Air freight has been hit particularly hard by the spread of COVID and the more recent Omicron variant, with governments shutting down routes at short notice and schedules in disarray as flight crews and ground staff are unavailable because of infection, or quarantine. The most significant and topical example of the impact of Omicron, is …
The lockdowns and restrictions that China’s zero-Covid strategy risk, may create greater disruption than earlier waves of the pandemic, threatening already stretched global supply chains. Beijing’s strict zero-Covid policy has curbed local outbreaks with mass testing, snap lockdowns, vigilant surveillance and extensive quarantines, but new variants such as Omicron have seen outbreaks intensify since the …
Ground handling of air freight cargo is a critical element in the time-sensitive mode, which has a profound impact on the speed and cost of a shipment. At the end of last year, one of the world’s biggest ground handling organisations and one of the biggest at London Heathrow issued new terminal handling and storage …
All around the world, companies have been impacted by supply chain challenges in 2021. With the pandemic’s disruption exacerbated by ‘Black Swan events’, from Brexit, to the Suez Canal blockage, we have been working tirelessly to help our customers overcome these challenges and share critical information, so that they are always informed of what lies …
With supply chains battling through overwhelmed transport systems, material shortages, and infrastructure disruptions for close on two years, we asked our partners in seven key markets to share their thoughts on critical operational elements, including demand, capacity and rates. BANGLADESH | CHINA | DUBAI | INDIA | PAKISTAN | SRI LANKA | USA AIR In …
Disrupted cargo handling and congestion on the ground muted air cargo’s growth in November, with volumes falling by -1.2% in a month that is traditionally one of the busiest, in the peak build-up to Christmas. Last month’s fall in volumes compared to October 2021 came despite a +0.5% rise in capacity, but overall air cargo …
Sustained high demand, diminished capacity, COVID-safe work practices and apparent labour shortages, continue to place immense pressure on UK, European, US and global air freight hubs, creating congestion, from Heathrow to Azerbaijan. While there are different situations at different airports, the demand for air cargo is exceptionally high and ground-handling operations are proving to be …
Passenger aircraft pre-Covid supplied at least 50% of all global airfreight capacity in the ‘belly-hold” space under the passenger deck and the return of air travel will ease congestion and rate pressure on the time-sensitive mode. Passenger airlines will begin to convert and reduce the number of aircraft operated in ‘preighter’ configurations this autumn, as more of their fleets return to flying scheduled passenger services, particularly …
Frustrated shippers, trying to avoid further container shipping delays, by switching modes, has driven air freight and charter rates to climb by up to ten times in a single week. Further imbalance between supply and demand is emerging, with the airlines conversion of passenger aircraft into temporary cargo planes failing to satisfy demand. Many airlines …
Despite the massive challenges, our air freight team continue to find solutions for critical cargo and our Sea/Air services are invaluable for time-sensitive shipments. With options from across Asia, via a choice of hubs including Singapore, Colombo and Dubai, we offer the widest choice of service, transit and rates. There is a massive surge in …