The positive growth trend in airfreight at Vienna Airport seen since the start of this year continued in the second quarter of 2024: Vienna Airport handled 141,118 tons of air cargo between January and the end of June. This represents a year-on-year growth of 20,861 tons or 17%. This level is also 4% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Pharma handling also continued to rise, with 1,825 tons or 8.2% more handled at the airport in the first half of the year. Cargo volumes also continued to increase in July 2024: with 24,808 tons of air freight, the airport recorded an increase of 21.1% compared to the previous year.
This positive development is underpinned by the growth in passenger traffic, which is creating additional capacity for belly freight in airline cargo holds. The tonnage of belly freight soared by 47% to 57,594 tons in the first half year 2024 compared to the same period last year. By contrast, volumes carried by freighter aircraft fell by 8% to 41,142 tons amidst a growth in capacity, the shift to passenger aircraft, and one-off effects in the previous year. The increased volume of trucked air freight contributed to the strong half-year performance, with a 17% growth to 42,382 tons.
This growth is divided equally between imports and exports. Some 78,029 tons of air freight arrived at Vienna Airport for distribution to Austria and neighboring markets in Central and Eastern Europe. This was 11,004 tons or 16% more than in the first half of 2023. In the opposite direction, goods with a total weight of 63,089 tons landed at destinations all over the world via the Vienna air freight hub. This figure was 9,857 tons or 19% more than in the same stretch in 2023.
"Cargo volumes are developing extremely well. In July 2024, air cargo volumes were already higher than in 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic. This shows that our strategy is working. We are focusing on innovative logistics solutions, first-class infrastructure and the highest handling quality. This positive development strengthens our location and underscores our importance as a central hub for global airfreight," says Julian Jäger, joint CEO and COO of Vienna Airport.
“We seamlessly continued the positive development that we have seen since the beginning of the year during the second quarter. Demand remains robust, particularly on routes to North America and Asia. Vienna Airport offers outstanding conditions for handling growing cargo volumes quickly and reliably. The handling services provided by our Pharma Handling Center are also more sought-after and are well equipped for further growth,” commented Michael Zach, senior vice president ground handling and cargo operations at Flughafen Wien AG.
Growth Trend Continues in July 2024
The growth trend continues at Vienna Airport in July 2024: With 24,808 tons of air cargo handled, the airport recorded an increase of 21.1% compared to the previous year. The airport thus overtook the pre-crisis level of 2019 by 12.0%.
