Global logistics is experiencing a growing deficit in freight capacity across all modes of transportation. Air freight, in particular, is in high demand within the project logistics sector. deugro say they are satisfying this demand with an increasing number of air charters for critical equipment.
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting schedules, available freight capacity and freight rates of shipping lines, airlines, haulers and rail companies all over the world. Because complex process chains and a considerable amount of investments are affected, the projects logistics business, above all, is facing a host of challenges. Out-of-gauge and heavy lift project shipments require special transportation equipment and engineering work, which limits the number of options for transportation and alternative solutions.
In light of this, deugro’s head of air chartering, Pavel Kuznetsov, sees rising demand for air freight, especially on the full/part-chartering sector: “The air freight division of deugro is currently arranging a growing number of air charters for the transportation of critical equipment in order to minimize delays and disruptions in the supply chain. Our team, which includes in-house transport engineers, is busy and in close contact with clients and airlines to design solutions for transportation of oversized and heavy weight equipment by air.”
deugro has contact with the relevant airlines, giving them access to several hundred aircraft of different types. These range from small B-737 freighter versions to massive Antonov-225 capable of carrying up to 250 metric tons of cargo.
Due to size and weight restrictions, not all types of cargo can be transported by air. In the current situation, it has become essential to combine what is currently available, and to undertake 360degree planning across all capacity and transportation modes. Besides utilizing empty ferry legs, combining scheduled and charter services or using a mix of several aircraft types, air transportation combinations with ocean, road and rail are highly viable solutions.
