Cargo traffic at Schiphol continues to decline

Cargo throughput at Schiphol fell nearly 8% last month to 109,000 tonnes, while the number of cargo flights dropped 23% to 1,333. Over the first two months of this year, the airport lost 11.8% in total cargo throughput, with the number of cargo flights falling by over 25% to 2,658. The sharp drop in cargo flights is partly due to the departure of AirBridgeCargo. Both inbound and outbound cargo flows showed losses over the month of February, with exports to North American cargo destinations falling by 25.7%. However, exports to the Far East increased by 10.4%, most likely due to the Chinese New Year that fell in the first half of February last year. On the import side, there was growth from the Far East (+4.3%), while Europe (-45.4%) and Africa (-12.7%) showed losses. Schiphol handled nearly 56,000 tonnes of inbound cargo last month, more than 7% less than a year ago.