Over £5.43m of goods have been disrupted by Heathrow shut down, says Parcelhero
Last Friday’s closure of Heathrow Airport disrupted the supply of over £5.43m of goods, says the international delivery expert Parcelhero. The cost could ultimately run to millions. Many delayed products, such as pharmaceuticals and fresh foods, have a limited shelf life.
The full impact of the closure of Heathrow Airport on the UK supply chain is likely to have been underestimated, says the international delivery expert Parcelhero. It says the movement of over £5.43m of goods was disrupted by the airport’s closure on Friday. 70% of all UK cargo by value passes through Heathrow and the chaos resulting from its unexpected closure – caused by a loss of power following a fire at an electricity substation – will impact on UK cargo for days to come.
Parcelhero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks, says: ‘Parcelhero welcomes the government’s decision to order a rapid investigation into the shutdown, to be led by the National Energy System Operator. While the disruption to passengers naturally caught most media attention, Heathrow’s closure on Friday also significantly impacted UK trade.
‘Heathrow plays a vital role in UK imports and exports. The airport handles around 48% of all the UK’s air cargo, which is more than all other UK airports combined. In terms of value, it’s actually around 70%. £1.98bn-worth of goods travels through the airport every year, amounting to some 1.43m tonnes of goods.
‘Air freight was impacted just as significantly as passenger flights. Heathrow was due to see nearly 1,400 flights on Friday. Crucially, around 90% of the freight the airport handles travels in the cargo bellyhold of passenger aircraft and only 10% of Heathrow’s air freight is carried by dedicated cargo-only flights. That reliance on passenger services means delayed freight shipments will continue to compete for space with increased passenger luggage demand as people reorganise their schedules over the next few days.
‘The true cost of the disruption is likely to be considerable. Even though all Heathrow cargo facilities are now accepting deliveries again, freight facilities at Heathrow and alternative centres at Luton, Stansted and Gatwick could struggle with volumes and scheduling for several days to come. Last month, Heathrow handled 120,765 metric tonnes of cargo. The logistics of rerouting and scheduling even a portion of this volume of freight is daunting.
‘As just one example of the disruption caused, IAG Cargo’s website reportedly showed that the company was still unable to accept any freight at Heathrow on Saturday, but was updated on Sunday to show operations had been resumed. Issues like this created significant demand for trucks to move diverted cargo as the impact on logistics operations across the UK continued.
‘Despite the disruption, carriers managed to operate ground services on Friday. This meant that imports that arrived prior to the closure could be collected as normal throughout the day. Even so, airlines’ cargo centres will experience some degree of disruption for several days to come, with priority being given to time-sensitive medicines, perishable goods and urgent express air freight deliveries.
‘Of course, all freight that travels by aircraft is time-sensitive, otherwise it would be moved by sea, which is a significantly cheaper mode of freight transport. Heathrow handles a huge variety of goods, from parcels and e-commerce to tech and gold bars, and both exports and imports have been disrupted. The top three exported products from Heathrow are salmon, books and medicines. The top imports are chemicals that are used in medicines, plastics and perfumes, in addition to perishable products such as vegetables and flowers.
‘Behind the scenes at Heathrow, its cargo operation is a complex, integrated network of airlines, ground handlers, mail operators, courier and express operators, freight forwarders and Customs enforcement. Disruption to this infrastructure has had an impact on global supply chains. Heathrow currently serves 234 destinations to over 85 nations and regions. European and transatlantic trade, in particular, has been impacted by the closure.
‘The final cost of the disruption is likely to total millions of pounds. This includes lost perishable items, refuelling and rescheduling aircraft, the idling of equipment and production lines relying on the delivery of just-in-time products and components and the rerouting of goods by road between alternative airports and destinations.
‘Cargo to the USA will have been particularly impacted, given that Heathrow has more routes to America than any other UK airport. The USA is the UK’s biggest individual trading partner and any disruption to these services is significant. Live information on US courier services can be seen at https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/international-courier-services/usa-parcel-delivery