The Red Sea crisis is causing a surge in international airfreight demand. According to The Wall Street Journal, experts say air freight shipping has been growing at an unseasonably strong, double-digit pace, boosted by strong exports from Asia and the Middle East to Europe.
Shippers are trying to fly around the Red Sea, where attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial shipping have sent ocean carriers on longer routes around Africa, instead of going through the Suez Canal. That, in turn, is raising volumes at European seaports farther from the conflict, leading to more combined sea-air transport through hubs such as Dubai.
Data provider Xeneta says it’s also helping drive up airfreight prices, with average spot rates out of the Middle East and South Asia to Europe up 71% in March over last year.
