Top 40 airport rankings: Which ones rose? Which fell?

Seeking new opportunities

Even for those air hubs that saw a dip in air cargo traffic last year, there is reason for hope. Tokyo’s Narita Airport (NRT) – No. 8 on the overall list – saw its volume remain above 2 million tonnes of airfreight for the second straight year, despite the 0.6 percent dip in its 2015 figures, said Masashi Yokozuka, supervisor of cargo sales and marketing for the airport, which handles 60 percent of Japan’s airfreight.

The most important factor in NRT’s 2015 performance was the “special demand” caused by the labor slowdown at ports in the U.S. West Coast, Yokozuka said. The crisis led to 92 charter flights in February 2015 to transport automobile-related export cargo, as well as imported frozen pork from the northern United States, he said. Later in the year, though, the “backlash” against the special port-crisis demand added pressure on logistics costs. Still, NRT sought innovative ways to attract new traffic. Through its “Narita Promotional Incentive,” the airport offered discounted landing fees for carriers for up to one year, which helped drive Cargolux Italia to commit to its Milan-to-NRT (via HKG) route. Singapore’s Changi Airport (No. 15, 1.89 million tonnes), enjoyed a modest 0.4 percent rise in cargo tonnage in 2015, thanks to the perishables, express and e-commerce segments.

“Pharmaceuticals grew an outstanding 45 percent compared to the year before,” said Phau Hui Hoon, assistant vice president of the cargo and logistics development division at Singapore’s Changi Airport Group. In 2015 and 2016, Changi Airport welcomed six new airfreight carriers – Polar Air Cargo, My Indo Airlines, Neptune Air, K-Mile, AirBridgeCargo Airlines and Silk Way West Airlines. Still, Hui Hoon is realistic about the economic situation. “The airfreight industry environment continues to remain weak, due to the global economic uncertainty and slowing world trade,” she said. In light of this, Changi is extending its program to offer cargo partners a 30 percent landing fee rebate for scheduled freighter operations until March 2017.

Like many other airports, as well as forwarders and shippers, Changi is looking toward the growth of cross-border e-commerce to drive more cargo business – especially in Asian hubs that do a lot of business with China. Changi’s Airfreight Centre is designed to move cargo within a free-trade zone to enable trans-shipments and cross-border e-commerce to be handled with minimal customs hassles, Hui Hoon said. Other supply chain members are also making
investments in Changi’s e-commerce capabilities. DHL Express’ new South Asia Hub at Changi Airport, scheduled to open in Q4 2016, is expected to triple the carrier’s capacity and boost processing speed six-fold. Groundhandler SATS Ltd. is investing in an e-commerce hub at Changi, as well, with Singapore Post (SingPost) as its anchor customer, Hui Hoon added. “The expected completion date is the end of the year,” she said.

In Hong Kong, Hactl has similar cross-border ambitions, being on the border of mainland China. Its logistics subsidiary, Hacis, operates scheduled, expedited road feeder services from Hong Kong into mainland China, serving eight inland depots, Whitehead said.