LOS ANGELES, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The temporary closure of

the sprawling United Parcel Service ( UPS ) air cargo hub in

Louisville, Kentucky, following a deadly plane crash will create

delays through the delivery firm's global network.

The Worldport hub processes millions of packages for roughly

360 incoming and outbound aircraft each day, making it a crucial

part of the UPS air cargo operation's hub-and-spoke model.

The company stopped operations there on Tuesday night after

a UPS cargo plane crashed at Louisville International Airport,

killing at least nine people, including three flight crew

members.

UPS on Wednesday canceled the mid-morning to mid-afternoon

Worldport shift that handles Second Day air packages.

It has not said when it plans to resume regular operations

at the 5.2 million square-foot (483,096 square-meter) facility

that is roughly the size of 89 U.S. football fields and can

process 416,000 packages per hour.

In a service alert on Tuesday, UPS said scheduled delivery

times for air and international packages may be affected.

Because many UPS packages pass through Worldport on their

way to other destinations, there will be inevitable delays and

disruptions for UPS customers, said Niall van de Wouw, chief

airfreight officer at transportation pricing platform Xeneta.

"For every day of closure, it could take several days for

air cargo to recover, especially as we are now heading towards

year-end peak season," he said, referring to the upcoming winter

holiday rush for air cargo shipments.

He said he expected limited impact on wider air cargo

services and freight rates.

UPS shares were up about 0.5% at $93.76 in early afternoon

trading.

The UPS delays will be far-reaching since its customers for

both delivery and return services include a broad swath of U.S.

businesses and agencies.

The company's largest customers include the U.S. Postal

Service and Amazon.com ( AMZN ). UPS also delivers packages for

Walmart ( WMT ) and Target ( TGT ), manufacturers and many small

businesses.

Beyond that, more than 150 UPS customers, including major

pharmaceutical companies like Merck & Co ( MRK ), also have

inventory at Worldport.

UPS customers did not immediately comment on potential

delays.