Cargo at Brussels down but up at Frankfurt in March

Brussels airport saw cargo volumes decline in March but Frankfurt managed to return to growth after two months of declines.

Brussels saw pure air cargo volumes decline by 12% year on year in March to 44,532 tonnes, with the airport blaming industrial action by air traffic controllers and general slowdown in European cargo demand.

All cargo segments at the airport recorded negative figures, with freighter volumes down 17.2%, express cargo down 14.6% and belly cargo was down 2.8%.

However, road feeder service volumes increased by 4%. If the truck volumes are included, airport volumes were 8.1% behind March 2018.

Looking at the first quarter, the airport registered a down turn in flown air cargo of 8.5% compared with a year ago.

Meanwhile, Frankfurt registered its first increase in cargo demand this year.

Airport operator Fraport reported a 0.5% year-on-year increase in demand to 198,700 tonnes in March.

However, over the first quarter cargo volumes are 1.6% down on a year earlier at 519,028 tonnes.

This decline reflected “the worldwide economic slowdown”, Fraport said.