Hongyuan Group has entered into a five-year unit load device (ULD) supply and management partnership with Unilode Aviation Solutions.

The agreement will see Unilode supply and manage 1,000 digitised pallets to Hongyuan Group in the first year – increasing to over 3,000 pallets over the initial five-year partnership.

Hongyuan Group’s general manager of capacity management Helen Chen said: “We are pleased to enter into a ULD management agreement with Unilode as it will provide Hongyuan Group with an efficient end-to-end ULD solution including procurement, repair and operations.

“Unilode’s pooled pallet fleet will solve our previous ULD repositioning challenges and reduce our ULD-related costs.

“Digitalisation was also an important factor in our decision to select Unilode as Hongyuan’s ULD management partner and we look forward to a successful long-term partnership that will support our company’s rapid growth.”

Hongyuan Group operates a fleet of 747-400F aircraft to destinations in China, the UK, Belgium and the USA, transporting more than 200,000 tons of import and export cargo annually.

Unilode’s chief commercial officer Marc Groenewegen said: “Unilode will provide ULD repairs at the Hongyuan Group’s key destinations in PVG, BRU and LHR to reduce the need to fly damaged pallets back to the hub and will enable access to the geo-location data supplied by Unilode’s digital pallets at no extra cost.”