Atlas Air Worldwide announced that its Atlas Air, Inc. subsidiary has expanded its partnership with Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, to enhance overall shipping efficiency in response to the growth of cross-border trade between China and Latin America driven by the surge in volume growth between the two regions.

It said with the launch of daily flights, Cainiao’s weekly cargo volume from China to Latin America has increased 144% compared to last October when there were only three chartered flights per week.

Under the expanded agreement, Atlas has added an additional B747-400F to fly between Hong Kong, China and Santiago, Chile — bringing the total dedicated fleet that Atlas operates for Cainiao to five aircraft.

It said this expanded fleet builds upon the collaboration between Atlas and Cainiao, which was launched in October 2020, with Atlas operating three weekly charter flights dedicated to Cainiao, linking Hong Kong with Brazil and Chile.

The current upgraded Atlas-Cainiao partnership has enhanced overall warehouse distribution and air freight efficiency by over 40%, it added.

According to Cainiao, the number of parcels shipped to Brazil in September 2021 increased by 200% as compared to the same month last year. In response to the robust growth, Cainiao rolled out “12-day delivery service” in Brazil’s core metropolitan areas.

In addition, Cainiao also plans to establish a distribution center in Brazil to offer next-day or even same-day delivery in partnership with local delivery firms.

“Our partnership with Atlas Air continues to strengthen our network between South America and other destinations around the globe as we further enhance Cainiao’s capabilities to support merchants worldwide efficiently and reliably,” said William Xiong, Cainiao’s chief strategist and general manager of Export Logistics.

For its part, Atlas Air Worldwide's president and chief executive officer John W. Dietrich, welcomed the partnership with Cainiao.

“We are very pleased that Cainiao and Alibaba have selected Atlas as a strategic growth partner,” Dietrich said. “Through our successful relationship over the last year, Atlas’ global operating capabilities have enabled Cainiao to continue offering its customers faster deliveries throughout the world. We are excited to add incremental capacity in support of this growing partnership.”