SUDDENLY the first flickers of smiles are appearing on the faces of cargo airline executives as the peak season out of Asia provides a bonanza of bookings and a rate escalation that has at least helped partially stem the haemorrhaging of cash.
Yet the unpredicted demand does not signal the beginning of the end of the financial problems besetting the industry. Shippers are crying foul as rates ex-Hong Kong have exceeded US$6 per kg and delays of up to seven days have been experienced. Mainland China, Thailand and Malaysia are among a number of other Asian countries experiencing serious backlogs in airfreight.
Yet the shippers and forwarders that have been a major force in driving airfreight rates down to unsustainable levels, cannot complain as airlines have scrambled to remove capacity from the market. |
