Air Freight

See also 

Air freight is not quite the same as air cargo, which also includes mail.


IATA Air Freight Monthly Analysis

See link

IATA produces monthly air freight figures for the global industry. Some recent examples:

 

Air Freight Monthly Analysis – Apr 2019
29 May 2019 

Air Freight Monthly Analysis – Jul 2019
5 September 2019

Air Freight Monthly Analysis – Aug 2019
9 October 2019 

 


CAA produces airport statistics

Monthly and annually for all UK airports.  CAA airport data

 

20082018% change 2008 to 2018
HEATHROW 1,397,054 1,699,66322.60%
EAST MIDLANDS INTERNATIONAL 261,507 334,53627.90%
STANSTED 197,738 226,12814.50%
MANCHESTER 141,781 114,131-19.50%
GATWICK 107,702 112,6004.50%
BIRMINGHAM 12,192 33,709
BELFAST INTERNATIONAL 36,115 27,672
LUTON 40,518 26,193
EDINBURGH 12,418 20,316
GLASGOW 3,546 15,466
PRESTWICK 22,966 13,003
DONCASTER SHEFFIELD 1,350 7,107
ABERDEEN 4,006 5,706
NEWCASTLE 1,938 5,524
CARDIFF WALES 1,334 1,459
JERSEY 4,332 1,041
GUERNSEY 3,309 937
SCATSTA 723 449
SUMBURGH 144 333
ISLAY 275 283
SOUTHAMPTON 264 233
BELFAST CITY (GEORGE BEST) 168 227
NORWICH 239 220
STORNOWAY 551 217
LIVERPOOL (JOHN LENNON) 3,740 159
ISLE OF MAN 595 150
HUMBERSIDE 168 121
ALDERNEY 323 95
ISLES OF SCILLY (ST.MARYS) 180 74
LANDS END (ST JUST) 18 65
KIRKWALL 106 38
BENBECULA 235 24
TIREE 23 21
BARRA 34 13
BRISTOL 3 7
LONDON CITY – 7
LEEDS BRADFORD 334 3
NEWQUAY – 3
OXFORD (KIDLINGTON) – 1
DURHAM TEES VALLEY 290 1
CAMPBELTOWN 1 0
EXETER 47 0
INVERNESS 526 0
BOURNEMOUTH 17 0
SOUTHEND 16 –
BLACKPOOL 47 –
CAMBRIDGE 18 –
COVENTRY 5,921 –
ISLES OF SCILLY (TRESCO) 38 –
MANSTON (KENT INT) 25,673 –
PENZANCE HELIPORT 190 –
WICK JOHN O GROATS 2 –
Total UK reporting airports2,282,1532,645,71011.60%

 

https://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/CAA/Content/Standard_Content/Data_and_analysis/Datasets/Airport_stats/Airport_data_2018_annual/Table_13_2_Freight.pdf


Freight. Tonnes    Source – CAA data

Airport 200620152016% change in 2016 
HEATHROW1,263,128.91,496,537.41,541,028.73
EAST MIDLANDS INTERNAT272,302.9291,688.6300,101.23
STANSTED224,312.2207,996.4223,202.87
MANCHESTER148,957.4100,020.7109,630.210
GATWICK211,856.873,371.179,587.99
BIRMINGHAM14,681.07,163.830,009.7319
LUTON17992.928007.825425.7-9
EDINBURGH36388.819322.020368.95
GLASGOW6288.713192.812920.7-2
PRESTWICK28536.711241.610821.9-4
DONCASTER SHEFFIELD167.23201.19340.8192
BELFAST INTERNATIONAL38416.730388.77597.4-75
ABERDEEN4021.66545.55730.8-12
NEWCASTLE306.33717.14574.423
COVENTRY7785.42258.52031.6-10
Total London area airports1,717,3601,805,9411,869,314478.4% of UK total
Total All Reporting UK Airports2314546.02299328.02385231.04.0

 

 


The CAA data from 2015:

CAA air freight 2013 2014 2015

the other UK airports deal with under 1,000 tonnes of air freight per year.

