Christopher
Koo, the Chairman of KITA, visited Korean Air’s cargo terminal located in
Incheon International Airport on January 12 to gain first-hand information on
the logistics of export business and listen to issues arising from logistics
bottlenecks experienced by SMEs.
Chairman
Koo said, “I would like express my gratitude for making a decision to extend
partnership in our project to provide emergency support of air cargo shipments
for small-sized exporting firms” and stressed, “Continued support from the
government and relevant institutions is needed this year as well to support
SMEs to steer out of the ongoing global logistics crisis.”
Air
freight rates from Hong Kong to North America are at $11.1 per kg, according to
TAC Index - a leading index in the air cargo market, which is a threefold
increase since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. Two factors contributed to a
sudden increase in air freight rates: a) a switch to air transport triggered by
prolonged disruptions in the maritime transport sector and b) unstable supply
of belly cargo of passenger planes.
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