Korean Air Cargo is recording rising freight volumes at Vienna Airport recording a tonnage increase of 40% in the airfreight hub between 2020 and 2021.

The South Korean airline is also continuing this growth well into 2022 — recording "steadily rising growth rates" on its route between Seoul-Incheon and Vienna in the first five months of the year.

"With approximately 39,400 tons in 2020 and 39,800 tons in 2021, Korean Air Cargo has significantly expanded its business at Vienna Airport over the past two years (27,700 tons in 2019)," Vienna Airport said in a new release.

Korean Air Cargo is most notably utilizing Vienna Airport — its busiest airport in Europe — to support the automotive industry in Central and Eastern Europe, owing to the hub's geographical location and handling infrastructure.

Electronic and pharmaceutical goods also account for a significant share of the cargo volumes as it offers fast transshipment to the European highway network.

"For the coming future, we strongly expect a further increase in tonnages demanded between Seoul-Incheon and Europe. The already good development at Vienna Airport proves that we have chosen an ideal airport and transshipment point for Central and Southeastern Europe for this purpose. Despite the Corona crisis and without any congestions or disruptions, we have been able to reliably achieve a high expansion of tonnages at Vienna Airport," said Park Joonseok, regional cargo manager Austria, Eastern Europe at Korean Air Cargo.

Korean Air Cargo started connecting Incheon with Vienna Airport in 2004 using Boeing 747-400F freighters. Since 2012, Boeing 747-8Fs and Boeing 777Fs have also joined the types deployed to Vienna.

Meanwhile, Korean Air Cargo operates up to 13 flights per week to the Austrian capital.

Michael Zach, vice president of sales & finance, ground handling & cargo operations at Vienna International Airport, noted how "air freight is becoming increasingly important in the automotive, electronics, and pharmaceutical sectors."

"The airspace closures over Russia or the congestion at the Chinese seaports increase the demand for reliable capacities, especially between Asia and Europe. We are therefore pleased to have Korean Air Cargo as a long-standing and strong partner with whom we can offer these capacities together thanks to our excellent logistics infrastructure and ideal location in Central and Eastern Europe," Zach said.

The airport offers fast transhipment to the European highway network with a comprehensive road feeder network reaching about 23 countries within 36 hours by truck.

Vienna Airport is Korean Air Cargo's busiest airport in Europe as well as its main logistics hub for the continent. Korean Air Cargo has transported more than 535,400 tons of cargo to and from the hub in the Austrian capital.