DSV expands air cargo pharma product with Shanghai connection

Freight forwarder DSV is expanding its end-to-end pharma service Air ThermoDirect to include flights between Luxembourg and Shanghai Pudong. The pharma service is offered on multiple departures on dedicated freighter aircraft, with DSV controlling the scheduling, routing, and cargo handling to ensure greater reliability. The new connection will utilise Eastern Air Logistics' (EAL) specialised ground handling facilities in Shanghai and is further strengthened by ground handling agent partner China Eastern Logistics Cold Chain, which will provide "dedicated cold chain expertise and infrastructure". The company also plans to add a link between Indianapolis International Airport and Shanghai in the future. Kenneth Kallström, executive vice president, global enterprise vertical head, healthcare, said: "This is not just an expansion of our temperature-controlled network. It is a strategic gateway to Greater China and the broader Asian market. "DSV is helping customers improve supply chain efficiency, reduce operating costs, and ensure the integrity of critical healthcare products across one of the world's fastest-growing regions. "Through our sustainable reusable thermal packaging programme, we are reducing packaging waste and improving the environmental performance of cold chain logistics." The forwarder said that Shanghai Pudong serves as a key hub for temperature-controlled pharmaceutical cargo and plays a central role in connecting international manufacturers with the Asian healthcare market. "By expanding its presence at PVG, DSV strengthens its ability to support both inbound and outbound pharmaceutical flows with consistent, high-quality handling," DSV explained. The additional lane is the second expansion of the Air ThermoDirect service this year after the forwarder launched a new Luxembourg (LUX) to Indianapolis International (IND) pharma air route in June. Indianapolis is one of the US' fastest-growing life sciences and healthcare logistics hubs.

Priority airfreight squeezed as UK cargo recovers from NATS failure

UK air cargo operators are working through backlogs, following yesterday's air traffic control failure, with pressure emerging on express and priority capacity as forwarders seek to protect customer delivery commitments. "We will see forwarders fighting for express capacity by upgrading the priority status on general cargo - with them absorbing any express or priority rate to ensure they meet their customer's SLA," a UK forwarder told The Loadstar. Carriers could respond by temporarily restricting acceptance of express bookings or raising priority rates until backlogs had been cleared, the forwarder added. However, the disruption is not expected to have a significant impact on general airfreight rates, while flight data suggests dedicated freighter operations at East Midlands and Stansted proved more resilient than Heathrow's bellyhold network. The disruption followed a technical problem with the NATS flight-processing system yesterday afternoon, which resulted in widespread restrictions on UK flights. NATS announced the problem at 1.46pm and, around three hours later, said it had implemented a fix and its flight system was beginning to recover. More than 1,750 flights were reported cancelled across the UK. The biggest impact on UK air cargo appears to have been at Heathrow, where cancellations of long-haul passenger services removed belly capacity on a number of major cargo routes. And Heathrow suspended arrivals for the remainder of yesterday, although departures resumed later. This morning, the airport said: "Heathrow's operations are recovering. Flights are operating today, however some knock-on disruption is expected as airlines reposition aircraft and crew." Flight data reviewed by The Loadstar confirmed the cancellation of a number of long-haul widebody services from Heathrow, including flights to North America, Asia, and Africa, while other long-haul services suffered significant delays. The UK forwarder said backlogs were inevitable, but carriers had continued accepting cargo despite the disruption, and some had recovered considerably faster than others. Virgin Atlantic Cargo and American Airlines Cargo were singled out as having recovered particularly well. Virgin Atlantic told customers: "While the technical issue affecting the NATS air traffic control system has now been resolved, recovery across the wider aviation industry is ongoing. Virgin Atlantic expects to operate its planned flying programme on Wednesday 9th September, although some shipments will continue to experience disruption as a result of the outage. Customers should check Track and Trace for the latest status update. "We have seen some carriers adopt creative routings to maximise all capacity ex-LHR and utilise alternative airports too." The forwarder added: "There will inevitably be backlogs and delays and each airline is recovering as best they can, in a way operationally suitable to them. "Carriers have continued to accept cargo despite backlogs, which is good." The relatively short duration of the underlying NATS problem should also limit the impact on the wider airfreight market. "NATS rectified the issue fairly quickly in the grand scheme of things, so we will not see any significant rate impact," the forwarder said. The forwarder warned that carriers could temporarily halt acceptance of express bookings or increase priority rates while backlogs were cleared. Meanwhile, flight data indicates that a number of key dedicated freighter services continued to operate despite the disruption. East Midlands Airport initially suspended 19 departures yesterday while awaiting further guidance from NATS, although arrivals remained unaffected at that stage. However, key freighter departures subsequently operated during the evening, including from Maersk Air Cargo and DHL, according to flight data reviewed by The Loadstar. DHL confirmed that its operation had been affected, but indicated that it had maintained services. "While yesterday's disruption had some operational impact, our teams responded quickly and worked throughout the day and night to minimise customer impact and maintain service continuity," a DHL spokesperson told The Loadstar. The movements suggest the UK's freighter gateways proved relatively resilient to the disruption, in contrast to Heathrow, where the cancellation of long-haul passenger flights immediately removed bellyhold capacity. While the full impact on freight volumes remains unclear, the relatively rapid restoration of the NATS system, continued operation of key freighter services, and airlines' efforts to reroute cargo suggest the disruption is likely to result in a short-lived capacity squeeze rather than a wider shock to the UK airfreight market.

OceanX: From Guangzhou to Singapore; rising carrier margins; remembering Hanjin

Just back in Switzerland after what can only be described as some intense last few days of a long Asia trip to Singapore. It was quite an interesting journey to get there from Guangzhou - one that really makes you feel the vastness of the Pearl River Delta or the Greater Bay Area. After some nice dim sum with our local member, I got my luggage, and made my way into the Guangzhou East station, one of the early points in ...