Top 50 Cargo Airports: Growth and Improvements

FASTER: RISING STARS

While the top 15 airports on this list handled an impressive amount of cargo in 2017, those in the lower ranks reported some eyebrow-raising totals for 2017 (see table). The title for fastest growth in the last year was No. 30, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG), which increased its throughput by 27.3 percent in 2017, to reach nearly 944,800 tonnes. Cincinnati obviously benefitted from becoming the primary home of the 40-freigher fleet at Amazon Air, which began operations at the new US$1.5 billion facility at CVG in April 2017.

As a further sign of the growing influence of Vietnam in global air cargo operations, Hanoi’s Noi Bai (No. 39) and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat (No. 48, appearing for the first time in the Top 50) both made the list of the 10 fastest-growing air hubs, with 26 percent and 18.3 percent jumps over 2016 totals, respectively.

Istanbul’s Attatürk Airport (IST) saw 23 percent growth, pushing it to No. 26 on the list. However, its 1.1 million tonnes reported for 2017 came perilously close to its 1.2 million tonnes per year capacity. But IST’s future on this list will be in doubt for next year as the new six-runway Istanbul New Airport (ISL) is expected to open this month, with an initial cargo capacity of 2.5 million tonnes that will scale up to 5.5 million tonnes once construction of its “Cargo City” and “Ground Services Campus” are completed.

Indian cargo airports made a strong showing in 2017, with Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivali International (BOM) reporting more than 19 percent growth to more than 886,000 tonnes to reach No. 32, while New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (DEL) rose 14.3 percent to about 952,000 tonnes (No. 29).

Also, one of the fastest risers was another newcomer on the Top 50 list: China’s Hangzhou Xiaoshan International (HGH), which reported just over 555,000 tonnes handled – a 19.8 percent rise over 2016 – to place it at No. 50 on the list.