Of all regions, Schiphol saw the biggest plunge in volumes to and from the Asia-Pacific, which fell 15.8 percent from September 2010. Cargo traffic in and out of the Middle East and Latin America was also particularly weak in September; Schiphol officials reported respective, year-over year, losses of 6.3 percent and 4.7 percent.
Not all of Schiphol’s September statistics indicated trouble, however. Freight volumes to and from North America, Africa and Europe rose considerably in September, surging 7.4 percent, 6.6 percent and 3.9 percent, year-over-year, respectively.
Schiphol Cargo Senior Vice President Enno Osinga attributes some of the regional discrepancies to financial woes, which are disrupting supply chains around the globe. “It’s clear that economic worries in the U.S. and Eurozone are feeding down to cargo traffic, particularly to and from the Far East,” he said in a statement.
“Although other markets are still looking robust, they cannot make up for the shortfalls in this major production and consumer region,” Osinga continued.
He’s quick to point out that, overall, cargo volumes have been strong at Schiphol. In fact, the Dutch airport, which handled 1,133,773 tonnes of freight from January to September, surpassed its 2010 numbers in five out of the first nine months.
“We are very pleased that our tonnages are still ahead of 2010, as we knew it would be a difficult year to beat,” Osinga stated. “But what began as a very positive 2011 is now proving very challenging for the industry, and the last three months of 2011 are not likely to reverse the recent downward trend.”
Of all regions, Schiphol saw the biggest plunge in volumes to and from the Asia-Pacific, which fell 15.8 percent from September 2010. Cargo traffic in and out of the Middle East and Latin America was also particularly weak in September; Schiphol officials reported respective, year-over year, losses of 6.3 percent and 4.7 percent.
Not all of Schiphol’s September statistics indicated trouble, however. Freight volumes to and from North America, Africa and Europe rose considerably in September, surging 7.4 percent, 6.6 percent and 3.9 percent, year-over-year, respectively.
Schiphol Cargo Senior Vice President Enno Osinga attributes some of the regional discrepancies to financial woes, which are disrupting supply chains around the globe. “It’s clear that economic worries in the U.S. and Eurozone are feeding down to cargo traffic, particularly to and from the Far East,” he said in a statement.
“Although other markets are still looking robust, they cannot make up for the shortfalls in this major production and consumer region,” Osinga continued.
He’s quick to point out that, overall, cargo volumes have been strong at Schiphol. In fact, the Dutch airport, which handled 1,133,773 tonnes of freight from January to September, surpassed its 2010 numbers in five out of the first nine months.
“We are very pleased that our tonnages are still ahead of 2010, as we knew it would be a difficult year to beat,” Osinga stated. “But what began as a very positive 2011 is now proving very challenging for the industry, and the last three months of 2011 are not likely to reverse the recent downward trend.”