Newsletter: March 3, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Desperate AirBridgeCargo hawks out freighter capacity – but for how long

theloadstar.com
AirBridgeCargo (ABC) is offering its fleet for ad hoc charters, after being banned from European, US and Canadian airspace and the consequent loss of its scheduled services – and customers.
The carrier informed forwarders it was “pleased to announce B747 freighters’ availability for immediate ad-hoc charter operations”. Read more here.

How can passenger pricing decisions impact cargo capacity?

aircargoweek
Traditional revenue management systems provide limited insight and accuracy into demand leading up to a flight’s departure. Furthermore, legacy solutions rely heavily on human, subjective interpretation of the impact of holidays or events. Especially today, legacy science, systems, and processes are struggling to support commercial decisions in this new, volatile environment in which the industry finds itself.

India: International Flights Remain Suspended Until Further Notice

simpleflyling.com
Indian citizens will have to wait a little longer for the resumption of regular international flights. The latest announcement by the DGCA has extended the suspension of scheduled international operations until further orders. Flights operating under the bilateral bubble arrangements remain the only option as of now for anyone planning to fly in and out of the country. Read more here. 

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Liner community bristles at Biden’s attack

splash247.com
In his state of the union speech on March 1, US President Biden accused global ocean carriers of anti-competitive behaviour. He said: “When corporations don’t have to compete, their profits go up, your prices go up, and small businesses and family farmers and ranchers go under. We see it happening with ocean carriers moving goods in and out of America. During the pandemic, these foreign-owned companies raised prices by as much as 1,000% and made record profits. Read more here. 

ONE’s Nixon says U.S. supply chain needs major upgrades

ajot.cpom
ONE’s Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Nixon spoke out against what he described as inefficiencies in U.S. and North American container terminal operations, warehousing, chassis handling and a lack of 24/7 operations.
His remarks came at a time when U.S. agricultural exports are struggling to book freight on ocean carriers while other U.S. shippers are complaining of high ocean carrier rates and reliability. Read more here. 

Containership orderbook closes in on all-time highs

splash247.com
The containership orderbook is about to hit an all-time high, elbowing out most other ship types, bar LNG, to take the lion’s share of building slots at leading yards across Asia.
Alphaliner’s data of confirmed containership orders shows more than 6.22m teu worth of vessels are now on order. Once a number of reported orders are confirmed, the orderbook will topple the heights experienced in 2008 when the orderbook-to-fleet ratio hit 65%. Read more here. 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Supply chain costs to rise as Ukraine crisis bites

aircargonews.net
Freight forwarders are warning of higher supply chain costs as the impact of the invasion of Ukraine disrupts transportation operations.
The forwarding sector said the airspace restrictions imposed by Russia, European states, Canada, the UK and in North America were forcing airlines to cancel and adjust services. Read more here.