Amsterdam Airport Schiphol handled a record 420,168 tons of cargo in Q1 of 2017, a rise of 8% on the same period last year.
Figures for March also showed a year-on-year growth of 9.5% as a result of a 7.2% rise in full freighter volume and a high belly volume growth of 13.2%.
Jonas van Stekelenburg, head of cargo at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, said, “We are very pleased that our commitment to enhancing the experience of our pharmaceutical, e-commerce, and perishables customers, and our continued commitment to quality and transparency in the supply chain is leading to further growth, especially in the Asia and Europe markets.
“Our pharma initiatives have led to boosted pharma volumes both inbound and outbound to the USA, South America, and Asia, and we will continue to work with the Schiphol cargo community to develop this further. Unfortunately, the growth in the Latin American and African regions is a bit behind.”
A decrease in full freighter volumes on inbound cargo from North America lead to a 6% decrease on volume to 36,422 tons, but exports to the same market were up 12% to 38,666 tons due to increased full freighter and belly volumes.
Asia remains the largest market for the Dutch hub, with figures up 4% on inbound flights with 70,648 tonnes, and 12% to 74,332 tons on outbound journeys. Shanghai remains the busiest cargo destination.
The European market grew due to new cargo flows across Europe, where cargo transits at hubs such as Baku, Azerbaijan, and Moscow en route to final destinations in Asia.
Van Stekelenburg added, “As a large number of flights now transit Europe en route to China, we can attribute a proportion of the growth in our European figures to the Asian market.”
