SEOUL/TAIPEI – Asian airlines are the latest beneficiaries of growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers and computer chips, creating a windfall that is helping mitigate the surge in jet fuel costs.
The latest quarterly financial data from Korean Air Lines, as well as Taiwan’s China Airlines and EVA Airways, show cargo revenue hit their highest levels in more than three years, according to Bloomberg News calculations of their financial statements.
The carriers credited shipments of semiconductors and other equipment for driving a new wave of cargo demand. The growth for Korean Air Lines and China Airlines marked the biggest quarterly rise in freight income since 2022 when the Covid-19 pandemic drove up delivery prices and pushed cargo revenues to records.
“Cargo has been the key bright spot for Asia-Pacific airlines,” Nathan Gee, head of Asia-Pacific transportation research at Bank of America (BofA), said in an interview.
“We are bullish on the outlook for air cargo fundamentals into 2027,” he added, pointing to the recent birth of an AI supercycle, healthy e-commerce flows and tighter supply “supporting strong pricing power”.
The surge in demand comes on the back of a worldwide race to build out AI data farms and other infrastructure. Other winners from the AI frenzy include manufacturers of construction equipment, commodity-grade batteries, power generators and turbines.
Taiwanese and South Korean carriers, boasting dedicated fleets of freighter jets, are particularly well placed. South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are two of the world’s three biggest makers of memory chips that go into AI servers, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is Nvidia’s main contract manufacturer.
Cargo rates on major air freight lanes from key locations, including Hong Kong, Seoul and Taiwan to the United States, in recent weeks have risen to the highest levels since 2022, official cargo pricing TAC Index data shows.
Earlier this week, Korean Air posted operating income that topped analyst estimates more than fourfold. The carrier credited global AI investments for sending cargo revenue soaring nearly 50 per cent and said it would continue to lean into high-growth cargo sectors like AI-related industries.
The increase in AI chip shipments has helped mitigate a run-up in the price of jet fuel due to the outbreak of hostilities in and around the Persian Gulf earlier in 2026.
EVA Air told Bloomberg on July 14 that AI server-related goods accounted for 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the airline’s total air freight from Taiwan to the US, but did not specify a time period. The carrier is adding three additional cargo aircraft by 2028 to meet demand.
Asian passenger airlines are among the world’s biggest cargo carriers by fleet size and the upswing in AI demand comes amid a boom in orders for more cargo planes.
China Southern Airlines ordered up to 10 Boeing 777 freighters in June. Cathay added two more Airbus A350F freighters to take its commitment to eight planes, while Air China Cargo upped its order in May to 10 A350Fs.
AI-related cargo has begun to crowd out shipments of other goods from the Asia-Pacific, according to BofA. That has allowed airline cargo operations to fully recover the higher cost of jet fuel, unlike their passenger flight businesses, Gee said.
It is unclear to what extent other regional airlines, including Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways and mainland Chinese carriers, may be impacted by this trend, but analysts expect them to shed more light on cargo demand when those companies report quarterly earnings in the coming weeks. Bloomberg
