Cargo volumes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol were down 9.2% in the first half of 2019 due to a weaker market and fewer freighter movements.
The Dutch airport handled 767,519 tonnes, with belly cargo volumes up 0.9% but freighter volumes declining 16.4%.
Full freighter movements decreased 14.4% though belly air transport movements increased by 3.3%.
Shanghai, China remained Schiphol’s main destination with 88,481 tonnes in the first half of 2019, followed by Moscow, Russia with 38,633 tonnes.
Bart Pouwels, head of cargo at Schiphol says: “The mid-year figures reflect our expectations for a decrease in overall freighter volume as we continue to face slot scarcity, on top of a weakening of the global air cargo market.”
He says Schiphol is concerned about the negative developments within the air cargo market and the consequences it has for airlines at the airport.
Pouwels says: “With a decrease of full freighters, we may become less attractive for freight forwarders, as the forwarders need a mix of full freight and belly cargo to operate sustainably. This may result in forwarders leaving Schiphol and the airport becoming less attractive for airlines as belly cargo contributes significantly to certain routes.”
Mid-year figures decreased across all markets with Asia inbound down by 10% to 131,725 tonnes and outbound by 130,520 tonnes.
Europe inbound declined 15% to 47,493 tonnes and outbound by 8% to 54,756 tonnes.
Inbound North American traffic was down 13% to 56,314 tonnes though outbound cargo was up 4% to 82,242 tonnes.
Latin American inbound traffic decreased 10% to 58,666 tonnes and outbound volumes by 8% to 37,184 tonnes.
Inbound cargo from Africa was down 20% to 46,518 tonnes and outbound by 4% to 25,489 tonnes.
Middle East inbound traffic was up 5% to 44,603 tonnes but outbound decreased 6% to 52,008 tonnes.
