CMA CGM Air Cargo is looking to capitalise on ongoing air cargo demand growth out of Vietnam with the launch of a new freighter service between the Southeast Asian country and France.
According to FlightRadar24, the carrier launched operations to Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on 9 May with a flight from Paris CDG and including a stop at Navoi International Airport in Uzbekistan on the return leg of the journey.
A second flight on the same routing was carried out on 12 May. The service is operated with one of the carrier’s Boeing 777 freighters, offering a capacity of around 100 tonnes a flight.
The start of operations to Vietnam was confirmed by ground operations director Krisztian Zajak in a LinkedIn post.
The launch of the new service comes as the Vietnamese airfreight market has been growing rapidly in recent years.
Last year, the country handled around 1.4m tonnes of cargo, an increase of more than 18%, according to Vietnam’s civil aviation authority.
The growth has been fuelled by a growing manufacturing base in Vietnam as companies look to diversify supply chains by increasingly making goods outside of China in response to US tariff policy.
According to Vietnam Global, the country’s exports by value have increased by around 20% in the first four months of this year, with the value of computers, electronic products and components increasing by over 45%.
The increase comes as corporations such as Samsung, LG, Pegatron and Foxconn expand their manufacturing presence in the country.
However, the country’s airfreight sector does face challenges, most recently due to the fuel shortages caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
K+N recently remarked that its airfreight charter operation out of the country includes stops in China to refuel.
There are also reports of congestion affecting operations. Japanese forwarder Nippon Express recently reported that it had obtained a container freight station (CFS) license for its off-airport air cargo facility in Hanoi to avoid cargo backlogs at the congested Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) and better meet demand for cargo handling in accordance with flight schedules.
Meanwhile, freight forwarder Dimerco reports that there are cargo backlogs for services to both Europe and North America.
As a result of the congestion and rising fuel costs, rates from the country are also on the rise.
Contacts suggest that average rates across spot and contract deals out of the country to the US are around 40% higher than last year and above $7 per kg, while to Europe the increase is around 10-15% compared with last year with average prices currently around $5.50 per kg.
Other carriers have also added services to Vietnam this year, most recently with MyFreighter adding a flight to Hanoi and MasKargo to Ho Chi Minh.
Source: https://www.aircargonews.net/supply-chains/2026/05/growing-demand-from-vietnam-attracts-cma-cgm-air-cargo/
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