Airfreight: service resumes while ash backlog remains
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CM COVER STORY
christopher.waltonfarbi.co.uk AIRFREIGHT HAULIERS say they are glad to he back to near-normal conditions after the six-day closure of airspace following the Icelandic volcanic eruption caused delays in the global supply chain.
However, some have warned that airfreight warehouses will not be cleared until the end of the week and. with space for airfreight at a premium on flights, delays could persist for several weeks to come.
Andy Kennedy, MD of Europa Worldwide Logistics, says: "Some of the airlines are not accepting new cargo until they have cleared some of the backlogs."
Europa, which runs airfreight as well as road transport services. is increasing vehicle availability for routes into Europe to help clear vol umes, particularly on its contract with the Royal Mail.
"We have been laying on a lot of extra trucks and, in the medium to long term, we will gain from that. Customers have seen that we can meet delivery slots and the price is cheaper."
Kuelme + Nagel is warning customers via its website that "the major challenge for the time to come" is to clear the huge backlogs in the major cargo hubs before new bookings are accepted by airfreight carriers.
Martin Carroll, chairman of SaintsTransjxm, says he expects the backlogs at the UK end of the supply chain to return to normal by the end of the week: "We have been very busy since [airspace re-opened]. Our lorries have returned from running in Europe. We are concentrating on the UK market now."
Roy Bowles Transport. which is based just one kilometre from the Heathrow cargo terminal, spent several days last week with threequarters of its fleet of 50 trucks parked up.
David Beal, operations manager at the company, says the situation did affect the firm quite seriosuly, but volumes started to come back over the weekend: "Airlines are now running at full capacity, which is brilliant for us."
• Bacldoads service uShip has reported a 20% spike in road freight for full and lessthan-truckload listings in the Eli for the week of 9-15 April. A spokesman for the firm says: It likely illustrates that UK transporters were astute to the opportunity that the lash cloudl situation presented." "3)
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