Heathrow cargo area to double
03 / 03 / 2015
LONDON’S Heathrow Airport is to double the size of its cargo area.
New improvement plans allow for enhanced access points and include the potential for a cargo railhead, offering faster, more efficient cargo movements to and from the UK hub.
The nation’s Freight Transport Association (FTA) says the project is good news for freight as it will improve the UK’s export competitiveness and maximise economic benefits.
Plans for the redevelopment of Heathrow are part of an overhaul of cargo facilities at the London airport hub to expand its capacity to twice the current size.
Chris Welsh, FTA’s director of global and European policy, says the plans are very much welcomed by FTA and echo the findings in its own recent report.
“We have previously stated that it is imperative that the UK has a single airfreight hub, and that Heathrow fulfils that role.
“It is an essential hub of connectivity for passengers and freight, bringing together huge resource, expertise and opportunity in one place,” he adds.
FTA’s ‘Sky High Value’ report reveals that 95 per cent of air cargo is carried in the bellyholds of passenger aircraft, and that airfreight accounts for nearly 40 per cent of UK imports and exports by value.
