Hong Kong Airport has surpassed Memphis International to become the world’s busiest cargo airport.
And, according to the latest statistics from the Airports Council International (ACI), global cargo volumes jumped 15.2% last year to 82 million tonnes.
Hong Kong became the world’s number-one airport for cargo after its volumes soared 23% to 4.1 million tonnes, thanks to continued growth in Chinese exports and imports, especially in the Pearl River Delta, and locally based Cathay Pacific’s rise to become the largest international air-cargo carrier.
Memphis, which is FedEx’s main hub, saw volumes jump 5.9% to 3.9 million tonnes, dropping it to second place in the rankings.
Shanghai maintained its position as the third busiest after volumes increased by 27.1% to 3.2 million tonnes.
Paris Charles de Gaulle is still the highest ranked European cargo airport – sixth overall – after its volumes rose by 16.8% to 2.4 million tonnes.
But Frankfurt closed the gap last year by posting a volume increase of 20.5% and reaching 2.27 million tonnes. It was ranked seventh globally.
Dubai Airport was the busiest in the Middle East, also posting volumes of 2.27 million tonnes, which was up 17.8%, and finished eighth worldwide.
Overall, all regions had shown “robust double-digit growth” in the freight sector, led by Asia-Pacific (+18.6%) and Europe (+17%), ACI said.
The organisation said the strong growth of cargo volumes showed that airport capacity needed to be increased.
ACI’s World Director General, Angela Gittens, said: “Freight growth clearly surpassed global GDP growth in 2010. And GDP growth projections for this and the coming years are high, creating a positive outlook for demand for air transport.
“This underpins the need to continue to expand and modernise airport infrastructure to maintain high standards of efficiency and customer service.
“More than ever, airports will be asked to finance these projects autonomously, without public funds, requiring private and public airports to be empowered to generate necessary returns on their investment.”
ACI preliminary traffic results are based on reports from more than 900 airports worldwide.
Damian Brett | Wed, 16 Mar 2011, IFW News