Volcanic ash sends local airfreight companies scrambling

Flight disruptions from the Icelandic volcanic ash have sent local airfreight companies and companies with European clients scrambling to deliver goods and reschedule meetings.

David Marx, president of Jamaica, Queens-based Express Air Freight, which handles imports and exports, said many shipments normally go through Europe. "There's no transmitting now via Europe," he said. Citing "less capacity and more freights," he said, "rates may go up for the short run."

For the moment, Marx said, going through Spain and Portugal is one alternative, but, "space is limited."

A volcano that began erupting Wednesday in southern Iceland spewed a cloud of ash over Europe, crippling air travel.

Arrow Electronics, a major distributor of electronic and computer components and Long Island's largest company in terms of sales, has a European operation with several locations.

A spokeswoman, Chris Maio, said in the areas most heavily impacted, the Melville-based company has been using alternative forms of transportation, such as "switching from air shipping to ground. Overall, the impact has been minimal," she added.

Duffy Mich, chief executive of Ronkonkoma-based software company Aperio CI Inc., said a meeting with a client in London planned for this week had to be done via a webcast, and prospects for a series of meetings in Eastern Europe for next week were uncertain. "It hasn't hurt us yet, but it will," if travel doesn't get back to normal soon, he said. "If we can't travel, we can't do our jobs."