Heathrow reports all-time high for August cargo volumes

Trade with Latin America and North America helped push cargo volumes at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) to a record high for August, the airport reported. Heathrow saw a 13 percent, year-over-year, increase in cargo volumes for August, reaching 139,023 tonnes.

Cargo volumes at LHR have been higher, y-o-y, every month so far in 2017. According to the airport, Latin America trade has grown the fastest, with a 30 percent increase, compared to the previous August, while North America followed with an increase of 13 percent to 50,000 tonnes – mostly driven by increased cargo volumes from American Airlines, United and Air Canada.

LHR is planning to add a third, northwest runway to accommodate the increases in cargo and passenger traffic, but concerns about air quality in the region have long-delayed the process. On Sept. 7, the U.K.’s Secretary of State for Transport announced that the government would conduct another consultation period after the one that closed on May 25, to address further concerns surrounding the additional runway.

The airport is also planning to establish logistics hubs in sites across the U.K., and announced on Sept. 4 that it had received bids from 121 sites around Britain for one of four hubs that will help build the new runway. The logistics hubs are planned to move as much manufacturing as possible off-site from the airport, where components can be pre-assembled before they are transported to LHR. One of the four hubs will be based in Scotland, Heathrow said in a statement.

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