Freight volumes at European airports have got off to a strong start in 2016, up 3.5 per cent in January, making up for the struggles of 2015, Airports Council International (ACI) Europe says.
The 3.5 per cent year-on-year growth was above the 2015 global average of 2.2 per cent. The association says the strong result was mainly because January 2015 was a weak month, declining one per cent.
ACI Europe says: “Freight traffic across the European network grew by 3.5 per cent, above last year’s average of 2.2 per cent. However, this improvement is mainly due to comparison with a weak January 2015 (minus one per cent).
Growth among Europe’s top five freight airports, growth has been patchy. In January, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport was the busiest, handling 152,000 tonnes, up 4.5 per cent on the same month of 2015. Frankfurt Airport saw a decline of 0.3 per cent to 149,336 tonnes while Amsterdam Airport Schiphol was up 4.7 per cent to 125,979 tonnes. Heathrow Airport increased by 2.9 per cent to 119,214 tonnes and Cologne Airport dipped by 0.1 per cent to 59,744 tonnes.
