Airport bosses back remaining in the EU
The chief executives of Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airports Group (MAG) have added their support to the UK staying in the European Union (EU). The UK is to hold a referendum on whether it wants to leave the EU on 23 June. Heathrow Airport chief executive officer (CEO), John Holland-Kaye, and MAG, which operates Manchester […]
Third runway at Heathrow essential to clear export limiting bottleneck
Heathrow Airport is full and freight cannot be transported directly on a number of services to destinations including China, head of cargo, Nick Platts tells Air Cargo Week (ACW). Heathrow Airport handled just under 1.5 million tonnes of cargo in 2015, a 0.2 per cent dip from 2014, though Platts says the results were skewed […]
Heathrow Airport posts January cargo surge
Heathrow Airport saw a surge of 2.9 per cent in cargo volumes in January – which was driven by Mexico and China, both up 28 per cent and Turkey, up 16 per cent. The airport handled 119,214 tonnes in the month. On a 12-month rolling basis freight is down 0.2 per cent, and 1.5 million […]
European airports see weak growth in 2015
Freight traffic in Europe grew by just 0.7 per cent in 2015 compared to much stronger passenger growth of 5.2 per cent, according to Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. Among Europe’s top five freight hubs, only Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport was up on 2015, rising by 3.1 per cent to 748,914 tonnes. Frankfurt Airport remained […]
Heathrow and Enterprise Nation launches SME consultation
Heathrow Airport is to carry out a consultation with business support group, Enterprise Nation, to explore the impact of expanding the hub on the UK’s small and medium sized enterprises (SME). The airport says the findings will be used to develop an SME growth strategy within Heathrow’s expansion plans. It believes this will help export […]
Garuda Indonesia to operate bellyhold route to Heathrow
Garuda Indonesia is to begin a daily bellyhold service from London to Jakarta, operating from their new UK base of Heathrow Airport. The new service will be the first and only non-stop flight to connect the UK and Indonesia, beginning Thursday 31 March 2016. The move is part of Garuda’s strategy to strengthen its presence in […]
IAG Cargo to start Madrid to Shanghai and Tokyo services
IAG Cargo is to start Madrid – Shanghai in late 2016 and Madrid – Tokyo services from 18 October. The flights will be operated by Iberia, and will be served by Airbus A330-200s with 13 tonnes of cargo capacity. The Tokyo flights will leave Madrid on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays while the Shanghai services are […]
UK airport expansion poll finds concerns over air quality
A YouGov poll has found air quality is London’s top environmental concern, in the first survey since the UK government delayed a decision on airport expansion in the South East. The poll found air quality at 30 per cent and the related issue of road congestion at 29 per cent are the environmental challenges that matter […]
John Good Shipping launches airfreight division
John Good Shipping has launched an airfreight division, John Good Air, headed up by Ed Clarke, to complement its sea and road services. The air division will be based in Manchester with Clarke as airfreight manager. It will develop import and export services to and from all major UK airports including Manchester Airport and Heathrow […]
Kuehne + Nagel moves into Heathrow South Cargo Centre
Kuehne + Nagel has started operating at Heathrow Airport’s 130,000 square foot Heathrow South Cargo Centre. The facility includes warehouses and offices and is adjacent to the airport’s cargo area. Kuehne + Nagel says it offers security certification including TAPA, Regulated Agent and ETSF to support import, export and general operations. The facility is temperature […]
ACI: Weakness in India and China causes 1.3% fall
Airfreight volumes fell by 1.3 per cent in November with the weak growth in economies such as China and India unable to offset declines in other major market, according to Airports Council International (ACI) FreightFlash. In November the only region of the world to see an increase was Africa, rising by 11.9 per cent. Latin […]
Cargo falls at Gatwick in 2015 by 17.3%
Gatwick Airport’s cargo volumes fell by a substantial 17.3 per cent in 2015, compared to the previous 12 months. The gateway handled 73,411 tonnes, which was a significant decline on the 88,737 tonnes that Gatwick handled in 2014. December continued the monthly trend last year of significant falls and cargo volumes fell by 11.4 per cent […]
Slight volumes fall in 2015 at Heathrow
Heathrow Airport saw its cargo volumes fall 0.2 per cent in 2015, but tonnage rose in the last month of the year. The gateway handled 1.49 million tonnes of freight last year, a very slight decline on figures in 2014. Heathrow, the UK’s largest port by value, says it continued to play a leading role […]
Russia blamed for European airport decline
Airports in Europe have seen volumes fall by 0.6 per cent in November because of large declines at non-European Union hubs, particularly in Russia, according to Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. Among non-EU airports, volumes fell by 12.8 per cent because of weakness in Russia, while EU hubs increased by 1.3 per cent. In Russia, […]
Heathrow Airport chairman to step down next year
Heathrow Airport chairman Sir Nigel Rudd will be stepping down from his role in September 2016 after nine years and three terms at the helm – in line with the gateway’s standard board practice. The airport says during his tenure, Heathrow has gone through significant change with Sir Nigel guiding and advising the Heathrow Board – […]
Trial to cut Heathrow holding times enters operational service
