, tighter low-value import rules in the US and Europe are dampening the cross-border e-commerce trade that has driven much of the industry’s recent growth. “E-commerce was air freight’s single biggest growth pillar, but that is no longer the case,” Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at Xeneta, said when the freight analytics firm issued its mid-year outlook this month. Korean Air Lines offers one of the clearest examples of the transition. Cargo revenue surged 46 per cent in the second quarter to 1.54 trillion won (US$1.07 billion), driven by AI chips, server racks and data centre infrastructure that the airline said had replaced e-commerce shipments from China as its primary growth engine. Advanced high-tech cargo “has rapidly expanded as a core growth driver,” said Jaedong Eum, executive vice president and head of Korean Air’s cargo business. Demand is unusually visible, he said, with orders for advanced high-bandwidth memory chips and processors already stretching two to three years into the future even as demand continues to exceed supply. Global semiconductor sales more than doubled year on year in April, the strongest growth since records began in 1986, according to Xeneta. By contrast, China’s low-value and e-commerce exports fell 7 per cent in May, marking a sixth consecutive monthly decline. The US ended duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports from China last year, while the European Union this month abolished its own duty-free threshold. Fast-fashion retailer Shein said on Sunday those changes had hurt its US business and were expected to create further headwinds in Europe. Japan’s ANA Holdings said in a statement that the EU move was a downside risk for the broader cargo market even as semiconductor-related shipments remained strong. Redrawing trade routes The changing cargo mix is also redrawing trade routes across Asia. Japan exports semiconductor manufacturing equipment, South Korea produces advanced memory chips and Taiwan is the centre of leading-edge chip production. Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are emerging as increasingly important manufacturing and assembly hubs for AI servers destined for North America and Europe. Freight throughput at Singapore’s Changi Airport grew 8.7 per cent year on year in the first half, driven by strong global semiconductor demand, said Lim Ching Kiat, the airport group’s executive vice president for air hub and cargo development. Airlines are reorganising around those flows. Japan Airlines said technology products accounted for about 80 per cent of the increase in air exports from Asia excluding China over the past year, underscoring how semiconductor and AI-related hardware is reshaping regional cargo flows. It has expanded freighter services linking semiconductor hubs such as Taipei, Bangkok and Hanoi with Tokyo’s Narita Airport. ANA said it was integrating Nippon Cargo Airlines to shift more large freighters onto trans-Pacific and European routes while using its Asian network to funnel semiconductor cargo from manufacturing hubs across the region. In Taiwan, China Airlines has added Southeast Asia freighter flights as manufacturers diversify production and said AI-related demand helped lift cargo volumes 8.1 per cent in the first half of the year. EVA Airways said AI-related shipments now account for up to half of its cargo revenue. Airlines say AI hardware requires different handling from traditional air freight because shipments often include delicate, high-value semiconductor manufacturing equipment, graphics processors and complete server racks. Airline group IATA estimates AI-related goods accounted for 53.5 per cent of the value of goods carried by air in 2025 while making up just 7 per cent of cargo volume. Unlike much e-commerce cargo, AI hardware is compact, extremely valuable and often time-critical to keep data centre projects on schedule, making air transport worth the premium. To adapt to the changing market, Cathay Pacific Airways said it had introduced software that automatically determines how sensitive semiconductor equipment and AI hardware should be loaded and secured inside aircraft. The surge is also stretching cargo infrastructure. Dimerco Express Group said AI and semiconductor shipments had filled Taiwan’s Taipei air cargo hub to capacity in July, keeping freight space tight on routes to the US and within Asia. “As major tech companies introduce next-generation AI processors and continue their long-term infrastructure commitments, we anticipate strong cargo demand to persist through the second half of 2026,” Korean Air’s Eum said. Further reading: Retailers must rethink e-commerce for an algorithm-first future