Category: Air

Forwarders and shippers face double air whammy

The rollout of COVID vaccines is slowly but surely restricting access to air freight services for other cargoes, at the same time that cargo handlers in the UK unveil massive price increases, that will directly impact the costs paid by air freight shippers. Just days into vaccine roll-outs and... Read more

Heathrow workers strike over pay cuts

Members of the Unite union employed at Heathrow Airport commenced their first 24 hour strike stoppage on Tuesday 1st December, in a dispute over what they claim are savage wage cuts imposed on the workforce through a “brutal fire and rehire programme” Heathrow says the Unite strike ac... Read more

Shippers switching to air to escape sea freight hell

With sea freight rates reaching some of the highest levels ever seen, along with equipment shortages, late vessels and still no guarantee of uplift, some shippers are starting to switch to air, driving up rates on a mode that had been enjoying some stability. The current lack of container line... Read more

Strong air freight demand expected to continue

Even as England enters a four-week lockdown and the rest of the UK operate under strict restrictions, consumer activity will continue to be strong, driving further air freight demand. Air freight rates from China continue to rise, as the peak season continues and distressed sea freight is incr... Read more

Inbound freight situation update

The UK’s supply chains are facing unparalleled challenges and some links are buckling under the strain. The following is a transcript of a customer advisory issued by Metro Shipping on Tuesday…….. The COVID pandemic continues to impact global and domestic freight in the most profound way... Read more

Life imitates the training

Last week the Metro training team ran in-house sessions on the threats posed by cyber-crime and business fraud….how prescient they were. The air freight sector has never faced so many challenges, with global demand rising - spiking from some origins - and likely to spike further in the comin... Read more

Air Freight Demand Continues to Fly

Further to recent reports of increased demand for air freight from Asia and generally around the Globe we have seen a continued increase this week in demand from China and the Asia Region. There have been many launches of tech products by Apple, Samsung and Sony and most are running later than... Read more

Metro resume twin UK air hub operations

The air freight market remains in a very different environment, to pre-pandemic conditions, with the vast majority of the world’s passenger aircraft fleet grounded and air cargo capacity a fraction of what it should be. During September we observed steady price increases by the remaining ope... Read more

Air freight market analysis

The global air cargo sector is recovering alongside improving economic activity and while most regions are on an upward swing, at different paces, volumes in Latin America have struggled amidst challenging economic and health conditions. Despite growing uncertainty in COVID19 developments,&nbs... Read more

Air freight peak season surge

With passenger flights significantly and severely reduced on most trade lanes, scarcity of air cargo space is ongoing, spot prices are entirely unpredictable and the market, in constant flux, is preparing for a major peak season from Asia. Data from aviation analyst Cirium shows that 3,762 wid... Read more

General Global freight market update

The current market conditions are a real mixed bag dependent on trade lane, mode of transport and region. Whilst some areas of global trade are experiencing extreme congestion, other areas are operating as normal for this time of year. Below is an overview of the current situation. Sea Freight... Read more

Top 20 cargo airports

Airports Council International (ACI) has revealed preliminary world airport traffic rankings covering cargo volumes, and aircraft movements for 2019 combined with a glimpse of 2020 data which shows the dramatic impact of COVID-19 on airports in the first quarter. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis ha... Read more