Frankfurt Airport (FRA) said its cargo volumes for July continued to grow despite the ongoing shortage of belly capacity normally provided by passenger aircraft.

In a statement, it said in July cargo throughput (comprising airfreight and airmail) jumped by 30% year-on-year to 196,223 metric tons.

Compared to July 2019, cargo was up 9.8%.

"Cargo traffic in Frankfurt continued its growth momentum, despite the ongoing shortage of belly capacity provided by passenger aircraft," it said.

The busiest cargo airport in Europe said aircraft movements climbed by 79.5% year-on-year to 27,591 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights rose by 68.5% to just under 1.7 million metric tons in July 2021.

Meanwhile, FRA also noted that last month, passenger numbers at the airport continued to rise. It said the gateway welcomed some 2.85 million passengers in July — which is the highest monthly passenger volume since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Low Covid-19 incidence levels and the increasing rate of vaccinations had a positive effect on demand – particularly for traditional holiday destinations. On some peak days, passenger numbers in Frankfurt reached about 60% of the pre-pandemic level," it said.

Compared to July 2019, passenger traffic at FRA still registered a 58.9% decline for the reporting month.

Traffic growth in airports worldwide

The Fraport Group’s airports around the world also continued their upward trend in July.

It said traffic across all airports "increased significantly," with year-on-year figures partly rising by several hundred percent – albeit based on a sharply reduced traffic level in July 2020.

Nonetheless, it said passenger numbers at all of the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio remained well below the pre-pandemic levels of July 2019.