AIR cargo carriers expect a demand surge in the event of no-deal exit from the European Union October 31, reports New York's FreightWeek.
Peter Stallion, an air cargo derivatives broker at Freight Investor Services, said a hard Brexit would see chartering activity spike if a capacity squeeze or a land/port route blockage occurred or seemed likely.
'You may see forwarders laying on charter services into the UK as some form of service guarantee to clients,' said Mr Stallion.
That is what occurred around the previous Brexit deadline of March 29, before a delay was agreed to by the UK and the EU. Air cargo operators reported a flurry of charter and scheduled bookings.
Raphael de Vannoise, UK-Ireland director for Air France-KLM Cargo, confirmed the carrier saw a demand increase in March ahead of the earlier Brexit deadline.
'A number of shippers seemed to want to ship unusual spot shipments and big flows as the deadline approached,' he said.
'We are preparing for Brexit in ensuring our feeder service by truck will keep working smoothly after the deadline in case of no deal, and we will work on plans for products - especially perishables - that may create issues at the border if we have no solutions by then,' said Mr de Vannoise.
A Lufthansa Cargo representative said its freighter network would be realigned if Brexit caused a change in cargo flows. 'In the event of a short-term increase in demand for air freight services, we are generally available both with our scheduled capacities and on request with freighter charter services,' he said.
Said Cargolux vice president Christoffel Nielen: 'In the event of a hard Brexit, customs delays would inevitably occur. In this case, air freight could be a solution. We are currently analysing and monitoring customer demand.'
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Peter Stallion, an air cargo derivatives broker at Freight Investor Services, said a hard Brexit would see chartering activity spike if a capacity squeeze or a land/port route blockage occurred or seemed likely.
'You may see forwarders laying on charter services into the UK as some form of service guarantee to clients,' said Mr Stallion.
That is what occurred around the previous Brexit deadline of March 29, before a delay was agreed to by the UK and the EU. Air cargo operators reported a flurry of charter and scheduled bookings.
Raphael de Vannoise, UK-Ireland director for Air France-KLM Cargo, confirmed the carrier saw a demand increase in March ahead of the earlier Brexit deadline.
'A number of shippers seemed to want to ship unusual spot shipments and big flows as the deadline approached,' he said.
'We are preparing for Brexit in ensuring our feeder service by truck will keep working smoothly after the deadline in case of no deal, and we will work on plans for products - especially perishables - that may create issues at the border if we have no solutions by then,' said Mr de Vannoise.
A Lufthansa Cargo representative said its freighter network would be realigned if Brexit caused a change in cargo flows. 'In the event of a short-term increase in demand for air freight services, we are generally available both with our scheduled capacities and on request with freighter charter services,' he said.
Said Cargolux vice president Christoffel Nielen: 'In the event of a hard Brexit, customs delays would inevitably occur. In this case, air freight could be a solution. We are currently analysing and monitoring customer demand.'
WORLD SHIPPING