Air freight favoured to avoid disruption due to Red Sea crisis: Xeneta

Businesses across the consumer retail and apparel sector told the platform that delays and disruption caused by Houthi militia attacks on container ships in the Red Sea have forced them to take action.

The latest data released by Xeneta show air cargo volumes from Vietnam to Europe—a major trade route for apparel—spiked by 62 per cent in the week ending January 14. This is also 6 per cent higher than last year’s peak week in October and a 16-per cent increase on the volumes recorded in the same week 12 months ago.

“This is the first signal in Xeneta data that the Red Sea crisis is impacting air freight. This is typically a quieter time of year for air freight so to see increases of this magnitude, with higher volumes than at any point in 2023, is significant,” Xeneta chief airfreight officer Niall van de Wouw said.

“Routes from Vietnam to Europe are used heavily for apparel, a sector we have been told is switching more goods from ocean to air due to the Red Sea crisis, so it is particularly noteworthy we are seeing volumes increase to such an extent on this trade,” he said in a company release.

The upcoming Lunar New Year may also be contributing to the increase in volumes, he noted.

Air freight rates from Vietnam to Europe have increased, but with increasing volumes putting pressure on capacity and load factor, costs could be set to rise further, Xeneta observed.

“In the next two weeks we should know for sure if this represents a genuine and significant shift from ocean to air freight due to the Red Sea crisis,” Van de Wouw added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)