Pierre Vanders, Group Director Cargo-Operations

“The surge for Covid-19 relief Cargo, which includes the transportation of faces masks, gloves, protective gowns, thermometers, ventilators from China to nearly every continent has peaked until last week, with most cargo aircraft capacity sold-out. We have occasionally found sudden wide body freighters available on short notice basis when a cancellation takes place. The general lead time for a cargo aircraft availability is three weeks. The huge amount of traffic from China also translated to congestion at Chinese airports, some of which have declined handling further flights due to the cargo terminal being beyond overcapacity. Furthermore, scheduled passenger airlines are offering their passenger aircraft to transport cargo in the belly as well as the passenger cabins, from the large legacy carriers to the smaller regional carriers all offering capacity with reduced lead time. This week however we’ve seen a small reduction in demand for aircraft with a slight decrease in prices with the market adjusting itself as more capacity is being introduced on the market with passenger aircraft offering cargo space. However the demand is still very much well above the norm. I expect the demand to drop slightly as well as prices (only marginally) before some borders reopen and carriers are allowed to reinstate scheduled passenger flights.”

About Chapman Freeborn:

The Chapman Freeborn group was established in the UK in 1973. The company has offices worldwide including North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. In the cargo market, Chapman Freeborn Airchartering specialises in the charter and lease of aircraft for a wide-ranging customer base, including freight forwarders, multinational corporations, governments, humanitarian agencies and a host of industries around the globe. In addition to freight services, Chapman Freeborn offers specialist passenger services including private jet charters for executive travel and large aircraft for crew rotations and international group travel.

Chapman Freeborn is a family member of Avia Solutions Group, the largest aerospace business group from Central & Eastern Europe with 83 offices and production stations providing aviation services and solutions worldwide.