KUALA LUMPUR: Raya Airways Sdn Bhd is ramping up efforts to strengthen its fleet of freighter aircraft, expanding its network of routes and hiring new talent to deliver its resilience blueprint.
The logistics solutions provider said this is also part of the company's growth target, following the International Air Transport Association's projection that air cargo demand in 2022 to exceed 2019 levels by 13 per cent with cargo revenue expected to rise to over RM670 billion.
Raya Airways also targets cementing its position in the fast-growing freight service sector, leveraging on a team of close to 450 staff, covering regional hubs such as China, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong, and prime commercial centres in East Malaysia.
Raya Airways has identified new markets to venture into and made further inroads in existing ones to be key drivers of its future growth.
The carrier had also increased the average weekly load to its latest destination of Nanning, China, to 120 tonnes, a three-fold growth compared to when it started plying this route in June last year, giving it a huge competitive edge, especially in the e-commerce sector.
Group managing director Mohamad Najib Ishak said Raya Airways have strengthened its strategy to leverage the burgeoning e-commerce sector and adopted a long-term approach, given the global challenges of economic uncertainties and rapidly evolving customer requirements.
"The ambition is to push our boundaries and achieve higher results constantly. Alongside route and fleet expansion, we realise our people are at the core of our success at every arc of our growth trajectory.
"We have laid out extensive plans to focus on hard skills including engineering and other technical skills combining these with soft skills to evolve into Team Raya – a team that is laser focussed on our collective ambition to be the foremost, most efficient and vibrant player in the region's freight services industry," he added.
Raya currently has an average weekly combined load and capacity for all flights and destinations between 1,700 and 1,900 tonnes, made possible with its three Boeing 767-200F and one Boeing 737-400F.
Specifically on the Nanning route, Raya serves this route thrice a weekutilising its Boeing 767-200F aircraft.
This route carries all shipments that include e-commerce products, industrial goods, and perishable items.
Chief commercial officer Muhamad Hidayat Rahim said Raya Airways is well poised to capitalise on market opportunities with industry leaders as the group's customers, backed by 56 experienced pilots with more expected to join.
He said the team was exploring numerous business-worthy routes to add to our regional footprint on the commercial side.
"We are extremely rigorous in our selection of routes to ensure hyper-connectivity for our customers
and multiplicative growth potential for Raya.
"In the months ahead, we will be announcing exciting destinations across Asia-Pacific, including within China and other countries. Wherever there are business hubs with robust prospects, we aim to be there," he added.
Raya Airways had recently announced its tie-up with Pen Aviation, setting it on track to be the first Malaysian freight service provider in ASEAN to operate cargo drones.
