The hustle and bustle of Dhaka air-cargo shipment now eases with demand for faster transport tumbling over 50 per cent as winter peak is now well over.
As such, airfreight rates from Bangladesh to various destinations also fall significantly in the interlude between winter and summer trading seasons, stakeholders say.
Nowadays, some 250 to 300 tonnes of cargoes are airlifted a day against 700 to 800 tonnes a few months back as demand for quick shipment is now dulled.
Officials say exporters have already sent goods for winter season while for summer they have enough time on hand. The summer-season goods are now being transported by ships, thus the pressure for air shipment of goods is now losing steam.
The Explosive Detection Scanner (EDS) machines remain closed for a significant period of the day these days due to the lower cargo flow, they add.
The airfreight rates have lessened to US$4.5 per kilogram to Europe from $6 a few months before. To the United States, the rate is now $9 per kg against $14 and to the Middle East, $1.60 from $2.40 in the past.
With lower flow of cargoes, many airlines also have cut their capacity nowadays. Many freighters operate flights to the tune of 50 per cent compared to the loads few months back.
Director of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFFA) Nasir Ahmed Khan says the cargo flow always remains low in the gap between winter and summer seasons.
"Presently, only the emergency requirements of goods are being air- transported if stores of the buyers are found empty," he told the FE.
In December last year, two new EDSs started operation at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, which helped in diluting long rows of cargoes waiting for scanning. These two scanners have cargo-handling capacity of 600 tonnes a day.
Funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the two EDSs are supported by two previous EDSs--one is functioning while the other remaining out of order for a long period.
Amid severe logjam of cargoes at the airport, Salman F Rahman, the private-sector adviser to the prime minister, visited the airport and blasted the airport authorities for their failure to fix the malfunctioning EDS machine and handle the situation.
Apparel and vegetables are the main products that are being carried by air from Bangladesh.
The president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association last month requested civil aviation authority to improve facilities at the airport so that they can make shipment smoothly, as their trade picked up following the reopening of world economies after having been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
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