The huge ash cloud hanging over Europe from last week’s volcano eruption in Iceland is hampering global air freight and causing a shift in European cargo from planes to trucks, news services reported.
UPS Inc., FedEx Corp. and Netherlands-based TNT NV have been grappling with logistics problems since Thursday, when the huge cloud forced civil aviation authorities from Ireland to Bulgaria to shut down or severely restrict air space due to concerns aircraft would be damaged, the Wall Street Journal reported.
FedEx and UPS posted notices to customers about delays in shipments, as airlines and government officials seek to limit the economic fallout from a crisis that is disrupting global trade in goods as varied as precious gems and tropical fruit, the Washington Post reported.
UPS will continue to pick up and deliver packages in Europe, but may have to turn to moving more packages by ground instead of air, UPS spokesman Norman Black told the Journal.
Some European airports reopened to limited traffic Monday, a day after the European Union said that if skies cleared sufficiently, air traffic over the continent could return to about half of normal levels, the Associated Press reported.
