The positive growth trend in airfreight at Vienna Airport, seen since the start of this year, continued in the second quarter of 2024.

Vienna Airport, an important global cargo hub for Central and Eastern Europe, handled 141,118 tons of air cargo between January and June.

This represents a year-on-year growth of 20,861 tons or 17%.

Vienna Airport noted that July's growth is also 4% higher than pre-pandemic levels recorded at the gateway.

"Pharma handling also continued to rise, with 1,825 tons or 8.2% more handled at the airport in the first half of the year," the Austrian airport said.

For the period, cargo volumes also continued to increase, with 24,808 tons of air freight; the airport recorded an increase of 21.1% compared to the previous year.

Vienna Airport noted that this positive development is underpinned by the growth in passenger traffic, which is creating additional capacity for belly freight in airline cargo holds.

The tonnage of belly freight soared by 47% to 57,594 tons in the first half year 2024 compared to the same period last year.

By contrast, volumes carried by freighter aircraft fell by 8% to 41,142 tons amidst a growth in capacity, the shift to passenger aircraft, and one-off effects in the previous year.

The increased volume of trucked air freight contributed to the strong half-year performance, with a 17% growth to 42,382 tons.

This growth is divided equally between imports and exports.

Vienna Airport said some 78,029 tons of air freight arrived at Vienna Airport for distribution to Austria and neighbouring markets in Central and Eastern Europe — or 11,004 tons or 16% more than in the first half of 2023.

In the opposite direction, goods with a total weight of 63,089 tons landed at destinations all over the world via the Vienna air freight hub, or 19% more than in the same stretch in 2023.

"Cargo volumes are developing extremely well. In July 2024, air cargo volumes were already higher than in 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic," said Julian Jäger, joint CEO and COO of Vienna Airport.

"This shows that our strategy is working. We are focusing on innovative logistics solutions, first-class infrastructure and the highest handling quality. This positive development strengthens our location and underscores our importance as a central hub for global airfreight," he added.

Michael Zach, senior vice president of Ground Handling & Cargo Operations at Flughafen Wien AG, cited the seamless continuation of the positive development seen since the beginning of the year during the second quarter.

"Demand remains robust, particularly on routes to North America and Asia. Vienna Airport offers outstanding conditions for handling growing cargo volumes quickly and reliably. The handling services provided by our Pharma Handling Center are also more sought-after and are well-equipped for further growth," he added.