The current low capacity, equipment shortages and port congestion in ocean freight are having a knock-on effect for air freight services, where demand has risen significantly since the Red Sea crisis began.

Naturally, when going through a period of major ocean freight disruption, customers turn to air freight to get some of their most urgent orders moved and last month saw an increase in demand of around 13% compared to June last year.

In turn, that increase in demand directly correlates to a rise in air freight rates, which we have been witnessing. However, the peak season for airfreight comes later in the year than ocean freight and the current expectation is that quarter three and quarter four could see significant price increases, which may include peak season surcharges from August.

There is currently no sign that ocean freight carriers will be returning to the Red Sea anytime soon and demand continues to outweigh capacity. Demand is expected to remain high amongst retailers in particular, with suggestions that the early peak season is being fuelled by Christmas and Black Friday orders being pulled forward to avoid disruption later in the year.

The uncertainty of the ocean freight market is not the only factor that will put pressure on air freight demand in the coming weeks, the continual rise of ecommerce and electronic product launches will also be adding to high demand in quarters three and four.