Frankfurt, Heathrow, Gatwick air freight keeps on falling

CARGO volume at the German airport of Frankfurt plummeted in February by more than 25 per cent from a year ago as the global economic downturn hits business hard.

The UK's London Heathrow, Europe's fourth largest freight airport, saw air cargo volume fall by nearly 18 per cent last month, and nearby Gatwick airport suffered a 57 per cent decline in freight traffic, dealing the facility a hard blow as a once major air cargo centre, reports the US Journal of Commerce.

Fraport AG, Frankfurt airport's owner, said the airport handled 129,962 tonnes of cargo in February, a decrease of 25.4 per cent over the same month a year earlier and the fifth monthly decline in a row.

Total cargo volume at Fraport's six airports, including Frankfurt and airports in Bulgaria, Turkey and Peru, dropped by 25.6 per cent to 125,614 tonnes.

Frankfurt has responded to lower traffic by cutting hours for 500 cargo handlers by 20 per cent this month, it was reported.

London Heathrow handled 91,000 tonnes of freight in February, down 17.9 per cent year on year. London's second largest airport of Gatwick suffered a hefty 56.9 per cent decrease in air freight volume to 6,000 tonnes as US carriers defect to Heathrow in the wake of the US-EU "open skies" deal which opened up the airport to all carriers for the first time a year ago.

London Stansted, a freighter/express hub, has posted a 21.3 per cent decline in cargo traffic last month to 12,483 tonnes, the report added.

Source: Transportweekly