CARGO HUBS
Delivering the goods
How did the world’s leading cargo gateways fare in 2020 and what are they expecting from the year ahead? Joe Bates reports.
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n terms of volumes and payloads, air cargo fared much better than the passenger side of the business in 2020, and that seems likely to be repeated for most or all of this year as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc with people’s travel plans. Indeed, while the combination of travel restrictions, quarantine rules, the fear of catching COVID-19 and reduced airline services are keeping passengers away from airport terminals, cargo volumes have rallied and demand for some shipments has never been higher. Months of shop closures and being forced to stay at home, for example, has led to a boom in e-commerce and arguably companies like Amazon and Alibaba have never been so busy. While aircraft continue to bring vital personal protection equipment (PPE), medical supplies and now vaccines to countries across the globe as the world ramps up to finally put itself in a position to win the war against COVID-19. The upturn in these consignments, in addition to the continued need for more traditional cargos flown on freighters and in the belly-hold of passenger flights, means that some of the world’s biggest cargo hubs reported an upturn in volumes in 2020. These included Memphis International Airport (MEM), which overtook Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to reclaim the title of the world’s busiest cargo gateway by handling a record 4.61 million (+6.72%) tonnes of freight. Other Top 10 cargo airports recording sizeable upturns in volumes were Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), Taipei Taoyuan
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AIRPORT WORLD/ISSUE 2, 2021
International Airport (TPE) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which registered increases of 15%, 7.4% and 6.6% respectively. While Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), Miami International Airport (MIA) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) recorded a healthy upturn in volumes of 4.6%, 2.2% and 1.4% respectively during 2020. In the case of Shanghai Pudong in China, last year’s slight increase to 3.68 million tonnes cemented its status as the third busiest cargo hub on the planet. MEM’s return to the top spot after a decade of being ranked No.2 behind Hong Kong is in no small part down to it being home to the global hub of cargo giant FedEx, which accounted for the vast majority of all cargo shipments handled at the Tennessee gateway. Chair of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority’s Board of Commissioners, Pace Cooper, said: “Our standing in the air cargo industry serves as a positive reminder of the importance of FedEx and e-commerce to the Mid-South’s economy. “It also illustrates the crucial role cargo has served during the pandemic. We look forward to ACI’s final report on the top air cargo airports later this year. Regardless, FedEx is a global leader that we are deeply proud to call our own.” Taipei Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) reveals that transhipment cargo, which accounts for 51% of all freight handled at the gateway, soared by 20% last year, reflecting the “noticeable performance of industries” in Chinese Taipei.
