Category: Air

For the UK and Europe fears are growing that any prolonged denial of access to the Suez Canal could impact faltering economies and derail plans to start cutting interest rates later this year. Despite the confidence of European and UK central banks, uncertainties about the Red Sea crisis' impa... Read more

The US and UK carried out eight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, as the Iran-aligned armed group continues to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea, with no sign that the conflict will de-escalate anytime soon. While many hoped that the situation in the Red Sea might be a shor... Read more

Despite coalition military action, Houthi rebels continue to attack commercial shipping and with container shipping line’ schedules showing Cape of Good Hope routing for vessels into early February and beyond, it is clear that they do not expect short-term access through the Suez Canal and Red ... Read more

Leading retailers including IKEA and NEXT have warned that the diverting of vessels aways from the Suez canal and around southern Africa will result in delays and may restrict the availability of certain products. Re-routing container ships around Africa adds 3,500 nautical miles to a typical ... Read more

With the container shipping lines diverting around Africa until the Red Sea maritime security situation improves, the uncertainty and unpredictability that surrounds schedules could fuel demand for air cargo as shippers seek stability of services and certainty of transit times. Air cargo deman... Read more

In our 2023 supply chain review we said that we were hopeful that the formation of a coalition naval task force to patrol the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden would restore maritime security quickly, but Sunday’s two attacks on the Maersk Hangzhou suggest it could be some time before the route... Read more

2023 was supposed to be the year that global supply chains bounced back from pandemic lockdowns and factory shutdowns, trade wars, tariffs and war in Europe, but now container shipping is disrupted by attacks in the Red Sea and restrictions on the Panama Canal. The COVID pandemic and its after... Read more

As we move into our second year of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) investment, with Air France, KLM, Martinair, it is great to see the successful transatlantic flight, greater SAF availability and increasing options for green sea freight transport. The first transatlantic flight by a large pas... Read more

Airfreight spot rates continued to rise last week as weather conditions, volcanic activity and wars put capacity under pressure, with fears of a major eruption in Iceland growing - possibly within days. With the airfreight sector preparing to benefit from a potential reduction in ocean shippin... Read more

As part of the UK’s net zero commitment the government is supporting a variety of technology, fuel and market-based measures to address aviation emissions, with particular commitment to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The government recognise sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as crucial to ef... Read more

Air freight spot rates have risen steadily since August on major Asia outbound lanes and while there is no significant peak season the market is definitely tighter, with global rates and tonnages stabilising after China’s Golden Week. There is a perceptible uptick in air cargo rates, which i... Read more

Metro have worked in a strategic partnership with Birmingham Airport for almost 10 years and its importance as an air cargo hub and global gateway for the Midlands, has been further underlined by critical ground-handling investments and pending China freighter services. Metro’s partnership w... Read more