Airline Covid crunch affecting avocado exports

Air freight export of avocados was down 60 per cent in August compared to the year before, data from Auckland Airport shows. August is the traditional start of the avocado export season, but air freight to Korea and Thailand were the hardest hit, with declines of 100 per cent and 31 per cent respectively. Auckland Airport general manager aeronautical commercial Scott Tasker said it reflected the crunch in capacity to those markets. “Cargo capacity between Auckland and Korea was down 44 per cent and 89 per cent through to Thailand. It looks like some of that has shifted across to sea freight, with a 15 per cent increase in avocados leaving Ports of Auckland and Ports of Tauranga,” he said. But spokesman for grower organisation Avoco Steve Trickett said air freight volumes were down largely because of the cost, which was up to four times higher than last season. Avocados were competing with higher-paying cargo such as chilled seafood as airlines were “chasing revenue to survive”, ...