Beneficiaries of the crisis?
The French association of overseas companies, Fedom (Fédération des Entreprises des Outre-Mer), is concerned about capacity bottlenecks between mainland France and the territories overseas.
In a letter that was sent to the relevant members of the government at the end of March but was published only last week, Fedom president Jean Pierre Philibert maintained that the current difficulties were not only due to the situation in the ports: "The (sometimes three-fold) rise in airfreight prices, triggered by the drastic reduction of the number of available flight connections (more than 80% of them have been cancelled), is a major problem that gets worse day by day."
If negotiations between the affected parts of the supply chain cannot provide a quick solution, the state should consider the option of requisitioning or subsidising airlines. (ah)