See CAA Table 13.2 Air freight 2005 to 2015

for all the freight data for all UK airports every year from 2005 to 2015


Heathrow air freight in recent years:

20022007200820092010201120122013
1,234,9401,310,9871,397,0541,277,6501,472,9881,484,3511,464,3901,422,939

 

20142015
1 498 906 1 496 551


UK Air Freight tonnage  – CAA data

Year20032004200520062007
London Airports1,667,8031,795,3261,788,6711,717,3601,724,040
All UK reporting airports2,205,9342,368,6012,360,9842,314,5472,325,239
75.6% London in 2003
Year20082009201020112012
London Airports1,743,0281,563,7831,808,0051,802,9391,805,761
All UK reporting airports2,282,1532,047,8612,324,8222,297,6022,302,329
77.8% London in 2013

 

      Year     201320142015
London airports     1,760,690     1,819,587     1,805,955
All UK reporting airports     2,262,387     2,304,487     2,299,344

 

Total 2013

from RCD Aviation

UK air cargo Jan to Dec 2013 cf 2012


 


 

.

Air Freight

 

CAA data showing air freight at all UK airports 2002 to 2012

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2012Annual/Table_13_2_Freight_2002_2012.pdf

(Tonnes)

Excerpt showing just the largest airports, by air freight, for some of the years:

Airport                (air freight in tonnes)2002200720082009201020112012% change 2012 cf. 2011
HEATHROW1,234,9401,310,9871,397,0541,277,6501,472,9881,484,3511,464,390-1
EAST MIDLANDS    219,252    274,753    261,507    255,121    273,669    264,595 264,2920
STANSTED    184,449    203,747    197,738    182,810    202,238    202,593214,1606
GATWICK    242,519    171,078    107,702      74,680    104,032      88,085      97,56711
MANCHESTER    113,279    165,366    141,781    102,543    115,922    107,415      96,822-10
MANSTON      32,240      28,371      25,673      30,038      28,103      27,495      31,07813
LUTON      20,459      38,095      40,518      28,643      28,743      27,905      29,6356
BELFAST INTERNAT      29,474      38,429      36,115      29,804      29,716      31,062      29,095-6
EDINBURGH      21,232      19,292      12,418      23,791      20,357      19,332      19,115-1
BIRMINGHAM      13,326      13,585      12,192      13,070      21,605      16,626      19,08815
PRESTWICK      39,500      31,517      22,966      13,385      12,163      11,846      10,314-13
GLASGOW        5,041        4,276        3,546        2,334        2,914        2,430        9,497291
ABERDEEN        3,808        3,434        4,006        3,822        4,211        5,311        6,16616
NEWCASTLE        1,437           785        1,938        2,597        3,650        3,059        2,956-3
COVENTRY        4,673        7,469        5,921        2,440                –           564        2,500343
JERSEY        5,543        4,416        4,332        3,672        3,027        2,634        2,478-6
GUERNSEY        4,445        3,420        3,309        2,901        2,132        2,194        1,940-12
BOURNEMOUTH        5,683           253             17               4           304               0        1,1210
SCATSTA           676           765           723           752           765           808           8738
HUMBERSIDE           126           144           168           241           600        1,132           621-45
BELFAST CITY        1,058        1,057           168           138           155           457           58127
ISLE OF MAN        2,178           533           595           500           404           424           4332
SUMBURGH             98           104           144             53           268           315           36215
SOUTHAMPTON           382           297           264           209           116           132           359172
LEEDS BRADFORD           114           109           334           359           235           194           28245
DONCASTER SHEFFIELD             –        1,602        1,350           344           216           102           276171
NORWICH             92           188           239           339           266           330           213-35
ISLAY           191           272           275           229           213           209           168-20
ALDERNEY           449           290           323           275           216           182           161-12
STORNOWAY           767           558           551           475           192           115           15434
Total for all reporting UK airports2,193,2552,325,2392,282,1532,047,8612,324,8222,297,6022,302,3290
 2002 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

