Air Freight status update: PVG, HKG and FRA airports

Shanghai PVG and other airports in China:

• The export demand from China increased by 30% during the Golden Week compared to previous weeks. Overbooking continues after the holiday.
• At Shanghai PVG airport, ground handling capacity remains at 60-70% of the normal level.
• Alternate airports in China including Zhengzhou (CGO), Beijing (PEK) and major Southern Chinese airports are under pressure, therefore, alternative routings are hardly available.
• Most of the carriers are not offering additional capacities for both westbound and eastbound, so space is scarce and rates are staying on a high level.
• In Hong Kong (HKG), the air freight market has been disrupted by two typhoons in seven days. As a result, many flights have been cancelled and the recovery process is underway.
• On top of the adverse weather conditions, COVID cases were reported in the largest cargo handling agent in Hong Kong airport, leading to a reduced handling capacity and additional flight cancellations.

Frankfurt airport (FRA):

• At Frankfurt airport, Frankfurt Cargo Services (FCS), the largest Airline Handling Agent in Frankfurt, is currently facing some major issues on the import handling. Equipment is only available to a limited extent and, therefore, resulting a slight backlog.
• A change in the customs process that requires complete and correct data submission from the airlines to avoid single handling of each shipment has led to delays in cargo handling.
• Some airlines have not yet fully implemented the necessary adjustments which ended up in an increasing number of shipments needed to be handled in a ‘manual’ procedure causing massive backlogs. 
• The situation at FCS is slowly improving but it has to be expected that it will take approximately 8 – 10 days to clear this backlog.
• In the meantime, customs authorities agreed to temporarily suspend the new process until the end of this month.
• Due to this, newly arriving shipments can only be handled with limited delays.
• Other Handling Agents at Frankfurt are also reporting a critical situation and have already taken measures such as shortening delivery times for export.

At DACHSER, our air freight network capabilities stay robust and resilient and we are working restlessly to keep it stable. Should you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with your local representative of DACHSER who will be happy to assist you.