JAPAN: Air freight company JAL Cargo has partnered with East Japan Railway to transport time-sensitive goods from regional production areas to airports for export across Asia. The JAL de Hako-byun service combining high speed trains and long-distance flights is aimed primarily at perishables such as seafood, fruit and vegetables, as well as machinery parts.
Departure stations include Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, Shin-Aomori, Morioka, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Nagano and Tsuruga.
Cargo is routed via Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports for flights to destinations including Singapore Changi, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur International, Hong Kong International, Taiwan Taoyuan and Taipei Songshan airports.
‘By integrating the frequent and punctual Shinkansen train service with JAL’s long-haul air network, this service achieves substantial reductions in transit time compared with conventional transport methods’, the airline said. The initiative also aims to help address Japan’s ongoing shortage of lorry drivers and contributes to lower CO₂ emissions through modal shift.
The first commercial shipment carrying seafood left Tsuruga at 09.21 on January 13 and arrived at Taipei Songshan at 21.00 the same day. It followed a trial shipment in October when cargo was transported from Sendai to Singapore.
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