Cargo traffic in Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Europe's busiest cargo airport, continued to slow in August as supply chain issues and geopolitical challenges remained.

In a statement, Fraport reported a 15.1% drop in cargo volumes year-on-year in August 2022.

 Photo: Frankfurt Airport

"Cargo volumes in Frankfurt continued to drop. Cargo was still largely affected by airspace restrictions related to the war in Ukraine and the extensive anti-Covid measures in China," it said.

In contrast, however, aircraft movements climbed by 24.6% year-on-year to 35,998 takeoffs and landings as more flights are operated.

Similarly, Fraport added that accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) expanded by 28.5% year-on-year to about 2.3 million metric tons.

Meanwhile, as cargo volumes continued to drop, FRA welcomed some 5.2 million passengers in August, achieving a new monthly passenger record since the start of the pandemic.

Fraport said compared to August last year, FRA's passenger traffic increased by 54.1%, supported by an ongoing high demand for holiday flights.

"Germany's largest aviation hub thus maintained its rapid growth momentum from the last few months," Fraport said, adding that when compared to pre-pandemic August 2019, passenger figures, however, were still down by 24.9% in the reporting month.

Airport operator Fraport earlier reported that during the first six months of the year cargo demand declined by 11% year on year to one million tonnes.

"After a strong cargo performance in 2021, the decline can be mainly attributed to the airspace restrictions following the war in Ukraine, as well as to the effects of numerous lockdowns implemented in China as part of its zero-Covid strategy," the airport operator said then.