Amsterdam Airport Schiphol saw freight volumes decrease in the first half of 2022 compared to a year ago tracking the global trend for the period and further dragged by the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine impacting some of the world's largest cargo carriers.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's total cargo volume for the first six months of 2022 decreased by 13.8% to 721,746 tonnes compared to the first six months of 2021, in line with global cargo trends.
Half-year cargo figures show decreased throughput year-on-year, with inbound cargo volumes decreasing by 17.5% to 364,376 tonnes, and outbound cargo volumes also decreased by 9.7% to 357,369 tonnes during the same period in 2021.
Schiphol said the top three destinations for cargo by tonnage were Shanghai (China), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), and Chicago in the US adding that freight volumes shipped through full freighters which accounted for 65% of total volumes, and passenger flights at 35% of total volumes.
Outbound cargo to the Asian region from Schiphol also decreased by 10.3% to 117,694 tonnes, while inbound traffic from the region also went down by 14.6% to 123,704 tonnes.
Meanwhile, the outbound North American market decreased by 9.1% to 84,786 tonnes, with inbound traffic from here declining by 10.5% to 58,101 tonnes and cargo inbound from Latin America decreased by 22.3% to 46,827 tonnes and outbound traffic to the region went down by 14.6 % to 35,242 tonnes.
For the Middle East market, inbound cargo from the region decreased by 12.0% to 51,624 tonnes, according to Schiphol, and outbound cargo also dipped by 5.7% to 57,567 tonnes.
European outbound traffic decreased by 13.2% to 40,670 tonnes, while inbound cargo decreased by 35.7% to 42,153 tonnes as outbound traffic to Africa decreased by 3.0% to 21,411 tonnes, with inbound traffic decreasing -by 12.0% to 41,962 tonnes.
Russia-Ukraine war continue to impact cargo flows
"The main factors attributable to the decrease observed in 2022 were the global decrease of volumes transported and the loss of volumes from a large carrier operating from Russia," the European gateway said.
It added that the decrease follows a worldwide trend, with the growing capacity of passenger flights, concerns about economic development worldwide, production and transport issues in Asia, and the war in Ukraine.
"The 2021 and 2022 figures have shown that Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is still the airport of choice for logistic companies and their customers. Now that demand for passenger flights has increased, the available airport capacity needs to be shared," said Anne Marie van Hemert, head of Aviation Business Development, Schiphol Airport.
"In the first half-year, innovation through our Smart Cargo Mainport Program has continued. Automated Nomination has been introduced as the new standard procedure for inbound cargo, which informs customers about incoming shipments before arrival. Going forward, additional measures will be implemented for secure cargo handovers," van Hemert added.
At the start of 2022, dnata also announced over €200 million investment in Amsterdam to operate one of the world's largest, most advanced cargo facilities at Schiphol Airport.
Schiphol said the new facility is located in the South-East cargo area and investments will be made here to implement seamless cargo processes with zero-emission ground operations by 2030.
"Schiphol looks forward to remaining an attractive hub and being the most sustainable airport with an efficient cargo flow," van Hemert added, noting that the hub seeks to shape Europe's smartest cargo hub.