Leipzig/Halle Airport continued to see its air cargo volumes grow in the first quarter of the year as charter flights carrying medical equipment roll in.
The German airport saw air cargo demand increase by 20.9% year on year during the first quarter to 359,000 tonnes, following on from record volumes on 1.4m tonnes last year.
In a press release, Leipzig/Halle explained: "The airport is increasingly being used as a handling centre for medical air supplies and protective equipment in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
"It has therefore regularly handled cargo charter flights that have been transporting millions of Covid-19 tests during the past few weeks, in addition to normal traffic. These shipments included about 690,000 Covid-19 antigen rapid tests for schools in Saxony. Nearly all these cargo flights are being operated by passenger aircraft."
Overall, about 60 cargo airlines fly to the airport and serve a network of routes, which covers more than 200 destinations. It is also one of DHL's main hubs.
