FedEx Express introduces new Sydney-Singapore flight

Earlier this week, FedEx Express, the air cargo subsidiary of FedEx, announced it has rolled out a new dedicated flight that four times a week that will move between Sydney, Australia and Singapore. Company officials said that this new offering is past of FedEx’s continued investment to boost its operational network and help Asia Pacific-based shippers expand globally. 

“FedEx Express has been focused on Australia for 29 years (since 1989) and is committed to making strategic investments to build our operational strength,” a company spokeswoman told LM. “We recognize Australia’s potential and are committed to growing our footprint and portfolio of services in the country.”

FedEx said that Australia’s export values increased in FY16-17 to reach a total of A$373.2 billion, according to data from Austrade, adding that Goods exports drove this performance, totaling A$291.6 billion of total export value

And based on an SMB research commissioned by FedEx earlier this year, many Australian SMBs are already reaping the benefits of cross-border trade, with half of the 250 Australian SMBs surveyed citing cross-border activity as accounting for 50% of their annual turnover, the company said, adding that the surveyed SMBs are also optimistic about business growth; nine in 10 SMBs confident that their imports or exports will either stay the same or increase over the next 12 months.

“The new flight helps meet increased customer demand and supports businesses in Asia Pacific expand internationally,” the FedEx spokeswoman said. “The enhanced FedEx services between Australia and Singapore offers improved connection for businesses, large and small, to access new possibilities through the strength and reach of our international networks.”

Prior to rolling out this new flight, FedEx relied on its access to a global network, which includes leveraging its air network of fellow airlines to move shipments, the spokeswoman noted.

“While the frequency for flights between Sydney and Singapore remains the same, the new flight enables a 3-hour cut-off time improvement for outbound shipments to Singapore and Malaysia from Tuesday to Friday,” she said. “With cut-off timings now closer to Close-of-Business hours, customers in Australia can easily schedule a last-minute request more readily than before.

As for other shipper benefits, the spokeswoman explained that the new dedicated FedEx Sydney to Singapore flight will give Australian businesses better access to global possibilities through cut-off time improvement, custodial contrail, enhanced flight capabilities, and enhanced capability for moving specialty shipments.

“The new flight also offers Singaporean businesses more options and greater competitiveness in exporting to and importing from Australia,” she said. “With cut-off time improvement, customers in Sydney, Australia now enjoy greater flexibility and convenience when preparing their export shipments to Singapore and Malaysia. In terms of custodial control, the new flight enables greater custodial control and reliability to meet the needs of customers in Australia and Singapore and around the region.”

What’s more, the spokeswoman said that this new flight enhances service offerings for customers to select. As an example, FedEx has expanded the International Priority Freight/ International Economy Freight service for import shipments to Australia from Southern China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, and the FedEx International Priority DirectDistribution service is also available for shipments into Australia originating from Vietnam and Indonesia.

“In addition, the new flight allows us to offer enhanced capability for moving specialty shipments,” she said. “Customers can now use our services for import shipment to Australia for Dangerous Goods (such as Lithium ion batteries shipments), healthcare solutions (cold chain) and perishable shipments.”