Peak season chokes up air capacity from China

SA operators play the juggling game
ALAN PEAT
THERE IS currently a big problem getting airfreight out of Central China (where Shanghai is the aviation hub), with the peak season getting into full swing, and a major charter airline having to shut shop for the time being. According to Guy Hancock, Safcor Panalpina’s GM for Gauteng imports, space shortages are being experienced following the grounding of one of the local Chinese carriers. This has reduced available capacity by over 500-tonnes per week. Although the international parent company, Panalpina, has laid on special charter flights to help mitigate the situation, delays of up to 72-hours may still occur, he said. The initial problem is that there are no freighter flights out of China directly connecting with SA. “There are a number of alternative routes,” Hancock told FTW, “with the main options moving cargoes via Frankfurt, Singapore or Dubai – or, as in our own case, through our hub in Luxembourg.” But a lot of delayed cargo has been building up with the loss of the missing carrier’s cargo capacity, and has been creating backlogs in China. This has, in turn, spread to the hubs. The only answer here, Hancock added, is to ship cargo through other, less-congested hubs. It’s a careful juggling of alternatives. The peak season is facing its own problems, he added, where general airfreight capacity is already under severe pressure coping with China’s rapid economic development.