The fire that caused London Heathrow Airport to close overnight, may be about to disrupt air freight services for the next week or two.
When the airport reopens, currently expected to be midnight Friday March 21st at the earliest, it will have caused over 24 hours of disruption and led to the cancellation or diversion of over 1300 flights.
Airborne flights from all over the globe were diverted to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Manchester overnight, and in most cases the cargo will need to be transported back to Heathrow.
Some airline sheds have also been impacted by the power outage, and while import collections can still be arranged for the majority of customs cleared shipments, export deliveries are only viable if the specific warehouse has sufficient power.
More than 70% of the UK’s air cargo relies on flights and operations through Heathrow, including many shipments that start out at other airports. Therefore, with no flights departing and arriving for a prolonged period, it could be a week or two before backlogs are cleared and operations return to normal.
For more information on the above, or to discuss alternative solutions, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Regal Crown team.
