21-01-2020
It is only a matter of time before Amazon launches Prime Air in Europe following the fast-paced and successful roll-out of the airline unit and its network in the US over the past few years, a new study by Germany’s KfW Ipex Bank, entitled 'Who's afraid of Amazon? ' concludes.
In Europe, Amazon currently draws on the air cargo capacity of third-party providers, in particular DHL. Its subsidiary, European Air Transport, provides aircraft to Amazon during the day and to the express division of Deutsche Post in Europe at night, the study underlines.
However, this is set to change as Amazon seeks to drive down transportation costs in Europe through having greater control of its air network.
“The frequency of flights by aircraft carrying Amazon parcels has increased considerably in recent months at the most important locations in Germany, for this purpose, namely Cologne/Bonn and Leipzig/Halle airports. Similar to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport in the USA, the retail giant is also using DHL's expanded distribution centre in Leipzig and is developing it into its own transport hub,” the study authors wrote.
This is also attracting other cargo airlines to the location, such as new player, Cargo Logic Germany, which is focusing on express cargo in the e-commerce segment and therefore a competitor of DHL and a potential transport partner of Amazon, the study adds.