Changes in cargo structure: AI hardware becomes the main driver of air freight, driving the supply of goods

The cargo structure of the current air freight market is undergoing profound changes, and AI hardware products have become the core source of goods driving the growth of air freight, completely changing the old pattern of relying on cross-border e-commerce packages, ordinary hardware machinery, board building materials, and daily necessities to support cabin demand for a long time. According to statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), AI related goods only account for 7% of the global air freight volume by weight, but their value accounts for 53.5% of the total air freight value. From January to May 2026, the export of domestic cloud computing equipment increased by 114.4% year-on-year, and the export of semiconductor equipment increased by 91.5%. Overseas computing power centers began construction, and a large number of GPU servers, HBM memory, high-speed optical modules, solid-state drives, liquid cooled cabinets, and computer room cooling components were exported overseas, injecting strong growth into air cargo transportation. AI devices themselves have the characteristics of high cargo value and extreme sensitivity to delivery time. 56% -68% of orders for servers and storage accessories can only be shipped by air, and the shipping cycle of 40-50 days by sea cannot match the construction progress of overseas projects. Technology companies have a high acceptance of rising freight costs, and air transportation costs account for less than 0.5% of overall hardware investment. Companies are willing to pay a premium for cabin space to lock in priority installation qualifications, and even use whole charter flights to ship large quantities of machine cabinets. This makes airlines clearly tilt towards high-tech goods when allocating cabin space.

As the scale of AI hardware shipments continues to expand, air freight goods have gradually extended from small items such as chips and components to large complete equipment. An 8GPU server or a complete set of liquid cooled cabinets can weigh hundreds or even thousands of kilograms, and the equipment requires strict requirements for shock resistance, constant temperature, and anti-static. It cannot be stacked in multiple layers, which will occupy a lot of pallet space. Currently, about 30% -40% of the space in China's mainline cargo planes sent to Europe and America is occupied by computing equipment. Against the backdrop of limited overall capacity growth and a delivery cycle of 18-24 months for new all cargo aircraft, AI hardware continues to seize high-quality cabin resources, bringing significant impact to traditional foreign trade goods.

Previously, direct flights could be arranged for industrial products such as ordinary mechanical parts and insulation boards by booking 3-5 days in advance. Now, general cargo on European and American routes needs to be booked 7-10 days in advance; During the period of tight cabin space, ordinary goods will be delayed and can only choose transfer flights, resulting in an additional 2-3 days of transportation time. AI orders have boosted the overall market trend. Even though July is in the off-season for traditional freight, air freight prices on China Europe and China US routes are still 37% higher than the same period last year. Foam goods such as boards and servo equipment will also incur additional fees due to their heavy volume, further raising the logistics costs of traditional manufacturing exports.

The trend of market segmentation is becoming increasingly clear, and high value-added technology products are given priority in enjoying logistics support such as direct flights, priority unloading, and priority customs clearance; Ordinary large industrial products are forced to re plan their transportation plans, with a small amount of emergency samples being delivered by air freight. Large quantities of products are increasingly diverted to China Europe freight trains or sea freight channels, forming a pattern where air freight, railway, and sea freight are each adapted to corresponding goods.

In the long run, the construction cycle of global AI computing power facilities is relatively long, and the demand for AI hardware exports will continue to be strong in the next 2-3 years. Before the arrival of new cargo planes, the situation of tight air cargo space and high freight rates is difficult to alleviate, and the polarization of cargo categories will continue for a long time. The International Air Transport Association predicts that the global freight volume will only increase by 0.7% in 2026, but with the support of AI high-value goods, the total revenue of air freight for the year will reach 162 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. AI hardware transportation has become an important ballast for profit growth in the air freight industry.

At the same time, logistics supporting services have also been upgraded. Major logistics companies have launched AI equipment exclusive transportation solutions, equipped with constant temperature shock absorption transport vehicles and professional loading and unloading personnel. High standard supporting services are only open to high-tech goods, and ordinary foreign trade goods are difficult to enjoy the same conditions, further widening the gap in air transportation resource allocation between technology products and traditional industrial products.