Cargo flights are filling up as Red Sea disruptions continue: Air freight prices for China-Europe routes jumped 91% week-on-week on Sunday as manufacturers opted for ways to get their products to market as Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to target commercial vessels traversing the Red Sea, writes Reuters, citing data from freight booker Freightos. As risks and costs of sea transport increase more producers are expected to look to air freight to avoid backlogs. “The first thing you’re going to see convert is shippers that do 20% air 80% ocean for the same product, go to 50:50,” digital freight forwarder Flexport said.

Shipping companies expect the disruptions to last for weeks — or even months: CEOs of shipping giants at the World Economic Forum voiced downbeat sentiments about the disruptions to come. “For us, this will mean longer transit times and probably disruption of supply chains for a few months at least,” Bloomberg quotes AP Moller-Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc as saying. Meanwhile, DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said he expects product shortages to emerge in around two weeks as the rerouting of ships around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope triggers container imbalances.

And in case you thought this was all going to blow over: The Houthis have vowed to continue their campaign until Israel ends its war on Gaza — and they seem to be keeping to their promise and have remained undeterred in face of US and UK strikes on their positions.Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian also said at Davos yesterday that “The security of the Red Sea is tied to the developments in Gaza, and everyone will suffer if Israel’s crimes in Gaza do not stop … All the (resistance) fronts will remain active”.

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