The ongoing congestion problems at ports on the US west coast are fuelling a switch from sea to air freight in the transpacific market, according to a report in Lloyds Loading List.com.
It claims that strong seasonal demand and an upswing in the US economy has led to a surge in demand for air cargo space, with suppliers switching increasingly to airfreight to ensure cargoes hit pre-Christmas deadlines.
Robert van de Weg, senior vice president sales and marketing at AirBridgeCargo, told the publication that “peak season has evolved largely as expected, even though to Europe it was never booming strongly so far, although volumes were solid. To the US, the spike was really noteworthy, in particular during late October and early November.”
He said he believed the expected port congestion had played a part in the upsurge, which had prompted the company to put on a number of extra flights, mainly from Hong Kong and Chengdu/Zhengzhou.
James Woodrow, director of cargo at Cathay Pacific, said: “China, Hong Kong and Vietnam are very much experiencing a traditional strong peak season,” with most forwarders reporting backlogs – particularly for transpacific markets.
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