Record cargo volume at Guangzhou Airport

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) reported its 2014 cargo handle up 11.2% to 1.47 million tonnes.

Guangzhou’s 2013 handle of 1.31 million tonnes made it the fourth-busiest cargo airport in China in 2013, behind Hong Kong (4.22 million tonnes), Shanghai Pudong (2.93 million tonnes), and Beijing (1.84 million tonnes), and it seems likely to hold that position in 2014.

Guangzhou Baiyun is China Southern Airlines’ main hub, and China Southern reported its 2014 cargo traffic up 16.9% to a record 5.06 billion RTKs – clearly the big driver of cargo volume growth at the airport. China Southern last week took delivery of the ninth of twelve 777Fs it has on order from Beoing.

Guangzhou is also the location of FedEx’s Asia Pacific hub, and while international express traffic hasn’t been growing at the double-digit levels of the past, it has been growing, and no doubt benefiting CAN.

In other China Airport news, Chengdu, in the western province of Sichuan, received Chinese government approval to build a new US$11 billion airport, while Beijing last month began construction of new US$14 billion airport.