CEO Frank Lu of Yang Ming and chairman Sun Hung-hsiang from China Airlines have signed memorandum of understanding cargo transport services as well as electronic commerce through the integration of bonded warehousing and freight capacity.

The two companies said that the integration of resources would yield cost savings and more flexible offerings for clients than separate efforts would.

CAL chairman Sun Hung-hsiang  stated “We hope that the strategic alliance would improve the competitiveness of the two companies amid challenges of falling demand for international freight, exacerbated by a glut of capacity in the sector,”

CAL, Taiwan’s leading air carrier, and Yang Ming, the countires second-largest container operator in terms of fleet size, have respectively more than 210 and 118 overseas offices.

Yang Ming chairman Frank Lu declared  “Based on preliminary resources of our global physical presence, we have identified the best collaborative opportunities lie in major international hubs that have both air and sea links, such as Singapore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Frankfurt,”

A collaborative business model between the two companies has already been established in Manila, while Frankfurt, Dubai and Myanmar appear to be suitable hubs to deploy the new joint operations, both companies said.