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Priority airfreight squeezed as UK cargo recovers from NATS failure

UK air cargo operators are working through backlogs, following yesterday's air traffic control failure, with pressure emerging on express and priority capacity as forwarders seek to protect customer delivery commitments. "We will see forwarders fighting for express capacity by upgrading the priority status on general cargo - with them absorbing any express or priority rate to ensure they meet their customer's SLA," a UK forwarder told The Loadstar. Carriers could respond by temporarily restricting acceptance of express bookings or raising priority rates until backlogs had been cleared, the forwarder added. However, the disruption is not expected to have a significant impact on general airfreight rates, while flight data suggests dedicated freighter operations at East Midlands and Stansted proved more resilient than Heathrow's bellyhold network. The disruption followed a technical problem with the NATS flight-processing system yesterday afternoon, which resulted in widespread restrictions on UK flights. NATS announced the problem at 1.46pm and, around three hours later, said it had implemented a fix and its flight system was beginning to recover. More than 1,750 flights were reported cancelled across the UK. The biggest impact on UK air cargo appears to have been at Heathrow, where cancellations of long-haul passenger services removed belly capacity on a number of major cargo routes. And Heathrow suspended arrivals for the remainder of yesterday, although departures resumed later. This morning, the airport said: "Heathrow's operations are recovering. Flights are operating today, however some knock-on disruption is expected as airlines reposition aircraft and crew." Flight data reviewed by The Loadstar confirmed the cancellation of a number of long-haul widebody services from Heathrow, including flights to North America, Asia, and Africa, while other long-haul services suffered significant delays. The UK forwarder said backlogs were inevitable, but carriers had continued accepting cargo despite the disruption, and some had recovered considerably faster than others. Virgin Atlantic Cargo and American Airlines Cargo were singled out as having recovered particularly well. Virgin Atlantic told customers: "While the technical issue affecting the NATS air traffic control system has now been resolved, recovery across the wider aviation industry is ongoing. Virgin Atlantic expects to operate its planned flying programme on Wednesday 9th September, although some shipments will continue to experience disruption as a result of the outage. Customers should check Track and Trace for the latest status update. "We have seen some carriers adopt creative routings to maximise all capacity ex-LHR and utilise alternative airports too." The forwarder added: "There will inevitably be backlogs and delays and each airline is recovering as best they can, in a way operationally suitable to them. "Carriers have continued to accept cargo despite backlogs, which is good." The relatively short duration of the underlying NATS problem should also limit the impact on the wider airfreight market. "NATS rectified the issue fairly quickly in the grand scheme of things, so we will not see any significant rate impact," the forwarder said. The forwarder warned that carriers could temporarily halt acceptance of express bookings or increase priority rates while backlogs were cleared. Meanwhile, flight data indicates that a number of key dedicated freighter services continued to operate despite the disruption. East Midlands Airport initially suspended 19 departures yesterday while awaiting further guidance from NATS, although arrivals remained unaffected at that stage. However, key freighter departures subsequently operated during the evening, including from Maersk Air Cargo and DHL, according to flight data reviewed by The Loadstar. DHL confirmed that its operation had been affected, but indicated that it had maintained services. "While yesterday's disruption had some operational impact, our teams responded quickly and worked throughout the day and night to minimise customer impact and maintain service continuity," a DHL spokesperson told The Loadstar. The movements suggest the UK's freighter gateways proved relatively resilient to the disruption, in contrast to Heathrow, where the cancellation of long-haul passenger flights immediately removed bellyhold capacity. While the full impact on freight volumes remains unclear, the relatively rapid restoration of the NATS system, continued operation of key freighter services, and airlines' efforts to reroute cargo suggest the disruption is likely to result in a short-lived capacity squeeze rather than a wider shock to the UK airfreight market.

Indonesian airports reopen after volcanic eruption

Air cargo supply chains from Indonesia are in recovery mode after a volcanic eruption over the weekend resulted in the closure of many of the country's major airports. Anak Krakatau, which is located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, began erupting on Friday and spewed out ash for much of the weekend resulting in the closure of eight airports in the country, including Indonesia's main airfreight gateway, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta. Soekarno-Hatta, along with four other airports have since reopened, but the closure is expected to have caused major disruption to the country's air cargo operations. More than 3,000 flights are reported to have been cancelled, leaving cargo stranded. Freight forwarder Atlantic Pacific said it could take some time for air cargo operations to recover. "Even once airports reopen, airlines will need time to restore aircraft rotations, reposition crews and clear accumulated cargo backlogs," the forwarder said. "This could lead to slower recovery times, reduced short-term capacity and missed onward connections." This view was echoed by Global Logistics Freight Solutions: "The impact on airfreight will not necessarily end with the reopening of the airports. "Cargo that was due to travel during the closure will need to be rebooked or accommodated on restored services. Aircraft and crews have been displaced from their planned rotations, and airlines must inspect 178 aircraft that were grounded at Soekarno-Hatta. "This can create pressure on available capacity and lead to delayed uplift, missed onward connections and cargo rollovers over the coming days." UK forwarder Unique Forwarding warned of knock-on effects at other airports. "Although no airports outside Indonesia have closed, freight moving to or from the UK through regional hubs such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Doha could experience knock-on delays as airlines reposition aircraft and work through disrupted schedules," the company said.

Flexport's 9/11 post: Rage bait becomes the business model

Ryan Petersen doesn't have a profitability problem. He has a discipline problem. On September 11, 2026, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in American history, the Flexport founder and CEO posted a promotional clip on X for a flight simulator game. The caption, as captured by industry veteran Nick Coverdale, read: "Warning: Annoying fighter jets may try to shoot you down. To make them stop you can shoot them down first." The visual was a 747 in ...