Reading time: 2 minutes

Critical situation for Chinese airports. According to Loadstar, several airports in the country are currently so congested that the shipments themselves are at risk.

The causes would be attributable to the ‘perfect storm’ that has been created in recent days, with the partial easing of the lockdown in several countries which has caused a surge in demand for masks. The short circuit was then created with the ‘squeeze’ of the Chinese authorities on the checks against PPE leaving the country, decided after some inspections in recent days had found the presence of defective material.

The result: according to the freight forwarders interviewed by the British newspaper, some aircraft “took off empty” because the goods did not manage to reach the airports in time. A problem that today, also considering the skyrocketing rates (including those for chartering entire aircraft), risks having very heavy economic consequences.

The most difficult situations were observed in Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen, particularly close to May 1st. To overcome the problems, some operators are trying to send goods from smaller airports, which however often have less fluid procedures and fewer employees than the larger airports. Also for this reason, others, including representatives of Crane Worldwide Logistics and Norman Global Logistics, have explained that they are advising customers to opt for maritime transport, which at the moment for certain routes can guarantee competitive conditions with those of the air.

Source: www.aircargoitaly.com