Not to be outdone by its other European competitors, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is continually searching for new and innovative ideas to boost cargo throughput at the
airport.
Perishables and pharmaceutical products continue to play a important role in the airport cargo strategy.
First quarter results are gratifying
Tonnages at SPL have been experiencing an upward trend for some time now and the first quarter of this year has been no exception.
Cargo throughput from January to March reached 420,168 tonnes.
This represents an eight percent increase over the same period last year.
March was particularly strong for the Dutch national airport.
A total of 154,000 tonnes passed through the airport during that month, showing an increase of 9.5 percent.
Interestingly, a 7.2 percent hike in full freighter volumes along with 13.2 percent growth in belly volumes was recorded for the month.
Pharma, Perishables and e-Commerce push growth
Jonas van Stekelenburg, SPL’s Head of Cargo is happy with the present development and was quoted as saying that “we are very pleased that our commitment to enhancing the experience of our
pharmaceutical, e-Commerce and perishable customers, and our continued commitment to quality and transparency in the supply chain is leading to further growth, especially in Asian and European
markets.“
Latin America exports down - Africa in and out down - the rest went up
It was noted that both the African and Latin America markets failed to deliver more cargo.
The outbound cargo volumes to Latin America dropped by 15 percent to almost 16,000 tonnes. This was put down to the reduction in freighter capacity to the region during the first quarter.
However, imports from Latin America, mainly perishables, rose by 31 percent.
Disappointing results for Africa were also put down to a decrease in capacity to and from the region from SPL.
Imports went down 5 percent and exports decreased by 16 percent to only just over 12,000 tonnes.
Exports to the Middle East rose to almost 32,000 tonnes, an increase of 13 percent; while imports dropped by 4 percent to just under 22,000 tonnes.
Asia of course, remained the top market for SPL.
Exports outdid imports by growing at 12 percent to 74,332 tonnes.
The import volume also increased by 4 percent bringing almost 71,000 tonnes into the airport from Asia.
Europe and the USA grew volumes on the outbound sectors and imports from the USA dropped however by 6 percent
All, in all, a good start to the year for Schiphol Cargo.
Both SPL and BRUcargo departments are geographically very close and seem to have much in common as to what cargo strategy concerns.
John Mc Donagh