Schiphol cargo closes gap in Q3

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s cargo tonnage trends moved closer to those of 2014 in the third quarter of 2015, narrowing the deficit to 1.44% year to date.

Q3 saw a total of 409,034 tonnes of cargo handled through the airport, fractionally (0.08%) down on the same period of 2014. Weakness in Asia (down 5%) and Europe (down 10%) business was counteracted by stronger performances in North America (up 2.3%), Middle East (up 8%), Africa (up 4%) and Latin America (up 12%). Freighter movements were down 1.9% in the period, totalling 4,079.

The quarter’s stronger performance brought year to date tonnages closer to 2014’s record levels, at 1,193,604 (-1.44%). Within the total, Asia continued to hold top position with 37.8% share of year to date tonnages, and North America took second place with 19.2%, with Middle East (13%) Africa (10.9%), Latin America (10.8%) and Europe (8.3%) accounting for the balance. Freighter movements were up 0.4% at 12,318.

Reflecting the cooling of industrial output from China, which is Schiphol’s single largest market, year to date imports were down 2.8%, accounting for 50.6% of all cargo; exports, however, were level with 2014, and accounted for 49.4% of traffic.

Says Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Director – Cargo, Jonas van Stekelenburg: “We are pleased to see the gap between 2015 and 2014 narrowing, helped by recent major shipments of mobile phones, and generally strong performance in our non-Asian markets.

“The tonnages to date are still down slightly on 2014, which was a record year; but, when compared to 2013, they are actually up 6.5%. The underlying trend is generally positive, therefore.

“We can never escape the volatility of airfreight markets, but we can and will insulate our carriers and logistics community as far as possible by continuing our campaign to drive paper, inefficiency and cost from the supply chain. Innovation remains very much

our major focus, as we collaborate with our stakeholders to facilitate the best possible user experience.”