The recent change in regulations mean that cargo cannot be received at airports more than 28 hours ahead of its scheduled booking time. This has been reducing the cargo stored at airport facilities and has also led to a reduction in the large queues that had been witnessed over recent times.

Since PPE accounts for the majority of air freight cargo moving right now, exporters had been rushing to deliver these shipments early in case they failed the PPE customs inspection first time around.

Congestion earlier this month resulted in a number of flights leaving empty over the Chinese holiday weekend, as freight remained on trucks in the queues, which led to the new gate in directive being introduced.

However, according to a report in The Loadstar, there are concerns that the 28-hour rule could lead to more flights leaving empty. If a large PPE equipment fails the inspection, it was suggested that there would not be enough time to turn it around.

Westbound offer our range of consolidation and direct air freight services to and from China and throughout Asia, we continue to monitor the situation closely.

At Westbound Logistics we pride ourselves in offering personalised and tailored logistics solutions. To find out more please call 01375 800800​ or email info@westboundglobal.com.