While most major European airports saw their cargo volumes decline in 2012, Copenhagen Airport boosted its position as the leader in Northern Europe with growth of 6.4%. The cargo carried ranges from pharmaceuticals and IT equipment to machinery, expensive fashion clothing and luxury food.
"In a Europe hit by crisis, with cargo generally showing a falling trend, the 6.4% growth in Copenhagen last year was a very good performance. More cargo is often a sign that the economy is picking up. That’s good news. And the growth is also a clear indication that Copenhagen Airport's World Class Hub strategy is successful," said CEO Thomas Woldbye.
Belly cargo up by 12.4%
In addition to pure cargo flights, Copenhagen Airport has also focused on belly cargo, i.e. cargo carried on passenger flights. At Copenhagen Airport, this category grew by as much as 12.4%in 2012.
"As a small country on the outskirts of Europe, it is certainly not a matter of course that we have a major transport hub in Denmark such as Copenhagen Airport that offers 24 intercontinental routes. That requires extra efforts – and belly-cargo is a very important factor in this success,” Woldbye explains.
"Large passenger airliners can carry 15-25 tonnes of cargo, and it is often this extra revenue that makes intercontinental routes sustainable," he adds.
The growth in belly cargo looks to be going only one way - and that is up. The figures from January 2013 show that several of the airlines at Copenhagen Airport enjoyed substantial cargo growth: for example, SAS recorded 44.5% growth, Qatar recorded 52.8% growth, and Emirates recorded 99.5% growth.
Growth breeds growth
With 354,269 tonnes of cargo in 2012, Copenhagen is the 13th largest cargo hub in Europe – ahead of our nearest airport peers, Zurich, Vienna and Munich. And compared with all other major European airports, except for DHL's cargo centre in Leipzig, Copenhagen clearly saw the highest growth rate.
And growth breeds growth. China Cargo Airlines has just announced an increase in their number of weekly frequencies between Shanghai and Copenhagen from three to five.
Moreover, Emirates Skycargo has opened a cargo service from Dubai to Chicago via Copenhagen. Air China, Singapore Airlines and Korean Airlines also operate pure cargo routes to Copenhagen.
"China Cargo Airlines' decision to increase their frequencies to Copenhagen shows that our position as the key hub of Northern Europe has been strengthened. For Emirates Skycargo, Copenhagen's geographic location was also an important factor. We are half-way on the shortest possible flight route from Dubai to Chicago," said Woldbye.
