The ongoing Red Sea crisis on ocean shipping and the upcoming Lunar New Year could put upward pressure on air freight rates from Asia to Europe. However, this has not been the case so far. In the week ending 7 January, general cargo air spot rates from major airports in Asia showed a downward trend compared to four weeks earlier. For example, the spot rate for general cargo from Shanghai to Western Europe dropped significantly by 47%, reaching USD 2.97 per kg. On the other hand, the outbound Mumbai and Singapore general cargo spot rates remained relatively stable, with a growth of 1% and -3% respectively during the same period.
