Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s cargo volumes have boomed in the first quarter with eight per cent growth between January and March to 420,168 tonnes.

Figures grew by 9.5 per cent in March to 154,000 tonnes as a result of 7.2 per cent growth in freighter volumes while belly-hold was even higher at 13.2 per cent.

Head of cargo, Jonas van Stekelenburg says: “We are very pleased that our commitment to enhancing the experience of our pharmaceutical, e-Commerce, and perishables customers, and our continued commitment to quality and transparency in the supply chain is leading to further growth, especially in the Asia and Europe markets.”

He adds: “Our pharma initiatives have lead to boosted pharma volumes both inbound and outbound to the USA, South America, and Asia, and we will continue to work with the Schiphol Cargo Community to develop this further.”

Asia remains the largest market with inbound cargo up four per cent to 70,648 tonnes and outbound by 12 per cent to 74,332 tonnes with Shanghai the busiest destination.

The European market grew due to new flows across Europe where cargo transits at hubs such as Baku and Moscow, en route to destinations in Asia.

Van Stekelenburg explains: “As a large number of flights now transit Europe en route to China, we can attribute a proportion of the growth in our European figures to the Asian market.”

Inbound cargo from North America decreased six per cent to 36,422 tonnes but exports were up 12 per cent to 38,666 tonnes, while outbound Latin American cargo was down 15 per cent to 15,855 tonnes due to decreased freighter capacity, though inbound increased 31 per cent to 30,952 tonnes.

African inbound volumes were down five per cent to 30,319 tonnes and outbound by 16 per cent to 12,364 tonnes.

Inbound cargo from the Middle East declined four per cent to 21,723 tonnes though outbound was up 13 per cent to 31,910 tonnes.