Increase in October airport cargo throughput shows strong start to Q4

Leading into peak season, major cargo airports and gateways across the globe showed a strong start to the fourth quarter with substantial increases in October cargo activity that surpassed 2019 volumes. The large increases in reported cargo throughput for October are higher than previous months, which have seen more moderate increases compared to 2019, according to this year’s reports from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) . [caption id="attachment_77494" align="alignright" width="479"] Photo courtesy of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.[/caption] North America Airports in the Americas continued to see growing volumes, with Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) reporting a 51.8% increase to 147,286 tonnes compared with October 2019, according to the CVG’s traffic report. CVG ranked at No. 21 in Air Cargo World ’s latest Top 50 Cargo Airports , based on 2020 throughput. In California’s Inland Empire, Ontario International Airport (ONT), which ranked No. 29 in the report, also saw an increase in cargo volumes during October. ONT saw cargo activity increase 7.2% from October 2019 to 66,134 tonnes, according to the airport’s traffic reports. Europe European airports, which saw continued cargo growth replace the traditional summer dip in August, also reported strong cargo volumes in October. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) saw a 4% increase compared with the same month in 2019, and handled roughly 149,383 tonnes of cargo, according to AMS’ latest traffic report. Roughly 24,427 tonnes of AMS’ October inbound throughput were transported from eastern Asia, making up a majority of inbound cargo at the airport, with European shipments coming in second at 13,365 tonnes. Shipments to eastern Asia made up the largest share of outbound shipments as well, while shipments to North America came in second with roughly 17,430 tonnes. Frankfurt Airport (FRA) saw elevated volumes, reporting a 11.7% increase compared with October 2019 to 200,187 tonnes. FRA ranked at No. 14 in Air Cargo World ’s report. Meanwhile, although London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which ranked No. 23 in the report, saw increased cargo activity in October compared with September, overall volumes are still less than pre-pandemic times. LHR in October reported a 3.1% decrease to 108,535 tonnes, compared with the same month in 2019. While it is unclear if the decrease is due to challenges with Brexit, the U.S. recently lifted travel restrictions to 33 countries , allowing for increased passenger travel, which may boost cargo activity. In fact, Texas-based American Airlines increased connectivity from nine U.S. cities to LHR . Asia-Pacific Airports based in Asia have also reported elevated cargo volumes for October. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) posted a 7.9% increase to 462,000 tonnes of cargo in October, compared with the same month pre-pandemic, according to the airport’s statistics. Similarly, Incheon International Airport (ICN) also posted an increase in October volumes and handled roughly 289,540 tonnes of cargo in October, which is an 16.5% increase compared with the same month in 2019. ICN ranked No. 6 in 2020 airport cargo volumes.

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