Air, Freight News

We must have night flights, says Shipper’s Council

[ January 31, 2014   //   Chris ]

The British Shippers’ Council said it was vital that there was capacity to expand night flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports in its response to the Department for Transport’s second stage consultation, which sets out proposals for October 2014 to October 2017. Not to do so would damage the UK international supply chain.

The British Shippers’ Council, part of the Freight Transport Association, welcomed the consultation’s proposal that night flights should not be further restricted, but was disappointed that there was no flexibility around restriction deadlines to ensure essential flights get away during bad weather, for example.

Companies involved in pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing need to move their time-critical or high-value goods quickly and efficiently if they are to compete with firms based on the Continent, BSC pointed out.

A case study of an FTA member revealed that pharma products often needed to be delivered to hospitals in Europe next day.

Moreover, if express and other operators were to relocate more operations outside the UK, businesses would be compelled to services based out of Continental airports, which would increase costs and delays.

Tags: British Shippers' Council