Memphis, Amsterdam and Singapore rated tops as air cargo hubs

AIR CARGO WORLD has released its seventh annual Air Cargo Excellence (ACE) Survey which measures carriers and airports on specific criteria and ranks these to identify above or below average performance in individual areas and by region.


Airports with top airfreight carriers in the million-tonne plus category were Memphis in North America, Amsterdam in Europe and Singapore in Asia.


Smaller freight capacity airport leaders were Oakland, Denver and Orlando in North America; Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig and Frankfurt Hahn in Europe; Santiago and Campinas in Latin America; Osaka in Asia; and Abu Dhabi and Tel-Aviv in Middle East & Africa.


Oakland's performance improved significantly this year, with an overall performance rating of 116, up from 94 in the 2010 ACE Survey. Leipzig's overall rating also jumped from 94 last year to an impressive 119, tying for top spot in its regional tonnage category.


Air Cargo World publisher Steve Prince said "this year 47 per cent of air carriers on the survey reached or exceeded an 'excellent' rating compared to 32 per cent last year. This indicates a significant improvement in standards, undoubtedly triggered by increased competition in the face of economic pressures.


Emirates SkyCargo, KLM and Southwest Airlines have impressed freight forwarders the most in the last 12 months, each attaining the top overall ranking in their tonnage category. Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways and Swiss WorldCargo were runners-up respectively, declared the Atlanta-area publication.


Southwest achieved the highest airline rating in an individual measure with an outstanding figure of 127, equivalent to 27 per cent above the industry average. This was in the 'performance' measure for 'fulfils promises and contractual agreements; dependable; accomplishes scheduled transit times'.


The real value of the survey lies in rating by specific areas of improvement, for airlines and for airport rather than by customer nominations for favourite airline or airport, said Mr Prince in a press release. "For example, an airport with a facilities rating of 115 means they are delivering against that measure at a level that is 15 per cent higher than the industry average."
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)