Cargo London Heathrow 5% up in February

The UK’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, saw its cargo performance soar in February. Up by 5% year on year, the gateway’s cargo traffic was at a record high for the 19th consecutive month, at 133,140 tonnes.

Heathrow said the increase was mainly due to growth in North American and East Asian markets. According to chief executive John Holland-Kaye: “Today’s figures show that Heathrow is filling up fast – if we don’t act soon to expand our nation’s global gateway, the UK will only fall further behind our European rivals. A prosperous, global-trading Britain needs an expanded Heathrow now.”

Indeed, six of Britain’s key trading routes, accounting for nearly 20% of the trade through Heathrow, are already full – including Shanghai, Tokyo Haneda, Delhi, Mumbai, Los Angeles and Dubai.

Meanwhile, London Stansted posted year-on-year growth of 2.1% in its cargo traffic for February, with 19,477 tonnes moving through the airport. CEO Ken O’Toole highlighted the addition of new services to Dubai, the US and Canada in the coming months.