The Bangladesh air cargo market continues to report delays to shipments following weeks of protests but the situation is beginning to ease.
At the height of the protests, cargo was taking around 10 days to be exported out of Dhaka Airport to the US and Europe.
Maruf Khan, the chief operating officer of Bengal Airlift’s freight division, said the situation had eased over the past week.
He said origin processing times at the airport were now down to around five days, although yesterday there were around 200 trucks waiting in line at the airport.
For feeder vessel operations at the seaport, cargo was waiting for around three and half days.
The situation has resulted in a spike in airfreight rates, with figures from data provider WorldACD showing that for the week to Sunday August 4 (week 31), average spot rates out of Dhaka were $4.87 a kilo – almost three times higher than a year earlier.
Other reports suggested rates had reached around $6 per kg to Europe, while to the US they have reached $8.50 per kg.
Khan said that companies had initiated air-air products via Colombo, Singapore, Malé and Dubai. Road-air via Delhi and sea-air via Colombo and Dubai due to limited flight options out of the airport.
Cargo movement out of the country was stopped for several days two weeks ago as the government shut down the internet and installed road blockades in response to the protests.
Hundreds of people have been killed in protests initially led by students in response to a quota system for government jobs, where a certain percentage of jobs were reserved for veterans of the 1971 war of independence and their families.
However, the protests became a broader anti-government movement as a series of crackdowns were implemented and weapons were reportedly used against the students.
Following the protests, prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country to be replaced by an interim government.