Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) handled record volumes of cargo in the second quarter of the year as a result of the loss of transpacific passenger flights.
The airport handled 900,000 tons of cargo through the second quarter of the year — a year-on-year increase of 14.5% and ahead of its previous quarterly record of 824,000 tons set in the fourth quarter of 2017. For the half year, volumes are up 7.4% against a year ago at 1.5m tons.
The airport is often used for technical stops by freighters loaded with as much cargo as possible, while the integrators also use the airport as a hub.
"The decimation of trans-Pacific passenger traffic caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has displaced literally hundreds of thousands of tons of air cargo that used to fly in the bellies of passenger planes,” said airport manager Jim Szczesniak.
“ANC is the center of the air cargo world and perfectly situated to capture the increased demand for air freighters. Our air cargo partners recognise the economic benefits and efficiencies that ANC has to offer.”
ANC’s widebody freighter traffic has increased nearly 9% this year with an average weekly increase of 26.75% since the beginning of April.
Last year, ANC was the sixth busiest cargo airport in the world.
