Freight traffic across European airports had their best first half year since 2010 with 8.7 per cent growth, Airports Council International (ACI) Europe reports.
Airports inside the European Union (EU) registered growth of 7.8 per cent while those outside were up 14.4 per cent, with major hubs in Turkey and Russia performing well.
In Turkey, Istanbul Ataturk Airport was up 15 per cent in the first half to 485,754 tonnes, and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport grew by 8.2 per cent to 32,600 tonnes.
Over in Russia, volumes at Moscow Sheremetyevo grew 32.8 per cent to 102,897 tonnes, Moscow Domodedovo was up by 12.6 per cent to 60,178 tonnes, while St. Petersburg saw a 21.2 per cent increase to 13,377 tonnes.
ACI Europe director general, Olivier Jankovec says the outlook is “very positive” for the rest of the year with strong growth and oil prices remaining consistent but Brexit is a concern.
He says: “Brexit remains the number one worry for many airport CEOs – given the continued uncertainty surrounding negotiations. The countdown to March 2019 keeps ticking and if no progress is achieved in the coming months, we are likely to see negative impacts on aviation kick in already next year.”
Frankfurt Airport retained its place as the busiest cargo airport in Europe, handling 1.04 million tonnes of cargo in the first half, up 5.7 per cent on 2016.
Paris Charles de Gaulle remained the second busiest, handling 965,704 tonnes, an improvement of 2.5 per cent.
Freight volumes grew 8.7 per cent at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to 866,713 tonnes and Heathrow Airport registered growth of 9.1 per cent to 823,320 tonnes.
In June, freight was up 10.4 per cent year-on-year, with 8.8 per cent growth at EU airports and 20.3 per cent outside.
Second quarter growth was 9.2 per cent in total, with EU airports up 7.7 per cent and non-EU airports by 17.8 per cent.