Top 5 takeaways from 2018 airport cargo throughput

Last year, the world’s top 20 cargo airports by volume handled some 51 million tonnes of cargo, comprising 42 percent of total airport cargo throughput in 2018, according to preliminary world airport rankings released this week by Airports Council International (ACI). Although in many cases, airports closely tracked the overall market’s low-digit growth for 2018, there were a number of interesting developments. Here are five takeaways from this year’s preliminary ranking: #5: Hong Kong breaks the 5 million-tonne-mark for air freight In recent years, the world’s largest airport by throughput, Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), has continued to best its own records. In 2018, the airport reported its freight volumes increased from 4.94 million tonnes, to 5.01 million tonnes. When combined with mail, the airport’s overall cargo handle reached 5,120,811 tonnes in 2018. Although HKG surpassed the 5 million tonne benchmark for cargo last year, only this year did freight volumes cross the monumental threshold. While HKG saw a modest growth in cargo over the past year with a 1.4 percent increase, the airport continues to invest in cargo growth. Recent initiatives have included expansion projects aimed at targeting e-commerce transshipments and temperature-controlled airfreight, including perishables and pharmaceuticals. HKG approved the expansion of its runway system and construction of a new logistics center – awarded to the Alibaba Group’s logistics affiliate, Cainiao Network – in its Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030. With these expansions, the airport projects it will be able to handle annual cargo volumes of 8.9 million tonnes by 2030. HKG also recently announced its collaboration with Brussels Airport (BRU) and Pharma.Aero to launch a pharma corridor that will create a cold-chain link between the two major international freight hubs, as well as its accreditation as the first International Air Transportation Association (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) Fresh-accredited airport for perishable food products. #4: Doha and Guangzhou were the fastest growing large airports, but some North American airports also performed well The five fastest growing airports among the top-20 list in 2018 include Doha (DOH), with annual year-over-year growth of 8.8 percent, Guangzhou (CAN), which was up 5.0 percent year-over-year, Chicago (ORD) up 3.6 percent, Anchorage (ANC) up 3.5 percent and Memphis (MEM) at 3.1 percent growth. Regionally, airports in North America, Asia and the Middle East performed more strongly than airports in Europe. All six North American airports on ranked on the list experienced growth, and although one of the two Middle Eastern airports – Dubai (DXB) – saw a decline in cargo volumes, it was only down slightly (-0.5%) and likely due to shifts in carriers’ cargo operations to the Dubai’s second airport, Dubai World Central (DWC). A majority of Asian airports ranked in the preliminary top 20 cargo airport list also saw growth, while decline at some airports, including Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Shanghai Pudong ( PVG), are also likely due to similar shifts in cargo to other regional airports as discussed in the next section. #3: Amsterdam was impacted by slot limitations In 2018, the airports that saw the biggest drops in cargo volumes include Tokyo Narita (NRT) at 3.2 percent, Amsterdam (AMS) at 2.7 percent, Paris (CVG) at 1.8 percent, Shanghai Pudong (PVG) at 1.5 percent and Heathrow at 1.3 percent. Amsterdam, for its part, is clearly feeling the brunt of slot limitations for full freighter flights. shortage issue for freighters. Competition for Asian airports – including Incheon (ICN), Singapore (SIN), Taipei (TPE) and PVG – is likewise heating up as these airports seek to position themselves in capturing growing perishable and e-commerce markets. Airports in mainland China take up three of the eight Asia-Pacific region airports in ACI’s preliminary top 20 cargo airport rankings, and although PVG experienced a dip in its cargo volumes for 2018, these numbers could be flying to other Yangtze River Delta airports, including Wuxi (WUX), Hangzhou (HGH) or other major Chinese hubs like Zhengzhou (CGO) and Xi’an (XIY). The Chinese government also has major plans to develop massive airfreight hubs in Beijing and Chengdu, which could present a further challenge to other Asia-Pacific airports moving forward. #2: Major shifts in airport cargo rankings 2018 saw a major reshuffling of rankings in the preliminary top 20 cargo airports list. Taiwan Taoyuan Airport (TPE) moved up a ranking to surpass Narita Airport (NRT), placing them at 8 and 9, respectively. Los Angeles (LAX) moved up three positions from number 13 to 10 in 2018. Doha (DOH) also moved up several positions from 16 to 11, Guangzhou (CAN) moved up to 17 from 18 and Chicago (ORD) moved to 18 from 20 in 2018. Frankfurt (FRA) moved down two positions to 13 from 11, Paris (CVG) moved down to 14 from 10, Miami (MIA) moved down to 15 from 14, Beijing (PEK) moved from 15 to 16, London (LHR) moved from 17 to 19 and Amsterdam (AMS) moved from 19 to 20. The major shifts in airport rankings demonstrate global shifts in cargo flows, which will likely continue as carriers continue developing new networks and countries – such as Turkey and China – construct new infrastructure to attract these carriers and their cargo. #1: Overall modest growth Overall, 2018’s air cargo market saw modest growth at 3.2 percent, though, this was expected based on overall air cargo market growth figures in the low-single digits for 2018. Despite lingering uncertainty from 2018 trade headwinds, airports leaders have already expressed their intent to build up infrastructure in anticipation of continued growth in e-commerce and pharmaceutical markets. Time will tell how air cargo markets perform in 2019, but mixed results from January suggests air cargo may continue to hit the brakes.

Top 5 takeaways from 2018 airport cargo throughput

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