Enabling New Air Cargo & Multimodal Routes to Support Trade Flows Between China & Europe
Discover CargoPoint’s Road+Air Multimodal Transport Solution between China & Europe
Case Summary
Customer: CEVA Logistics
Services Involved: Multimodal Transport (truck+air), Re-doc
Customer Benefits:
Multimodal transport alternative via Tashkent, Uzbekistan that is more affordable than air cargo shipping while offering faster transit times than “all-sea” or “all-road” options
Bypassing high-risk shipping routes involving Red Sea, Russian territory, ensuring cargo security and minimizing potential compliance risks
Fast and smooth cargo transit and re-doc services at Tashkent Airport accompanied by 24/7 support and real-time cargo updates throughout the entire process
Background
China-Europe global transport market is facing major disruptions due to geopolitical tensions, sanctions, and rising e-commerce demand. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has closed key airspace, forcing airlines to take longer, costlier routes. The Red Sea crisis has further disrupted international shipping, increasing security risks and delaying cargo movement. Conflicts in the Middle East have led to airspace restrictions, while US/EU sanctions on Russia have created additional trade barriers.
Meanwhile, explosive growth of e-commerce has put enormous pressure on air cargo shipping out of China, resulting in increasing freight rates and longer transit times on key routes from China East Coast to the EU. To address these challenges, CargoPoint launched a road+air multimodal transport solution connecting China to Europe via Tashkent, reinforcing Uzbekistan’s role in the New Silk Road trade network. This innovative truck+air multimodal transport product, codenamed Air Silk Road, provides a secure and efficient transport alternative for exporting goods from China to the world, combining the benefits of road freight with the speed of air cargo.
Challenge: How To Ship From China to Europe Through Tashkent
In the face of these new supply chain realities, CEVA Logistics partnered with CargoPoint to move a 503-piece, 8-ton consignment between Fuzhou in China and Amsterdam in the Netherlands through Tashkent International Airport, covering a total distance of 9,225km. CargoPoint had to address 3 critical issues:
Provide transit customs and transit cargo handling services at Tashkent Airport in Uzbekistan, seamlessly connecting the road freight arriving from China with onward flights from Tashkent to Europe.
Route the shipment through least congested airports in the onward journey from Tashkent.
Secure space on a narrow-body aircraft on Istanbul (IST) - Dusseldorf (DUS) leg, resolving potential delays along the way to deliver the shipment on schedule in line with customer requirements.
Solution: Use CargoPoint's Truck + Air Multimodal Solution
This truck+air multimodal shipment operation was a joint effort between CargoPoint and our customer CEVA Logistics China teams. CEVA Logistics China arranged the China-Uzbekistan trucking portion of the trip between Fuzhou and Tashkent, while CargoPoint completed the shipment using air freight on Tashkent (TAS) - Istanbul (IST) - Dusseldorf (DUS) section, and RFS (road feeder service) from Dusseldorf (DUS) to Amsterdam (AMS), to successfully deliver the shipment to its intended consignee.
December 30, 2024: The shipment departed from Fuzhou, China, by truck en route to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
January 9, 2025: Shipment received on a truck arriving from Fuzhou, China to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
January 10, 2025: Transit customs and handling procedures completed by a 5-member operations team.
January 10, 2025: Shipment departed ex Tashkent (TAS) to Istanbul, further connecting to Istanbul (IST) - Dusseldorf (DUS) flight at SMARTIST, Turkish Cargo’s mega cargo facility in Istanbul.
January 12, 2025: Shipment arrived from Istanbul to Dusseldorf, waiting for RFS connection to Amsterdam. We prevented a potential delay in this congested final mile trucking portion between Dusseldorf (DUS) and Amsterdam (AMS) by directly engaging Turkish Cargo’s RFS vendor in Europe.
15 January 2025: CargoPoint delivered the entire shipment to its final destination safely and on time, marking a major milestone for CEVA Logistics in multimodal transportation along the Silkroad.
CargoPoint leveraged our Uzbekistan air freight transit capabilities to meet our customer’s requirements for smooth shipping along the New Silk Road from origin point in China to final destination in Europe. This landmark road+air multimodal shipment project required seamless teamwork and hands-on operation of the entire shipping process, from Fuzhou in China all the way to Amsterdam in the EU.
Conclusion
Through strategic partnerships with airlines and airport authorities in Uzbekistan, CargoPoint has pioneered a transformative multimodal logistics strategy to address the challenges impacting the China-Europe trade flow. Perhaps not incidentally, this new logistics initiative coincides with new geopolitical realities facing our world, in part arising from US-China trade wars and China's signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The innovative combination truck+air route crossing Tashkent, Uzbekistan - a strategic trade link on the Silk Road between China and Europe - is emerging as a ground-breaking multimodal shipping solution in an increasingly challenging global supply chain environment. This approach combines trucking and air freight, delivering e-commerce items and general goods from China to Uzbekistan by road, further utilizing air freight from Tashkent for onward transport to Europe.
CargoPoint, being the pioneer and champion of air freight and multimodal shipping between China and Europe via Tashkent, continues to reinforce Uzbekistan’s role as a key logistics hub between China and Europe, much in the same way our country enabled trade and cultural exchange between East and West along the Silk Road for millennia.
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