48-hour travel ban to France from the UK has already led to ‘dozens of requests for air bridges,’ says Air Charter Service.
Leading air charter broker, Air Charter Service (ACS) has reported spectacular growth in cargo flight bookings this month as shippers turn to air freight to preserve the supply chains for vital goods from Brexit-related disruption and congestion at UK and EU ports, with the trend set to continue into January.
And the company expects to be even busier as a result of the 48-hour travel ban currently affecting accompanied road freight to France from the UK which was imposed earlier today to curb the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus.
Recent weeks have already seen a surge in cross-Channel HGV traffic, largely due to a continued stockpiling of goods as the end of the transition period approaches, with long queues of trucks becoming the norm at both the Port Calais and Eurotunnel’s French terminal, leading to significant delays in transit times.
Bookings for cargo charter flights soar
ACS is one of eight transport operators to have a contract with the UK authorities to deliver pharmaceuticals,which could include COVID vaccines, food and vital goods, in the event of significant delays at UK borders when the Brexit transition period ends, and the only one spécialised in aviation.
‘What we can say is that the ‘disruption’ has already started to the point where our current rate of bookings for cargo charter flights is up 300% on ‘normal’ figures for December so far. We are very busy doing EU-UK flights and the majority of shipments concern medical/pharma and automotive products,’ Air Charter Service’s (ACS) Group Cargo director, Dan Morgan-Evans, told Lloyd’s Loading List in an interview.
Focusing on potential demand in January, he said the company has received approximately 100 inquiries so far for a mixture of standby aircraft and charters.
“The issue companies have is that nobody knows what degree of disruption there will be, the exact nature of it and the effect on their supply chains. While they may know that they will need x tonnes of automotive parts to travel between the EU and UK in the first week of January, they won’t know which shipments specifically are likely to be delayed, or will require alternative routes.
Morgan-Evans added: “Nor are they in a position yet to provide precise dates on when air freight capacity will be needed, how much and from which locations. In any case, we believe the air cargo industry can step up to the task of importing vital commodities to the UK which could include COVID vaccines. Certainly, a company like ACS is here to deliver.”
Air bridges
Asked what the impact of the 48-hour travel ban to France from the UK and the travel restrictions put in place in other European countries is likely to have on ACS’ business, he replied: “We are expecting to be extremely busy. We have already had dozens of requests for air bridges first thing this morning from large customers. The issue will be the number of aircraft available, with only a couple of hundred suitable aircraft in Europe. Even if this only lasts for 48 hours, the disruption to supply chains between the UK and EU will be significant.”
BAe 146 freighter
Last week, in a statement, ACS announced that it had already started to secure exclusive capacity for its customers ahead of the Brexit transition period ending on 1 January by contracting a UK-registered BAe 146 freighter.
”The aircraft is the first of what ACS hopes to be a number of options that the company is securing in order to ensure that, in the scramble for capacity due to Brexit disruption, it can continue to offer its clients competitive solutions. As the aircraft is UK-registered, there will be no need for permits to fly into the country.
Commenting in the statement, Morgan-Evans said: “According to government statistics, if even a small percentage of cargo coming through the UK’s sea ports in January requires transportation by air due to the disruption, there would be a significant requirement for airfreight – the equivalent of filling thousands of Boeing B747 freighters, in some scenarios. With the continued lack of belly capacity potentially exacerbated in January by this anticipated spike in demand, charter aircraft will have to pick up the shortfall.”
He continued: “The Bae 146 was identified as an ideal aircraft in many of our simulated scenarios, which included looking at the possibility of landing at smaller airports in the event of cargo congestion at major airports. However, there are a limited number available, especially on the G register.
“Whilst we can already source all of the 146’s on the market reactively like many other brokers, we felt that exclusive use of this aircraft would give ACS customers an advantage, should the situation escalate. We have a long history of dealing with these sorts of situations and know very well that relying on being ‘first come first served’ once demand has already spiked is not best for our customers – especially those who have last-minute requirements.”
The aircraft offers 12 tonnes of gross payload with a total volume of around 120m³. With the roller bed floors being removed, the aircraft can also be bulk loaded.
Morgan-Evans concluded: “We would advise all of our customers to get in touch with potential requirements sooner rather than later. Even if you do not have firm requirements at this stage, starting the conversation sooner rather than later helps us move quickly in order to ensure clients do not miss out.”
Source: Lloyd´s
