Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK) in partnership with Royal Mail, celebrated the arrival of its first dedicated e-commerce cargo flight on 17DEC24, marking a milestone in its growing e-commerce operations. Operated by Silk Way West Airlines, the flight was a charter for Zhonger Express and Jumen Logistics. On board was 90-ton shipment for Royal Mail’s final mile deliveries. This included products from major e-commerce platforms, Temu and TikTok, and a number of representatives came to see the cargo being handled at PIK.
This achievement builds on PIK’s partnership with Royal Mail (announced at the Air Cargo China exhibition in Shanghai, this year), positioning the airport as the UK’s international e-commerce hub. Recent developments include expanding operations in Asia, highlighted by appointing a sales representative in China, and investing over GBP 2 million in new cargo equipment to enhance efficiency. Looking ahead, the airport’s Business Development team is working to establish regular, scheduled e-commerce flights in 2025 and develop export opportunities for Scottish goods like whisky and salmon to the Far East on return flights.
Nico Le Roux, Business Development Director, PIK, explained: “This flight was an opportunity for us to showcase PIK’s efficient and reliable solution for e-commerce imports to the UK. Our expert handling teams offloaded the cargo, broke it down, and swiftly segregated it by area region, before loading onto trucks for onward delivery.”
Edwin Ning of Zhonger Express and Jumen Logistics, confirmed: “Undertaking a business venture of this magnitude obviously comes with a high-risk level. I have a lot of confidence in my own teams here in China and had to carry out extensive diligence in the UK to find the perfect handling partner to make this trial an overwhelming success. The Prestwick team and Royal Mail exceeded themselves and we delivered a new market-leading solution to the e-commerce platform shippers. We will be regular visitors to Prestwick in the New Year.”
Vivian Davies, Director of Global Imports, Royal Mail, added: “Our successful collaboration with PIK in managing this flight arrival for our international e-commerce customers during peak times, has showcased smoother landing, efficient airport handling, and faster, streamlined processing all the way to our final mile delivery. We are excited to continue our partnership with PIK and our customers to develop even more innovative solutions at this new eCommerce hub.”
