COVID STILL WREAKING HAVOC! Shanghai Pudong Airport Suffers

COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the world, and its most recent victim is none other than Shanghai Pudong International Airport. 

With the newest COVID-19 outbreak and 5 cargo workers testing positive, authorities have put a screeching halt to freight operations at China’s largest cargo airport. Cancelled flights and disrupted customs clearance processes have resulted in higher freight rates and even more pressure on still recovering supply chains. 

According to health authorities, 143 close contacts and 942 secondary contacts of those infected have been quarantined and tested. When Pudong will resume operations is still unclear, and most incoming freight cargo has been diverted to other airports, like Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, and Shenzhen. 

The staff shortage and lack of activity are causing air cargo to build up and leading to a serious backlog. Pudong Airport still has an overwhelming amount of outbound cargo sitting around, waiting to be processed, but the suspension has put a stop to the usual work. 

Coupled with the recent shutdown of the Port of Ningbo, importers, and exporters have been forced to pay higher freight rates and search even harder for alternative routes in order to ship their freight to customers.