A trial project to cut aircraft holding times at Heathrow Airport has been so successful it has now entered permanent operational service. Known as cross-border arrivals management – or XMAN – the procedure sees NATS air traffic controllers in the UK working with those in the surrounding airspace in France, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands to […]
Cathay Pacific to launch Gatwick service
Cathay Pacific Airways is to increase UK services with four times a week Airbus A350-900 flights to Gatwick Airport from September 2016. The flights will leave Hong Kong at 00.55h and arrive at Gatwick at 07.10h. The return flight will leave Gatwick at 12.35h and arrive in Hong Kong at 07.25h the next day. The […]
UK business community slams Heathrow runway dithering
The UK freight, logistics and business community have slammed the UK government’s decision to delay a decision until next summer on whether a third runway will be built at Heathrow Airport. The British International Freight Association (BIFA) says forwarders are “dismayed” over no decisive decision on UK aviation. BIFA director general, Robert Keen, says: “The 1,500 companies […]
Heathrow sure it can deliver within environmental limits
Heathrow Airport says it has full confidence that expansion at the hub can be delivered within environmental limits and says it will work with the UK government to deliver a third runway. The gateway’s plan involves building a new 3,500 metre runway about two miles Northwest of its two runways, at an estimated cost of £18.6 billion […]
Heathrow expansion decision delayed again
A UK government decision on whether a third runway at Heathrow Airport should be approved has been delayed until at least the middle of 2016 to carry out further environmental impacts. The government had been expected to formally respond to the Airports Commission, which it appointed to evaluate increasing aviation capacity in 2012, by the […]
European airports see mixed growth
Airports across Europe have seen cargo volumes increase by 1.2 per cent in October though the top hubs are still posting mixed results, Airports Council International’s October Airport Traffic Report. Europe’s largest freight airport, Frankfurt Airport saw volumes fall by two per cent in October to 174,435 tonnes, while the second biggest, Paris Charles de […]
Heathrow third runway decision set to be delayed
Media reports claim the UK government is putting off a final decision on expanding Heathrow Airport for another six months until the gateway can prove its ability to meet pollution targets. This follows a meeting last week by a committee of MP’s who said the airports should be barred from building a third runway until […]
IAG Cargo to upgrade London to Tel Aviv services for pharma
IAG Cargo is to upgrade its London to Tel Aviv services from Airbus A321s to Boeing 777-200s from March 2016 to take advantage of Israel’s fast growing pharmaceutical sector. The 777-200s will operate twice a day between Heathrow Airport and Ben Gurion International Airport, replacing the remaining A321. The upgrade will provide a daily capacity […]
No Heathrow expansion unless environmental conditions met
Heathrow Airport expansion should not be approved unless it can demonstrate it can comply with environmental conditions, the UK government’s House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee says. In July this year, the UK government appointed Airports Commission published its final report on increasing runway capacity in London, concluding that Heathrow Airport should have a third […]
Significance of cargo at Heathrow only just realised
Heathrow Airport chief executive officer John Holland-Kaye says the gateway “didn’t understand the significance of cargo” until it started working in the Airports Commission process. He was speaking at the Airport Operators Association’s (AOA) UK Aviation Conference at the Hilton Metropole in London on Tuesday, where he set out why he feels the government should […]
Cargo mission for Heathrow’s Platts
Heathrow Airport’s head of cargo Nick Platts says he is “on a mission” to make it Europe’s premier airfreight hub – as the gateway’s pivotal role to the UK economy has again been highlighted. The gateway has big freight plans and unveiled plans earlier this month to spend £180 million ($273 million) on upgrades. Export data, […]
Exports from Heathrow top £48 billion
Heathrow Airport’s pivotal role in the UK economy has been revealed in data released to the gateway by UK Customs, which shows £48 billion ($72.9 billion) worth of British goods were exported through the airport between August 2014 and July 2015. This represents a 9.7 per cent increase on the previous 12 months, and makes […]
ACI: European freight volumes flat with no improvement expected
Airfreight volumes in Europe have been flat so far in 2015 and are unlikely to see any noticeable improvement this year, according to Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. In September, freight volumes increased by 0.2 per cent compared to the same month last year. For the first nine months of 2015, freight is also up […]
Freight Transport Association praises Heathrow expansion plans
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has praised Heathrow Airport for its plans to invest £180 million ($277.6 million) to double airfreight volumes. The airport will be spent on cargo facilities, processes and people. It will include a specialist pharmaceutical storage area to cater for ever rising demand for high value and temperature sensitive medicine. The […]
Heathrow makes £419 million profit
Heathrow Airport has seen its nine month profit increase to £419 million ($642 million) from £52 million in 2014. The airport says revenue increased by 4.1 per cent to £2 billion with aeronautical revenue rising by three per cent to £1.3 billion. Heathrow chief executive officer, John Holland-Kaye says the results show that the airport […]