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CAA data.   Total All Reporting UK Airports. Air freight. (Tonnes)

2001     2,143,281

2002     2,193,255

2003     2,205,934

2004     2,368,601

2005     2,360,984

2006     2,314,547

2007     2,325,239

2008     2,282,153

2009     2,047,861

2010     2,324,822

2011    2,297,602    down -1% compared to 2010

2012   2,302,329   almost no change compared to 2011

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2011Annual/Table_13_2_Freight_2001_2011.pdf

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2012Annual/Table_13_2_Freight_2002_2012.pdf


 Global air freight in 2012 (IATA data)

air freight 2012 from IATA

http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/Documents/economics/MIS_Note_Dec12.pdf

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AirportWatch report  on air freight

 “Air Freight: The Impacts”  Air freight pays no tax on aviation fuel.  It is exempt from VAT.  And it does not pay the equivalent of Air Passenger Duty.   10.12.2009  More …..

Full report    “Air Freight: the Impacts” full report  (pdf)   38 pages
5 page summary   “Air Freight: the Impacts” Summary
Airport-by-airport analysis  Airport by Airport analysis   15 pages


Sources of information on air freight

Civil Aviation Authority statistics

(Air Freight is Table 13 each month)

Trade press sources:

Air Cargo World              

Air  Cargo News            

International Freighting Weekly

UK Airport News                

BA World Cargo News  

AEA   (Association of European Airlines)  

IATA press releases

 World’s busiest airports by cargo traffic (Wikipedia)

(2009)
1.  Memphis  (3,697,054 metric tonnes)   2.  Hong Kong     3.  Shanghai     4.  Seoul
 5.  Paris Charles de Gaulle     6.  Anchorage     7.  Louisville     8. Dubai     9.  Frankfurt     10.  Narita     11.  Singapore     12.  Miami     13.  Los Angeles     14.  Beijing
15.  Taiwan     16.  Heathrow  (1,349,571 tonnes)   17.  Amsterdam     18. JFK New York     19.  Chicago     20.  Bangkok


Mail sent by air freight    

The CAA provides data – each year
CAA airport statistics
Table 16 1: Mail by Type and Nat of Operator
Table 16 2: Mail (past 10 years)
Table 17: Intl and Domestic Mail
Table 18: Mail by Acft Configuration
eg.   Table 16 2 Mail 2000 2010 and
‘Table 16 2 Mail 2002 2012.pdf’

see also CAA Figures for mail during 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010
for the 10 UK airports with the most mail.

UK Air freight tonnage month by month,

compared to equivalent month a year earlier  (CAA figures)   see link ……

See also BAA airports data, month by month.   BAA release the figures for their airports, around the middle of each month, at   BAA press releases

Recent  BAA monthly figures have been put together, for ease of access, at
BAA monthly freight data.

Air freight in the UK in recent years

 Air freight in the UK in 2010
These were the top 11 airports for air freight.   (tonnes)  (CAA figures)
Airport Name                 2010 tonnes            % change from 2009
HEATHROW                         1,472,988                    +15
EAST MIDLANDS                    273,669                     + 7
STANSTED                             202,238                     + 11
MANCHESTER                        115,922                     +13
GATWICK                               104,032                      +39
BELFAST INTERNATIONAL        29,716                       0
LUTON                                      28,743                       0
MANSTON (KENT INT)               28,103                      – 6
BIRMINGHAM                            21,605                     + 65
EDINBURGH                              20,357                     -14
PRESTWICK                              12,163                     – 9
Total of all reporting UK airports in 2008 =  2,324,822 tonnes – (+ 14% more than in 2009)
CAA freight statistics 2010          Freight 2000 – 2010

