China Airfreight: Shanghai Pudong Airport COVID-19 flare-up

The purpose of this advisory is to provide you with information concerning the recent COVID-19 flare-up’s impact on airport terminal operations across China and especially for Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.

A series of protocols to prevent transmission via contact with international flights, including freighter and passenger flights, are being implemented in airports across China. As part of this effort, airport terminals and ground handling agents have implemented strict isolation requirements for their employees that has dramatically impacted the efficiency of unloading/loading of cargo and resulted in large numbers of flight cancellations.

Pudong International Airport

Today, due to new COVID-19 cases, authorities have decided to suspend a large portion of ramp operations (including aircraft unloading/loading) until further notice. In response, many airlines have announced their suspension of flights to Pudong Airport. Several flights on the ground in Pudong Airport are now pending further instructions if they may proceed for unloading/loading their planned payload.

We are closely monitoring the situation at other airports across China to see if any additional measures will be taken due to these developments at Pudong Airport. As further guidance is provided by the authorities we will share accordingly.

In response to these challenges, Maersk Airfreight remains committed to finding viable solutions to ensure continuity of our customers supply chain. We are adding capacity with flights in less impacted airports and utilizing our network of gateways to provide alternate routing solutions./p>

We do foresee delays and longer transit times are likely to occur. We will continue to work closely with you to minimize the impact to your supply chain and keep you informed as the situation develops.