Strong April lifts Schiphol

Cargo volumes at Amsterdam Schiphol grew 1.6% in the first six months of the year, to reach 796,801 tonnes, while the June figure jumped 2.5% year on year, to 135,528 tonnes.
The Netherlands airport said the figures were helped by a particularly strong April, in which 137,666 tonnes of freight transited Europe’s third busiest cargo hub, an increase of 6.8% year-on-year.
There were 8,801 freighter movements from January to June 2016, compared to 8,218 in the same period in 2015, up 7.1%.
Head of cargo, Jonas van Stekelenburg, said: "Compared to the other main European hubs we had a good first half year in terms of volume: we attracted some new carriers such as Jet Airways, and experienced growth of some existing carriers such as DHL.”
Schiphol also remains an attractive hub for carriers from Asia, he added.
However, it was European freight that showed the strongest percentage growth in the first two quarters of 2016, surging 41.7% to 90,991 tonnes, in part a reflection of the new Silk Way service which operates to Asia via Baku, and AirBridgeCargo, which has recently extended services via Moscow from Schiphol.
Asia remains Schiphol’s biggest market, however, picking up in June to show only a 5.8% dip over the six-month period, with 276,312 tonnes from January to June 2016 compared to 293,293 tonnes in the same period in 2015.
"Our strong Cargo Community at Schiphol continues to implement forward thinking initiatives such as Pharma Gateway Amsterdam, and our Milk Run scheme,", said van Stekelenburg. "We are looking forward to more growth over the rest of the year."
Africa showed a 2.3% growth for the first six months of 2016: 90,870 tonnes compared to 88,859 tonnes in the same period in 2015.
North America contributed 152,149 tonnes from January to June 2016, compared to 150,494 tonnes in the same period in 2015, up 1.1%.