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Ocean congestion and tariffs could see more peak air volumes

The air cargo sector could benefit from shippers switching from congested ocean transport to air in the fourth quarter and further shifts once there is more clarity on tariffs, Dimerco has predicted in its October Asia Pacific Freight Report. The Taiwanese freight forwarder said that persistent ocean congestion could result in more air cargo as the peak season progresses because ocean shipping has faced supply chain disruption and demand has not slowed as quickly as expected, meaning the peak of the fourth quarter has been prolonged. Dimerco also pointed out that China-US shipments held back because of uncertainty around tariffs will be released once the situation becomes clearer. Due to time constraints, some of these shipments that were intended for ocean transportation may be sent by air instead, tightening capacity further. "Dimerco expects clearer tariff direction and persistent ocean congestion to potentially push more cargo into air as Q4 progresses," said the company. "Bookings look quiet right now, but that's the calm before the door opens. Once held-back China-US cargo releases and ocean congestion pushes shippers into air, the space will face some constraints," observed Kathy Liu, vice president, global sales and marketing at Dimerco Express Group. At the same time, AI, semiconductor and year-end retail demand are continuing to push up demand and keep capacity tight in many origins, and in particular, airfreight remains tight across several Northeast Asian markets. Taiwan continues to see strong demand for AI servers, semiconductors, high-performance computing equipment and electronic components, keeping rates under upward pressure to the US and across intra-Asia lanes, said Dimerco. South Korea is also seeing tighter conditions around the Korean harvest festival "Chuseok", with some Southeast Asia services from Incheon requiring bookings up to two weeks in advance. Conditions in China are more mixed. Pre-holiday and e-commerce activity is tightening some regional routes, while US and Europe capacity remains more balanced in several origins. Across Southeast Asia, India and Australia, air capacity to the US remains tight from most origins. Singapore faces backlog conditions, Thailand is dealing with capacity reductions and flooding-related delays at Bangkok, while India is entering its festive season with both air and ocean space constrained to Europe and the US.

SAS Cargo appoints Allied Aviation as GSSA for India

Allied Aviation has been appointed General Sales and Services Agent (GSSA) for India by SAS Cargo from 1 October to support its five weekly services between Mumbai, India, and Copenhagen, Denmark. SAS Cargo will operate the Copenhagen to Mumbai services using Airbus A330 aircraft, with Allied responsible for cargo sales, supervision, and revenue optimisation across India. "This is an important addition to our airline portfolio, giving Indian exporters direct capacity into Copenhagen and access to SAS Cargo's wider network across Scandinavia and beyond," said Kritika Seth, executive director, Allied Aviation. Allied will target a broad commodity mix for the Mumbai services, including high value pharmaceuticals, perishables, engineering goods and machinery, garments, and ecommerce shipments. "Our teams have longstanding connections with forwarders across India and will use that experience to build demand for the new Mumbai services and support SAS Cargo as it develops its presence in the Indian cargo market," said Seth. Allied will support cargo sales through its network, which includes offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Military aid prompts Thai Airways u-turn on cargo booking embargo

Thai Airways has landed something of a reprieve from an embargo on cargo services, after concerns over the country's export sector prompted last-minute government intervention to tackle major labour and equipment shortages provoked by widespread flooding late last week. Having, on Tuesday, announced a six-day suspension on all cargo bookings from today, which it put down to equipment and personnel shortages, the flag-carrier last night issued a retraction. "In order to alleviate the inconvenience and operational impact on all stakeholders involved in air cargo transportation, Thai Cargo Terminal Operations has considered it appropriate to cancel the embargo on inbound, outbound, and transhipment cargo," the carrier said. The rapid volte-face was helped in no small part by the government making available some 130 members of the military, with another 100 planned, to support ground handling services, amid mounting concerns for the country's export sector, with 33% of exports moving by air. Those concerns led transport minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn to tell Thai Airways to keep cargo services operating, adding: "We will not leave the burden with any one party. We will work together and share responsibility." Indeed, support has also been forthcoming from Airports of Thailand, which, with government support, made extra covered space available to Thai Airways to enable it to clear the backlog created by the cancellation of multiple services. Despite a month's worth of rain falling on Bangkok and Central Thailand in just a few days, flights and airports were not directly affected, one MNC told The Loadstar this morning services had continued "running normally". The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand noted that flooding had left many ground service staff unable to travel to work, affecting loading and unloading of aircraft, with Thai Airways particularly affected. The impact is noticeable in data supplied by Rotate, which indicated week-on-week exports to North America fell 65%, with Europe-destined volumes falling by 200 tonnes over the same period, down 5% week on week. Commerce minister Suphajee Suthumpun expressed concern that the immediate hit in export values was secondary, claiming "more worrying" was the potential "impact on the confidence of trading partners and businesses".