Please wait!
As cargo traffic before the end-of-year holidays traditionally increases, which this year is exacerbated by the still restricted capacity of air carriage, especially in regard to intercontinental transport, delays in the delivery of international postal items are currently occurring: this trend is markedly notable in the direction of the United States. There is limited space designated for postal items on the planes flying to the U.S., and many European postal establishments are waiting for their turn.
The end of the year is traditionally the busiest working period for postal establishments throughout the world. Besides, this year too COVID-19 is a significant factor affecting item deliveries, which has a negative impact on both transportation options and delivery times. The farther the destination country from Latvia, the longer the item is likely to travel, especially if there is no direct air traffic between the countries at all and the item moves in transit from one country to another.
The major congestions are currently observed in deliveries to the U.S., as there is a shortage of space for mail cargo on intercontinental flights, leading to a queue of European postal items waiting for their turn to get carried by aircraft.
Back at the beginning of November, Latvijas Pasts called on customers to make timely purchases in international online stores and send gifts abroad for the end-of-year holidays. In order for the items to reach the addressee by the upcoming holidays, it was desirable to send the items to countries on other continents by the end of November and to plan the dispatch within Europe no later than the beginning of December. It should be taken into consideration, however, that even in Europe items may require a longer time to get transported: if the postal operator of the country of dispatch does not have the opportunity to use direct air traffic for the delivery of an item, but routes the item from one country to another, including through cargo transportation by road, the item in transit may get delayed for several weeks.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with about 3,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa | Head of External Communications
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; gundega.varpa@pasts.lv
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