European air cargo loses ground

It confirms the trend that airlines are greatly involved in the economic development worldwide. The commercial performance of European carriers in total now -7.7% lower than the level of 2007, and carriers from the Middle East have more than doubled their traffic volume over the same period (+118%). Especially transport to Asia, the largest segment in import and export, shows this gap. While the carriers from the Middle East have increased their market share with 16.7%, the European cargo carriers lost -5.7%

Distinction must be made between the development of the general cargo and express cargo locations. While the general cargo is in decline the commercial development of the German express freight is better. The positive financial developments are partly due to the booming online trade. Leipzig is mentioned as an example, the shift of the DHL air hub from Brussels to the Saxony location Leipzig profited seriously. And Köln/Bonn, together with Frankfurt and Leipzig the top of the European freight hubs, contribute to this positive development.

“For our companies is a good connection between the air transport and the sales locations an important deciding factor for the location,” said Dieter Schweer member of the association The Voice of German Industry (BDI). “The German Industry needs fast and reliable supply chains.” Matthias von Randow, chief executive of the Federation of German Aviation industry (BDL) adds: “The politics should change its course. National unilateralism and operating restrictions and aviation taxes seriously worsen the conditions for German airlines.” It must be considered that a large part of the cargo is transported in passenger planes (about 50%). Frank Huster, Managing Director of the German Freight and Logistics Association (DSLV) said: “Air cargo is fast, safe and reliable. Policies focused on the future should remove bottlenecks and secure an efficient infrastructure and support the competitiveness of airfreight in Germany.”