Manado-Incheon-Osaka link to carry local specialties

Airline expands transshipment, interline cargo using existing routes

Cargo is loaded onto an Eastar Jet aircraft. [Eastar Jet]
Cargo is loaded onto an Eastar Jet aircraft. [Eastar Jet]

Eastar Jet announced Thursday that it has launched cargo operations on its Manado, Indonesia route.

The airline began belly cargo service on the Manado-Incheon route Wednesday, using the baggage holds of its passenger aircraft.

This marks the 11th cargo route Eastar Jet operates. The primary cargo is tuna, a local specialty of Indonesia. The airline transports the fish from Manado to Incheon, then transfers it onto Incheon-Osaka flights for onward delivery to Japan in a transshipment arrangement.

Beyond the Manado-Incheon-Osaka route, Eastar Jet is steadily expanding its transshipment cargo volumes by leveraging its existing network — carrying pharmaceuticals on the Tokyo-Incheon-Zhengzhou route and industrial materials on the Tokyo-Incheon-Yantai route.

For routes the airline does not operate itself, it uses an interline arrangement with partner carriers. Eastar Jet links its Taipei-Incheon service with other airlines' Incheon-Americas routes to transport e-commerce products and similar goods.

The airline also plans to expand cargo operations to the Chinese city of Xiamen before the end of the year, with e-commerce products and cosmetics expected to be the main items carried on that route.

Eastar Jet is also the first South Korean carrier to apply the TCM Solution to its cargo operations. Developed by global air freight firm ECS Group, the system manages the entire cargo process — from market analysis and booking to shipment tracking and quality assessment.

"The Manado route has strong growth potential for cargo given the large volumes of seafood exports such as tuna," an Eastar Jet official said. "We will continue to expand transshipment and interline cargo volumes centered on Incheon to strengthen our competitiveness."

Meanwhile, cargo traffic through Incheon Airport continues to grow. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's aviation information portal, international cargo at Incheon Airport totaled 1,086,954 tons in the third quarter, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier. That is a record high on a quarterly basis — surpassing even the third quarter of 2021, when air freight demand surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, by 25 percent. That period recorded 870,336 tons.


eyre@heraldcorp.com