Over 134,000 metric tonnes of cargo passed through Heathrow Airport in May – seven per cent less than the same month last year.
The airport said that 94 per cent of this cargo was flown in the belly of passenger aircraft and Latin America saw the most growth (+14 per cent) following additional services to Brazil and Mexico and tonnage to Africa was up 6.8 per cent.
However, there were falls in tonnage to all other regions, notably to Asia Pacific (-7.4 per cent), the Middle East (-5.9 per cent) and North America (-10.3 per cent) – which are the airport’s three biggest markets for cargo.
In the first five months of 2019, Heathrow Airport handled 675,164 tonnes of cargo, 3.8 per cent less than the same period in 2018. On a rolling 12-month basis, tonnage is down 2.7 per cent to 1.67 million tonnes.
Heathrow expansion is set to reach its next delivery milestone on 18 June as the airport kicks-off a twelve-week consultation on its preferred masterplan for the project. The consultation is an important step in giving the public the opportunity to see in detail and comment on the airport’s latest plan.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “An expanded Heathrow will be key to strengthening these links and we are getting on with delivering our plan as quickly as possible to ensure the UK remains one of the world’s great trading nations as the country leaves the EU.”
