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Shippers look to air freight to avoid extended cross-Channel blockages

MAJOR British shippers and those on the continent plan to use air freight to maintain supply chains in the event of a extended blockage of the Channel Tunnel and ports, reports London's Loadstar.

Tunnel and ferry services, are already struggling from the impact of the French ferry workers blockade in Calais and the presence of thousands of migrants, are on high security alert.

One shipper said his company was preparing for the possibility of chartering 747s to keep the supply chain intact, in the event of further disruption.

Copenhagen shipping company DFDS (Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab), now has four of its five ferries crossing to Dunkirk and will continue to avoid Calais, said a spokesman.

One ferry is remaining in Calais as it is "technically unable to operate", he said. The company had expected to take on MyFerryLInk's two disputed vessels last week.

When asked about a possible terrorist threat, he said: "Current conditions mean it is not right for us to operate in Calais. The blockade has quite fierce dimensions".

P&O is continuing to operate as normal, although services are subject to delays, with a two-to-three-hour wait for trucks to board in Calais and in the UK, 500 lorries queuing in Operation Stack - the M20-turned car park. Eurotunnel is running services, although it is also experiencing some delays.

Automotive companies appear to have been hit the hardest by the disruption. Car plants were forced to turn to air freight charters during the worst of the crisis in some cases chartering widebody freighters to fly to UK airports, such as Doncaster, Birmingham and Newcastle, from Liege, Ostend and Eastern Europe, as shipments built up.