COVID-19: airport freight bottoms out but some steadying

While there may be very few passengers willing to fly anywhere right now - even if they could - and equally, few airlines there to take them, many eyes will be on developments in the airfreight sector, which struggled badly in 2019 as a result of trade wars and other factors.

Supply lanes must be kept open, and passenger aircraft are being adopted to fulfil that role, even when still configured as passenger aircraft.

Few airports have anything other than a steep cargo volume decline curve during Jan to Apr-2020, although it was at its steepest in different months, depending on the airport's location. The majority of them appear to have 'bottomed out' now, although whether the growth curve will be as positive as the one being presented is anyone's guess.

Freight volume is often taken as a precursor to what will happen in the passenger segment and it languished throughout 2019. Statistics are skewed by the necessity to ship vital supplies across the world but beyond that, figures will be examined closely to see if there will be a freight-led recovery for airlines.

This report covers the top 20 cargo airports worldwide by volume and how that volume is varying according to current global and local circumstances.