Liege Airport recorded a 16% year on year increase in tonnage in November due to increased cargo airline and logistics activity in the surrounding area.
The Belgian cargo hub reported tonnage of 112,106 tons compared t0 96,497 tons in the same month last year. Cargo aircraft movements in November also increased 12.6% to 2,586, from 2,297 in the same month last year.
“These are the highest levels reached in 2024,” said Torsten Wefers, vice president sales & marketing. “Liege Airport's cargo community has demonstrated exceptional performance throughout the year supporting the unique growth path of LGG and the outlook for 2025 is very encouraging.”
The airport said that since the beginning of the year, its cargo airline portfolio has grown by 20% to 49 freighter carriers. Also, nearly 60 logistics companies are now based around the airport.
Liege said a surge in Asia volumes is driving airfreight growth, with imports playing a larger role than exports, reflecting ongoing challenges in the European economy.
“Global demand for air freight showed no signs of slowing in November, with volumes recording a 13th consecutive month of double-digit growth and load factors reaching their highest level since April 2022. Demand grew by 10% year-on-year in November, fuelled by the continuing boom in e-commerce," noted Xeneta.
Liege has certainly benefited from e-commerce demand greatly. Wefers said at the September EU Cross-Border E-commerce Forum in Liege: “We are very strong in the China market.”
Recent e-commerce investments include Cainiao Group's twice-weekly charter service between Xi’an and Liège to bolster its China-Europe cross-border delivery capacity for peak season.
Cainiao Group’s charter service follows on from its strategic collaboration with Saudia Cargo and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) to boost the efficiency of cross-border e-commerce trade at Liege.
In August, cargo airline Fly Khiva Group added freighter flights to Liege and in June Beijing Capital Airlines also added a freighter service.
Other airlines that have recently invested in flights at Liege include Hong Kong Air Cargo, My Freighter Airlines, Ninatrans and Fracht Group.
https://www.aircargonews.net/business/statistics/belgian-hubs-report-air-cargo-demand-growth-in-july/
https://www.aircargonews.net/1072696.article
