Air freight rates have risen by as much as 70pc on some routes since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the IATA World Cargo congress has been told. The conflict is limiting flights, while blocking ocean shipments and increases jet fuel costs.
Routes between South Asia and Europe face the most impact from airspace closures and security issues. Over 100 container ships remain stranded around the Strait of Hormuz. Companies are shifting some freight like generic medicines from ocean to air despite higher costs.
The main shift involve companies moving generic medicines from ocean freight to air cargo. Customers are shifting freight from ocean to air, which typically costs five to ten times higher, and those costs are climbing as capacity tightens.
These trends may reflect Asian and European carriers adding capacity to these long-haul lanes to make up for the missing Gulf capacity, and they may also reflect some of the Gulf carriers, most importantly Emirates, having restarted operations and increasing the number of flights that are now leaving and arriving at these important Gulf hubs.
