Integrators today re-introduced guaranteed express services to Europe and lifted more freightacceptance restrictions following the normalisation of their air operations while GLS confirmed it
had been only slightly impacted. Postal operators, however, still face delays to internationalmail.FedEx Express said it has resumed service to Europe from all points it serves globally andits money-back guarantee will apply, as usual, to all eligible shipments from today onwards. Inaddition, it has lifted its restrictions on International Priority Premium (IP1) and InternationalEconomy Freight (IEF) shipments. But it is not accepting International Express Freight (IXF) orAirport-to-Airport (ATA) shipments. FedEx Express, which began restoring its service to Europe onApril 18, indicated from April 19 to 22, it flew 7.7 million pounds of freight or the equivalent of53 MD-11s inbound and outbound from Europe.
UPS said in a service update that it today reinstated its money-back guarantee on expressshipments originating in Europe for destinations in Europe, the Americas and Asia following theresumption of normal operations. “We have resumed a full flight schedule to, from and within Europeas airspace restrictions have been lifted and we are moving express volume through our air networkas normal. A small number of shipments previously affected by airspace closures may stillexperience minor delays,” the company stated.
Similarly, DHL Express said in a service update that it has now resumed full standard operationsand services. “We would like to advise our customers that guaranteed time based services (eg. 9 am,12 noon) will commence for pickups from Friday April 23rd, 2010.” The 50kg per shipment restrictionfor Asia-to-Europe shipments was also lifted today. DHL Global Forwarding, however, still expects alonger period of impact on air freight shipments as airlines focus on clear their backlogs.
Meanwhile, road-based European parcels operator GLS confirmed it had operated normally throughthe flight ban apart from intercontinental air parcels. CEO Rico Back told CEP-Research: “The GLSservice is based on a well-developed road-based European network. On the European continent the GLSservice was thus not impacted in any way. Only the parcels transport by air cargo to Great Britainor to our worldwide partners were affected and delivered with delays.”
Looking ahead to the possible consequences of the widespread airport closures, Back commented: “Whether this will further reinforce the trend from air freight express shipping to road-basedstandard shipping remains to be seen. We already observed this trend during the economic crisis.The volcano eruption now shows that fast and normally very reliable air freight traffic isvulnerable.”
International air mail was also hit heavily by the six-day ban on flights in Europe and postaloperators still face delays as airlines work to clear the backlog of freight and mail shipments. “There has inevitably been an impact on international postal operations worldwide,” Universal PostalUnion spokesman Rhéal Leblanc told CEP-Research. “At the height of the problem, operators reportedan inability to forward mail to destinations due to a lack of flights and many resorted to roadtransportation to get mail as close to the destination as possible or to airports where flightswere being allowed.”
He added: “Posts dealt with the situation as best they could under the circumstances. Now thatflights have resumed, operators are forwarding their mail loads to destinations and catching up onservice commitments.” The UPU used its Emergency Information System (EmIS) to keep Posts worldwideupdated on the situation, he pointed out.
