European airports saw freight traffic slow as 2018 drew to a close, with demand decreases registered in the last two months of the year.
Data from Airports Council International (ACI) Europe show that freight traffic at airports in Europe declined by 2.2% year on year in December, following on from a 1.4% decrease in November.
For the year as a whole, the region’s airports registered an improvement of 1.8%.
The deceleration primarily affected European Union (EU) airports which reported growth of 1.1% for the year and less so non-EU ones with an increase of 5.6%.
Among the top 10 European airports for freight, only Liege, Istanbul-Atatürk, Cologne-Bonn and Brussels recorded an increase in December.
Looking at the continent’s top cargo airports, Frankfurt registered a decrease of 1.1% for the year to 2.1m tonnes, at Paris CDG there was a 1.3% decline to 2m tonnes and slot constrained Amsterdam Schiphol noted a 2.6% slide to 1.7m tonnes.
ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said: “The trend of decreasing freight traffic is hard to ignore. It reflects weakening economic data and contraction forces at play, not just in Europe but around the world.
“Adding to that, volatile oil prices, labour cost pressures and more consolidation should also lead airlines to be more cautious with capacity expansion.”
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