AIR freight groups and airlines, which only recently cut flights to China amid weak tourist demand, are scrambling to reroute planes and cash in on elevated freight rates out of the country ahead of the Christmas shopping season, reports London's Financial Times.
Strong growth in demand for cheap online goods from Chinese ecommerce groups and the rising use of air freight amid disruption in the Red Sea are threatening to overwhelm the already strained rapid delivery market before Christmas, causing air freight rates to jump.
The freight rate for flying goods from Asia to the US has surged, with the average spot price in October up 49 per cent from a year ago to US$5.46 a kilogramme, according to market analytics firm Xeneta. Rates from Asia to Europe rose 25 per cent over the same period.
The jump in air freight demand comes as China-founded ecommerce groups respond to western consumers' appetite for cheap goods. Many of their shipments are sent direct to consumers by air, taking advantage of import duty exemptions on shipments below a certain price.
SeaNews Turkey
Strong growth in demand for cheap online goods from Chinese ecommerce groups and the rising use of air freight amid disruption in the Red Sea are threatening to overwhelm the already strained rapid delivery market before Christmas, causing air freight rates to jump.
The freight rate for flying goods from Asia to the US has surged, with the average spot price in October up 49 per cent from a year ago to US$5.46 a kilogramme, according to market analytics firm Xeneta. Rates from Asia to Europe rose 25 per cent over the same period.
The jump in air freight demand comes as China-founded ecommerce groups respond to western consumers' appetite for cheap goods. Many of their shipments are sent direct to consumers by air, taking advantage of import duty exemptions on shipments below a certain price.
SeaNews Turkey
