Reality, however, is far more prosaic. And whatever magic we see on the ground, or in the air (in the case of Teleport), is always accompanied by hard work. Often, also, more than a dash of innovation. Starting off in 2018 using the belly space of AirAsia aircraft to transport goods, Teleport has grown in leaps and bounds because of the sheer effort of the team to build a strong delivery system as well as an expansive cargo network so as to be able to offer door-to-door service almost anywhere in Asean in 24 hours. While the pandemic created the immense challenge of cutting off 90% of its belly space, it was also the catalyst for quick action and change which will add significantly to Teleport’s magic in the long term. Effectively, when AirAsia aircraft became dormant, Teleport pivoted towards establishing a cargo-only network. First, it converted two AirAsia aircraft into cargo-only carriers. Then, in November, it acquired a dedicated Boeing 737-800 freighter, through a multi-year agreement with Thai express freight airline K-Mile Asia. With this freighter based in Bangkok, it will have two hubs – the other hub being Kuala Lumpur – extending its international connectivity while increasing its delivery capacity. From its two hubs, Teleport started cargo-only flights using wide-bodied aircraft serving, initially, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Korea and Japan; later adding Shanghai and Australia as well as a few chartered flights to Europe. It is also serving more regional destinations such as Vietnam, Male and Myanmar with narrow-bodied carriers. In its home markets, especially Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, Teleport continued to leverage belly freight for domestic traffic. Although these services were interrupted during local lockdowns, Teleport ended the year with the ability to fly out more than 90% of all shipments the same day, achieving an on-time departure rate of more than 98%. At the same time, it signed up top 20 global forwarders such as DHL Global Forwarding, Kuehne + Nagel, DB Schenker, Agility, CEVA Logistics and Nippon Express. And it has continued to build Freightchain, the world’s first air cargo network run on blockchain, which during the year facilitated more than USD35 million of cargo transaction volume. To enhance its delivery capacity, Teleport acquired Malaysian online food delivery platform DeliverEat, and its ready-made network as well as expertise. Leong Shir Mein and Tan Suan Sear, who founded DeliverEat about nine years ago, have since joined Teleport with the rest of their team, and brought with them their intellectual capital, most pertinently an app that has powered 1,000,000 orders from a more than 600,000-strong database. In addition, the dynamic logistics player has expanded its pool of Teleporters such that it now has more than 13,000 crowdsourced riders it can rely on for deliveries. Leveraging its increased capacity, Teleport has continued to grow its customer base. True to form, it on-boarded more than 736 new businesses during the year – from large marketplaces such as Zalora and Central Group, to world-class delivery companies like DHL e-commerce and Best Express, household brands like McDonald’s and Irvins, and hundreds of small businesses that now self-sign up and can start shipping anywhere within the network in five minutes. New business from its expanded customer portfolio led to a phenomenal increase in daily deliveries, from 1,700 a day in 2020 to about 10,000 a day in 2021, of which 72% were driven by non-Capital A customers. What is more, some 42 lanes have been created serving major cities such as Singapore, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching – on which the promise of 24-hour delivery is assured. Digital Te l e p o r t Imagine being an end-to-end logistics player that depends primarily on an airline parent company to transport your cargo. And imagine that airline is no longer allowed to fly because of international border closures. Imagine also that the logistics player still manages to increase its business, not just marginally but exponentially. Magical? Perhaps. It is after all how Teleport sees its operations – as being fast, accessible and affordable; and to simply work, like magic. Wrapped up FY2021 with the ability to fly out more than 90% of all shipments on the same day, achieving an on-time departure rate of more than 98% Teleport Business Review (cont’d.) 0 8 8 C A P I T A L A B E R H A D
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