Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Air cargo operations in Shanghai hit by Covid cases

Photo: Bergmann, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons 1024px-Shanghai_Pudong_Int._Airport_.jpg
Shippers hoping to turn to air freight from China to beat container shipping disruption are in for bad news as Shanghai’s Pudong Airport is hit by Covid cases.

In a customer advisory dated 20 August Maersk warned of the impact of the recent flare up of Covid-19 cases in China on  airport operations, and in particular Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.

The advisory highlighted that a series of protocols were being implemented at airports across China for both passenger and cargo flights.

“As part of this effort, airport terminals and ground handling agents have implemented strict isolation requirements for their employees that has dramatically impacted the efficiency of unloading/loading of cargo and resulted in large numbers of flight cancellations,” the advisory said.

In the case of Pudong Airport Maersk said that in response to new Covid cases on Friday a large portion of ramp operations were suspended, including loading and loading.

According to Chinese media four cases involved Chinese staff working on international cargo flights as well as an Ethiopian mechanical engineer over a two-day period.

“In response, many airlines have announced their suspension of flights to Pudong Airport. Several flights on the ground in Pudong Airport are now pending further instructions if they may proceed for unloading/loading their planned payload,” the advisory said.

For Maersk Airfreight it said forsaw delays and longer transit times.

TAGS: Asia covid-19