Video:’Tis the season to shop online for a busy East Midlands Airport

East Midlands Airport (EMA) will see over 1m packages flown in and out of the UK hub each night during the busiest periods in the run-up to Christmas.
To celebrate the role that EMA plays in ensuring people get the gifts they’ve ordered for Christmas on time, the airport has produced its own festive film
In the first half of December, the volume of goods handled at EMA was up almost 3% on the same period last year, confirmed an airport spokesperson, adding that this figure is forecast to have increased by the end of the month, making December 2018 one of the busiest ever.
Said the spokesperson: "Fuelling this growth is e-commerce, with increasing numbers of people shopping for Christmas presents online. Goods coming through the airport range from clothes to super-cars, which reflects the variation in budgets that people put aside for Christmas spending."
In total, goods to and from both the European Union (EU) and non-EU countries reach 1,000 tonnes a day.
Earlier in 2018, EMA hit a significant milestone when the value of goods shipped to and from non-EU countries in the 12 months up to July exceeded £10bn* for the first time. Of which £5.3bn was exports.
Looking ahead to next year, EMA management expects to see further growth to its freight operation as the work to build a new £114m UPS facility will near completion. This will double UPS’ capacity and employ 1,000 people.
Added the spokesperson: "EMA is the UK’s most important airport for dedicated air cargo traffic. It is second only to Heathrow in terms of the total tonnage of cargo that passes through it annually.
"Its role in facilitating global trade makes it a key national asset. As a driver of regional growth, it has been key to the rapid expansion of the SEGRO East Midlands Gateway (EMG) Logistics Park next door."
EMA is home to some of the world’s largest express freight operators including DHL, UPS, TNT/FedEx and Royal Mail. Flights are also handled on behalf of many clients, including Amazon.
Karen Smart, EMA’s managing director, said: “As people’s shopping habits change and the demand for next-day deliveries increase, so too will the cargo operation here.
"We’re a four-hour truck drive from 90% of the urban population of England and Wales which makes us perfectly positioned to facilitate the delivery of goods to a huge number of people and businesses.
"A key part of my focus is managing this growth sustainably. By this we mean incentivising operators to use quieter, larger and more efficient aircraft so that the number of flights doesn’t necessarily have to increase.
"This is particularly important to minimise the impact on local communities at night time, as we are a 24/7 airport.”
*Non-EU trade is monitored by HMRC and reported on monthly. The £10.072bn is the total value of goods which have been imported and exported through EMA over a rolling cycle of 12 months. The figures quoted are those reported up to July 2018.