Regional Pulse: Forwarders request additional BSAs, charter flights ex-Japan to fulfill US demand

Airfreight stakeholders with operations in Japan report that Japanese exports, which are currently driven by U.S. demand for automotive-related shipments, has forwarders requesting for additional block space agreements (BSAs) and charters due to the lack of scheduled flights. While most cargo is being transported via scheduled flights, charter and non-scheduled flights are being operated for many U.S. destinations, including Chicago (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX), due to the lack of scheduled flights from Japan (NRT) to the U.S., ANA Cargo’s Global Sales and Global Network team told Air Cargo World . They further noted that the strong demand for charter flights and the long-term purchase of space is expected to continue into 2022. [caption id="attachment_96132" align="alignright" width="381"] Photo: ANA[/caption] "Some cargo [has] shifted from sea freight to airfreight due to omitting ports in Japan and space shortage,” an ANA Cargo spokesperson said. “Furthermore, the tight supply-demand balance is still continuing since there is a strong demand for transporting semiconductors and vehicle-related cargo.” While the global economy continued to be impacted by COVID-19, the Japanese economy saw steady growth in the manufacturing sector, specifically due to increased export demand from recovering economies, including the U.S., according to Japanese forwarder Kintetsu World Express’ Nov. 10 fiscal report. However, the pandemic continued to impact non-manufacturing sectors and demand fueled by consumer purchases. Regardless, during the six-month period of the fiscal report, airfreight exports in Japan grew 63% to 89,000 tonnes, driven by electronics and automotive shipments, according to the report. In December, KWE exported roughly 16,479 tonnes of cargo from Japan, a 40% increase compared to December 2019, according to KWE’s latest airfreight volume update. In terms of imports, KWE handled roughly 31,896 shipments in December compared to 27,331 shipments during the same month in 2019. Throughout the past few months carriers and freight forwarders have been working to increase connectivity to and from Japan to combat capacity shortages and meet the elevated demand. For instance, ANA Cargo re-launched a twice-weekly, non-scheduled flight between NRT and LAX Dec. 18 using a 777F aircraft, ANA Cargo said. Earlier in the year the carrier also introduced flights connecting LAX-Hong Kong (HKG)-Taiwan (TPE)-Qingdao (TAO)-NRT, and a route connecting Beijing (PEK), Hangzhou (HGH) and NRT. Meanwhile in October FedEx Express launched a four-times-weekly flight between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Kansai International Airport (KIX) to help meet the growing e-commerce demand in the Asia-Pacific region. From KIX, the flight has an additional connection to Guangzhou (CAN) in China.

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