Overview
- In Q2 2026 Korean Air, China Airlines and EVA Airways reported their strongest cargo revenues in more than three years as sales of servers, GPUs and semiconductors surged.
- Spot transpacific airfreight rates jumped sharply by late June, with Northeast Asia to North America lanes up about 41% year on year, reflecting urgent, high‑value AI hardware flows.
- Renewed disruption around the Strait of Hormuz has kept jet fuel and operating costs high, but the higher cargo yields from AI shipments have helped carriers offset some of those expenses.
- Airlines are responding to tight transpacific demand by redeploying capacity, adding freighters and using charter services to move time‑sensitive loads from Taiwan and South Korea to U.S. data centers.
- Because air freight moves high‑value, time‑sensitive goods faster than ships, the AI buildout is shifting trade patterns and could keep air rates elevated even as ocean shipping faces seasonally volatile congestion and tariffs.