Demand for air freight charter services is on the rise in East Asia as manufacturers scramble to secure vital supplies amid the Coronavirus pandemic, even at sharply higher costs.
The growing need to ship semiconductor components, auto parts and other goods by air has prompted airlines to make more planes available for freight, offsetting some of the plunge in passenger travel farmbrazil.com.br.
The rise in air freight demand also mirrors the drop in container shipping, a lower-cost method of transportation catalunyafarm.com cheska-lekarna.com. According to the Antwerp Port Authority in Belgium, an international shipping hub, container ships leaving China have fallen 20%. Global container traffic is forecast to fall 1% in 2020.
Inspite of being ten times more expensive, air freight companies said they have received inquiries about shipping even for parts like engine camshafts, as per a report můj odkaz.
Source : Various Agencies