FRA cargo growth slows in semi-annual report

Frankfurt Airport’s (FRA’s) semi-annual report shows a drop in 2.8 percent in June cargo handle, year-over-year). Looking at the airport’s total growth in cargo traffic for the first half of 2018, there was still 0.1 percent increase compared to the previous year, but the growth looks anemic next to the double-digit growth rates industry players have become accustomed to seeing.

The stagnating growth is symptomatic of the current state of the industry. Lufthansa, the hub’s most prominent cargo player, reported slowing growth for the first half of 2018 and a decrease in volume moved for the month of June. To the west, the U.K.’s hub port, London Heathrow Airport (LHR) demonstrated the same pattern.

Industry leaders are attributing the slow-down partially to simmering tensions between nations due to protectionist policies, namely the recently implemented Trump-era tariffs and forthcoming effects of Brexit.

The German Airports Association (ADV)’s forecasted cargo traffic growth of 5.1 percent at German airports by end 2018, no longer looks like a probable outcome standing at the halfway point, given the performance of the country’s most prominent hub as an indicator.