The scramble for cargo aircraft as shipping costs soar

Image source, Getty Images

A cargo plane in Italy was loaded with thousands of lipsticks as the shipping supply crisis worsened. They were on their way to the US.

The founder of a California-based beauty brand relied on sea freight for years. It had always been reliable.

She had to pay to send the lipsticks by air to get them to her customers on time.

We had to do it for two shipments. These were goods that had already been committed to retailers.

She says it was worth it to keep the clients because the lipsticks were flown-in at a slight loss.

Image source, True + Luscious

Firms have been making a lot of decisions recently. There is no let-up yet.

David Bergman, chief financial officer for sportswear brand, Under, said that they have used a lot of air freight, which they are not excited about.

Air freight was used to ship specialty plastics.

A US Census Bureau service called USA Trade Online tracks cargo flows in and out of the country, and in the first 10 months of the year, 78.9 million km of car parts were sent by air from Asia to the US - a staggering increase from the 3 million km shipped during the

Sending goods by air has always been expensive. It is more expensive now.

Air freight costs from Asia to North America have hit levels I have never seen before.

The huge fall in passenger flights since the start of the Pandemic is partly to blame for this.

belly cargo is usually used in the holds of passenger planes to carry air freight. With less space, airlines have been trying to convert passenger aircraft into freighters and bring older models out of retirement.

AirBridgeCargo Airlines, a subsidiary of Russian air freight specialist, Volga-Dnepr, is boosting its fleet with an additional six aircraft.

Backlogs at airports have been rolling over since early autumn.

Air Canada rushed cargo aircraft into service before they had a chance to finish their work, in some cases.

To get additional capacity into the sky, manufacturers have been flooded with requests to convert former passenger aircraft to carry more cargo. The process includes removing the passenger seats.

Image source, Airbus

Crawford Hamilton, head of marketing for freighter marketing at Airbus, says that they are sold out for the next two to three years.

We were not in a position to say that two years ago.

Air freight accounts for over 30% of the value in the entire freight market. Consumer electronics and fashion goods that have a short market life can be sent by air. Planes have carried a lot of vaccines and personal protective equipment.

The BelugaST aircraft, also known as flying whales, are the basis of the new air-cargo service.

The question is whether demand for air freight will remain strong. With lots of aircraft permanently converted to carry freight, and belly cargo capacity rising once again, Robert Mayer at Cranfield University wonders if there might be too much capacity in the market half a decade from now.

Image source, Airbus

The aircraft manufacturers seem confident. The A350F aircraft was just launched and is in anticipation of rising demand for dedicated cargo carriers.

It's 40% more fuel efficient than a Boeing 747 and can carry as much cargo. The use of lighter materials in the body of the aircraft is one way in which this is achieved.

Boeing is also bullish. Between now and 2039, it predicts that the number of air freighters will grow by 60%. By that time, 2,400 new cargo carriers will need to be built.

Tom Sanderson, director of product marketing at Boeing, says that the company may introduce a freighter variant of its latest wide-bodied passenger jet, the 777X, but it will be several years before it comes into service.

If aviation gets green, there will be more freight moving by air in the coming years.

Both Boeing and Airbus are currently testing sustainable aviation fuels that can be used on existing aircraft instead of fossil fuel-based propellants.

Image source, Eviation

Electric planes are likely to become more common. 12 fully electric aircraft have been ordered by DHL Express.

The environmental impact of air freight is one thing that puts Ms. Sethi off using it more often.

If we were to rely on air freight, it would definitely bother me because of the increase in carbon footprint.

She is rethinking her reliance on global supply chains. She decided to source some of her products from suppliers closer to home to avoid shipping problems in the future.

She says that some of the orders will go to the New Jersey manufacturer.

I cannot cut it too close anymore.