|
|||||
|
Air Cargo Surges  Reprint permission
Frankfurt airport, Europe's biggest air freight hub, today said cargo traffic in September rose 14.9 percent from a year ago, the third best monthly performance in its history that was driven by robust growth on key long-haul routes. Fraport, the airport operator, said traffic reached 147,771 tonnes, taking volume for the first nine months of the year to just over 1.27 million tonnes, up 12.9 percent on the same period in 2003, following strong gains in the July-September period that made it the best third quarter for cargo in the airport's history. Routes to and from South America registered 60 percent growth in September while the bigger North American and Far Eastern markets were up 12.6 percent and 14.6 percent. Frankfurt Hahn, Fraport's nearby freighter hub, boosted traffic including trucked cargo, by 20.3 percent to 17,746 tonnes. In related news, Hong Kong handled a record 280,000 tonnes of cargo in September due to strong demand from markets in North America, Europe and mainland China, the Airport Authority said. That figure surpassed a previous record of 269,800 tonnes set in March this year and was up 19.2 percent from September 2003. Passenger numbers also grew in September, with 3.04 million people passing through, up 15 percent from the same month last year. Hong Kong's Dragonair said on Thursday passenger traffic in September, a typically slower month for travel, fell 6.6 percent from August, but cargo set a record for the third consecutive month, rising 10.5 percent. The airline flew 415,343 passengers in September, down from a record 444,498 in August, but still up 35.2 percent from September last year when the travel industry was still recovering from the SARS outbreak. Cargo carried reached 33,829 tonnes compared to the previous record of 30,613 tonnes in August, and was 32 percent higher than September, 2003. "This excellent start to the peak cargo season bodes very well for volumes in the remainder of the year," said Stanley Hui, the airline's chief executive. But the airline also said the good figures were tempered by concern over high oil prices.
|
|||||
