Europe's air cargo volumes continue on upwards trend in November

EUROPEAN Union air cargo volumes remained in positive territory in November, apart from Frankfurt, where operations were disrupted by a pilot's strike.

London Heathrow's cargo volumes increased by 4.4 per cent year on year, handling 30 per cent of the UK's exports by value. Heathrow's China volumes were up 10.6 per cent, Turkey up 10.4 per cent, Mexico up 7.3 per cent and Brazil up 5.6 per cent, reported Air Cargo World.



Frankfurt's cargo volume declined by 2.1 per cent y-o-y in November to 191,461 tonnes as Lufthansa pilots walked off the job, grounding thousands of flights. However, year-to-date, volumes are still up 1.3 per cent over 2015.



Brussels Airport's belly cargo decreased by 11.4 per cent, but recorded a 55.5 per cent increase in full freighter volumes and a further 8.5 per cent rise in integrator capacity which more than offset the decline. Total cargo moved in the month was 45,564 tonnes.



ACI Europe, which represents 500 airports in 45 European countries noted that freight traffic across Europe jumped by 8.7 per cent in October, making it the best monthly performance since May 2011. The organisation also pointed to double- and even triple-digit growth at some of the trade bloc's smaller airports, many in Eastern Europe, as evidence that air freight was stronger than expected.