cost carrier, it has no freighters and thus far a limited cargo operation.

It flies to Honolulu, Newark, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as well as destinations in Asia. 

The Incheon-Honolulu route will benefit from the fact that South Korea retains the US de minimis exemption for shipments worth less than $800, which will now not expire until July 2027, making ecommerce from the country cheaper than goods from China.

Soth Korea has a strong ecommerce market, although Amazon is not as dominant as local etailer Coupang. However, Amazon reportedly made a $300m investment in domestic ecommerce company 11st in 2020, reflecting its interest in the country. 

Famously, Amazon Air Cargo also offers capacity to third parties, and this new route could enjoy demand, with Amazon handling the trans-shipment element. 

Several forwarders have gone public on working with Amazon, notably Kuehne & Nagel, which said last year it was “absolutely satisfied” with the service. 

CEO Stefan Paul said: “We inject in Honolulu our ecommerce business into the Amazon aircraft or air fleet business, and we leverage them for distribution within the US marketplace.” 

DHL Express has also confirmed its use of Amazon, saying that enabled it “to continue meeting the dynamic demands of the market through both charter and block space agreements”. 

The drawback for non-ecommerce players is the US tariff on South Korea – according to the Trump letters sent out this week, it will be 25%, from 1 August  .

South Korea is said to be supporting its tariff-hit industries and plans to diversify its export markets – but it is the third-largest exporter of cars to the US and is hoping to carve out a better trade deal.  

In the past month, compared with the average of the previous four weeks, air cargo capacity from South Korea to the US rose 8%, according to Rotate’s live capacity database. However, year-to-date, compared with 2024, capacity has been flat. 

Rates have also been broadly flat from Incheon to the US in the past few months, although last year saw a September peak, with rates rising from about $5/kg in the summer to some $14.33, according to Freightos Terminal. 

Air Incheon, which is to take on Asiana’s cargo business and freighters, told the US DoT it planned to fly to Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. It has seen some new investment from Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of the carmaker, suggesting it is eyeing new logistics partners.

Korean Air and Asiana both fly to Honolulu.