BRITISH charter broker Air Partner is expecting an increase in uk air cargo flights as supply chains come under pressure from a rising number of people in Covid isolation.
The expected increase comes as the country faces what is being dubbed a 'ping-demic' - a reference to receiving a 'ping' from the health service's Covid app notifying people they should isolate - after most lockdown restrictions were lifted on July 19.
The lifting of restrictions came just as Covid case numbers were beginning to increase, causing the number of people needing to isolate to rise, reports London's Air Cargo News.
This has had an impact on many sectors, forcing some businesses to temporarily close and supermarkets noting limitations on some products.
UK head of freight, Air Partner, Robert Jubb, said: 'As a result of the recent surge in the rate of self-isolation cases, in particular the staff shortage of lorry drivers, we are expecting to see an increase in demand for dedicated cargo flights from major retailers seeking to minimise disruption to the UK's supply chain.
'Previous complications to goods logistics due to both Covid and Brexit has seen our enquiries for airfreight increase by 60 per cent to meet demand for orders typically fulfilled via sea and road transportation.
'We expect this trend to continue in the short-term as frontline workers continue to be affected by the 'ping-demic' before rules change around self-isolation from August 16 onwards, to alleviate increasing pressure on UK businesses.'
The latest figures show that almost 620,000 people had been asked to isolate in the last week alone.
However, the government has announced that employers providing critical services can request exemption for some employees that are double vaccinated and that carry out daily tests.
The government said that this is 'not a blanket exemption for all workers in a sector'.
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The expected increase comes as the country faces what is being dubbed a 'ping-demic' - a reference to receiving a 'ping' from the health service's Covid app notifying people they should isolate - after most lockdown restrictions were lifted on July 19.
The lifting of restrictions came just as Covid case numbers were beginning to increase, causing the number of people needing to isolate to rise, reports London's Air Cargo News.
This has had an impact on many sectors, forcing some businesses to temporarily close and supermarkets noting limitations on some products.
UK head of freight, Air Partner, Robert Jubb, said: 'As a result of the recent surge in the rate of self-isolation cases, in particular the staff shortage of lorry drivers, we are expecting to see an increase in demand for dedicated cargo flights from major retailers seeking to minimise disruption to the UK's supply chain.
'Previous complications to goods logistics due to both Covid and Brexit has seen our enquiries for airfreight increase by 60 per cent to meet demand for orders typically fulfilled via sea and road transportation.
'We expect this trend to continue in the short-term as frontline workers continue to be affected by the 'ping-demic' before rules change around self-isolation from August 16 onwards, to alleviate increasing pressure on UK businesses.'
The latest figures show that almost 620,000 people had been asked to isolate in the last week alone.
However, the government has announced that employers providing critical services can request exemption for some employees that are double vaccinated and that carry out daily tests.
The government said that this is 'not a blanket exemption for all workers in a sector'.
SeaNews Turkey