Air freight in the UK in 2009

These were the top 11 airports for air freight.   (tonnes)  (CAA figures)
Airport Name                 2009 tonnes            % change from 2008
HEATHROW                  1,277,649                      – 9
EAST MIDLANDS              255,120                      – 2
STANSTED                       182,810                      – 8
MANCHESTER                  102,543                     – 28
GATWICK                           74,679                     – 31
KENT INTERNATIONAL        30,037                     +17
BELFAST INTERNATIONAL  29,803                     -17
LUTON                                28,643.                    – 29
EDINBURGH                        23,79.                    + 92
PRESTWICK                       13,385                    – 42
BIRMINGHAM                      13,069                    + 7
Total of all reporting UK airports in 2009 =  2,047,861 tonnes – ( – 10% less than in 2008)
CAA freight statistics 2009          Freight 1999 – 2009

Air freight in the UK in 2008

These were the top 11 airports for air freight.   (tonnes)  (CAA figures)
Airport Name                 2008 tonnes            % change from 2007
HEATHROW                 1397053.818                + 7%
EAST MIDLANDS           261506.671                 – 5
STANSTED                    197738.177                 – 3
MANCHESTER              141780.692                 – 14
GATWICK                      107702.029                 – 37
LUTON                            40517.9                    + 6
BELFAST INTERNAT       36114.583                  – 6
KENT INTERNAT             25673.281                  – 10
PRESTWICK                   22965.994                  – 27
EDINBURGH                   12417.769                  – 36
BIRMINGHAM                  12191.896                 – 10

Total of all reporting UK airports in 2008 =  2,282,153 tonnes – (2% less than in 2007)
CAA freight statistics 2008          Freight 1998 – 2008
see also BAA airports freight data for all of 2008 – see BAA press release 

Air Freight in the UK in 2007
These were the top 12 airports for air freight.    (tonnes)  (CAA figures)
1    Heathrow                         1,310,987
2    N’ham East Midlands          274,753
3    Stansted                            203,747
4    Gatwick                             171,078
5    Manchester                        165,368
6    Belfast International               38,429
7    Luton                                   38,095
8    Prestwick                             31,517
9    Kent                                     28,371
10   Edinburgh                            19,292
11   Birmingham                          13,585
12   Coventry                                7,469
Total of all reporting UK airports in 2007 =  2,325,772 tonnes – (no increase on 2006)
CAA freight statistics 2007

Air Freight in the UK in 2006
These were the top 10 airports for air freight.    (tonnes)
(CAA figures)
1   Heathrow                      1,263,129
2   N’ham East Midlands        272,303
3   Stansted                          224,312
4   Gatwick                           211,857
5   Manchester                      148,957
6   Belfast International            38,417
7   Edinburgh                           35,389
8   Prestwick                           28,537
9   Kent                                   20,841
10  Luton                                17,993
11  Birmingham                       14,681
12 Coventry                              7,785
Total of all UK reporting airports in 2006 =   2,315,445 tonnes
(a 2% increase on 2005)
Freight  (tonnes)  in 2002   (CAA figures)
1  Heathrow                        1,234,940
2  Gatwick                            242,519
3  N’ham East Midlands         219,252
4  Stansted                            184,449
5  Manchester                        113,279
6  Prestwick                            39,500
7  Kent International                 32,240
8  Belfast International              29,274
9  Edinburgh                            21,232
10  Luton                                 20,459
Total of all UK reporting airports in 2002  =  2,195,433 tonnes

DfT produces analysis of the end-to-end journey of UK air freight

12.5.2009    The DfT has published its end to end analysis for air freight in the UK. I t is a 56 page document, containing a great deal of information about air freight in the UK, over past decades, and projections into the future. The document focuses mainly on Heathrow – the largest cargo airport in the UK, and East Midlands, which has the most express courier services.   The UK imports (57%) more air freight than it exports (43%) by weight. This adds up to over 1,280,000 tonnes of imports (1,230,000 tonnes excluding domestic air freight) and 960,000 tonnes of exports. The primary routes for air freight in and out of the UK are the transatlantic routes to and from the United States for both imports and exports, and also routes bringing imports from the major Asian economies.  There is a lot of detail.    More …..

Air Freighter accidents

Unfortunately, being older aircraft and with less attention to safety in some countries, there are far more accidents to frieght aircraft that to passenger aircraft.   More …..