{"id":137325,"date":"2026-03-26T19:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T22:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/901962502"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T22:58:23","slug":"freight-firms-deploy-direct-charters-sustainable-packaging-to-keep-mea-cargo-moving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/freight-firms-deploy-direct-charters-sustainable-packaging-to-keep-mea-cargo-moving\/","title":{"rendered":"Freight firms deploy direct charters, sustainable packaging to keep MEA cargo moving"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SOUTH AFRICA \u2013 Freight forwarders and cold-chain packaging specialists are deploying extraordinary measures to sustain perishable exports from South Africa to the Middle East as regional conflict disrupts traditional transit hubs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From direct charter flights bypassing Dubai to single-use recyclable packaging that eliminates return logistics, these innovations are preserving trade corridors while managing escalating costs.<\/p>\n

Direct Charters Bypass Congested Hubs<\/strong><\/p>\n

JLOG International is finalizing direct charter flights from OR Tambo International Airport to Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, circumventing transit disruptions at Dubai International Airport that had threatened time-sensitive shipments.<\/p>\n

The move follows urgent appeals from Driefontein Abattoir, a Karoo lamb exporter struggling to meet the 92-hour sanitary window for fresh meat deliveries to Jordan during the recent Eid al-Fitr period.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe client we spoke to wants two to three flights per week for at least two weeks<\/em>,\u201d said Jonathan McDonald, managing director of JLOG. \u201cWe managed to secure a rate of about US$5.60 per kilo to Amman direct.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

That rate proved critical. Initial industry fears had projected costs reaching US$12 per kilo, a level McDonald said, \u201cwould have killed the market<\/em>.\u201d Despite jet fuel prices doubling since the onset of regional hostilities, the charter solution remains viable for exporters accustomed to US$2.50 per kilo under normal conditions.<\/p>\n

Sustainable Packaging Eliminates Return Logistics<\/strong><\/p>\n

For pharmaceutical and high-value food shipments, packaging innovation is proving equally transformative. ESBD, a cold-chain packaging specialist, has developed a recyclable cardboard box solution offering five-day temperature validation without the logistical burden of returning expensive phase-change material containers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of what\u2019s happening in the Middle East right now, the cost to bring back one of these PCM boxes is often the same as renting the box<\/em>,\u201d said Sean Petzer, ESBD managing director. \u201cWar requires medicine, and it\u2019s a commodity that we specialise in protecting<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s water-based coolant replaces engineered substances used in traditional PCM boxes, delivering equivalent cold-chain integrity with kerbside recyclability. Petzer noted that as return logistics costs escalate in conflict zones, demand for sustainable single-use alternatives will accelerate.<\/p>\n

Outlook: Resilience Through Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n

For food industry investors and logistics leaders across the Middle East and Africa, these adaptations demonstrate how strategic resilience can sustain trade during geopolitical crises. <\/p>\n

Direct charter corridors and sustainable packaging solutions are not merely contingency measures they are emerging as permanent tools for supply chain diversification.<\/p>\n

Sign up HERE <\/a>to receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa and around the world, and follow us on our WhatsApp channel<\/a> for updates.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOUTH AFRICA \u00e2\u0080\u0093 Freight<\/span> forwarders and cold-chain packaging …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}