Europe’s largest cargo hub saw cargo volumes increase by 1% in the first half of the year as the Middle East conflict and strikes at Lufthansa affected performance. The German airport saw volumes reach 1 m tonnes over the first six months of the year, but several trends had a negative impact on performance. Airport operator Fraport firstly highlighted a 12.4% year-on-year fall in airmail volumes during the first half to 15,000 tonnes as a structural shift towards digital documents and
communication continued to impact volumes. Fraport said that overall volumes stagnated during the second quarter as a result of the Iran conflict and strike action.
Particular contributors included the six-day Lufthansa strike in April and the grounding of Lufthansa’s A321P2F fleet, Fraport said. Since the beginning of the Iran war in March, significant capacity reductions in Middle East traffic have impacted the development of the airfreight market, according to a report.