War in Ukraine is disastrous for the world’s air freight industry

As with Covid-19 it will take time for the full consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to become apparent. But one unexpected impact is already becoming clear: that on air freight. Ukraine, it turns out, occupies a niche at the very heavy end of the industry. Ukrainian company Antonov manufactures the world’s largest transport planes in the shape of the An-225 – a six-engined behemoth built by the Soviets in 1985 and capable of a maximum take-off weight of 640 tonnes – and the slightly smaller An-124. By contrast, the freighter version of the Boeing 747-400 has a maximum take off weight of 450 tonnes. As a total share of the global air freight industry the planes do not register highly – only one An-225 was ever completed and there are only 24 An-124s in service. But for very heavy items the Antonov was often the only air freight option available.

But the only An-225 is believed to have been destroyed by an attack on Hostomel airport on Friday, and, as Ryan Petersen, CEO of logistics firm Flexport explained morning, the An-124s will soon be unable to fly because they rely on being serviced by Antonov in Ukraine.