According to Drewry, the cost gap between air and sea transport for the key corridor from Asia to major consumer markets increased 16.7-fold in September, which is 28% more than the pre-pandemic 2019.
The widening gap is due to the fact that sea freight rates are currently only 7% higher than 2019, while air freight rates remain more than a third higher than before the crisis and are not going to decrease.
In this context, Drewry highlighted increased outflow of cargo from air transport: a reorientation to container delivery helps shippers significantly reduce costs if contract terms allow them to spend more time on delivery.