Vienna Airport recorded a significant increase in air freight handling in the first half of 2024: a total of 141,118 tonnes were handled from January to June.
This represents an impressive increase of 17% compared to the same period last year, i.e. 20,861 tonnes. It is noteworthy that this figure also exceeded the pre-pandemic figures by 4%.
There was also a strong upturn in the handling of pharmaceutical cargo: the airport processed 1,825 tonnes, representing growth of 8.2% in this sector.
The upward trend continued until July 2024. The airport recorded 24,808 tonnes of air cargo, a significant increase of 21.1% year-on-year. The airport states that this growth is largely due to the increase in passenger traffic, which has created additional capacity for belly cargo in airlines’ cargo holds.
As a result, the tonnage of belly cargo increased by 47% to 57,594 tonnes in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
In contrast, cargo volumes carried by all-cargo aircraft recorded an 8% decline to 41,142 tonnes. The airport says this decline was due to a capacity shift towards passenger aircraft and one-off effects from the previous year. However, the overall strong performance was supported by a 17% increase in air cargo carried by truck to 42,382 tonnes.
According to Vienna Airport, growth in air cargo was evenly distributed between imports and exports, with just over 78,000 tonnes of inbound air cargo recorded destined for distribution in Austria and neighbouring markets in Central and Eastern Europe, an increase of 16% compared to the first half of 2023.
Meanwhile, 63,089 tons of goods have been exported from Vienna to the whole world, which represents an increase of 19% compared to the same period last year.
Julian Jäger, Managing Director and COO of Vienna Airport: “Freight volumes are developing excellently. In July 2024, air freight volumes were already higher than in the pre-Corona year of 2019. This shows that our strategy is working.”
“We rely on innovative logistics solutions, first-class infrastructure and the highest quality of handling. This positive development strengthens our location and underlines our importance as a central hub for global air freight.”
Michael Zach, Senior Vice President Ground Handling and Cargo at Flughafen Wien AG: “We were able to seamlessly continue the positive development since the beginning of the year in the second quarter. Demand remains robust, particularly on routes to North America and Asia.”
“Vienna Airport offers excellent conditions for handling growing cargo volumes quickly and reliably. The handling services of our Pharma Handling Center are also enjoying increasing demand and are well equipped for further growth.”
READ MORE NEWS: Increased belly freight increases cargo volume at Vienna Airport
