Frankfurt airport, Europe’s largest air cargo hub, saw traffic decrease 2.6 percent year-over-year in 2015, mirroring declines at third- and fourth-ranked Amsterdam Schiphol and London Heathrow.
Frankfurt airport, Europe’s largest air freight hub, posted another monthly decline in traffic in June, tracking slowing growth at its largest customer, Lufthansa Cargo.
One of the world’s largest air cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services has announced plans to acquire a majority stake in the German Fraport Cargo Services, further expanding its reach into the European market.
Europe’s top air cargo hubs are feeling the impact of a slowing Chinese economy and a fragile recovery in the eurozone with traffic declining, stalling or growing at a snail’s pace in recent months.
Frankfurt airport handled 6.4 percent less freight in March than a year ago as strikes by Lufthansa pilots resulted in the cancellation of intercontinental flights.
Frankfurt airport’s freight traffic increased just 1.7 percent in 2014, lagging growth at its main European rivals, as pilots at Lufthansa, its biggest customer, staged nine strikes through the year.
Lufthansa Cargo is “cautiously optimistic” about its performance in 2015 after filling nearly 70 percent of its capacity in a fiercely competitive market last year, CEO Peter Greber said.
London – Amsterdam and London have closed the gap with Europe’s top freight airports as pilot strikes at Lufthansa and Air France shrunk cargo traffic at their Frankfurt and Paris hubs.
Lufthansa Cargo’s first Boeing 777 freighter will take off from Frankfurt, Germany, tonight, bound for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, on its first scheduled flight.
Fraport, which operates Frankfurt Airport in Germany, handled 174,047 metric tons of cargo, including transit, in April, sliding 0.1 percent from April 2012.
In the first quarter of 2013, cargo throughput at Germany’s Frankfurt Airport was about 493,000 metric tons, improving by 0.9 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012.
The latest IATA cargo figures again show the Middle East is the only region posting significant year-on-year traffic growth in a flat lining global market.